From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: FCC Public File Auto-FAQ Date: 01 Apr 1997 00:58:24 PST This "FAQ" is auto-posted once a month via cron triggered script, and may be triggered off by hand from time to time in between if the info is requested by someone, such as when the House recently voted down the AW Ban and the Media threw a hissy fit. The purpose of this FAQ is to inform people what they can do about Media generated lies and misinformation. While the FCC only handles Broadcast Media, (TV and Radio), some of these techniques will work for magazines and newspapers too. If I've missed something, or you find errors, let me know and I'll add/fix it. 1.a. Send letters of complaint to the Station Manager every time it happens with all the time, details, other info, and your complaint(s). 1.b. Send an additional copy for their FCC (Federal Communications Commission) Public file. 1.c. Send an additional copy to the FCC itself, in case they don't put it in their Public file. 2.a. Send a letter of complaint to their Station Owner as per above, with copies as per above (1.b and 1.c). 3. Send copies of their replies to you along with yours to them to their FCC Public file, so that it gets nice and fat, again, with copies to the FCC itself. 4. If you can afford it, send all corespondence by Certified Mail with Return Receipt Requested. Send a copy of the Return Receipt with everything that goes to the FCC itself, so that they will have additional evidence if the Station is cheating on their Public File. 5.a. Go to the Public Library and look up "Standard Rate and Data Services" (SRDS) "Directory of National Advertisers." It is found in many major Libraries (in the business/reference stacks), and lists EVERY current advertiser, who the players are at both the company and advertising agency(s), and the appropriate telephone and fax (and probably E-Mail by now) addresses. If your Library doesn't have it, it can be requested. Otherwise you can watch their commercials for a few days to a week, listing all their advertisers. There are other references that have the addresses for the nation's business headquarters too. look them all up and pass the addresses and phone/FAX numbers etc., around so that everyone can bitch to the sponsors. IF enough people do that, it'll get back to the Station. Tell them if the Station continues their nastiness you'll _consider_ changing to brand(X), (otherwise they'll just write you off as a loss). 5.b. The above, (5.a.), can be a lot easier and less time consuming if you're dealing with a newspaper's or a magazine's ads, as they are right in front of you for the listing. 6. If they put on something good or even just more reasonable, call and compliment them on it, but do _not_ send any kudos to their FCC file, or write to them about it. That way they have to keep it up and hope, as there is nothing good in the file or in writing that they can show the FCC to justify their Station's License. 7. Federal Communications Commission, Complaints and Compliance Division Room 6218, 2025 M Street NW Washington, D.C. 20554 FAX: 202-653-9659 FCC Attn: Edythe Wise -- An _EFFECTIVE_ | The _only_important_difference_ between Nazi-ism, Fascism, weapon in every | Communism, Communitarianism, Socialism and (Neo-)Liberalism hand = Freedom | is the _spelling_, and that the last group hasn't got the on every side! | Collective brains to figure it out. -- Bill Vance ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tom Cloyes Subject: (fwd)Militias reflect public's mistrust Date: 01 Apr 1997 07:04:00 -0500 Food for thought. >X-Sender: eplurib@megalinx.net >Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 17:02:31 -0500 >To: eplurib@megalinx.net >From: E Pluribus Unum >Subject: Militias reflect public's mistrust > >In case you missed the USA TODAY, check out the editorial from page 15A. >Something must have made sense to this guy... (J.J.) > > >03/31/97 - 02:46 PM ET > >This article can be found at: >http://www.usatoday.com/news/comment/ncguest.htm > > >Title: Militias reflect public's mistrust > > > >By Jack Levin > > PHOTO: Timothy McVeigh (AP). > >The Oklahoma City bombing trial of Timothy McVeigh that >opens Monday will inevitably revive the public's image of >militias as gun-toting, bigoted groups on the fringe. > >McVeigh apparently had been linked to a civilian militia in >Kingman, Ariz. His "bible" was the infamous Turner Diaries, >a fictionalized account of a coming civil war in which >revolutionaries bring down the federal government by >bombing federal buildings and disrupting public utilities. > >Yet recent surveys show a growing number of "mainstream" >Americans have less and less confidence in their national >government, too, and consider many of its rules and policies >a threat to their rights and freedoms. > >Maybe not all of these militia members are so far out on the >fringe, after all. Some of this was brought home to me >recently when I went to a "Patriot Potluck" attended by >militia members, survivalists and assorted right-wing >political discontents. We met in an obscure dinner theater >just north of Boston. I brought an apple pie - and an open >mind. > >I joined members of the "Patriot Movement" as they >swapped ideas, listened attentively to a parade of speakers >and lunched on pasta salad, sandwiches and my apple pie. >Along the sides of the room, vendors hawked anti-New >World Order T-shirts and conspiratorial literature. In unison, >we sang patriotic songs and recited the Pledge of >Allegiance. I confess feeling a little nervous to be among >people who are convinced that our federal government has >been taken over by communists, but I went to learn more >about the militia movement, its members and its causes. > >>From Ruby Ridge to Oklahoma City, civilian militias long >have been linked with violence and bigotry. According to the >stereotyped image, all militia members are nothing more >than a collection of bomb-throwing hatemongers. That's why >I was so surprised when the 75 men, women and children at >this meeting seemed so hospitable, even innocuous. I did >hear a racist comment from a speaker and >an anti-Jewish remark from a member of the audience. But I >also met a few dedicated members of the movement who >were themselves black or Jewish. > >I also was impressed by the utter boredom of their >speeches. Through a five-hour procession of speakers, I >heard much less about guns and bombs than about >economic survival. Speaker after speaker talked about how >to defeat the IRS through Common Law courts, how to >withdraw from the Social Security system, the impact of free >trade on the unemployment rate and how to avoid debt. I >got the strong impression that these were Americans who >had suffered through hard economic times and were looking >for some way to explain their shared predicament. Their >response was to blame the federal government, >communists, the United Nations and international bankers. >Any group that believes the enemy has surreptitiously taken >over the White House, Congress and the Supreme >Court is potentially dangerous. These so-called patriots are >no exception. > >But to treat the entire movement as a collection of crazies is >just as dangerous. Many of the issues addressed at the >gathering were every bit as much the concerns of middle-of- >the-road Americans who struggle to survive in the face of >downsizing, global competition and income inequality. They >may not join a militia or stockpile weapons in anticipation of >a revolution - they might not even attend a potluck meeting - >but they nevertheless are convinced that the government is >no longer working on behalf of ordinary citizens. > >Conspiratorial thinking can be used to discredit alienated >right-wingers, but it also can be seen as an indicator of the >lack of credibility of mainstream institutions. > >In a recent Gallup survey, only 9% of adult Americans >reported having a great deal of confidence in the executive >branch of the federal government, and only 10% said they >had a great deal of confidence in Congress. A decade ago, >those numbers were nearly twice as high. On the issue of >honesty, government fared no better - 44% rated >representatives and 39% rated senators as lacking in >ethical standards. Perhaps this explains why 83% of adults >reportedly believe government regulations are a very >serious or moderate threat to Americans' rights and >freedoms. > >Even conspiratorial beliefs about government are by no >means restricted to the fringe. A recent survey found that >75% believe the government is involved in conspiracies, >and 20% agree with Pierre Salinger that federal agencies >covered up information about the TWA crash off Long >Island. > >There is a natural tendency for government to respond to >extremism with repressive measures that give even more >power to law enforcement to investigate and infiltrate >marginal groups. In the short run, such measures might >prevent a violent episode or two. In the longer run, however, >they reduce the individual freedoms of all Americans and >only push potentially dangerous groups, already >convinced that the government is out to get them, >underground. > >Of course, Americans of good will should be vigilant in >response to a growing threat of terrorism perpetrated by our >own citizens. But if we are careful to look past the >stereotyped images of the "Patriot Movement," we may >learn something about our country that needs to be repaired >and is within our power to change: the need to work together >as a nation to create a sense of trust and social >responsibility that transcends the differences that divide us. >If we succeed, the "Patriot Movement" will probably wither >and die of its own irrelevance. But if we don't, then today's >extremism could easily become tomorrow's version of >moderation. >====================================================== > >Jack Levin is director of the Program for the Study of >Violence and Social Conflict at Boston's Northeastern >University and co-author of Hate Crimes: The Rising Tide of >Bigotry and Bloodshed. > > > > > > >================================================== >E Pluribus Unum - http://home.megalinx.net/~eplurib/home.html > >Patriot Personals - for Lovers of Liberty & Hearts that need love >http://home.megalinx.net/~eplurib/personal/personal.htm > >"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" Hosea 4:6 >P.O. Box 381; Groveport, OH 43125; (614) 836-7650 >mailto:eplurib@megalinx.net > > "You exceed your rights when you urge that laws be made in the shape of your conscience to block the pleasures permitted by mine. When you people prevail, you commit a crime against freedom, and that is the greatest immorality I know." -Vance Bourjaily, Country Matters (no date avail). Thanks to:Mark Johnson (onethumb@why.net) "A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." Benjamin Franklin "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies." --Thomas Jefferson (Thanks to Pat Fosness) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: docile, corporate, trained, citizens? (fwd) Date: 01 Apr 1997 07:50:35 -0600 (CST) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Cc: scrosnoe@compuserve.com This is a little bit long, but helps to put some pieces together how We the People are/have been being socially redesigned to become docile human resources for the merging corporate market, as the federal masters join education and labor in "their" system. *****Please read the part at the end, there may be the glimmer of a light to fight by, if supported and copied across the country. Thanks, Erin =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==> > . < <==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= >In 1947 a Conference & Luncheon was sponsored by the >Teachers Union of Philadelphia. The Conference was >called, *"Education for One World"*. It was held at >the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel on Saturday, March 1, >1947. > >==================================================== >LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT... >PENNSYLVANIA'S ORWELLIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM > >U.S. REP., Henry Hyde said in a letter to his >colleagues (5-9-96) > > "School-to-Work sounds good, but when carried to >its logical extreme, it chooses careers for every >American worker. Children's careers will be chosen >for them by Workforce Development Boards and federal >agencies 'at the earliest possible age'. In some >cases, such as is currently happening in PENNSYLVANIA, >this is in the third grade... forcing them [all >Americans] to work where and how the federal agencies >deem necessary is not the way to go." > > "Our schools will be restructured to teach labor >skills... changing attitudes and social behavior... to >create a controlled workforce for the global economy >and our children will be the "human resources" for >this plan." > > In his letter Mr. Hyde further explains - ALL >children and adults will be forced to be retrained in >order to qualify for work certificates - home, >Christian, privately-schooled children included! >====================================================== > >GOVERNOR RIDGE IS IMPLEMENTING DAVID ROCKEFELLER's >HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM aka Pennsylvania >Education - see the following excerpt from Tucker's >letter to Hillary, excerpted below. > >"Dear Hillary: > I still cannot believe you won. But utter >delight that you did pervades all the circles in which >I move. I met last Wednesday in David Rockefeller's >office with him, John Sculley, Dave Barram and David >Haselkorn. It was a great celebration. Both John and >David R[ockerfeller] were more expansive than I have >ever seen them -- literally radiating happiness. My >own view and theirs is that this country has seized >its last chance..." > > "The subject we were discussing was what you and >Bill should do now about education, training and labor >market policy. Following that meeting, I chaired >another in Washington on the same topic. Those >present at the second meeting included... David >Hornbeck..." [Philladelphia Superintendent of Schools] > > "Our purpose... was to propose concrete actions >that the Clinton administration could take -- between >now and the inauguration, in the first 100 days and >beyond." > >"We think the great opportunity you have is to remold >the entire American system for human resources >development, almost all of the current components of >which were put in place BEFORE WORLD WAR II. " > >"...a new approach to governing" > >"...seamless web... from cradle to grave". > >Letter to Hillary Clinton 11-11-92 from Marc Tucker of >the NCEE - Carnegie foundation. > >Pennsylvania and Michigan are "test States" for their >plan to develop a global "workforce". > ======================================================= >>OREGON OPTION...OR CONSPIRACY? ...this is not fiction. It's already happened in Oregon. The outlandish-sounding scheme culminated on December 5, 1994. That's when a document called "The Oregon Option" was signed by the entire Clinton Cabinet, all members of the Oregon Congressional delegation, outgoing Oregon Governor Barbara Roberts, incoming Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber, Portland Mayor Vera Katz, Multnomah County Commission Chair Beverly Stein, Gresham Mayor Gussie McRobert, and others. At the time of the signing, Vice President Al Gore said "The Oregon Option" would turn the state into a "laboratory." The agreement describes the research field as "childhood health, family stability and workforce development." To the casual observer, this language may sound like just so much meaningless nonsense - the kind of feel-good rhetoric found in so many governmental documents that are merely collecting dust on the shelf these days. But, in the case of "The Oregon Option," nothing could be further from the truth. This plan actually combines a series of obscure but significant plans created by some of the region's - indeed, the nation's - most powerful politicians and business executives. They are a group which has interacted with one another for years, usually outside the glare of public scrutiny. >>Through the arrangements now combined in "The Oregon Option," these power brokers have readjusted the very structure of 20th Century American society around their own needs. What is being created by The Oregon Option is nothing less than a government run entirely for the benefit of its largest banks, utilities and other major corporations. ***The aim is the creation of generations of completely docile, corporate trained citizens. It will accomplish this through a life time of government intervention and manipulation in the education and rearing of all children.*** Under the programs encompassed in "The Oregon Option," the government will set up databases on every child conceived. It will use home visits to evaluate the parents to see if they fit the corporate standards. It will have the ability to monitor and break apart families. Parents will go through parenting classes which will fill them with corporate sanctioned psycho-babble and rhetoric. Failure to abide by the conditions of this program will be called "developmental neglect" - grounds for the government to remove the child from the family. Children will be subjected to an education system which will emphasize their mediocrity. At school, in a manner frighteningly reminiscent of Nazi Germany's Hitler Youth, they will be encouraged to report all suspicious behavior of friends, neighbors, siblings, or classmates to a properly sanctioned authority of the corporate state. >>A number of people who are currently among Clinton's closest advisors were also involved in the process. One was Ira Magaziner, chair of the NCEE's Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, and a private consultant on international corporate strategies for business and government. Another was Marc Tucker, president of the NCEE and executive director of the Carnegie Forum on education and the Economy. Also involved was Laura Tyson, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a consultant to the World Bank and the Rand Corporation. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ *****Folks, Goals 2000, School-To-Work, Outcome Based Education, Parents As Teachers, are some pieces of this big picture that we MUST see if we are to prevent/prepare; at least we must see enough to know what we are up against, and where it's head and tail is, and how it eats. The Clinton administration has been using the back door of state governors to install these pieces of Marxist Amerika. No input or control by even our state representatives, much less We, the Parents. And it involves us as well as children. Politicians, reelections, money, perks, and strings. All are working 24 hours a day eroding every bit of jurisdiction we have over our own lives, families, homes, counties, states, and country. When we loose jurisdiction over all these things, we realistically are slaves, owned, and operated by someone else, and not ourselves. Every state in this country, at either state wide or local levels, are NOW involved in accepting federal funds with full strings attached and on the other end of those strings are the Cradle-to- Grave pieces to the big picture. In California, Senator Richard Mountjoy has proposed legislation which CAN stop this extortion. SB 1178 should be copied in every state, furthermore, in every county at the county level as well. SB 1178 is call "State Sovereignty and Federal Tax Funds Act". It sets up an escrow account and holds federal taxes in the State, sending the funds to the feds on a quarterly basis - AS LONG AS THE FEDS AREN'T TRYING TO FORCE CALIFORNIA INTO UNCONSTITUTIONAL COMPLIANCE. Then, if the state needs "federal" money for schools, for instance, and the feds want the state to give up some jurisdiction or agree to act unconstitutionally against their own, (federal strings) then the state simply uses the funds in the trust, rather than sending it to the feds to beg for a portion of it back with strings. For more information on this bill, contact Nancy Lewis, (916) 445-2848. Also: your *state Governor* is a primary source for you to investigate the behaviour of, regarding this nightmare of Marxism coming from Washington DC to YOUR CHILDREN, your country, and you. Even without Clinton's big hoo-rah laughing in our faces about having a "partnership with state governors" in his speech a couple months ago, THIS IS A RED FLAG ZONE, and I suspect will not stop at school. Lock your back door (state governor). In Liberty Only, Erin ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Chris Ferris Subject: Warning: could not send message for past 1 day (fwd) Date: 01 Apr 1997 11:52:48 -0500 (EST) This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. Send mail to mime@docserver.cac.washington.edu for more info. --KAA03889.859911109/thoughtport.thoughtport.net Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-ID: My addressing error. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- ********************************************** ** THIS IS A WARNING MESSAGE ONLY ** ** YOU DO NOT NEED TO RESEND YOUR MESSAGE ** ********************************************** The original message was received at Mon, 31 Mar 1997 10:08:32 -0600 (CST) from ferriscc@fs1.mainstream.net [206.97.102.4] ----- The following addresses had transient non-fatal errors ----- ----- Transcript of session follows ----- ... Deferred: Connection timed out with xmission.net. Warning: message still undelivered after 1 day Will keep trying until message is 5 days old --KAA03889.859911109/thoughtport.thoughtport.net Content-Type: MESSAGE/DELIVERY-STATUS Content-ID: Reporting-MTA: dns; thoughtport.thoughtport.net Arrival-Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 10:08:32 -0600 (CST) Final-Recipient: RFC822; roc@xmission.net Action: delayed Status: 4.4.1 Remote-MTA: DNS; xmission.net Last-Attempt-Date: Tue, 1 Apr 1997 10:11:49 -0600 (CST) Will-Retry-Until: Sat, 5 Apr 1997 10:08:32 -0600 (CST) --KAA03889.859911109/thoughtport.thoughtport.net Content-Type: MESSAGE/RFC822 Content-ID: Return-Path: Received: from fs1.mainstream.net (ferriscc@fs1.mainstream.net [206.97.102.4]) by thoughtport.thoughtport.net (8.8.5/8.8.5/tpa-mailhost+bbum-hacquage) with ESMTP id KAA01558 for ; Mon, 31 Mar 1997 10:08:32 -0600 (CST) Received: (from ferriscc@localhost) by fs1.mainstream.net (8.7.6/8.7.3) id LAA15406; Mon, 31 Mar 1997 11:06:48 -0500 (EST) cc: noban@Mainstream.net Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII THIS IS A SATIRE - Not related to ROC or to NOBAN !!! As a traditional Episcopalian (Anglican Catholic) who is happily married to a Roman Catholic and who enjoyed attending Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday services, I also enjoyed watching some TV movies with traditional religious themes over the past weekend. Then, I heard that Wee Willie Jefferson Clinton, El Supremo in D.C., had "remade" some of my old favorites to fit his particular life style ... Here they are, the "Clintonized" versions: The Rub (The Robe) Done Her (Ben Hur) Saddam Got More Of Her (Sodom and Gomorrah) Slammed Some of Delilah (Samson and Delilah) The Ten Condoms & Mints (The Ten Commandments) Thing of Things (King of Kings) Mo' Bodice! (Quo Vadis) THIS IS A SATIRE ______________________________________________________________________________ Christopher C. Ferris Litchfield NH ferriscc@mainstream.net --KAA03889.859911109/thoughtport.thoughtport.net-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: The New Arms Race and the UN VIEW: Light Weapons and International Security (fwd) Date: 01 Apr 1997 11:08:13 -0600 (CST) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Posted to texas-gun-owners by 6mysmesa@1eagle1.com The following article on light weapons proliferation by Michael Klare is taken from the Current History web site. This article appeared in the April 1997 issue. The UN has decided to eliminate or radically reduce small arms access around the world (BASIC) "fer da chirrun" but I suspect the real reason is to prevent revolution and dissent and to maintain the status quo. As such, the NRA is now at the UN as a lobby organization. This article is redistributed for noncommercial, educational and research purposes only. http://www.currenthistory.com/Klare.html The New Arms Race: Light Weapons and International Security Michael T. Klare For most of the past 50 years, analysts and policymakers have largely ignored the role of small arms and other light weapons in international security affairs, considering them too insignificant to have an impact on the global balance of power or the outcome of major conflicts. Nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, and major conventional weapons (tanks, heavy artillery, jet planes) are assumed to be all that matter when calculating the strength of potential belligerents. As a result, international efforts to reduce global weapons stockpiles and to curb the trade in arms have been focused almost exclusively on major weapons systems. At no point since World War II have international policymakers met to consider curbs on trade in light weapons, or to restrict their production. Recently, world leaders have begun to take a fresh interest in small arms and light weapons. Because of the global upsurge in ethnic and sectarian conflict, policymakers have become more attuned to the role played by such arms in sparking and sustaining low-level warfare, and have begun to consider new constraints on trade in these munitions. "I wish to concentrate on what might be called 'micro-disarmament,'"United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali declared in January 1995. By that, he explained, "I mean practical disarmament in the context of the conflicts the United Nations is actually dealing with, and of the weapons, most of them light weapons, that are actually killing people in the hundreds of thousands" (emphasis added). This focus on the conflicts the United Nations is "actually dealing with" represents a major shift in global priorities. During the cold war, most world leaders were understandably preoccupied with the potential threat of nuclear war or an East-West conflict in Europe. Today policymakers are more concerned about the immediate threat of ethnic and sectarian warfare. While such violence does not threaten world security in the same catastrophic manner as nuclear conflict or another major war in Europe, it could, if left unchecked, introduce severe instabilities into the international system. This inevitably leads, as suggested by Boutros-Ghali, to a concern with small arms, land mines, and other light munitions; these are the weapons, he notes, that "are probably responsible for most of the deaths in current conflicts." This is true, for instance, of the conflicts in Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Bosnia, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Kashmir, Liberia, Rwanda, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tajikistan, and Zaire. Although heavy weapons sometimes play a role, most of the day-to-day fighting is performed by irregular forces armed only with rifles, grenades, machine guns, light mortars, and other "man-portable" munitions. SMALL ARMS, GLOBAL PROBLEMS The centrality of light weapons in contemporary warfare is especially evident in the conflicts in Liberia and Somalia. In Liberia, rival bands of guerrillas--armed, for the most part, with AK-47 assault rifles--have been fighting among themselves for control of the country, bringing commerce to a standstill and driving an estimated 2.3 million people from their homes and villages. In Somalia, lightly armed militias have been similarly engaged, ravaging the major cities, paralyzing rural agriculture, and at one point pushing millions to the brink of starvation. In both countries, UN-sponsored peacekeeping missions have proved unable to stop the fighting or disarm the major factions. The widespread use of antipersonnel land mines (small explosive devices that detonate when stepped on or driven over) is a common feature of many of these conflicts. These munitions, which can cost as little as $10 apiece, are planted in roads, markets, pastures, and fields to hinder agriculture and otherwise disrupt normal life. An estimated 85 million to 110 million uncleared mines are thought to remain in the soil of some 60 nations, with the largest concentrations in Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, and the former Yugoslavia. Each year some 25,000 civilians are killed, wounded, or maimed by land mines, and many more are driven from their homes and fields. There are many reasons why small arms, mines, and other light weapons figure so prominently in contemporary conflicts. The belligerents involved tend to be insurgents, ethnic separatists, brigands, and local warlords with modest resources and limited access to the international arms market. While usually able to obtain a variety of light weapons from black-market sources or through theft from government arsenals, they can rarely afford or gain access to major weapons systems. Furthermore, such forces are usually composed of ill-trained volunteers who can be equipped with simple infantry weapons but who lack the expertise to operate and maintain heavier and more sophisticated equipment. Logistical considerations also mitigate against the acquisition of heavy weapons. Lacking access to major ports or airfields and operating largely in secrecy, these forces must rely on clandestine and often unreliable methods of supply that usually entail the use of small boats, pack animals, civilian vehicles, and light planes. These methods are suitable for delivering small arms and ammunition, but not heavy weapons. Tanks, planes, and other major weapons also require large quantities of fuel, which is not easily transported by such rudimentary methods. The character of ethnic and sectarian warfare further reinforces the predominance of light weapons. The usual objective of armed combat between established states is the defeat and destruction of an adversary's military forces; the goal of ethnic warfare, however, is not so much victory on the battlefield as it is the slaughter or the intimidation of members of another group and their forced abandonment of homes and villages ("ethnic cleansing"). In many cases a key objective is to exact retribution from the other group for past crimes and atrocities, a task best achieved through close-up violence that typically calls for the use of handheld weapons: guns, grenades, and machetes. While the weapons employed in these clashes are relatively light and unsophisticated, their use can result in human carnage of horrendous proportions. The 1994 upheaval in Rwanda resulted in the deaths of as many as 1 million people and forced millions more to flee their homeland. Similarly, the fighting in Bosnia is believed to have taken the lives of 200,000 people and has produced millions of refugees. Although the availability of arms is not in itself a cause of war, the fact that likely belligerents in internal conflicts are able to procure significant supplies of light weapons has certainly contributed to the duration and intensity of these contests. Before the outbreak of violence in Rwanda, for example, the Hutu-dominated government spent millions of dollars on rifles, grenades, machine guns, and machetes that were distributed to the army and militia forces later implicated in the systematic slaughter of Tutsi civilians. In Afghanistan, the fact that the various factions were provided with so many weapons by the two superpowers during the cold war has meant that bloody internecine warfare could continue long after Moscow and Washington discontinued their supply operations. The ready availability of light weapons has also contributed to the persistence of violence in Angola, Kashmir, Liberia, Sri Lanka, and Sudan. The widespread diffusion of light weapons in conflict areas has also posed a significant hazard to UN peacekeeping forces sent to police cease-fires or deliver humanitarian aid. Even when the leaders of major factions have agreed to the introduction of peacekeepers, local warlords and militia chieftains have continued to fight to control their territory. Fighting persisted in Somalia long after American and Pakistani UN peacekeepers arrived in 1992, leading to periodic clashes with UN forces and, following a particularly harrowing firefight in October 1993, to the withdrawal of American forces. Skirmishes like these were also a conspicuous feature of the combat environment in Bosnia before the signing of the Dayton peace accords, and remain a major worry for the NATO forces stationed there today. Even when formal hostilities have ceased, the diffusion of light weapons poses a continuing threat to international security. In those war-torn areas where jobs are few and the economy is in ruins, many demobilized soldiers have turned to crime to survive, often using the weapons they acquired during wartime for criminal purposes or selling them to combatants in other countries. During the 1980s, South African authorities provided thousands of guns to antigovernment guerrillas in Angola and Mozambique; these same guns, which are no longer needed for insurgent operations, are now being smuggled back into South Africa by their former owners and sold to criminal gangs. Some of the guns provided by the United States to the Nicaraguan contras have reportedly been sold to drug syndicates in Colombia. MAIMING PROGRESS It is no longer possible to ignore the role of small arms and light weapons in sustaining international conflict. Although efforts to address this problem are at an early stage, policymakers have begun to consider the imposition of new international constraints on light weapons trafficking. The UN, for example, has established a special commission--the Panel of Governmental Experts on Small Arms--to look into the problem, while representatives of the major industrial powers have met under the auspices of the Wassenaar Arrangement (a group set up in 1996 to devise new international controls on the spread of dangerous military technologies) to consider similar efforts. Despite growing interest, movement toward the adoption of new controls is likely to proceed slowly because of the many obstacles that must be overcome. (Only in one area-the establishment of an international ban on the production and use of antipersonnel land mines-is rapid progress possible.) One of the greatest obstacles to progress is the lack of detailed information on the international trade in small arms and light weapons. Although various organizations, including the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) have long compiled data on transfers of major weapons systems, no organization currently provides such information on light weapons. Those who want to study this topic must begin by producing new reservoirs of data on the basis of fragmentary and anecdotal evidence. Fortunately, this process is now well under way, and so it is possible to develop a rough portrait of the light weapons traffic.1 SUPPLY AND DEMAND There is no precise definition of light weapons. In general, they can be characterized as conventional weapons that can be carried by an individual soldier or by a light vehicle operating on back-country roads. This category includes pistols and revolvers, rifles, hand grenades, machine guns, light mortars, shoulder-fired antitank and anti-aircraft missiles, and antipersonnel land mines. Anything heavier is excluded: tanks, heavy artillery, planes, ships, and large missiles, along with weapons of mass destruction. Small arms and light weapons can be acquired in several ways. All the major industrial powers manufacture light weapons of various types, and tend to rely on domestic production for their basic military needs. Another group of countries, including some in the third world, has undertaken the licensed manufacture of weapons originally developed by the major arms-producing states. The Belgian fal assault rifle has been manufactured in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, India, Israel, Mexico, South Africa, and Venezuela, while the Russian / Soviet AK-47 (and its variants) has been manufactured in China, the former East Germany, Egypt, Finland, Hungary, Iraq, North Korea, Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia. All told, about 40 countries manufacture at least some light weapons in their own factories. All other nations, and those countries that cannot satisfy all of their military requirements through domestic production, must rely on the military aid programs of the major powers or the commercial arms market. Historically, the military aid programs of the United States and the Soviet Union were an important source of light weapons for developing nations. In addition to the major weapons supplied by the superpowers to their favored allies, both Moscow and Washington also provided vast quantities of small arms, grenades, machine guns, and other light weapons. Today, direct giveaways of light weapons are relatively rare (although the United States still supplies some surplus arms to some allies), so most developing nations must supply their needs through direct purchases on the global arms market. Unfortunately, there are no published statistics on the annual trade in light weapons. However, the ACDA has estimated that approximately 13 percent of all international arms transfers (when measured in dollars) is comprised of small arms and ammunition. Applying this percentage to ACDA figures on the value of total world arms transfers in 1993 and 1994 would put global small arms exports at approximately $3.6 billion and $2.9 billion, respectively (in current dollars). Adding machine guns, light artillery, and antitank weapons to the small arms category would probably double these figures to some $6 billion per year, which is about one-fourth the total value of global arms transfers. Further data on the sale of small arms and light weapons through commercial channels are simply not available. Most states do not disclose such information, and the UN Register of Conventional Arms (an annual listing of member states' arms imports and exports) covers major weapons only. However, some indication of the scope of this trade can be obtained from the information in Jane's Infantry Weapons on the military inventories of individual states. The fal assault rifle is found in the inventories of 53 third world states; the Israeli Uzi submachine gun is found in 39 such states; the German G3 rifle in 43 states; and the Belgian MAG machine gun in 54 states. For established nation-states (except those subject to UN arms embargoes), the commercial arms trade provides an ample and reliable source of small arms and light weapons. For nonstate actors, however, the global arms market is usually closed off. Most countries provide arms only to other governments, or to private agencies that employ or distribute arms with the recipient government's approval. (Such approval is sometimes given to private security firms that seek to import firearms for their own use, or to gun stores that sell imported weapons to individual citizens for hunting or self-defense.) All other groups, including insurgents, brigands, and ethnic militias, must rely on extralegal sources for their arms and ammunition. THE OTHER ARMS MARKETS Nonstate entities that want weapons for operations against the military forces of the state or against rival organizations can obtain arms in three ways: through theft from government stockpiles; through purchases on the international black market; and through ties to government agencies or expatriate communities in other countries. Theft is an important source of arms for insurgents and ethnic militias in most countries, especially in the early stages of conflict. The fledgling armies of Croatia and Slovenia were largely equipped with weapons that had been liberated" from Yugoslav government arsenals. Weapons seized from dead or captured soldiers also figure prominently in the arms inventories of many insurgent forces. Thus the mujahideen of Afghanistan relied largely on captured Soviet weapons until they began receiving arms in large quantities from outside sources. Many of the guerrilla groups in Latin America have long operated in a similar fashion. For those insurgent and militia groups with access to hard currency or egotiable commodities (such as diamonds, drugs, and ivory), a large variety of light weapons can be procured on the international black market. This market is composed of private dealers who acquire weapons from corrupt military officials or surplus government stockpiles and ship them through circuitous routes--usually passing through a number of transit points known for their lax customs controls--to obscure ports or airstrips where they can be surreptitiously delivered to the insurgents' representatives. Transactions of this sort have become a prominent feature of the global arms traffic, supplying belligerents around the world. The various factions in Bosnia, for example, reportedly obtained billions of dollars in arms through such channels between 1993 and 1995. Many other groups, including the drug cartels in Colombia and the guerrilla groups in Liberia, have also obtained arms in this fashion. Finally, insurgents and ethnic militias can turn to sympathetic government officials or expatriate communities in other countries for weapons (or for the funds to procure them from black-market suppliers). During the cold war, both the United States and the Soviet Union--usually operating through intelligence agencies like the CIA and the KGB--supplied weapons to insurgent groups in countries ruled by governments allied with the opposing superpower. At the onset of the 1975 war in Angola, for example, the CIA provided anticommunist insurgents with 20,900 rifles, 41,900 anti-tank rockets, and 622 mortars; later, during the Reagan administration, the United States supplied even larger quantities of arms to the contras in Nicaragua and the mujahideen in Afghanistan. The KGB also supplied insurgent groups with arms of these types, often routing them through friendly countries such as Cuba and Vietnam. Superpower intervention has largely ceased with the end of the cold war, but other nations are thought to be engaged in similar activities. The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency of Pakistan is believed to be aiding in the covert delivery of arms to antigovernment insurgents in Kashmir. Likewise, the government of Iran has been accused of supplying arms to Kurdish separatists in Turkey, while Burkina Faso has been charged with aiding some of the guerrilla factions in Liberia. Expatriate groups have also been known to supply arms to associated groups in their country of origin. Americans of Irish descent have smuggled arms to the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland, while Tamil expatriates in Canada, Europe, and India are thought to be sending arms (or the funds to procure them) to the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. A DUAL STRATEGY FOR ARMS CONTROL Any effort to control the light weapons trade between established states (or their constituent parts) will run into the problem that most government leaders believe the acquisition of such weaponry is essential to the preservation of their sovereignty and therefore sanctioned by the United Nations charter. Many states are also engaged in the sale of light weapons and would resist any new constraints on their commercial activities. It is unlikely, therefore, that the world community will adopt anything resembling an outright ban on light weapons exports or even a significant reduction in such transfers. This does not mean that progress is impossible. It should be possible to insist on some degree of international transparency in this field. At present, governments are under no obligation to make available information on their imports and exports of light weapons. By contrast, most states have agreed to supply such data on major weapons systems, for release through the UN Register of Conventional Arms. Although compiling data on transfers of small arms and light weapons would undoubtedly prove more difficult than keeping track of heavy weapons (because small arms are normally transferred far more frequently, and with less government oversight, than heavy weapons), there is no technical reason why the UN register could not be extended over time to include a wider range of systems. Including light weapons in the register would enable the world community to detect any unusual or provocative activity in this area (for example, significant purchases of arms and ammunition by a government that is supposedly downsizing its military establishment in accordance with a UN-brokered peace agreement) and to respond appropriately. The major arms suppliers could also be required to abide by certain specified human rights considerations when considering the transfer of small arms and light weapons to governments involved in violent internal conflicts. Such sales could be prohibited in the case of governments that have suspended the democratic process and employed brutal force against unarmed civilians. An obvious candidate for such action is Burma, whose military leadership has usurped national power, jailed pro-democracy activists, and fought an unrelenting military campaign against autonomy-seeking minority groups. Human rights considerations have already figured in a number of UN arms embargoes--such as that imposed on the apartheid regime in South Africa--and so it should be possible to develop comprehensive restrictions of this type. Finally, the world community could adopt restrictions or a prohibition on the transfer of certain types of weapons that are deemed to be especially cruel or barbaric in their effects. The first target should be the trade in antipersonnel land mines. President Bill Clinton called for a worldwide ban on the production, transfer, and use of such munitions in May 1996. Many other leaders have promised to support such a measure, but more effort is needed to persuade holdout states to agree. In addition to land mines, a ban could be imposed on bullets that tumble in flight or otherwise reproduce the effects of dumdum bullets (a type of soft-nosed projectile that expands on impact and produces severe damage to the human body). Bullets of this type where outlawed by the Hague Convention of 1899, but have reappeared in other forms. STOPPING BLACK-MARKET TRAFFIC An entirely different approach will be needed to control the black-market traffic in arms. Since such trafficking violates, by definition, national and international norms regarding arms transfers, there is no point in trying to persuade the suppliers and recipients involved to abide by new international restraints on the munitions trade. Instead, governments should be asked to tighten their own internal controls on arms trafficking and to cooperate with other states in identifying, monitoring, and suppressing illegal gun traffickers. As a first step, all the nations in a particular region--such as Europe or the Western Hemisphere--should agree to uniform export restrictions and establish electronic connections between their respective customs agencies to permit the instantaneous exchange of data on suspect arms transactions. These measures should prohibit the export of arms to any agency or firm not subject to government oversight in the recipient nation, and the use of transshipment points in third countries that do not adhere to the uniform standards. At the same time, the law enforcement agencies of these countries should cooperate in tracking down and prosecuting dealers found to have engaged in illicit arms transfers. Eventually these measures could be extended on a worldwide basis, making it much more difficult for would-be traffickers to circumvent government controls. It is unrealistic, of course, to assume that these measures will prevent all unwanted and illicit arms trafficking--there are simply too many channels for determined suppliers to employ. Nor should airtight control be the goal of international action. Rather, the goal should be to so constrict the flow of weapons that potential belligerents (including nonstate actors) are discouraged from achieving their objectives through force of arms and seek instead a negotiated settlement. Such controls should also be designed to reduce the death and displacement of civilians trapped in conflict areas, and to impede the activities of terrorist and criminal organizations. Obviously, it will not be possible to make progress so long as policymakers view the trade in small arms and light weapons as a relatively insignificant problem. Educating world leaders about the dangerous consequences of this trade in an era of intensifying ethnic and sectarian conflict is a major arms control priority. Once these consequences are widely appreciated, it should be possible for the world community to devise the necessary controls and make substantial progress in curbing this trade. 1Three basic sources constitute a provisional database on the topic: Jeffrey Boutwell, Michael T. Klare, and Laura W. Reed, eds., Lethal Commerce: The Global Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons (Cambridge, Mass.: American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1995); Michael Klare and David Andersen, A Scourge of Guns: The Diffusion of Small Arms and Light Weapons in Latin America (Washington, D.C.: Federation of American Scientists, 1996); and Jasjit Singh, ed., Light Weapons and International Security (New Delhi: Indian Pugwash Society and British-American Security Information Council, 1995). -- For help with Majordomo commands, send a message to majordomo@zilker.net with the word help in the message body. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: News on the Good Samaritan in California Date: 01 Apr 1997 12:04:05 -0600 (CST) Please, lets have a little Easter Peace, no more NRA Sucks flame wars. There are people working on it and they do some good after all. One of our buyers husband died this weekend. Life is so short after all. Apparently Ben took his boat, for the first time, to Lake Fork in Emory to go fishing alone. I believe that the accident occurred while loading or unloading the boat. He apparently slipped, hit his head and went under water. There were apparently witnesses to the accident but Ben had drowned before help arrived. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Message-ID: The Good Samaritan in California is out of jail and there is an investigation concerning the incident going on. He has counsel and will have to go to court in the next few months. The Congress is out of session for Easter recess.... And no, the "NRA flap" is not affecting the work of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action. Right to Carry is working in KS, NE, IL. Right to Carry reform is alive and well in VA, TX, TN and several other states. We are passing range protection legislation and working against anti-firearms, anti-hunting, anti-personal protection legislation is several states. We are busy on all fronts: legislatively, politically, and in the public relations arena. --- On Fri, 28 Mar 1997 10:50:28 -0500 (EST) JT McBride wrote: > >Did everyone on this list go join the Higher Source this week? > >Any news from NRA on the Good Samaritan? > >Any progress on the ban repeal bill (Rep. Paul)? > >I certainly hope this NRA leadership flap isn't consuming everyone's >energies. > >What's up? > >Jim >The "Assault Weapons" ban is drive-by legislation. The target: Crime; >the victimized innocent bystander: the lawfully armed Citizen. > ~*~*~ Tyranny Insurance by Colt's Manufacturing Cos. ~*~*~ > -----------------End of Original Message----------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: (fwd) OKC Bomb and Neo-Nazi Informants (fwd) Date: 01 Apr 1997 12:49:57 -0600 (CST) Oklahoma City, Government-Paid Neo- Nazis, and the FCC by J. Orlin Grabbe "The uninitiated often struggle with the differences between the Christian Identity movement and the paganist neo-Nazis such as the Aryan Nations, as they share a virulent racism and antisemitism and have been known to cooperate on paramilitary ventures. The principal difference between the two is that unlike the neo-Nazis (who worship Odin, Thor and miscellaneous biker- gods but have no limiting illusions about morality or charity), Christian Identity folks think racism and antisemitism is OK because God and Jesus told `em so." --Mike Vanderboegh, Commander The First Alabama Cavalry Regiment Constitutional Militia If you were going to commit a terrorist act for political purposes, you would need a) someone to commit the act, and b) someone to blame it on. People who want to draw attention to their cause often commit acts of terrorism, and then announce their own responsibility. But acts of violence are just as frequently fomented to discredit someone else. When governments commit terrorist acts, they typically blame anti-government groups or political opponents. Which brings us to the "neo-Nazi" and "White Supremacy" connections to the Oklahoma City bombing. Certainly many of the people associated with the bombing hung out with, or were part of, religious or political enclaves who professed goals of white racial purity and of ridding the U.S. of blacks and Jews. But it is becoming increasingly hard to find any involvement in the bombing itself by "neo-Nazi" fellow travelers who were not in fact government agents or informants. Moreover, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is reportedly threatening to revoke the licenses of some news organizations it regulates who report these government ties. This in itself makes the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City look increasingly like a political act. President William Jefferson Clinton attributed the revival of his popularity after the 1994 election debacle to the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in OKC. ("Relaxing on Air Force One after the election, Bill Clinton told reporters it was the Oklahoma bombing that proved the turning point in his political fortunes."--Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, "Bomb that Gave Clinton Victory Could Still Return to Haunt Him," London Sunday Telegraph, Nov. 10, 1996.) The bombing supposedly discredited "right- wing" anti-government and anti-Clinton critics, talk radio hosts, and what- not. But how a government-inspired mass murder of 168 American citizens is supposed to discredit anti-government sentiment is not clear. Moreover, it is probable that current FCC censorship threats are being directed from the White House and the Justice Department. (You should let the FCC know of what you think of its attempt to control the flow of news. Read them the text of the First Amendment. FCC contact information is given below.) Consider the connections between assorted government informants with strange racial beliefs, the Oklahoma City bombing, and a string of mid- Western bank robberies. Let's begin with CAROL HOWE, a former Miss Teenage America semi-finalist, Aryan goddess, and ATF snitch who filed some 70 reports with her ATF control officer Angela Finley in Tulsa on the events at ELOHIM CITY, especially the activities of DENNIS MAHON, ANDREAS CARL STRASSMEIR and TIMOTHY MCVEIGH--the latter whom she knew as "Tim Tuttle". She says she was contacted by DENNIS MAHON after ordering some literature from a group called White Aryan Resistance (WAR). Howe says she became an ATF snitch after Mahon threatened her because he wanted a closer relationship with her than she did. Howe also told J.D. Cash of the McCurtain Gazette about Elohim security advisor ANDREAS CARL STRASSMEIR: "I kinda had a relationship with him for a while . . . We talked about relationships once, and he said he wasn't interested in settling down with a woman. All he wanted to do was blow up Federal Buildings. It was also at that same meeting that he shoved his hand down my dress and I though, well, he was doing something else, but now that I think about it, I think he was feeling for a wire [recording device]." Howe says she went with ANDREAS STRASSMEIR and DENNIS MAHON to case the Murrah Federal Building as a possible bombing target. Howe's Tulsa housemate, James Dodson Viefhaus, was arrested in Dec. 1996 for a threat to bomb 15 U.S. cities. In addition to ammonium nitrate and other chemicals found in the house, a search turned up a picture of Viefhaus and Howe holding weapons and wearing swastikas on their clothing (David Harper, Tulsa World, Dec. 19, 1996). ELOHIM CITY is a 400-acre compound located near Muldrow, Oklahoma, about thirty-five miles northwest of Fort Smith, Arkansas. It was founded in 1973 by ROBERT MILLAR, a Canadian who preaches that white Anglo-Saxons are God's chosen people, non-whites are descendants of pre-Adamic species lower than whites, and Jews are Satan's children. Two dozen of Millar's 34 grandchildren reside at Elohim City, making up about a quarter of the resident population. One granddaughter is married to JAMES ELLISON. Another is engaged to MICHAEL BRESCIA. Millar was present at the April 19, 1995, execution of RICHARD WAYNE SNELL, whose body he brought back to Elohim City for burial. Many visitors to Elohim City were sent there by Aryan Nation leader MARK THOMAS. After ANDREAS STRASSMEIR's move to Elohim City was arranged by his attorney (and possible control officer) Kirk Lyons, Strassmeir volunteered for, and became, Elohim City's chief of security. ANDREAS CARL STRASSMEIR is the son of Guenter Strassmeir, "the architect of German reunification" who was once a top aide to German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Andreas Strassmeir spent seven years in the German army and later became chief of security at ELOHIM CITY. His first action there was to replace all deer rifles with assault weapons, and to begin to hold military style training sessions. He told ATF snitch CAROL HOWE (according to Howe) that he just wanted to blow up federal buildings. Strassmeir told the London Telegraph that "I've never worked for any U.S government agency, and I've not been involved in any intelligence operation since my discharge from the German army in 1988." But he acknowledged he first lived in the U.S. in 1989 because "I was hoping to work for the operations section of the DEA. It never worked out." More revealingly, he noted that "the right- wing in the U.S. is incredibly easy to penetrate if you know how to talk to them. Of course it's easier for a foreigner with an accent. Nobody would ever suspect a German of working for the federal government." Strassmeir was assisted in his unsucessful attempts to get jobs with the DEA or INS by VINCENT PETRUSKIE, a retired Air Force Colonel and (Strassmeir says) CIA agent for whom Strassmeir arranged to buy used Boeing 747s from Lufthansa. Strassmeir was described by MARK THOMAS as a "nice, quiet, classically educated European," according to the Village Voice. Strassmeir received a social security number in 1989 in Virginia, and obtained a Tennessee driver's license in 1992, using a Knoxville address provided by his attorney Kirk Lyons. In 1991 some members of the Texas Light Infantry Brigade, a citizen's militia, followed Strassmeir to a federal building and observed him entering it at night using the key-pad. The following year in 1992, Catina Lawson, who lived in Herington, Kansas, remembers seeing Strassmeir along with TIMOTHY MCVEIGH, whom she dated. Lawson recalled that Strassmeir "liked to dress in black, and he was real cold and arrogant--a real jerk." McVeigh tried to reach Strassmeir by phone at ELOHIM CITY two weeks before the OKC bombing (on April 5). McVeigh also called Strassmeir's lawyer Kirk Lyons the day prior to the April 19, 1995, bombing. Two other witnesses, Larry and Cathy Wild, say they saw and talked with Strassmeir at a lake north of Herington the week before the OKC bombing (Laura Frank, "Oklahoma Probe May Touch Tennessee," The Tennessean, June 30, 1996). Herington is the Kansas location where McVeigh and TERRY NICHOLS supposedly bought and stockpiled the ingredients of an ANFO bomb used in the OKC bombing, and where McVeigh is alleged to have rented a Ryder truck (although at the time McVeigh was videotaped having a hamburger at a Junction City McDonalds). ATF informant CAROL HOWE says she cased the Murrah Federal Building in OKC as a possible bombing target with Strassmeir and DENNIS MAHON. Strassmeir fled back to Germany via Mexico after the McCurtain Gazette raised questions about his connection to the OKC bombing. According to Strassmeir's attorney Kirk Lyons, Strassmeir was assisted in his escape by GSG-9, the German counter-terrorism unit. A "highly-placed source at the FBI" confirmed to the McCurtain Gazette (July 14, 1996) that Strassmeir was a paid ATF informant sent to infiltrate ELOHIM CITY. DENNIS MAHON is a former Imperial Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan and a consultant to the White Aryan Resistance (WAR). He used to visit ELOHIM CITY for fellowship, target shooting, and to practice military maneuvers. Mahon claimed close friendship with ANDREAS CARL STRASSMEIR. "Mahon says he saw McVeigh at the same 1993 Tulsa gun show that Strassmeir attended but that he never talked to McVeigh" (Judy Thomas, Kansas City Star, March 17, 1996). Kirk Lyons, Andreas Strassmeir's attorney, told the German magazine Volkstreue: ". . . the Klan today is ineffective and sometimes even destructive. There are many spies within it and most of its best leaders have left the Klan to do more effective work within the movement. . . . The man who is mainly responsible for the success of the Klan in Germany--Dennis Mahon--has left the Klan." MICHAEL BRESCIA has been identified as Joe Doe #2, and is listed in a $30 million lawsuit filed by Edye Smith (daughter of Glenn and Kathy Wilburn)-- along with TIMOTHY MCVEIGH, ANDREAS STRASSMEIR, and MICHAEL FORTIER. Edye Smith's two children, Chase and Colton, were killed in the Murrah Building bombing. The identification of Bescia as John Doe #2 was made by Catina Lawson, who dated TIMOTHY MCVEIGH for two years, and by Lawson's mother, Connie Smith. Brescia was also identified as Joe Doe #2 by DENNIS MAHON in an interview with the McCurtain Gazette. Brescia, a graduate of LaSalle High School in Philadelphia, dropped out of LaSalle University in his third year in 1993. He was introduced to ELOHIM CITY by Aryan Nation leader MARK THOMAS. There, according to ROBERT MILLAR, he shared a house with ANDREAS STRASSMEIR. According to the John Doe Times, a "man anwering Bescia's description has been identified by eyewitnesses located by the Wilburns (and known to the FBI) as having been in the company of MICHAEL FORTIER, ANDREAS CARL STRASSMEIR and TIM MCVEIGH in the Herington, KS area in the summer of `92 up to just before the bombing. Some of the wilder girls of Herington knew him as `Mike Breezy' " (6/28/96). A law enforcement source in the Philadelphia area called Brescia "an ATF agent provocateur". Brescia became engaged to a granddaughter of Robert Millar, Esther Millar, before returning to Philadelphia to resume courses at LaSalle University. He was recently arrested by the FBI and charged in connection with participating in at least one (in Madison, Wisconsin on Aug. 30, 1995) of the series of Midwestern bank robberies made by Langan, Gutherie, Stedeford,and McCarthy. After the robbery, Brescia returned to ELOHIM CITY. He then returned to his parents home in Philadelphia, and subsequently played with fellow bank robbers SCOTT STEDEFORD and KEVIN MCCARTHY in a Philadelphia-area speed-metal band called Cyanide. MARK THOMAS ran a farm in Berks County, Pennsylvania, near Allentown that was frequented by skin-heads and members of the Aryan Nation. The goats in an outbuilding, Thomas said, provided milk for his daughter. Thomas delivered a eulogy for Robert Miles at an Aryan Nations gathering in Idaho. He held a Hitler Youth Festival at his Pennsylvania farm in April 1994, hanging a Nazi flag out front as a marker to guide visitors. Thomas introduced future bank robbers RICHARD GUTHERIE and SCOTT STEDEFORD to each other, and to future fellow bank robbers PETER LANGAN and KEVIN MCCARTHY. He also arranged for MCCARTHY to stay at ELOHIM CITY (according to Elohim City leader ROBERT MILLAR; Thomas denies this). Thomas published an Internet publication called The Watchman. A few days before the OKC bombing, Thomas visited his son at ELOHIM CITY. PETER LANGAN ("Commander Pedro") is the son of a CIA employee and a Wheaton High School dropout. Langan converted to Mormonism in 1988, but then became an ordained minister in a "Ku Klux Klan-affiliated church." Langan formed the "Aryan Republican Army" and produced a recruitment video entitled "The Aryan Republican Army Presents: The Armed Struggle Underground." Langan was arrested after robbing a Pizza Hut in Georgia in 1992 with RICHARD GUTHERIE. But he was sprung from jail by the Secret Service after agreeing to become an informant for them. The Secret Service wanted him to find Gutherie, who had threatened President George Bush. But after Langan re-established contact with Gutherie, the two men instead joined together for a spree of bank robberies. Langan was arrested in January 1996 after the FBI fired 50 rounds of ammunitions at him (he did not return fire) in Columbus, Ohio, and missed. Langan was charged with taking part in 22 bank robberies and convicted on February 10, 1997. Langan's lover Cherie Roberts appeared at the trial, referring to Langan as her "wife", whom she called "Donna". In their relationship, Roberts said, she dressed as a man, while Langan dressed as a woman and assumed a female role. RICHARD LEE GUTHERIE confessed to 19 bank robberies on behalf of the Aryan Republican Army after being arrested by the FBI in Cincinnati in January 1996. Shortly after making a sealed deal with the FBI, and after telling The Los Angeles Times he was writing a tell-all book, he was found hanged by a bedsheet from a ceiling vent in his Covington, Kentucky, jail cell (Tanya Bricking, "Robber Commits Suicide," Cincinnati Enquirer, July 13, 1996). Gutherie was being held by the U.S. Marshal Service in the Kenton County Jail as a federal prisoner. More than a decade previously, Gutherie had tried to become a member of an elite Seals unit after joining the Navy, but was courtmarshaled in 1983 for allegedly painting a swastika on the side of a ship. He then studied engineering. In a series of bank robberies undertaken with PETER LANGAN, SCOTT STEDEFORD, and KEVIN MCCARTHY in 1994-5, Gutherie and the other members of the group variously wore Nixon, Reagan, and Clinton masks, Santa Claus suits, and ATF or FBI jackets. They left real and fake explosives at the scene to facilitate their getaway. The first holdup was a bank in Ames, Iowa, undertaken in January 1994 after Secret Service snitch and transsexual LANGAN re-established contact with Gutherie. But when "Wild Bill" Gutherie later began to act too crazy for the other members of the group, he was cut out of the action. So Gutherie went solo and robbed two banks in Cincinnati before being captured by the FBI. Gutherie then lead the FBI to Langan's door, and agreed to testify against the other three members before his death. SCOTT ANTHONY STEDEFORD, while a teenager attending Haveford High School, liked to create air-brush images of his favorite band--Van Halen. He later played in a speed-metal band called Cyanide, and reportedly also in a (different?) white-power band called Day of the Sword with fellow bank robbers and ELOHIM CITY visitors MICHAEL BRESCIA and KEVIN MCCARTHY. Stedeford was arrested in May 1996 in connection with the series of 22 Midwestern bank robberies after buying a used 1979 Buick LaSabre for $750 cash to use as a getaway car in Des Moines, Iowa. He was charged with the robbery of Boatman's Bank of West Des Moines. Stedeford's arrest was made at Sound Under, a recording studio in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, where he worked as a guitarist. He was later convicted for three of the robberies. KEVIN MCCARTHY was arrested in the Bustletown area of Philadelphia two days after his friend SCOTT STEDEFORD was arrested in Upper Darby. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer Stedeford was done in by the perils of the Jersey shore: "When McCarthy was on the cusp of adolescence, his grandmother and her husband moved to the Jersey shore. It was there, against a Wildwood backdrop of Ferris wheels and taffy shops, that he began associating with skinheads" (6/30/96). He later lived for several months on MARK THOMAS's farm, before visiting ELOHIM CITY, whose leader ROBERT MILLAR would later say of Kevin's bank robbing spree: "If what they allege is true, I wonder who on earth could have influenced a nice boy like that to get involved in such things. He was a nice quiet, cooperative, intelligent person." McCarthy sported Nazi tatoos and played with STEDEFORD in the speed-metal band Cyanide. McCarthy plead guilty to involvement in three bank robberies, and became the chief witness against Stedeford in Stedeford's Des Moines trial in Nov. 1996. McCarthy also implicated MICHAEL BRESCIA in one of the bank robberies. JAMES ELLISON is a former leader of the Covenant, Sword and Arm of the Lord, another of whose members was RICHARD WAYNE SNELL. Ellison was convicted of racketeering and weapons charges after a four-day standoff beginning April 19, 1985, at the group's camp near the Arkansas-Missouri border. He subsequently became a federal witness against some ex- comrades at a 1988 trial in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He is married to a granddaughter of ROBERT MILLAR and lives at ELOHIM CITY. Ellison and Snell cased the Murrah Federal Building as a bombing target in 1983. TIMOTHY MCVEIGH showed up using the name "Tim Tuttle" at ELOHIM CITY before Chistmas 1994, according to CAROL HOWE. After finishing his service at Ft. Riley, McVeigh moved to Herington, Kansas, where he dated Catina Lawson, and was seen by Lawson and her mother Connie Smith in the company of MICHAEL BRESCIA. McVeigh was video-taped sitting in a Junction City McDonalds at the time the Ryder truck used to carry the OKC fertilizer bomb was rented. McVeigh's sister Jennifer told FBI agents he had given her three $100 bills in December 1994 to cash for him--saying it was money from a bank robbery he had helped plan. Barbara Wittenberg, owner of the Santa Fe Trails Diner in Herington, Kansas, remembers McVeigh, TERRY NICHOLS, and JOHN DOE #2 visiting her place on the Saturday before the OKC bombing: "I asked them why they had a Ryder truck outside. I wasn't being nosey, I just wondered if Terry Nichols was moving. My sister was moving here, and she needed to find a place. Well, the guy who they haven't arrested yet--John Doe #2--he blurted out that they were going to Oklahoma. When that happened, it was like someone threw ice water on the conversation. . . . McVeigh and Nichols just stared at the guy" (quoted by J.D. Cash, McCurtain Daily Gazette, July 14, 1996). Also, in a video-tape recorded on April 8, 1995, at Lady Godiva's, a Tulsa topless bar, a dancer repeats a customer's conversation: "I'm a very smart man . . . And on April 19, 1995, you'll remember me for the rest of your life." The customer has been identified as McVeigh, and the two men with him as MICHAEL BRESCIA, and ANDREAS STRASSMEIR. (The tape was shown in a Canadian Broadcast Company "Fifth Estate" news story.) MICHAEL FORTIER pleaded guilty to transporting and selling stolen property, lying to the FBI (is lying to an unchartered division of the Justice Dept. a crime?), and failing to report the bombing plans of MCVEIGH and NICHOLS. He was a Kingman, Arizona, resident who sold some stolen guns taken from gun collector ROGER MOORE, on behalf of TIMOTHY MCVEIGH. ROGER MOORE was a gun collector who was gagged and bound with duct tape in a daylight robbery by a masked robber wearing military camoflage near his Hot Springs, Arkansas, residence. The robber took $59,000 worth of guns, coins, precious metals and jade and a key to a Hot Springs safety deposit box. The key was later found among the property of TERRY LEE NICHOLS in Michigan. Some of the stolen guns were later sold to a Kingman, Arizona, pawnshop by MICHAEL FORTIER, a local resident who said he did so at the bidding of TIMOTHY MCVEIGH, a former house guest of Moore. Some grand jurors believe this robbery was used to finance the OKC bombing. RICHARD WAYNE SNELL, a member of the Covenant, Sword, and Arm of the Lord, was executed in Arkansas the day of the OKC bombing (April 19, 1995). He told Arkansas prison officials four days previously there would be a bombing (location not specified) the day of his death. Snell had killed a black Arkansas state trooper and a jeweler he "thought was Jewish." ROBERT MILLAR was in attendance at the execution, and took the body back to ELOHIM CITY for burial. Snell had cased the Murrah Federal Building in OKC as a bombing target with JAMES ELLISON in the early 1980s. VINCENT PETRUSKIE of Manassas, Virginia, is a retired Air Force Colonel who tried to help federal- building-bombing-advocate and ELOHIM CITY chief of security ANDREAS STRASSMEIR get a job with the DEA or INS. Strassmeir in turn helped Petruskie negotiate a multi-million dollar purchase of Boeing 747s from Lufthansa for a client of Petruskie Associates who was starting an air cargo service in South America. Strassmeir told an investigator that Petruskie was "a former CIA guy who my father had known" while Petruskie was stationed in Berlin. Petruskie denies he was a CIA agent, saying he worked for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. BILL MUELLER, his wife Nancy, and her eight-year old daughter Sarah were reported missing in January 1996. They had been murdered and dumped in the Illinois Bayou near Russellville in northwestern Arkansas. The adults were found to have handcuffed, while the heads of all three were covered with duct-taped plastic bags. In a November 1995 interview at Little Rock's I-30 Expo Center, Mueller told The Common Sense American about a burglary at his home, and about ATF objections to anti-Clinton themes (such as "Clinton--Blow It Out Your Sax") at his show booth: "It's been one strange thing after another. First the ATF tells me things in my booth have to be removed. Then I'm introduced to another strange character, ANDY STRASSMEIR, who seemed to parrot the same ATF line, and he introduced me to a real far-out guy named MICHAEL BRESCIA. He bought an item in the booth and I gave him change for a $10 bill. He insisted it was a $20. It was real weird." Mueller said he wrote the names in a small notebook because he had a feeling both persons might be connected to his home's burglary or even the ATF. George Eaton, published of the Patriot Report also told the Common Sense American (July 12, 1996) that he introduced Mueller to ANDY STRASSMEIR, who was a friend of Oklahoma bombing suspect TIMOTHY MCVEIGH. So, we have three ATF snitches involved in planning the bombing, one Secret Service snitch robbing banks, and many witnesses contradicting the official story that McVeigh acted alone with a little help from Terry Nichols. Meanwhile the FBI now denies there was a John Doe #2, while it avoids interviewing any of these embarrassing witnesses. But the White House and Justice Department, and now the FCC, find time to pressure news organizations not to report the story. And, of course, no one wants to talk about those exposives placed on the columns of the Murray Building as pointed out by General Benton K. Partin and in the secret Pentagon report. What do you think is going on? ************ Call or fax the following FCC Commissioners and ask them if it is true they are threatening to pull the plug on stations who report the facts on government connections to the Oklahoma City bombing (or any other government connections to criminal activity). Ask them if they believe in the First Admendment. (The FCC, of course, "never" engages in "censorship": it finds some "other" reason to give a TV studio or radio station a hard time.) You can view pictures, biographies, and speeches of the Commissioners on the Web at http://www.fcc.gov/commissioners.html. REED HUNDT was named FCC Chairman by Bill Clinton and sworn in by Al Gore. His term expires June 30, 1998. He went to Yale Law School (1974). His biography says "Chairman Hundt is the first Chairman to bring FCC operations into the communications age" (which makes one wonder what the FCC was supposed to have done before the communications age). But never mind that. He received the "Public Service Award to Children" for being a "staunch advocate for children." Ask him if that includes the 19 children killed at the OKC bombing. Phone: 202-418-1000. JAMES QUELLO's commission was due to expire July 31, 1996, but apparently he was reappointed. He has written about the "FCC's Regulatory Overkill" in the Wall Street Journal. Phone 202- 418-2000. SUSAN NESS has a law degree from Boston College Law School and an MBA from Wharton. She invites you "to share your own perspectives with me". Phone 202-418-2100. Fax 202-418-2821. RACHELLE CHONG is the only Republican Commissioner. She is a Star Trek fan and a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and says she enjoys surfing the Internet. Phone: 202-418-2200. Fax: 202-418- 2820. Email: rchong@fcc.gov February 16, 1997 Web Page: http://www.aci.net/kalliste/ -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Howlin' Blue" Subject: [Fwd: DRUDGE REPORT BREAK 4/1/97 19:02 UTC] Date: 01 Apr 1997 14:18:13 -0600 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------6B7164F67446 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit forwarded without comment. --------------6B7164F67446 Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Return-Path: Received: from mtigwc03.worldnet.att.net by ICSI.Net (SMI-8.6/SMI-SVR4) id OAA00146; Tue, 1 Apr 1997 14:10:59 -0600 Message-Id: <199704012010.OAA00146@ICSI.Net> Received: from Default ([207.147.200.225]) by mtigwc03.worldnet.att.net (post.office MTA v2.0 0613 ) with SMTP id AAA9469; Tue, 1 Apr 1997 19:51:42 +0000 X-Sender: drudge@lainet.com X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Pro Version 2.1.2 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT BREAK 4/1/97 19:02 UTC >>>> MULTINATIONAL WAR GAMES SET FOR TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO THE GERMANS ARE COMING! U.S. military troops are preparing for a massive training exercise that will include soldiers from Germany, Netherlands, Canada and other nations. Friends not foes. In EXERCISE ROVING SANDS '97, the so-called "world army" will test the viability of the Patriot, Hawk and Stinger missile systems with practice attacks including F-14, F-15, F/A-18, B-1 and B-52 aircrafts. The Pentagon publicly announced the exercise Tuesday morning in Washington. It will involve more than 20,000 soldiers, sailors and aviators and will be held on installations in Texas and New Mexico starting April 17 (ending 10 days later). It will be one the military's biggest joint defense training exercises in the modern era. XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT BREAK 4/1/97 19:02 UTC >>>> --------------6B7164F67446-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Larry BAll" Subject: Re: News on the Good Samaritan in California Date: 01 Apr 1997 17:17:04 -0600 Did I miss something? I thought that I was complimenting Tanya. Where did you see the flames? Paul, life can be eternal. Larry Ball lball@unlinfo.unl.edu ---------- > From: pwatson@utdallas.edu > To: Texas Gun Owners ; restore our constitution > Cc: against constitutional terrorist > Subject: News on the Good Samaritan in California > Date: Tuesday, April 01, 1997 12:04 PM > > Please, lets have a little Easter Peace, no more NRA Sucks flame wars. > There are people working on it and they do some good after all. > > One of our buyers husband died this weekend. Life is so short after all. > Apparently Ben took his boat, for the first time, to Lake Fork in Emory > to go fishing alone. I believe that the accident occurred while loading > or unloading the boat. He apparently slipped, hit his head and went under > water. There were apparently witnesses to the accident but Ben had drowned > before help arrived. > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > > Date: Mon, 31 Mar 97 11:33:24 EST > From: Tanya Metaksa > To: noban@fs1.mainstream.com > Subject: RE: List is pretty quiet > Message-ID: > > The Good Samaritan in California is out of jail and there is an > investigation concerning the incident going on. He has counsel > and will have to go to court in the next few months. > > The Congress is out of session for Easter recess.... > > And no, the "NRA flap" is not affecting the work of the NRA > Institute for Legislative Action. Right to Carry is working in > KS, NE, IL. Right to Carry reform is alive and well in VA, TX, > TN and several other states. We are passing range protection > legislation and working against anti-firearms, anti-hunting, > anti-personal protection legislation is several states. We are > busy on all fronts: legislatively, politically, and in the public > relations arena. > > --- On Fri, 28 Mar 1997 10:50:28 -0500 (EST) JT McBride > wrote: > > > > >Did everyone on this list go join the Higher Source this week? > > > >Any news from NRA on the Good Samaritan? > > > >Any progress on the ban repeal bill (Rep. Paul)? > > > >I certainly hope this NRA leadership flap isn't consuming > everyone's > >energies. > > > >What's up? > > > >Jim > >The "Assault Weapons" ban is drive-by legislation. The target: > Crime; > >the victimized innocent bystander: the lawfully armed Citizen. > > ~*~*~ Tyranny Insurance by Colt's Manufacturing Cos. ~*~*~ > > > > -----------------End of Original Message----------------- > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: FWU -- Ron Paul's legislation -- April 2, 1997 (fwd) Date: 02 Apr 1997 08:15:29 -0600 (CST) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >Return-Path: >From: Freedom Watch >To: Freedom Watch >Subject: FWU -- Ron Paul's legislation -- April 2, 1997 >Date: Tue, 1 Apr 1997 11:36:58 -0500 >Encoding: 97 TEXT > >**HAVE YOU CALLED THE WEEKLY TOLL-FREE "RON PAUL LEGISLATIVE UPDATE"? You >can hear the update 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, from anywhere in the >country. Just call 1-888-322-1414.** >--------------------------------- >--------------------------------- >-------Freedom Watch Update------ >-----Wednesday, April 2, 1997---- >--------------------------------- >--------------------------------- >Ron Paul: legislation needed to restore constitutional >accountability, cut spending, cut taxes > >.. ..First In A Periodic Series.. .. > >If the size of the government is to be reduced.. If taxes are to be cut.. >And If our civil and constitutional liberties are to be restored, there >must be immediate legislative steps taken in that direction. This is the >first in a periodic series looking at the legislation being sponsored and >cosponsored by Congressman Paul. > >** The Congressional Responsibility Act of 1997, HR 1036. The purpose of >the act is pretty simple: to force Congress to comply with its >Constitutional role. > >Article One of the Constitution limits the power to make certain laws >solely to Congress. But the practice has been very different. Congress has >all but abdicated the real law-making authority to the alphabet soup of >federal agencies. These agencies - like the IRS, the EPA, the Department of >Education, Health and Human Services, the Labor Department, etc. - make >rules which carry the full effect of law. These rules affect the minute >details of the lives of individuals in every aspect of life, yet no elected >official - accountable to the voters and taxpayers - sees the rules or has >any part of the process. It's now time for this to change. These >bureaucratic dictators need to be reigned in; and only Congress can do it. > >This legislation will end the arbitrary rule-making authority of agencies. >When an agency decides a rule is "needed" for whatever reason, they will be >required to submit that rule to the House and Senate. Those two bodies will >debate the rule, just like any other piece of legislation, and then vote on >it. If it passes, the rule goes into effect. If the vote fails, the rule >does not go into effect. > >** The OSHA Reform Act of 1997, HR 1162. This act would strip OSHA of its >ability to investigate businesses and assess fines. In addition, OSHA would >have to justify the standards it sets based on the best science available >and would have to consider the economic impact those standards will have. >Why is this important? If you found out that there was a government agency >which could conduct warrantless searches at will and assess fines without >need for court approval, such a story might seem to come from the old Nazi >or communist regimes. In fact, OSHA is that agency. > >Employers should operate their facilities in as safe an environment as >possible. But the role of the federal government is not to dictate what >that is, and the role of the federal government is certainly not to set >arbitrary laws and rules which have no basis in scientific or economic >fact, and allow for circumvention of the 4th Amendment. > >** The Privatization of Art Act, HR 122. A popular saying is that "beauty >is in the eye of the beholder," and it really is true. What one intelligent >person finds to be fine art, may be trash to someone else, and vice versa, >so why should one be forced to pay for the other? They should not. This act >abolishes the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Council for >the Arts. > >Over the past few years, the NEA has created controversy by using taxpayer >dollars to fund so-called-art that mocks the beliefs of millions of >Americans -- the very Americans who are forced to subsidize it! For >example, the NEA gave taxpayer funding to projects such as a film that >depicts graphic lesbian sex, and "poetry" depicting Jesus as a homosexual. > >Of course, the main reason we need to shut down the NEA is that the federal >government has no constitutional authority to fund the arts. While it is >laudable for an individual to support the artistic endeavors he >appreciates, under our constitutional system it is not the responsibility >of the US government to decide what is and is not art. > >++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ >--NOTE: PLEASE SEND _ALL_ CORROSPONDANCE TO rep.paul@mail.house.gov. >BECAUSE OF HEAVY VOLUME, LETTERS SENT TO THE "FREEDOM WATCH" ADDRESS CANNOT >BE PROPERLY PROCESSED AND READ. THE "FREEDOM WATCH" ADDRESS ONLY ACCEPTS >SUBSCRIPTION/UNSUBSCRIPTION QUERIES. THANK YOU!-- >++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ >The Freedom Watch Update (fax and eMail versions) >is a free service of the Washington Office of US REP Ron Paul. >For reprint or other questions, call (202) 225-2831. > >To unsubscribe from the eMail FWU, send a note to: >freedom.watch@mail.house.gov >and place the word "remove" in the SUBJECT line. > >++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ >**NOTE: PLEASE SEND ALL CORROSPONDANCE TO rep.paul@mail.house.gov. BECAUSE >OF HEAVY VOLUME, LETTERS SENT TO THE "FREEDOM WATCH" ADDRESS CANNOT BE >PROPERLY PROCESSED AND READ. THE "FREEDOM WATCH" ADDRESS ONLY ACCEPTS >SUBSCRIPTION/UNSUBSCRIPTION QUERIES. THANK YOU!** >++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ >vE-4AP97 > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: TWA800: Military DEATH THREATS (II) (fwd) Date: 03 Apr 1997 07:52:32 -0600 (CST) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- T R U T H B Y T H R E A T O F D E A T H (II) This is a review of Ron Lewis and groups associated with him, based upon public information. Ron Lewis and his colleges have conducted a long-term campaign of slander, intimidation, and death threats against private researchers of the TWA 800 crash who believe that the U.S. military may have shot TWA 800 down. Death-threat artist Ron Lewis is the founder of The Intelligyst Group, which, in close alliance with other intelligence organiza- tions, serves as an "open source" database for the U.S. military- intelligence community. Ron Lewis graduated from the Armed Forces Air Intelligence Training Center and worked for USAF Intelligence. He writes for the military journal AIR FORCES MONTHLY. A dejanews search reveals his experience and association with missile-systems. INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY: http://www.odci.gov/ic/usic/chart.gif Collect the following information in case it disappears soon. Works of Lewis and cohorts are presented as classes in "Info WAR" at the military-intelligence focused webpage called "InfoWAR": http://www.Infowar.com/class_3/class3_n.html-ssi http://www.infowar.com/class_3/class3_l.html-ssi The InfoWAR website, which defines its content as intended for "Counter-Terrorism/Law Enforcement personnel," is a base for intelligence-community groups associated with The Intelligyst Group. InfoWAR even hosts a page for Naval Intelligence Pro- fessionals. The page tells us that "NIP is a non-profit organ- ization who's goal is to further the knowledge of the art of maritime intelligence, and to provide a vehicle whereby present and former Naval Intelligence Professionals may be kept infor- med of developments in the Naval Intelligence community." http://www.infowar.com/resource/res_i.html-ssi One of the heads of The Intelligyst Group is Alijandra Mogilner . It's curious that a group that runs around call- ing its enemies "Iranian agents" seems to be headed by someone of Islamic origin. (I recommend an article in the NEW AMERICAN on the alliance of U.S. intelligence (FBI, CIA,..) and Islamic terrorists, who have been working together to promote acts of terrorism in the U.S. in an effort to further the advance of "anti-terrorist" police-state legislation in the U.S.. This will ensure more money and power for the U.S. intelligence community, of which entities such as The Intelligyst Group are a subset. Read it here: http://www.jbs.org/vo13no05.htm#enemy). Intelligyst Group agent Alijandra Mogilner wrote the following list of links (http://www.Infowar.Com/resource/res_b.html-ssi) to websites related to the interests of The Intelligyst Group. The list is a who's who of U.S. military intelligence. Notice the common Intelligyst Group link ("mil" = military): Resource Information by [Alijandra Mogilner] alm@znet.com. December 11, 1996 http://www.dtic.mil/dtiw/ http://dticam.dtic.mil/resdir/names.html http://www.dtic.dla.mil/bosnia/talon/index.html http://www.dtic.dla.mil/airforcelink/pa/index.html http://www.dtic.dla.mil/defenselink/photos/bosnia.html http://www.cdsar.af.mil/air-chronicles.html http://www.dtic.dla.mil/airforcelink/pa/new/airman/cover.htm http://www.dtic.dla.mil/armylink/ http://www.navy.mil/ http://www.usmc.mil/ http://www.dtic.mil/iac/ http://www.dtic.mil/iac/iacdir.html http://www.dtic.mil/summit/ http://www.dtic.mil/rdds/ http://www.dtic.mil/ozone/ AGMC is a key facility within the Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) playing a vital role in maintaining the operational readiness of the Air Force's first line aircraft and missiles. The center repairs inertial guidance and navigation systems used by virtually every aircraft and missile to ensure that it arrives on target, on time, and on command. INFORMATION WARFARE ON THE PEOPLE How fitting it was to find The Intelligyst Group at InfoWAR. Informational war, or destruction, is indeed the most ideal description of the tactics and aims of The Intelligyst Group: to destroy information threatening to the Military State and to destroy the people spreading it. "Information Warfare" is indeed the cutting edge of military intelligence. Published by the National Military Intelligence Association, the AMERICAN INTELLIGENCE JOURNAL (Spring/Summer 1994, p.19) gives the following description of Info-War goals: Information dominance is the gateway to victory... Members throughout the intelligence community have a major part to write in the book on how to seize and hold the commanding heights of information dominance, and how to identify and occupy decisive terrain on new information battlefields. This is not an ops job, or an intel job, or a C4 job--it's everyone on one team, winning the information war. Together we will guarantee that no one will see more, none will hear more, and no one will under- stand more than us. Indeed, military operatives, mostly Navy "professionals," have launched a war of informational destruction and personal intim- idation on the Internet "battlefield" in an effort to destroy inquiry into and knowledge of the TWA 800 crash. Such an assault backed by vicious slander and death threats, launched by members of the most culpable group, the U.S. military, is prima facie evidence of U.S. military culpability in the downing of TWA 800. *********************************************************************** IAN GODDARD (igoddard@erols.com) Q U E S T I O N A U T H O R I T Y VISIT Ian Goddard's Universe -----> http://www.erols.com/igoddard _______________________________________________________________________ TWA 800: THE FACTS --> http://www.erols.com/igoddard/twa-fact.htm WACO - WTC - OKC ---> http://www.erols.com/igoddard/facts.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: TWA800: Military DEATH THREATS (I) (fwd) Date: 03 Apr 1997 07:58:40 -0600 (CST) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- T R U T H B Y T H R E A T O F D E A T H (I) by Ian Williams Goddard You know your winning the intellectual debate in a big way when the opposition has to resort to death threats. In an effort to suppress free inquiry, the first weapons are distortion, noise, and ad hominem. If and when these weapons prove futile, heavier artillery such as threats of physical violence and death must be deployed. Below are carefully crafted death threats sent to me by U.S. Air Force missile-technician and intelligence opera- tive Ronald Lewis. It is a legal death-threat because he says others, not he, are probably going to kill me if I don't stop my inquiry into U.S. military culpability in the witnessed missile shoot-down of TWA flight 800. When you wonder why Navy crew are not coming forward, just remember that most people want to live and want their loved ones to live. Also remember that properly worded death threats are perfectly legal to issue. As the well-known reporter Sarah McClendon revealed to us on the Diane Rehm Show, White House guards routinely issued death threats to press reporters prior to press conferences -- an act which can be perfectly legal. What is a legal death threat? For example, if I tell you: "Do X or I believe other people are going to kill you," that's legal. If I tell you: "Shut up, or I'm afraid someone may shoot you in the head," that's just as legal as this death threat issued by Ronald Lewis to TWA 800 researcher Ian Goddard: The more he [Ian Goddard] pumps out talk of "murder" [by the govt], the more likely he makes it that the next one might be his. Translation: If you don't shut up, you'll be killed. The fact that a threat is a threat and not friendly advice can be clearly conveyed via the context of delivery, and context is also perfectly legal. So it's perfectly legal for the U.S. Navy to tell Navy crewmen that if they admit to shooting down TWA 800, they or their loved ones might get killed. Indeed, such a legal threat is what I got from U.S. military operative Ron Lewis for my inquiry into U.S. military culpability in the TWA 800 crash. WHAT IS MORE Intel-op Ron Lewis not only exploits the use of legal death threat, but his death threat also outlines the perfect murder cover-story: Ian Goddard was killed by the Iranian terrorists that shotdown TWA 800 because Goddard outlived his usefulness to the Iranians, who cut him off the Iranian-agent payroll by execution. Obviously I don't have to watch my back for Iranian hit-men to kill me because they are simply another twisted fabrication of military intelligence. Their problem is how to kill a private investigator and not make it appear to he was killed by the suspects he was investigating. The most logical course is to frame the investigator as a suspect -- as an enemy agent -- kill him and crank out the cover-up story that it was done by those all-pervasive enemy agents. Most logical, and indeed that is exactly what's in this script: -------- Begining of Death Threat From Ron Lewis ----------------------- X-Sender: INTELLIGYST@postoffice.worldnet.att.net My comments follow immediately after this nut's rantings. Lewis At 07:04 AM 3/28/97 +0000, you wrote: >The following citation is a stunning and hallmark >example of the Clinton administrations' >hard-core totalitarian agenda: > > THE NEW YORK TIMES, March 27, 1997 > > U.S. Fails in Global Proposal > for Internet Eavesdropping > > By John Markoff > > In a setback for the Clinton administration that > demonstrates the difficulty of setting global > policies for the Internet, the leading industrial > nations have declined to embrace a U.S. proposal > to allow computer eavesdropping by the world's > law enforcement agencies. [*] > >IAN: To the Clinton administration, a "setback" is the preservation >of human freedom. The Clinton administration has engaged in a pro- >longed aggression upon all traces of human freedom and individual >liberty. Without apology, the Clinton administration just tried >to establish the foundation for a Global Internet Police Force! >Global eavesdropping... a head-on, no holds barred assault on >freedom of speech that would represent a giant-leap forward >for global totalitarian conquest and control. Ipso facto: > >The Clinton administration is on the cutting edge of Global >Police-State Control... leading the world to totalitarianism. >The guaranteed right of cradle-to-grave global eavesdropping >for all people regardless of race, sex, or religion. Universal >surveillance for all. So where is the civil-libertarian Left? > >The Clinton administration agenda is a full-court industrial- >strength Orwellian agenda. And why not?! The major media have >let them get away with mass murder in Waco, let them get away >with murder in Fort Marcy Park, let the government get away >with involvement in the World Trade Center and Oklahoma City >bombings, and has effected the cover-up TWA 800. But the >Internet has not allowed them to get away with murder; >hence the need for a Global Internet Police Force. >_____________________________________________________________ >[*] http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/032797code.html > >*********************************************************************** > IAN GODDARD (igoddard@erols.com) Q U E S T I O N A U T H O R I T Y >----------------------------------------------------------------------- > VISIT Ian Goddard's Universe -----> http://www.erols.com/igoddard >_______________________________________________________________________ > > TWA 800: THE FACTS --> http://www.erols.com/igoddard/twa-fact.htm > > WACO - WTC - OKC ---> http://www.erols.com/igoddard/facts.htm I would fully expect to see Parveez Syed in London or their friend Eric Margolis in Paris come out with something that virtually photocopies the above comments. In fact, I would not be surprised if they have already done so and Goddard is copying them. Would lay money on it, in fact. I would advise watching Mr. Goddard very closely and ensuring his continued good health. This arrogant moron is obviously too clueless to understand that the more he accuses the US government and FBI of "murder", the more likely he makes it that Iran will dispose of him. It would cement the TWA 800 "friendly fire" myth for years to come, increase suspicion that Iran Goddard (oops, Ian Goddard) was "really on to something and had to be silenced." Meanwhile, it would be one less potential leak, one less payroll to have to meet and, above all, he is such an obviously high-strung nut that he is unpredictable. He whines and screams like a spoiled child every time something doesn't go his way and his rants about 60 Minutes reveal that he is crying for attention. Iran's MOIS may see him as more of a security threat (not to mention that his continued blathers give me more information and his carelessness helped me to link him with Salinger, Margolis, Russell, Shoemaker, Rivero and Parveez Syed. I am concerned for my own safety in pushing this issue but I think Goddard is one who should REALLY be worried. He served his purpose by getting the web page out there, introducing his nonsense at the same time Salinger did his dirty work, and made great strides in getting this nonsense into the public eye. Now, particularly as it looks as though the FBI will be asking for charges to be brought against the Salinger and Goddard element to help make up for the obstruction of the investigation, Iran will almost certainly realize that this guy is a squealer and whiner. That means he'll blow the whistle to weasel out of anything. That is something they cannot afford. The more he pumps out talk of "murder", the more likely he makes it that the next one might be his. For all of his many faults, Goddard could prove to be a key witness in any future court trials. He may be worthless scum, but there may yet be worth in making sure he does not meet with an Iranian-ordered accident. Of course, any surveillance of this jerk would have to be top-notch or he would probably start whining about "intimidation." Sincerely, Ron Lewis -------------- End of Death Threat From Ron Lewis ---------------- See Part II for a short profile of Ron Lewis & The Intelligyst Group. *********************************************************************** IAN GODDARD (igoddard@erols.com) Q U E S T I O N A U T H O R I T Y VISIT Ian Goddard's Universe -----> http://www.erols.com/igoddard _______________________________________________________________________ TWA 800: THE FACTS --> http://www.erols.com/igoddard/twa-fact.htm WACO - WTC - OKC ---> http://www.erols.com/igoddard/facts.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: Re: Is there anything going on at Mount Carmel on the 19th? (fwd) Date: 03 Apr 1997 10:49:32 -0600 (CST) After reading this, I am planning on going to Waco on April 19th. If any of you want to go with me I will take my Windstar Ford van so only my license will be recorded by the Feds :) Paul Watson Plano, Texas Work 972-883-2307 Home 972-596-3115 pwatson@utdallas.edu ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From what I know, Mike McNulty, researcher of "The Rules of Engagement" film, Dick DeGuerin and Phil Peningroth will speak on April 19. Peningroth is the guy who wrote the NBC special, "Ambush at Waco," that gave most people their idea of the affair. He has kept up with the Waco issue, and now feels that he was used by the government to produce propaganda. He should especially be worth hearing. I plan to be there, and it's a Saturday, so I hope we get a good crowd. Mark Swett from Mass is coming down to go with me. ******NOTE, I ADDED THIS FROM HIS WEB PAGE********* Cover to the book, The Ashes of Waco: An Investigation The Ashes of Waco: An Investigation This is the story that the press didn't give us, the definitive book about what happened at Mt. Carmel near Waco,Texas, examined from both sides... Purchase autographed copies of "The Ashes of Waco", direct from the author, Dick Reavis. Cost is $8.00/copy (includes postage) * What's New! * Sound Files : 911 and Negotiation Tape excerpts * Frequently Asked Questions * Selected Excerpts from the book * The Congressional Hearing * About the Author * Images of The Ashes of Waco * About Fireant Digital Copyright © 1995 by Dick J. Reavis, djreavis@onramp.net Created by Fireant Digital waco@fireant.com Last updated: 3/12/97 _________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: Re: Is there anything going on at Mount Carmel on the 19th? (fwd) Date: 03 Apr 1997 11:20:15 -0600 (CST) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- After reading this, I am planning on going to Waco on April 19th. Paul Watson Plano, Texas ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From what I know, Mike McNulty, researcher of "The Rules of Engagement" film, Dick DeGuerin and Phil Peningroth will speak on April 19. Peningroth is the guy who wrote the NBC special, "Ambush at Waco," that gave most people their idea of the affair. He has kept up with the Waco issue, and now feels that he was used by the government to produce propaganda. He should especially be worth hearing. I plan to be there, and it's a Saturday, so I hope we get a good crowd. Mark Swett from Mass is coming down to go with me. ******NOTE, I ADDED THIS FROM HIS WEB PAGE********* Cover to the book, The Ashes of Waco: An Investigation The Ashes of Waco: An Investigation This is the story that the press didn't give us, the definitive book about what happened at Mt. Carmel near Waco,Texas, examined from both sides... Purchase autographed copies of "The Ashes of Waco", direct from the author, Dick Reavis. Cost is $8.00/copy (includes postage) * What's New! * Sound Files : 911 and Negotiation Tape excerpts * Frequently Asked Questions * Selected Excerpts from the book * The Congressional Hearing * About the Author * Images of The Ashes of Waco * About Fireant Digital Copyright © 1995 by Dick J. Reavis, djreavis@onramp.net Created by Fireant Digital waco@fireant.com Last updated: 3/12/97 _________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: "Never Again" (fwd) Date: 04 Apr 1997 11:15:00 -0600 (CST) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- As the nineteenth approaches, I look back...... ***************************************************************************** July 1994, from Egon Richard Tausch (court observer): The surviving Branch Davidians had to overcome crippling handicaps in their murder and conspiracy trial, one year after the bloody attack, siege, and final assault on their communal home. At the last, they prevailed. The result was anything but foreordained. The trial, however, seemed to be over before it started. In a virtually unprecedented move, U.S. District Judge Walter Smith decided to choose an initial jury panel of 84, which he personally selected out of an original "jury wheel" of 300, basing his selections entirely on answers supplied by the potential jurors to a lengthy questionnaire concerning their attitudes toward gun control, religion, government, and federal agencies. Judge Smith overruled separate trials for several defendants, increasing the chance of conflicting, and therefore ineffectual, defenses. Almost half of the subpoenas for witnesses requested by the defense were refused by the court, some on the flimsiest grounds or no grounds at all. Finally, throughout the evidentiary portion of the trial, the court refused to permit any direct or indirect hint of the issue of self-defense on the Davidians' part -- neither in cross- examination of prosecution witnesses, nor in testimony or other evidence put on by the defense. The judge regularly sustained prosecution objections whenever defense questions could be interpreted as leading toward governmental misconduct. This broad prohibition ruled out issues about the sufficiency of the notorious affidavit "supporting" the ATF warrants; the legality of the warrants themselves; the requirements for service and execution of a warrant; the use of the words "assault" or "attack" in reference to ATF actions; discussion of the Davidians killed by the ATF agents; or any use of the Treasury or FBI reports. It also made putting any of the defendants themselves on the witness stand a futile and dangerous exercise. The only questions they could have been asked, after giving up their right to silence, hostile ones. That appeared to leave only two possible defenses: The four dead ATF agents were actually not killed by anyone but died of natural causes, or the Davidians weren't there at the time. For that matter, the latter defense wouldn't have been much good, either; the second-most serious charge was "conspiracy to commit murder," which charge didn't require the defendants' presence at Mt. Carmel. Nor did the lesser charges. In fact, four of the eleven defendants were elsewhere, during the bloody battle in which six Davidians and four ATF agents died. All of these matters were decided, as legal issues routinely are, outside the hearing of the jury. The defense did win a few. Prosecution witnesses avoided using the prejudicial words "cult" and "compound" -- the latter a military-sounding term never used by the inhabitants of Mt. Carmel -- for almost half of the trial. As for, the "sniper tower," or "watch tower," at Mt. Carmel, which the ATF and FBI had repeatedly labeled and pointed out to America's television viewers, the court instructed that it be identified as the only thing it had ever been used for: a huge water-storage tank on which the 100-200 inhabitants relied for drinking and sanitation. And the defense did have one major legal break which no court or ruling could seem to get around: The presumption of innocence. Therefore the Government had the burden of putting on at least some evidence. This disadvantage proved to be the prosecution's undoing. Emotional or inattentive jurors certainly observed an impressive government case: weapons parts found in the ashes of the burned Davidian center; clean-cut, articulate agents describing their "attempt to execute a warrant" and grieving over fallen comrades; one ATF medic's courage; a horrific account of a grievously wounded agent who lay conscious but unattended for two hours. Kathy Schroeder's chilling description of David Koresh's on- again-off-again ideas for a mass suicide after the battle. The early testimony by Texas Rangers about the weapons and weapons-parts found in the ashes of Mt. Carmel apparently had a strong effect on the out-of-state media. The prosecutors obligingly posted pre-printed lists all over the press room, to horrified comments by Eastern reporters who weren't sure of the difference between a bolt-action .22 rifle and a fully-automatic AK-47, but were sure they were all utterly evil and must be illegal, and what more would jurors need to know for guilty verdicts on all counts? The U. S. Attorneys, however, had to take a Texas jury into account, and soon gave up trying for shock value in the courtroom, especially since the Ranger witnesses were visibly uncomfortable testifying as involuntary federal "deputies." Of course, due to the pre-trial rules, the Rangers were no more free to be questioned about ATF actions than they had been free to investigate them independently at the time. They were deputized by the feds, probably illegally, at the very beginning of their investigation during the siege of Mt. Carmel. Unfortunately for the prosecution, their case could not be presented without multitudes of still and videotaped scenes of the February 28, 1993, ATF approach and massive assault on Mt. Carmel. For no readily discernable reason, the lengthy last part of the prosecution's case concerned the final, fiery attack by the FBI on April 19. This was irrelevant to the murder charges and could not only have the most tenuous connection with the conspiracy or other charges. It could have swayed jury sympathy in either direction. Despite many attempts, the prosecution failed to establish conclusively which side started the fire -- Davidians or FBI tanks smashing through kerosene lamps, candles, and large quantities of fuel during a windstorm. The jury listened to edited parts of a tape-recording from hidden microphones inside Mt. Carmel during the final attack and fire of April 19. These consisted of sounds of static during which one could faintly hear a voice or saying "fire." A government expert testified that through electronic enhancement, he reconstructed some clearly incriminating comments, even if the jury couldn't hear them. There was no mention of when, how, by whom, or under what authority the Davidians' home had been so extensively bugged before the raid. The prosecution failed also to establish which side fired its weapons first during the ATF raid on February 28. Indeed, it seemed to be afraid of the issue. All of Mt. Carmel's windows were shut at the moment of the ATF's arrival, and none of the people glimpsed inside or outside was visibly armed. The position that the ATF was "attempting to serve a warrant" fell apart when, during cross-examination, agent after agent denied that he had a warrant, or knew of anyone who had one, or ever announced one, or heard anyone else announce one, or ever had any orders to do anything but shoot at windows, walls, and people, scale ladders and smash into rooms, throw concussion grenades, or other warlike activities. The prosecution did not choose to call the ATF leaders, on the stand, and the defense was prohibited from doing so. Only Roland Ballesteros, the first agent to testify, claimed he shouted out that the raiders were ATF and that they had a war- rant. He stated he made this announcement before any shooting started, while he ran, weapon pointed, toward David Koresh, who was standing unarmed at the front doors with two other unarmed Davidians behind him. "He responded, 'What's going on?'" Ballesteros then added that Koresh closed the doors with a "smirk" and fired at him through them. Since this was at the time of Koresh's wounding, Ballesteros was asked how he know it was Koresh firing out, not agents firing in. The Agent replied that he could see the "wood or plywood" chips flying away from the bullet-holes. In cross examination, the defense attorney mildly pointed out that the doors were made entirely of thin metal. The agent reluctantly admitted this. (The bullet-scarred door in question had mysteriously disappeared after the initial investigation.) Almost as an afterthought, the defense elicited agent Ballesteros' admission that in the several previous official statements he had made since that bloody day he had confessed to lying in a shallow ditch at the time. Never before had he mentioned shouting anything or seeing anything, other than a dog killed at the edge of the ditch, in the first shots he heard, which came from the ATF "dog team." The prosecutors promptly got Ballesteros off the stand and replaced him with more credible agents.) Most telling was the ATF agents' descriptions, under cross- examination, of their intensive training for the raid, coached by Green Berets at Fort Hood. They admitted that they staged "about 15 or 20" practice raids on a mock Mt. Carmel, and that in each raid the orders and outcome were the same: a military assault from several directions at once, constant firing, scaling of ladders, smashing of windows with crowbars, throwing concussion grenades in them, then "securing" the rooms by killing or capturing the inhabitants. None of the practice-sessions involved the required policy of "Knock and Announce." Neither then nor in the raid itself did any agent witness ever learn who was to have or announce warrants, or approach the front doors, or who or how many Davidians were to be arrested, or what items were to be searched for. These details did not seem of much interest to them, and they were unprepared for such questions. As one team-leader, Agent Kenny King, testified, his team's orders were to scale his ladder and smash into the building, and his orders had never called for any announcement of identity or purpose, or allowed any discretion or change, whatever happened elsewhere -- "even if the Davidians had all greeted the agents outside, with their hands up and a big sign reading, 'Welcome ATF'." In order to implicate three defendants in having said they shot agents, the prosecutors put on the videotaped deposition of Davidian Marjorie Thomas, who had been given immunity from prosecution. She nevertheless repeatedly told U.S. Attorney Ray Jahn that there was no conspiracy to kill agents. At Jahn's question as to what would have happened had the agents just come to the door and walked in, she said, "We wouldn't do anything." This seems to have been a case of the prosecutor's asking his own witness a few too many questions. When Kathy Schroeder took the stand, as the government's long anticipated "star witness," her obvious continued affection for the defendants, and her statement that "our conspiracy was only to defend ourselves when attacked" did little to help the prosecution's case. After the prosecution rested and the jury was sent out, the defense again requested that it be permitted to try to establish self-defense. The defendant's motion was again denied. This left defense counsel with few witnesses and little evidence of their own. The defense first put on part of a tape of the 911 phone call made by Davidian Wayne Martin during the first few minutes of the ATF attack. He frantically reported that ATF agents were shooting at men, women, and children, and pleaded, "Call it off!" Several other desperate 911 calls were placed from Mt. Carmel, but Judge Smith ruled that "90 per cent" of the taped pleas were "irrelevant" and inadmissible. Retired Colonel and Vietnam veteran Jack Zimmerman, now a lawyer, had been at Mt. Carmel for a time during the siege, to represent some of the Davidians, and had entered and examined the building on two occasions. He testified as to bullet-holes in the highest part of the roof, coming into the building. He added that they could not have been fired from the water tower or from anywhere but the sky, contrary to the testimony of helicopter pilots who had, during the government's case, denied any firing at all (but could not satisfactorily explain why the helicopters were each carrying "eight or ten" ATF agents each throughout their mission over Mt. Carmel). Col. Zimmerman also explained to the jury that it was not "tear gas" which was used in the FBI attack, but CS gas, a mucous, tissue and lung agent with far more serious an lasting effects, and outlawed for use in combat. The prosecution attempted to portray Col. Zimmerman as an ardent admirer of the Davidians' religious beliefs, which he denied. After repeated forays, the prosecutor demanded to know what his religion was. Zimmerman answered that he was Jewish, and that his spoken defense of the Davidians' faith was at the invitation of his synagogue. Col. Zimmerman's testimony might have caused the jurors to notice, if they hadn't before, the wide diversity among the defendants. Anglo-Saxon males, blacks, Mexican-Americans, an Italian American, British subjects, Australian citizens, a woman, elderly people and young people. Mt. Carmel was apparently a multiculturalist's dream, with all races, nationalities, and ages living in harmony. Of course, they were religious and owned guns, which made them a PC nightmare, instead. Although the press had listened quietly and almost reverentially to the prosecution's witnesses, the defense witnesses were drowned out by boos, hoots, and derisive laughter. The large room took on the appearance of an ill-natured high school pep-rally, with applause reserved for the judge whenever he sustained a prosecutor's objection. There were, to be sure, a few reporters whose sympathies were with the defense. Rod Norberg, representing an obscure constitutionalist publication, was quietly ordered out of the courtroom, handcuffed in the hall, and taken to jail on a traffic warrant for a ticket which was on appeal, the only instance of such a warrant provoking a manhunt in San Antonio. A local lady from the Libertarian Party was removed from the courtroom and ordered never to return due to alleged "sleepiness." Apparently strict coat-and-tie rules among spectators did not keep out all the riff-raff. Then the defense attorneys rested after only a day and a half of presenting their case. Both sides closed. The major surprise was that in his 60-page charge to the jury Judge Smith finally permitted the defendants to argue self- defense, now that it was too late to present witnesses or evidence, or to cross-examine or re-call prosecution witnesses. The consensus of the rumor mill was that the judge was, at the tail-end of the trial, persuaded of the defendants' innocence. U.S. Attorney Bill Johnston spent his two hours in what could most charitably be described as avoiding mention of any evidence whatsoever. He alternated between calling the defendants and all Davidians "cowards" and "snivelling cowards," even when describing deeds that, if done by people of whom he approved, would have been recognized at once as heroic. Johnston's greatest fury was reserved for the defense attorneys, some of whom were court-appointed, none of whom had been paid, and some of whom were supporting defendants and their families by supplying their clothing and upkeep -- including housing them in their own homes -- as "hyenas." Perhaps this last epithet was his worst mistake, because the defense attorneys, each in turn, came forward with some of the angriest (yet well-reasoned and spoken) closing arguments on record. Most referred to the U.S. attorney's "hyenas" remark, responding in a variations of "We have to consider the source." Rocket Rosen patiently recounted each witness and piece of evidence, on each charge, concluding that none proved the charges, and most proved self-defense from a government agency dangerously out of control. "A conspiracy to defend oneself from unlawful attack is not a criminal conspiracy." Mike DeGuerin gave a rousing patriotic speech centered on the idea that this trial was about "respect," and whether the federal government still had any for individual rights, the American people, or the U.S. Constitution. Dan Cogdell gave the most memorable closing arguments, with his Amarillo English and down-home phrases. Were the Davidians "cowards"? Looking down the barrel of a hostile tank "would scare the gorilla snot" out of anyone. He reminded the jury that the Davidians were attacked in their home and their church, not a "compound." He also contrasted the methods of the federal ATF and the Texas Rangers with the famed remark by one of the latter when he arrived alone to quell a massive disturbance: "One riot, one Ranger". As his finale, Cogdell listed each of the euphemisms used by the prosecution. They were not ATF concussion grenades, but "diversionary devices", not tank-tracks but "ground disturbances;" not ATF snipers, but "forward observers;" not tanks but "armored mobile units;" not an attack, but a "dynamic entry;" not the bloodiest assault on American civilians in history, but the "execution of a warrant." The prosecution's final two-hour close would have been an anticlimax but for a disastrous mistake by U.S. Attorney Ray Jahn, when, trying again to lessen the importance to the jury of the concussion grenades, he implied that the defense witness who had her arm blown off by one was faking the seriousness of the injury, adding that she could still hold the microphone in the courtroom. From that point the jury refused to look in his direction. After only 18 hours of deliberations (including the several hours necessary to study the judge's charge to the jury), following a six-week trial, the jury came back with "not guilty" verdicts for all 11 defendants on the murder and conspiracy to murder charges, convictions of five defendants for voluntary manslaughter, a few convictions for using firearms in the commission of a violent crime (which convictions were dismissed by the judge because those defendants had not been found guilty of any violent crimes) and seven weapons possession convictions. One juror stated to the San Antonio Express-News, "When we heard all that testimony, there was no way we could find them guilty of murder." He added that "We felt provocation was pretty evident. When the firestorm started, everybody was trying to cover their behinds...I thought two agents in plain clothes should have gone in there and knocked on the door (to issue warrants)". Long after the verdict, the national media were still referring to the government's "bungled attempt to serve a warrant." If anything at all was proven during this trial, and proven beyond a reasonable or unreasonable doubt, it is that there was no attempt to serve a warrant. There was a thoroughly planned and rehearsed military assault and campaign against a group of civilians, some of whom were suspected of secretly possessing illegal weapons parts, which campaign was efficient enough to rack up a kill-ratio which would be envied by any army in history. Did the government's trial fail because of incompetent prosecutors, brilliant defense attorneys, legal technicalities, strange Texas jurors, insufficient investigation, bad luck? Or because of lack of merit in the charges? Probably the latter. But a major problem evident to the jurors and spectators throughout the prosecutors' case was the shocking arrogance of the federal government and its contempt for the American people. This contempt was clear to many citizens during the events a year ago and the blatant lying at the time and since; it was clear in the surprise the government felt at civilian self-defense or resistance of any sort; it was clear in the prosecutors' choices of defendants and charges; it was clear in the conduct of the trial; it was clear in the prosecutors' belief that the jury would swallow anything and was incapable of coherent, logical thought. And it is clearer, after the trial, in the vindictive actions and remarks of outraged federal officials. The site of Mt. Carmel near Waco is quickly becoming a major tourist attraction. Russian engineer Ilias Abdonlline told the Express-News reporter in Waco that he had come directly from Moscow just to see the site. "Everyone in the world was amazed when this thing happened, but especially when it happened in America," he said. "We have a terrible history with Stalin in Russia, and I have a memory with that. When I saw this on television, I was shocked. How could it happen in the U.S.? The U.S. is a democracy." Was the jury verdict at the Davidian trial a victory for freedom from a centralized and oppressive police power, for freedom of religion and the right to keep and bear arms, for the Constitution of the United States? One would think so from the spontaneous San Antonio victory celebrations and parties, attended not just by Constitutionalists and Davidian supporters but by throngs of locals. The minority who had not seemed convinced of the wrongfulness of the Waco Massacre before, now claimed to have been champions of freedom all along. Bumper-stickers of the Texas flag with SECEDE! written on them were circulated in at least one party. For those who suffered through a terrifying attack, an oppressive siege, a raging fire, and the sight of their children, spouses, and friends dying, followed by a year in jail, then to find themselves tried in court facing life-imprisonment, and now facing imprisonment for lesser offenses, perhaps the victory is not so satisfying. Similarly for those now-acquitted foreign defendants whom the spite of disappointed prosecutors is chasing through the labyrinths of the INS in the hope of preventing voluntary return to their homelands and forcing deportation instead. Also those citizens who are currently being hunted down for attempting to inform the jury of their rights and obligations. For those of us who know that there will be no indictment or prosecution of the ATF leaders and Janet Reno, who together violated the Constitution they were sworn to uphold, and cost almost a hundred people their lives, there is little cause to hope, "Never again!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tom Cloyes Subject: (fwd)CA: Fairgrounds Gun Sale Ban Overturned Date: 05 Apr 1997 07:14:59 -0500 >X-Sender: eplurib@megalinx.net >Date: Fri, 04 Apr 1997 19:26:49 -0500 >To: eplurib@megalinx.net >From: E Pluribus Unum >Subject: CA: Fairgrounds Gun Sale Ban Overturned > > > > 04/04/1997 14:56 EST > > Fairgrounds Gun Sale Ban Overturned > > By BOB EGELKO > Associated Press Writer > > SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A county's attempt to ban gun sales on its >fairgrounds violates the constitutional right of free speech, a federal >appeals court ruled today. > > Santa Clara County's restriction on transactions during gun shows at the >fairgrounds was an attempt to suppress truthful speech about a legal >product, said the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. > > ``A proposal to engage in (a gun sale) is protected as commercial speech >under the First Amendment,'' said Judge Joseph Sneed in the 3-0 decision. > > The court upheld a federal judge's decision last July to strike down the >ban and let gun sales continue. County supervisors had adopted the ban in >January 1996 as part of the fairgrounds lease. > > While commercial speech can be restricted to protect a substantial, >legitimate concern of the government, Sneed said the county had not shown >the necessity for the ban on gun sales. > > Prohibiting sales only at the fairgrounds, while allowing them elsewhere >in the county, does not reduce the supply of guns, Sneed said. He also >said a ban was not a legitimate way for the county to send a message to >the public that it opposes gun use. > > ``The county has not presented a shred of evidence that any county >resident, or anyone else, has somehow gotten the mistaken impression that >the county promotes gun use,'' or that any such impression was caused by >gun sales at the fairgrounds, Sneed said. > > ``The record suggests that (the policy) is at best an inept response to >residents who strongly support the cause of gun control.'' > > Judges Edward Leavy and Sidney Thomas endorsed the ruling, which upheld >US. District Judge James Ware's decision against the county last year. > > > >================================================== >E Pluribus Unum - http://home.megalinx.net/~eplurib/home.html > >Patriot Personals - for Lovers of Liberty & Hearts that need love >http://home.megalinx.net/~eplurib/personal/personal.htm > >"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" Hosea 4:6 >P.O. Box 381; Groveport, OH 43125; (614) 836-7650 >mailto:eplurib@megalinx.net > > "You exceed your rights when you urge that laws be made in the shape of your conscience to block the pleasures permitted by mine. When you people prevail, you commit a crime against freedom, and that is the greatest immorality I know." -Vance Bourjaily, Country Matters (no date avail). Thanks to:Mark Johnson (onethumb@why.net) "A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." Benjamin Franklin "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies." --Thomas Jefferson (Thanks to Pat Fosness) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tom Cloyes Subject: (fwd)The Great American Insult Date: 05 Apr 1997 07:18:57 -0500 Another example of a government gone bad. Tom >X-Sender: eplurib@megalinx.net >Date: Fri, 04 Apr 1997 22:16:07 -0500 >To: eplurib@megalinx.net >From: E Pluribus Unum >Subject: The Great American Insult > >Sorry to ruin your evening, >But you got to read this folks... > > >Date: Fri, 04 Apr 1997 19:26:44 -0600 >From: burro@panama.gulf.net > >Subject: NAVY PUBLIC AFFAIRS CALLED ME "CRACKPOT" AND HANGS UP! > >This afternoon I heard a report that the John Paul Jones missile frigate >in San Diego flew the Red Chinese Naval flag. If this was not bad >enough, the reason it was flown, and our flag removed, was that it is >traditional protocol when a foreign warship is in our harbor, we will >fly their flag on our masts to "HONOR" them. Imagine my anger an >disgust as a veteran, to have a country that kills their young, eats >their fetuses, disallows freedom of any sort - religion, pursuit of >liberty, and in general, against every tenet of our Constitution - and >this is a country of honor, I ask? > >Having said the above, I took it upon myself as a veteran, and a US >citizen, to call the Command and voice my extreme disapproval to the >Office of Public Affairs, and to pass my feelings on to the highest >levels of the Navy. I was met with the old "we were only following >orders". Haven't we heard that somewhere before? I spoke to the Deputy >Command Officer of Public Affairs. Unfortunately, I will have to get >her exact rank and name Monday morning. But, the reason I am writing >tonight is that I ask all who read this to stand with me and never allow >an officer of our military to simply call any one of us a "crackpot" and >hang the phone up. If this is what we allow in the military, the time >will come when we will not be called crackpots - but we will be silenced >by our own forces - Remember...they will raise the flag of a country >that kills their own. What could that country possibly have in store >for us. I reiterate, they will then call us crackpots and hang up on >us. > >If you are disturbed you will also call and demand that we not honor the >Chinese flag. > >The number I called was (619)532-1430. Also - the Department of Defense >Public Affairs office at (703)-695-0192. I'm sorry this is a toll call >for most of you. Please distribute this post freely and as widely as >possible. You can call your Congressmen and Senators and let them know >what happened to me, and that you will not let it happen to you. > >The woman officer who hung up on me said the orders came from the State >Department, the President and the Chief Naval Officer. > >What is happening to our wonderful United States of America. > > >================================================== >E Pluribus Unum - http://home.megalinx.net/~eplurib/home.html > >Patriot Personals - for Lovers of Liberty & Hearts that need love >http://home.megalinx.net/~eplurib/personal/personal.htm > >"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" Hosea 4:6 >P.O. Box 381; Groveport, OH 43125; (614) 836-7650 >mailto:eplurib@megalinx.net > > "You exceed your rights when you urge that laws be made in the shape of your conscience to block the pleasures permitted by mine. When you people prevail, you commit a crime against freedom, and that is the greatest immorality I know." -Vance Bourjaily, Country Matters (no date avail). Thanks to:Mark Johnson (onethumb@why.net) "A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." Benjamin Franklin "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies." --Thomas Jefferson (Thanks to Pat Fosness) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Liberty or Death Subject: (fwd) The Great American Insult Date: 05 Apr 1997 07:14:41 -0800 >Date: Fri, 04 Apr 1997 19:26:44 -0600 >From: burro@panama.gulf.net > >Subject: NAVY PUBLIC AFFAIRS CALLED ME "CRACKPOT" AND HANGS UP! > >This afternoon I heard a report that the John Paul Jones missile frigate >in San Diego flew the Red Chinese Naval flag. If this was not bad >enough, the reason it was flown, and our flag removed, was that it is >traditional protocol when a foreign warship is in our harbor, we will >fly their flag on our masts to "HONOR" them. Imagine my anger an >disgust as a veteran, to have a country that kills their young, eats >their fetuses, disallows freedom of any sort - religion, pursuit of >liberty, and in general, against every tenet of our Constitution - and >this is a country of honor, I ask? > >Having said the above, I took it upon myself as a veteran, and a US >citizen, to call the Command and voice my extreme disapproval to the >Office of Public Affairs, and to pass my feelings on to the highest >levels of the Navy. I was met with the old "we were only following >orders". Haven't we heard that somewhere before? I spoke to the Deputy >Command Officer of Public Affairs. Unfortunately, I will have to get >her exact rank and name Monday morning. But, the reason I am writing >tonight is that I ask all who read this to stand with me and never allow >an officer of our military to simply call any one of us a "crackpot" and >hang the phone up. If this is what we allow in the military, the time >will come when we will not be called crackpots - but we will be silenced >by our own forces - Remember...they will raise the flag of a country >that kills their own. What could that country possibly have in store >for us. I reiterate, they will then call us crackpots and hang up on >us. > >If you are disturbed you will also call and demand that we not honor the >Chinese flag. > >The number I called was (619)532-1430. Also - the Department of Defense >Public Affairs office at (703)-695-0192. I'm sorry this is a toll call >for most of you. Please distribute this post freely and as widely as >possible. You can call your Congressmen and Senators and let them know >what happened to me, and that you will not let it happen to you. > >The woman officer who hung up on me said the orders came from the State >Department, the President and the Chief Naval Officer. > >What is happening to our wonderful United States of America. > > >================================================== >E Pluribus Unum - http://home.megalinx.net/~eplurib/home.html > >Patriot Personals - for Lovers of Liberty & Hearts that need love >http://home.megalinx.net/~eplurib/personal/personal.htm > >"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" Hosea 4:6 >P.O. Box 381; Groveport, OH 43125; (614) 836-7650 >mailto:eplurib@megalinx.net > > - Monte ----------------------------------------------------------------- Oh Lord, let the fire of your Holy Spirit sweep across this land, for fallen, fallen is America! Come, Lord, reveal Yourself in power and holiness to a Church that has forgotten Who You are, and to a People who have chosen to live in great darkness. Empower your children to walk in these last days in the fulness of the knowledge of Your Glory. Amen. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: boydk@wrq.com Subject: Re: (fwd)The Great American Insult Date: 05 Apr 1997 08:23:46 -0800 Actually (he says, ducking behind cover) my sympathy goes out to the sailors and their immediate commanders, who have presumably signed a contract to obey the orders of the pinhead in chief. Frankly, I think your beef is with the guy in charge and your time would be better spent sending letters to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. (maybe getting involved in your local political party for the next time around) (All just IMO) -Boyd Kneeland ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Author: foolery@mail.bright.net Another example of a government gone bad. Tom >X-Sender: eplurib@megalinx.net >Date: Fri, 04 Apr 1997 22:16:07 -0500 >To: eplurib@megalinx.net >From: E Pluribus Unum >Subject: The Great American Insult > >Sorry to ruin your evening, >But you got to read this folks... > > >Date: Fri, 04 Apr 1997 19:26:44 -0600 >From: burro@panama.gulf.net > >Subject: NAVY PUBLIC AFFAIRS CALLED ME "CRACKPOT" AND HANGS UP! > >This afternoon I heard a report that the John Paul Jones missile frigate >in San Diego flew the Red Chinese Naval flag. If this was not bad >enough, the reason it was flown, and our flag removed, was that it is >traditional protocol when a foreign warship is in our harbor, we will >fly their flag on our masts to "HONOR" them. Imagine my anger an >disgust as a veteran, to have a country that kills their young, eats >their fetuses, disallows freedom of any sort - religion, pursuit of >liberty, and in general, against every tenet of our Constitution - and >this is a country of honor, I ask? > >Having said the above, I took it upon myself as a veteran, and a US >citizen, to call the Command and voice my extreme disapproval to the >Office of Public Affairs, and to pass my feelings on to the highest >levels of the Navy. I was met with the old "we were only following >orders". Haven't we heard that somewhere before? I spoke to the Deputy >Command Officer of Public Affairs. Unfortunately, I will have to get >her exact rank and name Monday morning. But, the reason I am writing >tonight is that I ask all who read this to stand with me and never allow >an officer of our military to simply call any one of us a "crackpot" and >hang the phone up. If this is what we allow in the military, the time >will come when we will not be called crackpots - but we will be silenced >by our own forces - Remember...they will raise the flag of a country >that kills their own. What could that country possibly have in store >for us. I reiterate, they will then call us crackpots and hang up on >us. > >If you are disturbed you will also call and demand that we not honor the >Chinese flag. > >The number I called was (619)532-1430. Also - the Department of Defense >Public Affairs office at (703)-695-0192. I'm sorry this is a toll call >for most of you. Please distribute this post freely and as widely as >possible. You can call your Congressmen and Senators and let them know >what happened to me, and that you will not let it happen to you. > >The woman officer who hung up on me said the orders came from the State >Department, the President and the Chief Naval Officer. > >What is happening to our wonderful United States of America. > > >================================================== >E Pluribus Unum - http://home.megalinx.net/~eplurib/home.html > >Patriot Personals - for Lovers of Liberty & Hearts that need love >http://home.megalinx.net/~eplurib/personal/personal.htm > >"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" Hosea 4:6 >P.O. Box 381; Groveport, OH 43125; (614) 836-7650 >mailto:eplurib@megalinx.net > > "You exceed your rights when you urge that laws be made in the shape of your conscience to block the pleasures permitted by mine. When you people prevail, you commit a crime against freedom, and that is the greatest immorality I know." -Vance Bourjaily, Country Matters (no date avail). Thanks to:Mark Johnson (onethumb@why.net) "A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." Benjamin Franklin "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies." --Thomas Jefferson (Thanks to Pat Fosness) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Liberty or Death Subject: On the Day I Die Date: 07 Apr 1997 09:47:51 -0700 ----- ON THE DAY I DIE By Deborah Marie Pulaski As told to Claire Wolfe This week I learned I'm dying. Of course I've always known, in the everyday, human sense, that I was going to die. But this week I learned I am going to die *soon*. In a year or so at most, I won't be on this planet. No more breathing. No more Zinfandel or chocolate cake. No hugs. No sorrows. I won't ever again have to worry whether there's a run in my stocking when I go to a meeting with the boss, or whether I remembered to send a birthday card to my best friend's husband. It's a peculiar thought, looking at my own death, so close. But you know, it isn't a bad thought, all things considered. I'm 53 years old. That isn't old. I might have had another 30 years, if one little cell hadn't decided to start mutating out of control a while back. But 53 is old enough to have lived a good life. It's long enough to have become a full person, without all those "who am I's" and "what do I want to do with my life's" that make youth so over-rated. It's enough time to have loved-both in the frantic, desperate way of being young, and in the comfortable way of being an adult. That's been an amazing, and a very happy, transition. But I don't want to talk about love. I want to talk about freedom. Well, I guess that means I *do* want to talk about love. Because I love freedom more than I love anything. Really, more than I ever l oved my husband. Even more than I love my kids-and I think they'll understand and forgive me for saying so, even though that statement might require a little more explaining for strangers who might be reading this. I have to say it again. I love freedom more than I love anything. More than I ever loved anything. And that's what makes the thought of dying so bitter, and at the same time, so welcome. I guess that idea is going to take some explaining, too. Claire, tell them about me. I've never been able to write, or even talk all that well about things that matter to me. So you tell people what kind of person I am. Make them understand. I've always been a political junky. You know me. Like some women shop, I do politics. No, that isn't putting it right. Not at all. I do politics... I guess I'd better say I used to do politics...because I couldn't stand still and let "them" take away our world. You know, the types who aren't happy unless they're running other people's lives. When I ran into a neighbor, co-worker or family member like that, I could just say, "Sayonara, Baby" and avoid them. But the people who really got to me were the ones who wanted to make endless rules for the whole country, the whole world, and make everybody else obey them. Just obey, all the time. I swear, you know, that these people don't even care what the particular rules are. They just like making and enforcing rules *because*. For the power. For the control. For their other powerful, controlling friends. So they can all feel important and be in charge. So I always had to try to stop those people. But there wasn't any stopping them. I found that out. God, I wish I were a writer like you or a great orator or a wizard about the law or something like that. I wish I could have done something big during my life. But you know me, I was never anything but a little precinct worker, a drone, a little deputy voter registrar, doorbeller, meeting attender, envelope licker. One of those women you see in every campaign and every organization, never getting noticed and never particularly wanting to be. Just wanting to make the world freer-or at least keep a little bit of the world away from the people who want to make it less free. It was really kind of stupid, looking back on it, because nearly all of the people who said they believed in freedom turned around and, once they got in office, acted exactly like the other guys. They didn't really want less government and more freedom. They just wanted to be the ones in control. But I just had to try, didn't I? Anyway, I did try. Just about all my life. That expression "just about all my life" has a different ring all of a sudden. It really has been just about *all* my life. Will be just about all my life. ----- I wanted freedom so much. I wanted it just so that I and my kids could live an ordinary life. Making a living. Paying our way. Doing what we wanted to do, within the bounds of polite behavior to our neighbors. Just to live, without being ordered around, threatened or tangled up in red tape every time we tried to do something. I didn't have any spectacular ambitions. I just wanted to be let alone to live a peaceful life. I have two daughters, you know. They're both in their early 20s right now. The youngest one, Edyie, was always a dreamer. She had all the ideas and ambitions I didn't dare to have. I remember, as a little kid, she swore she was going to go live on Venus someday. Then, when she learned Venus was really this awful place, she pouted for about two days, then switched to Mars. She figured we could colonize Mars. I don't know whether that's realistic or not, but I always wanted to see Edyie get the chance to *try*, if that's what she wanted to do. I wanted her to have the chance to try anything her wild little imagination could dream up. Maybe she'd fail. But maybe she'd succeed. And isn't that what keeps the human race moving? Edyie, impossible though she can be at times, is the kind of person who keeps the human race from sitting on its dead butt, getting nowhere. But Edyie isn't going to have the chance, unless something comes out of the blue to turn things around. Edyie's never going to get to Mars. Heck, she isn't even going to get a chance to build a little earthbound business because she's too independent to jump through all the hoops the government requires. Yeah, I can just see my Edyie filling out forms in triplicate, collecting taxes from her employees and begging for government licenses-NOT! She isn't going to get a chance to make many personal choices-beyond what brand of soap or TV to buy--because our choices are being limited day by day, and everywhere you turn, you run into something illegal. Maybe even something that was legal yesterday, but is illegal today, thanks to some regulation nobody ever heard of. She just won't put up with that-but I don't know what she'll do instead. I used to dream, as I worked on all those campaigns, that someday I'd win back the right for Edyie to have the risky, but hope-filled future she craved. When I thought about dying, someday, it was with regret that I might not live to see Edyie go to Mars or to accomplish whatever other big thing she wanted to do. But now I don't have any of those regrets, because it isn't going to happen. --- Even three years ago, I wouldn't have said that. I'd still have said, "Darnit, there's hope. Freedom is just common sense. We'll win." But some of the things that have happened in the last couple of years make that all different. No, don't say "things that have happened." They didn't just *happen*. People in government *did* them to us. On purpose. In the last couple of years, they finally did what they'd been moving toward for a long time. They passed the laws that just plain make us slaves. They did it, and hardly anybody's even talking about it. That's what amazes me. For one thing, they passed a law that makes our driver's licenses into national ID cards. They're doing it right now, while we sit here talking. A year or two after I'm gone, all you people who are left are all going to have to carry around cards with all your numbers and fingerprints and retinal scans and "personal data" coded on them. The law says so. You won't be able to cash a check or get a passport without supplying your "biometric data" to the government or the bank. I thought it was some big conspiracy story when I first heard it. But it's true and it's happening. And where are all the people screaming to stop it? And they've now got this database that everybody who gets a job gets put into. Some national database in some big stone building in Washington where they'll know where everybody works, all the time. They said it was to track "deadbeat dads." Yeah. Then why are they going to put Edyie and my other daughter Pat and everybody else into it? Since when are they, or you, or I "deadbeat dads"? Along these same lines, they've even got what they call "pilot programs" to make people get permission from the federal government *before* they can get jobs. Employers in these "pilot programs" have to get scanners to let the federal government check people's Social Security numbers before they can hire anybody. Isn't that just great? Some bureaucrat in the Social Security Administration or someplace gets to decide whether you can work or not. And this other database. All your medical records are going to go into some other big, stone building in Washington. That's going to be on line about the time I go, too. Any old bureaucrat who wants to look at them can see them. You can't, of course. But they can. All this stuff is *real*. It's not in some novel about the future or in some right-wingy pamphlet. It's in the *law.* It's in America. Right now. They did it all in the last couple of years. Mostly by sneaking a paragraph or a page into bigger laws when nobody was looking. And what's all this about? Is it really to help "welfare moms" or to keep illegal immigrants from taking other people's jobs? Oh, come on! This is about one thing. It's about slavery. They give you a citizen registration number shortly after birth. As soon as you get old enough to start moving around, doing things and making decisions on your own, they make sure that they're in a position to know every move you make, to record every transaction, to examine your whole life's record any time some bureaucrat gets curious. They not only want to know where you *are* at any given moment-where you're working and living and banking-but to make sure you can't work someplace if they don't want you to. And they even want to be able to check up on your health. That one seems especially silly. I mean, why should some bureaucrat in Washington give a hoot about how some woman's pregnancy is going, or whether some man is boozing it up a bit more than he should? Or whether a middle-aged lady is dying of cancer or not? What business is it of theirs, and why should they even want to bother? But it makes sense when you realize what they're really doing. After all, if you own animals, of course you want to make sure your property has got all its vaccinations, is producing healthy offspring, and isn't being overfed or something. It's just like a modern-day farmer, keeping track of his cows or pigs on his computer. You want to know they're healthy and whether they're producing as much as they can for you. So you track them. Track everything about them. They belong to you, after all. If you're a kindly, efficient farmer, of course you want to watch over your livestock. There've been a lot of bad laws passed in my lifetime, Claire. Sometimes I thought, "This is just the worst, the worst. It can't get any more horrible than this." But these laws, that authorized all this tracking, are really the final thing. They're the declaration that the people in Washington own us. That's all. They're plain and simply saying we're their property. There are going to be a lot more bad laws, yeah. Really bad ones that will follow these and will be possible because of these. But before this, the bad laws were passed against free people. After this, the laws are passed to control slaves. --- Neither of my girls has children yet. Like every mother, I always wanted them to get going and do it, you know. I wanted my grandbabies! Now! Believe me, I had to bite my lip a lot to keep from nagging them about it, like some mothers do. But to be absolutely honest, now I wish neither one of them would have children. I don't think Edyie will. We've talked about this. She's a lot like me in some ways, and I think she won't bring a child into a country like this one is becoming. Now my other daughter-we always called her Practical Patty- probably will have children someday. I've kind of given Patty short shrift in talking about all this. She was the sort of daughter who never gave any trouble and was more interested in doing well in band and glee club than in thinking about all the *heavy* things. Her big dreams were just of having a nice little job someday, then getting married to a decent sort of guy, having a nice house and, yeah, children. So all this won't affect Patty as much as it will Edyie, or as much as it would have affected me if I'd have lived to see it all come to fruition. To Patty's mind, it isn't "sensible" to worry about things like this. So Patty will have children, and I can only hope that at least their lives will be comfortable, if they can't be free. Maybe they'll be well-fed, well-cared-for little citizens. And maybe I should hope they turn out to be the kind of people who don't think or question too much. Because if they're the other kind-like me or Edyie-their lives will be miserable. The next step, you know, after getting ownership of your slaves or cows is to cull out the ones that don't fit the mold...that make trouble, or that don't produce the way you want them to. If you aren't "nice," the Social Security Administration can just "lose" your records, or the health care people can just fiddle your medical history around so you look like a mental case. Then they can "help" you to death. So I guess for that reason, I should hope those grandbabies I won't live to see are quiet, obedient sheep. But damnit, if there are grandbabies, I hope they'll be as stubborn and freethinking as their Aunt Edyie, and that they'll find a better way of fighting for freedom than their Grandma Deb ever could. Let their lives be worth something deep and true, not just the "worth" of good livestock or laborers. If they fight, maybe they won't live happily or long. But if they have to live at all, I hope those little kids live bravely, in spite of all the odds against them. The poor souls. Do you remember the hymn, "The Old Rugged Cross"? It's been on my mind a lot since I got the verdict. When I was little, I thought it was such a beautiful song. I knew it was partly about dying, and about being at peace in dying because of the singer's beliefs, but I didn't completely understand it. There was this line, "Till my trophies at last I lay down." I knew it meant "when I die." But since I didn't have any "trophies" and couldn't figure out what giving up awards had to do with dying, I put my own little girl interpretation on it. I figured the word had to be "trophis," and that it was some fancy, adult word meaning "body." Well, Claire, I'll tell you. In a year or so, when I lay this middle-aged "trophis" down for the last time, I won't have any regrets for myself. On the day I die, I'll be able to say I've done all I could. I tried, even though most of what I did turned out to be misguided and ineffective. And even though I'd try something different-and a lot less "nice"-if I could do it over again, I won't regret leaving the world the politicians just created. I don't want to see it. I don't want to live in it. But my grandbabies will be born as slaves. And oh God, I regret that. And I regret not being around to protect them. # # # (c) Deborah Marie Pulaski and Claire Wolfe. Permission to reprint for non-commercial purposes freely granted, as long as the article is reprinted in full and is accompanied by this copyright statement. - Monte ----------------------------------------------------------------- Oh Lord, let the fire of your Holy Spirit sweep across this land, for fallen, fallen is America! Come, Lord, reveal Yourself in power and holiness to a Church that has forgotten Who You are, and to a People who have chosen to live in great darkness. Empower your children to walk in these last days in the fulness of the knowledge of Your Glory. Amen. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: Privacy? What's That??? (fwd) Date: 07 Apr 1997 14:29:31 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- This report shouldn't bother you. Only paranoid types believe their privacy and liberty is disappearing like an ice cube on a hot sidewalk. -- http://www.usatoday.com/news/acovmon.htm [Image] 04/07/97 - 12:03 AM ET - Click reload often for latest version Few key bits of info open Social Security records The Social Security Administration, trying to speed service and cut costs by using the Internet, inadvertently has compromised the financial privacy of tens of millions of Americans. Social Security's month-old on-line service is handy for taxpayers looking for instant access to their financial records. But it also gives nosy neighbors, ex-spouses, prying relatives and just about anyone else the ability to view those same files if they have some very basic information. What could they see? How much someone earned every year, going back to 1951. How much someone will get in Social Security benefits after retirement. How much their families would get now if they died. Nearly 28,000 people requested the free information on-line in March at http://www.ssa.gov. "As soon as crooks start exploiting this service to get other people's information, Social Security is going to have a real problem on its hands," warns Evan Hendricks, chairman of the U.S. Privacy Council, a Washington D.C.-based federation of privacy activists. As use of the Internet expands, its lure of convenience is breaking promises of privacy. And as on-line exchanges become as accepted as faxes or automatic teller machines, critics say, the drive to provide new services will continue to outpace appropriate restraints. In this instance, people familiar with the new Social Security system say, there is danger for abuse from many directions: a legal adversary, an employer seeking to learn about an employee's outside income, an ex-spouse contemplating adjustments in support. "I like to see this sort of easy access to your own personal information," Hendricks says, "but we need something to discourage the wolves." Social Security officials don't see a problem. "We have confidence that in the huge majority of cases, the people requesting these things are the right people," says John Sabo, the Social Security Administration's director of the Electronic Services Staff. Last year, the Social Security Administration mailed some 4 million financial reports to taxpayers at a cost of $5.23 each, Sabo says. Delivering the same report over the Internet costs a fraction of a penny. 'Social Security numbers are easy' to get But it's virtually impossible to know if the on-line version of the financial reports, called PEBES - Personal Earnings and Benefit Estimate Statement - is being abused. It's also just about impossible to track down an abuser. The key to opening PEBES: a Social Security number, mother's maiden name and state in which a person was born. That information is not exactly a state secret. "Social security numbers are easy" to get, says Beth Givens, manager of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse in San Diego. Information vendors used by banks, credit agencies and private detectives can deliver a Social Security Number for a small fee. They also frequently are known by co-workers or spouses. And driver's license numbers in many states are the same as Social Security numbers. A mother's maiden name and place of birth can show up in court papers, marriage licenses or divorce decrees. "Many states have a vital statistics department. You could get it that way. These documents are public record," she says. Mark Welch, an engineer at Netscape Communications in California, makers of popular Internet software, says he's disturbed to see the information so readily available. "I was just thinking of all the ways that people could misuse this information," Welch says. "A potential employer could use this to determine my salary history. My co-workers could use this to determine how much I was making relative to them. My landlord could use this report to decide if I'm making enough money to be able to rent an apartment. I could make a decision on whether or not to sue someone based on how much money I thought they had. "Private investigators would love this kind of information." "It would be a tremendous asset to people who know how to obtain this information," says Paddy Calabrese, owner of Inter-tel Detective Agency in Seattle. "If somebody calls me up and says they want to know somebody's income, I just pop into this thing, I charge them $2,000 and it costs me nothing." Where are the penalties for snooping? There are supposed to be penalties for snooping. A warning appears when someone enters the PEBES website: "I certify that I am asking for information about by my own Social Security record. I understand that if I deliberately request information under false pretenses, I may be guilty of a federal crime and could be fined and/or imprisoned." The warning is nearly identical to banners used on many government agency websites, permitting those entering wrongly to be prosecuted under the Computer Security Act. Prosecutions are exceedingly rare, in part because it is difficult to trace an on-line user, and there is little deterrent to outweigh great potential interest. Officials say they have no evidence that anyone has wrongly accessed a PEBES file. But they probably wouldn't know. With libraries, schools and even coffee shops now giving access to the Internet - as well as access available worldwide - it would be practically impossible to track down a person illegally requesting files. Still, not all privacy advocates are disturbed by PEBES. Marc Rotenberg, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, says the ability of people to easily obtain the information outweighs concerns about the few who abuse it. "Promoting first-party access to personal information is often times as important as . . . restricting access," says Rotenberg. "By making these systems more transparent, the government gives individuals greater control over information that has an important impact on retirement planning. "I'd like to see more agencies set up these services, though I'd draw a line at tax records and medical information." Other organizations that hold sensitive financial information on Americans have decided against putting their files on the Internet - at least for now. One of the problems in trying to make PEBES more secure is that the current state of technology and government restrictions on the use of encryption, or data scrambling, make it difficult to make the information any tougher to get at. "Ideally, we would prefer if we could authenticate people through some sort of digital identity," says Bruce Carter, who runs the website for the Social Security Administration. "But there just isn't the infrastructure available for that yet." SSA says complaints are of too tight security Here's how a computer user can access PEBES: An Internet user goes to the Social Security Administration's website, clicks a button labeled "PEBES," wades through two pages of warnings and then responds to queries - full name, address, phone number, Social Security Number, mother's maiden name and state of birth. After the information is entered, the user clicks a button on the computer's screen and views the taxpayer's entire financial history - how much has been paid into Social Security, how much into Medicare, expected benefits, yearly income. The Internet user then can print the information or request that the report be sent through the mail. Carter says that while the Social Security Administration has received some complaints about the privacy of the system, most of the complaints received have been that the security is too good: roughly 30% of the people who have attempted to view their reports failed because the information they provided did not exactly match the spelling stored in government computers. After eight failed attempts to view a report, the system locks out the user for 24 hours. Eight attempts is far too many, says Hendricks of the Privacy Council. "I think that this is really a good case of three strikes and you're out," he says. "When you step back, you see that the Social Security Administration has not thought through the privacy and security implications of this." By Simson L. Garfinkel, Special for USA TODAY * Cover story index * Go to Nationline * Go to News front page * Go to USA TODAY front page [Image] -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- | Copyrighted material contained within this document is used in | | compliance with the United States Code, Title 17, Section 107, | | "for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching" | --------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: funds_6.html (fwd) Date: 08 Apr 1997 12:43:07 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Reuters New Media _________________________________________________________________ Tuesday April 8 5:41 AM EDT Report: W.House Gave DNC Top-Secret Files WASHINGTON (Reuter) - The White House supplied top-secret information to the Democratic National Committee to block a Latvian business executive with alleged ties to organized crime from attending a dinner with President Clinton, a newspaper reported Tuesday. The Washington Post quoted government officials and other unnamed sources as saying that as a result of the data, the business executive, Grigori Loutchansky, was abruptly disinvited from the $25,000-per-person fund-raising dinner. The newspaper said political operatives in the White House told the DNC that the National Security Agency was monitoring Loutchansky's international phone calls. Loutchansky's firm, Nordex, was alleged associated with Russian organized crime organizations, officials told the Post. White House spokesman Barry Toiv said White House Counsel Donald Ruff had spoken with the staff and no one recalled the incident. Furthermore, the National Security Council's practices would never have been to give the basis for a recommendation on an individual, he told Reuters. The Post quoted a senior official as saying the incident underscored the "total politicization of all intelligence and White House operations." "Anything and everything was done in the name of fund-raising," the newspaper quoted the official as saying. The Clinton administration has faced a barrage of recent allegations about improper fund-raising, as well as reports of lax security that have allowed a number of felons, drug dealers and other questionable characters to attend White House coffees and dinners. Loutchansky now lives in Israel, and is barred from entering the United States, Canada and Britain. His attorney, Thomas Spencer Jr., disputed reports of his client's ties to organized crime. _________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: US Gulf forces on High Security Alert (fwd) Date: 08 Apr 1997 13:05:42 -0500 (CDT) One of the theories on TWA 800 is that it was this group and its supporters that were behind the shoot down. Also they, the IRA and supporters might be behind the Oklahoma city bombing. Last throw in the power station shut downs on the West coast at the end of last summer. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Reuters New Media _________________________________________________________________ Monday April 7 3:51 PM EDT U.S. Forces in Gulf on High Security Alert DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (Reuter) - The U.S. military in the Persian Gulf went on heightened alert Monday with shore leave restricted and bars and clubs placed off limits amid threats of fresh attacks by Muslim radicals. "Both the embassy (in Bahrain) and U.S. military continue to receive information about possible terrorist threats to U.S. military in the region, including Bahrain," a U.S. Navy spokesman said. "As such U.S. naval forces ashore have enhanced security posture. This is done since we continually evaluate security measures based on a regional threat. We adapt and adjust our measures as necessary." The spokesman said shore leave for the 12,000 U.S. sailors in the gulf was restricted and clubs, bars and restaurants on the island state of Bahrain, U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters, were placed off limits until further notice. The U.S. embassy in the Bahraini capital of Manama issued a security alert on its hotline recommending that U.S. civilians also avoid those places. The measures follow threats by Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, considered by Washington a prime suspect in two bombings in Saudi Arabia which killed 24 Americans and injured more than 400 others in 1995 and 1996. A Persian Gulf security source said the alert was designed to prevent large groups of Americans from gathering in open areas but there was no thought of sending U.S. families home. A Western official said there had been a series of reports of possible terrorist threats to U.S. military forces in the region, including Bahrain. U.S. naval forces in the gulf comprise the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, cruisers, destroyers, submarines, logistics ships and pre-positioning equipment ships. Bin Laden, branded by the U.S. State Department as one of the world's most significant sponsors of Islamic radical activities, has threatened to wage jihad (holy war) on Americans in the region, particularly in Saudi Arabia, homeland of Islam. In an interview with Britain's Independent newspaper from his redoubt in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan last month, he warned Americans of a renewed onslaught against their forces in Saudi Arabia and said he had secured the support of thousands of Pakistanis for his campaign. The U.S. embassies in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia routinely caution Americans about the need for vigilance. The latest U.S. embassy message in the Saudi capital of Riyadh noted with deep concern an interview on British television in February "with well-known terrorist Osama bin Laden in which he not only threatened again the U.S. military in Saudi Arabia but also called for expulsion of American civilians." Last June a huge truck bomb killed 19 U.S. servicemen and injured 400 at a U.S. military apartment building in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. In November 1995 a much smaller blast at a U.S. military training center in Riyadh killed five Americans and two Indians. _________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Chris Ferris Subject: Simple Elementary School Slogans - For NRA Use? Date: 08 Apr 1997 16:29:25 -0400 (EDT) Some local elementary schools have issued bumper stickers which bear the words: REASON RESPECT RESPONSIBILITY above the schools' names. I like the sound of these simple, powerful words, and I wonder whether or not they could be the second line of a new NRA bumper sticker? IMHO, the NRA sorely needs a new "street slogan" for its members to present to fence sitters who might just become future gun owners, if presented with a catchy slogan delivered by millions of friendly, affable messengers. The fact that juxtaposing the aforementioned three words with the NRA's name would drive freedom-haters in Congress, Clintonista control freaks and nail-biting neighbor-fearers absolutely bonkers would just be an added bonus. Come on, NRA, we at the grassroots level really need a new slogan to replace "I'm the NRA, etc." ... we need a new slogan to catch the attention of those who just might come over to our side soon, and there are more of them out there than one might think. Heck, there is no time like the present to counterattack with a pro-active, friendly slogan that says that we are reasonable, respectful and responsible, the antithesis of the portrait of us painted by HCI and the media. I say, "Let's do it", before WJC and his amoral, dickmorrisian minions stage another monstrous anti-gun, anti-freedom "event" to rekindle public fear of freedom and to whip up irrational public hatred of those who advocate lawful defense of liberty. NOTE: Being "reasonable, respectful and responsible" refers only to safe handling and carrying of firearms, NOT to any willingness to compromise our rights away. I will admit that I cringe when I hear Say-Uh Braydee refer to "*reasonable* gun controls", as I am sure you all do. Still, I think that we could use the words "reason", "respect" and "responsibility" as shown above to benefit our cause. Does anyone else have an opinion regarding this suggestion? Best regards, Chris Ferris Litchfield NH ferriscc@mainstream.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Chris Ferris Subject: Another Tragic "Incident" In Bill Clinton's Disarmed America Date: 09 Apr 1997 09:25:41 -0400 (EDT) RATIONALIZE THIS, Sarah Brady! BOSTON HERALD 04/09/97 Nation & World News In Brief 6 Arrested In Shooting of Family Greeneville, Tenn. - Six men who allegedly shot four members of a Tennessee family and stole their van were arrested in Texas yesterday as they tried to drive the vehicle across the border into Mexico, a Knoxville TV station reported. Vidar Lillelid, 34, his wife Delphia, 28, and their 6 year old daughter were shot to death near a highway rest stop Sunday as they returned home from a conference of Jehovah's Witnesses. The couple's 3 year old son was also shot and was in critical condition yesterday. ______________________________________________________________________________ No comment is really necessary. This is what happens when social do-gooders who claim to be so concerned about "public safety" work to disarm law abiding citizens. I wonder if this horrific incident might have turned out differently if Mr. and Mrs. Lillelid had believed in the "right to carry" and had been carrying loaded, concealed semi-autos in their van? May God have mercy on their souls and the soul of their poor daughter, and may their young son recover from his critical wounds. No punishment is too severe for the human slime who committed this terrible crime. It is too bad that 1897-era Texas justice cannot kick in, muy pronto. I only hope that the Tennessee justice system deals with the vermin who committed this unspeakable crime swiftly and harshly. Finally, note that the family was attacked on the highway near a rest stop ... what a compelling argument for nationwide reciprocity on CCW licenses and permits, so that we may safeguard our own beloved families as we drive across the U.S.A. Regards, Chris Ferris Litchfield NH ferriscc@mainstream.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Chris Ferris Subject: I Kid You Not (Re: Missing USAF A-10) Date: 09 Apr 1997 10:56:10 -0400 (EDT) ROC and NOBAN Laugh for Today: Today's largest NH newspaper quoted some (brain-dead) Arizonans as wondering if unnamed "anti-government" forces might have been behind the unexplained disappearance of an A-10 flying out of Tucson's Davis-Monthan AFB a few days ago. One Arizonan offered his opinion that the missing USAF pilot might just belong to a "militia" ... if you think that I am kidding, just conduct a news-search and find the article! The article went into some detail about the armaments carried on the aircraft. Mention was made, however, that no nukes were carried. (Whew! Now, we can rest easy that the missing A-10 is not hidden in Lobo's barn.) IMHO, I believe that the A-10 was "borrowed" by Chuckie Schoomer to patrol I-95 from Florida to Maine in his relentless hunt for "gun runners" who, according to him, are the latest scourge to menace our nation. Take note, all you joggers who may pack a .38 or .380 when you lope around your town's or city's roads ... you, too, may be considered a "gun runner" and mercilessly strafed with 20mm cannon fire by a crazed A-10 pilot from Brooklyn. Watch the sky overhead as you jog. The life you save may be your own. Regards, Chris Ferris Litchfield NH ferriscc@mainstream.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: Freedom Watch Update: Paul cosponsors Tax Limitation Amendment -- FWU April 9, 1997 (fwd) Date: 09 Apr 1997 12:47:55 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- -------Freedom Watch Update------ -----Wednesday, April 9, 1997---- ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Are you interested in knowing what legislation Congressman Paul is supporting? To have the complete list mailed to you, call (202) 225-2831, or write 203 Cannon HOB, Washington, DC, 20515. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ _______Paul cosponsor of Tax Limitation Amendment_______ _Constitutional amendment will be up for vote on Tax Day_ With Americans working more than six months a year just to pay for the cost of government, US Representative Ron Paul is a principle cosponsor of a constitutional amendment to limit the rate of tax growth. "What Americans need is not just the hope this amendment provides of limiting the future growth of taxes but Americans deserve real tax cuts right now," said Paul (R-Surfside, Texas). "This legislation is a small step in the right direction. With so many tax-and-tax-and-spend-and-spend types in government, it is imperative that the American people have a safeguard." The Amendment will be considered by the full US House of Representatives on what Paul calls "one of the most feared days of the year" - April 15, Tax Day. The Tax Limitation Amendment requires a two-thirds percent super-majority of both the US House and the US Senate to increase taxes. Eleven states have tax limitation measures, and those state taxpayers have lower levels of taxes, more controlled governmental spending and more economic growth, than state without the provision. "It's appropriate that as Americans see how much of their money is going into the bloated, unconstitutional mess that our federal government has become, that we in Congress try to limit more taxes from burdening the people," said Paul. "The American taxpayer can spend his or her money better than the federal bureaucrats. With fifty percent of their income going to pay the cost of federal, state and local government, Americans know that cutting taxes must be a top priority. The US economy, and the individuals in our nation, simply cannot shoulder any more taxes." National public interest groups have joined Paul in supporting the amendment. The National Taxpayers Union, the National Tax Limitation Committee, Americans for Tax Reform and the National Federation of Independent Businesses have already endorsed the bill. The National Taxpayers Union has named Paul "the taxpayers' best friend" for his consistent stand against taxes. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Each week the office of US Representative Ron Paul presents the Legislative Update, toll-free nationwide at (888) 322-1414. Hear Dr. Paul discuss the previous week's legislative activities, as well as a preview of the coming week in Congress. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ --NOTE: PLEASE SEND _ALL_ CORROSPONDANCE TO rep.paul@mail.house.gov. BECAUSE OF HEAVY VOLUME, LETTERS SENT TO THE "FREEDOM WATCH" ADDRESS CANNOT BE PROPERLY PROCESSED AND READ. THE "FREEDOM WATCH" ADDRESS ONLY ACCEPTS SUBSCRIPTION/UNSUBSCRIPTION QUERIES. THANK YOU!-- ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Freedom Watch Update (fax and eMail versions) is a free service of the Washington Office of US REP Ron Paul. For reprint or other questions, call Communications Director Michael Sullivan at (202) 225-2831. To unsubscribe from the eMail FWU, send a note to: freedom.watch@mail.house.gov and place the word "remove" in the SUBJECT line. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ vE-9AP97 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: Tax return pranks all part of IRS (fwd) Date: 09 Apr 1997 12:54:16 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- http://www.startext.net ______ [Contents....]- StarText.Net Home - Community News - InterAct - Market Place Updated: Wednesday, Apr. 9, 1997 at 02:10 CDT Tax-return pranks, sassy or crude, all part of April for IRS By Deb Riechmann Associated Press WASHINGTON -- When the Internal Revenue Service worker opened the tax return, powdery, gray ashes spilled to the floor. "You took everything else. Why don't you take him, too!" wrote a widow who said she had enclosed her husband's remains. Americans are expected to mail about 120 million tax returns to the IRS this season, and some feel compelled to enclose a little something extra. Audits notwithstanding, these people want to sass the IRS. One taxpayer burned holes in a return and enclosed a note that said "Burn Baby Burn," said John DiBacco, executive vice president of the National Treasury Employees Union's chapter at the IRS service center in Philadelphia. It's the workers in the 10 IRS service centers, where returns are processed, who suffer Americans' scorn for the Tax Collector. "They act like it's us doing this to them. We pay taxes, too," DiBacco says. "Why don't they talk to their congressman?" The IRS says that, overall, only a small fraction of tax returns are adulterated. Such tax-time hijinks probably won't increase the likelihood of audits. But, depending on what taxpayers do, they could risk penalties or find their returns referred for possible criminal investigation, said IRS spokeswoman Jodi Patterson. Some taxpayers, on the other hand, write thank-you notes to helpful employees. Cheery citizens also have been known to send in candy or an occasional cigar. But during tax season, more of the mail is mean, the workers at the service centers report. Cranky taxpayers use Band- Aids, sewing needles, nails, even chewing gum to attach W-2 income statements to their tax forms, said Teresa Hill, who works at the IRS service center in Kansas City, Mo. A nurse once hooked her forms together with a hypodermic needle -- no one knew if it had been used or not. Neither could they tell if the ashes that the widow sent were really human remains, she said. IRS workers laugh off obscene photos filed with tax returns. One person enclosed a photocopy of his rump, a prank that an employee at the service center in Fresno, Calif., dismissed as "not very original." Returns smeared with blood or excrement are treated less lightly. The California worker, who asked not to be identified by name, recalls one taxpayer sending in a 1040 form that had clearly been used as toilet tissue. Unfazed, the IRS laminated the form and then went ahead and processed it. Another taxpayer caused a scare when he sent in a long-barreled gun. Worried that the package was booby-trapped, security officers had it X-rayed before it was opened. The gun was found to be unloaded. An enclosed note said: "This is the only thing of value I have. Please sell it and apply the money to my tax balance." Tom Ochsenschlager, a spokesman for Grant Thornton Accountants and Management Consultants in New York, says his firm advises perturbed taxpayers to simply write their senators and representatives. "I've heard stories of people who write profanity next to the amount that they owe," he says. "Or, they write `I'm paying this tax under protest, but I don't want this to go to the Defense Department.' During the Vietnam War, there were a lot of these kind." Tax preparers with H&R Block Tax Services also discourage people from enclosing messages -- it creates confusion and slows the processing of returns, said spokesman Todd Ransom. Pete Sepp of the National Taxpayers Union warned that sassy taxpayers invite the risk of a frivolous-return penalty or even civil or criminal prosecution. The tax law says a $500 frivolous- return penalty can be assessed if a return does not include enough information to figure the correct tax, or contains substantially incorrect information. It also says: "You will have to pay the penalty if you filed this kind of return because of a frivolous position on your part or a desire to delay or interfere with the administration of federal income tax laws." Most Americans resist the urge to mouth off to the IRS, Sepp said. "Most are afraid of what the IRS would do to them." _________________________________________________________________ © 1997 Fort Worth Star-Telegram -- Terms and Conditions -- Send us your Feedback. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: Suprynowicz: "Let the impeachments begin" (fwd) Date: 09 Apr 1997 17:14:09 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- The following is posted to PIML as an item of interest. Original sender is Vin Suprynowicz, assistant editorial page editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Readers may contact him via e-mail at vin@lvrj.com. Please address any comments or questions regarding the item's contents to Mr. Suprynowicz. FROM MOUNTAIN MEDIA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATED APRIL 16, 1997 THE LIBERTARIAN, By Vin Suprynowicz Let the impeachments begin Leaders of 76 national, state and local bar associations issued a joint letter to House Speaker New Gingrich April 6, urging the Speaker to resist any efforts to impeach federal judges over disagreements with their rulings. The lawyers' groups wrote: "The genius of the American system of government is the careful balance created by the founders between the three branches of government. Moving to impeach judges for individual decisions -- a kind of legislative referendum on judicial decision-making -- threatens to destroy this delicately crafted balance." The bar associations' letter apparently comes in response to a call last month from House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, that Congress should indeed impeach federal judges whose rulings are "particularly egregious." It's a striking image: a star chamber assembly-line for the removal of judges, systematically defrocking the ministers of the bench for making up the law as they go along. Let's get concerned when they've dismissed the first 50 ... with no pensions. More interesting is this oft-repeated assertion that the "delicate balance of powers" is now operating as intended by the Founders. How absurd. Mightier than any federal authority, in the scheme of the founders, were the sovereign state legislatures, empowered to appoint U.S. senators to veto any federal attempt to assume coercive powers over the states beyond those specified in the 431 words of Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. That "check and balance" went a-glimmering in 1913, of course. Shall we now count the number of things our state legislatures need "federal permission" to undertake? But even above the states were the people, authorized by the Second Amendment to keep their arms, not for "sporting use," but as a specific guarantee that any potential federal tyrant would always face the prospect of a populace too well-armed -- with "assault weapons" -- to tolerate any usurpation of our liberties. Beyond that, the people were granted the final veto over any attempt by government to deprive a fellow citizen of his life, liberty, or property, when the Sixth Amendment guaranteed that "in all criminal prosecutions," the defendant could be convicted only by unanimous vote of an "impartial jury," randomly selected from the local populace. Does anyone still believe our federal officials have no intention of disarming citizens who might resist federal tyranny? How many of the 20,000 gun control laws enacted in the past 65 years have been tossed out by these proud courts? How many armed militiamen summarily set free (and their guns returned) on a plain reading of the Second Amendment? Are we still better armed than the federals -- or do we now cower in fear of the knock on the door by the ATF, the DEA ... the IRS? How many federal agents who swarmed out to murder armed but peaceful citizens at Ruby Ridge and Waco have been indicted and tried for those crimes, by these attorneys and judges who now blubber so earnestly about the "delicately crafted" balance of powers? Under current Supreme Court rulings, do defendants still get their guaranteed jury trial "in (start ital)all(end ital) criminal prosecutions"? When we now accept, as routine, weeks of careful pre-screening of prospective jurors (witness the Oklahoma City bombing case) to make sure all will agree in advance to employ the death penalty, does this encourage jurors to enter the jury box under a "presumption of innocence"? Can a jury still be said to be a "random and impartial" cross-section of the community, when any honest enough to admit they despise federal gun controls, or the federal tax system, or the government murders at Waco, are summarily dismissed; when the panel is carefully stacked to contain only those who will swear in advance an oath of obedience to the federal judge, to "accept and enforce the law as I give it to you" -- when they're sifted so fine that they must even explain the meaning of the bumper stickers on their cars? Ah, this proud federal judiciary. How long has it been since they ruled that (start ital)any(end ital) expansion of the federal welfare/police state exceeded constitutional authority -- that (start ital)any(end ital) gang of federal bureaucrats must be immediately disbanded and turned out to fend for themselves? Sixty years? How wonderful, that the federal government could grow to 20 times its previous size, without ever assuming a single power not specified in those 431 little words. As impeachment is the only means by which a judge can be held accountable, would it really be such a bad thing if a few ambitious lawyers were thus called down from their high seats, put under a hot light, and asked to explain how their rulings to date reflect the sacred oath they all took to protect and defend our inconvenient Constitution ... the abandonment of which oath, surely, is as much a "high crime and misdemeanor" -- every bit as dangerous to the future of the Republic -- as handing over the plans of West Point to the Redcoats? Vin Suprynowicz is the assistant editorial page editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Readers may contact him via e-mail at vin@lvrj.com. The web site for the Suprynowicz column is at http://www.nguworld.com/vindex/. The column is syndicated in the United States and Canada via Mountain Media Syndications, P.O. Box 4422, Las Vegas Nev. 89127. *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jack@minerva.com Subject: Re: Suprynowicz: "Let the impeachments begin" (fwd) Date: 09 Apr 1997 16:55:28 PDT roc@mail.xmission.com wrote : > > > > >---------- Forwarded message ---------- >Date: Wed, 09 Apr 1997 15:35:34 -0500 >From: Steve Greenhow >To: piml@mars.galstar.com >Subject: piml] Suprynowicz: "Let the impeachments begin" > >The following is posted to PIML as an item of interest. Original sender is >Vin Suprynowicz, assistant editorial page editor of the Las Vegas >Review-Journal. Readers may contact him via e-mail at vin@lvrj.com. Please >address any comments or questions regarding the item's contents to Mr. >Suprynowicz. > > > > FROM MOUNTAIN MEDIA > FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATED APRIL 16, 1997 > THE LIBERTARIAN, By Vin Suprynowicz > Let the impeachments begin > > Leaders of 76 national, state and local bar associations issued a joint >letter to House Speaker New Gingrich April 6, urging the Speaker to resist >any efforts to impeach federal judges over disagreements with their >rulings. > At least with the judge most deserving of impeachement: The one who with a stroke of a pen undid Prop 209 .....at least for awhile there was a perfectly valid reason for impeachment .......independent of his horrible injunction. In particular since he had been on the board of the ACLU before he was appointed to the Federal Bench at his confirmation hearings he said he would dis-qualify himself from any cases involving the ACLU and then wrote an injunction against 209 for the ACLU before he had even read it .....or so it seems. At any rate a complete lack of integrity and honesty should be just as valid reasons for impeachment as the actual decisions .....tho one supposes if the judges actually knew the meaning of the words honesty or integrity there would be no need for impeachment Jack > > > > Jack Perrine | ATHENA Programming, Inc | 818-798-6574 | ---------------- | 1175 No. Altadena Drive | fax 398-8620 | jack@minerva.com | Pasadena, CA 91107 US | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: Column, April 9 (fwd) Date: 10 Apr 1997 08:53:27 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- FROM MOUNTAIN MEDIA NOTE: DUE TO LENGTH, CONSIDER THIS YOUR BONUS FEATURE FOR EARLY APRIL FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATED APRIL 9, 1997 THE LIBERTARIAN, By Vin Suprynowicz The 'Great Disconnect' I was growing frustrated, considering how hard it would be to summarize so many important issues this month, when it struck me the sheer number of issues now surfacing may actually (start ital)be(end ital) the story. As space allows, I hope to return to each matter mentioned below. The point at present is not so much to "prove" that those who disagree with the official "line" of the government and mainstream press on these many issues are correct, as to point out the sheer number of places where stress fractures are breaking out ... where two different worldviews are currently at odds in ways perhaps not seen since the turn of the 16th century. This nation was founded on the premise that even the best of men, given powers without (start ital)effective(end ital) limits, would eventually become tyrants. Since the Civil War, we have been busily abandoning this tradition. Oh, our monopoly mandatory government schools still (start ital)teach(end ital) the "separation of powers," but it's nonsense. Do the federal Congress, president and judiciary check and balance each other? They do nothing of the sort. The Supreme Court hasn't thrown out as "unauthorized under the Constitution" any massive new scheme of the cancerous federal welfare-police state since FDR threatened to stack the court in 1937 -- two-thirds of a century ago. The greatest "check and balance" on government power, in reality, was the right of the randomly-selected citizen jury -- guaranteed in no fewer than three of the first 10 Amendments -- to set a fellow citizen free if they believed the legislature had passed a law, or the executive had brought charges, which flew in the face of the defendant's natural and/or constitutional rights and freedoms. This is now almost entirely gone. In Colorado this month, juror Laura Kriho was fined $1,200 for the "crime" of failing to leap to her feet during jury selection, and "admit" without prompting that she had qualms about laws that send teenage girls to jail for years for possession of small amounts of recreational drugs. Instead, she duly allowed herself to be ordered to the courthouse (on pain of criminal sanctions should she refuse to show up, of course), was seated on the jury, and spoke her mind during deliberations in the sanctity of the jury room ... an action now held to be a crime in Colorado. (Background: http://www.execpc.com/~doreen.) America is now divided between two cultures (as the parody "Arizona militiamen" told the protagonists in that recent-two-part episode of "Star Trek: Voyager," in which the future space travelers return to modern-day earth) -- the forces of collectivism, and the forces of freedom; the culture of government, and those who increasingly believe that government lies to us not just under duress, but pretty much all the time. To wit: # The government culture says the Branch Davidians at Waco committed suicide. But the two-hour film documentary "Waco: The Rules of Engagement," now generating audience tears and outrage in a limited California tour, provides compelling evidence -- from the government's own overhead infrared footage of the church's final day -- that FBI agents knocked down the walls with armored vehicles (apparently killing many women and children with collapsing concrete (start ital)before(end ital) the fire), fired incendiary rifle grenades into a building full of dangerous, flammable CS gas to set it afire, and then fired automatic weapons into the building to discourage any of their victims from escaping. For background on the issues treated in the Dan and Amy Gifford/William Gazecki/Mike McNulty film, see http://www/Public-Action.com/SkyWriter/WacoMuseum. For an updated list of screenings of the documentary, try http://www.waco93.com/. # The FBI says a missile can't possibly have brought down TWA Flight 800 over Long Island last July 17. They have decided this after "months of thorough investigation," they tell us. But in fact, they announced it couldn't have been a missile within 24 hours. How credible is an investigation that spends months "proving" a conclusion that was declared at the outset? And why did the FBI -- more skilled at covering things up, from the Kennedy hit to the Waco extermination, than it is at uncovering the truth -- seize control of this investigation anyway, when such matters have previously been the purview of the civilian FAA? The Internet -- and now even the "mainstream" French press -- is full of reports of numerous eyewitnesses whose accounts were ridiculed when they said they heard a boom before they saw the flash of light from the plane exploding -- after all, government interviewers smirked, light travels faster than sound. But what if the noise the witnesses heard was the sonic boom of a missile reaching top speed as it approached the plane? What about the radar tapes which the FBI recently seized from retired United Airlines pilot Richard Russell in Daytona Beach, Fla. (wire stories, March 11), purporting to show a smaller blip intersecting with the plane, but which we are now told show no such blip ... after the FBI got their hands on them? The fall-back position, the web investigators are already predicting, will be, "OK, if it was a missile, it had to be an Arab terrorist missile -- it can't possibly have been a U.S. Navy missile gone astray." Why? Because that might mean the Navy is testing a missile that could violate treaty limits on anti-ICBM defenses? For background, see "TWA 800: The Facts," at http://www.erols.com/igoddard/twa-fact.htm, or http://www.webexpert.net/rosedale/twacasefile/default.htm. For the latest Pierre Salinger report in the original French, find the March 20 edition of Paris-Match, or try: http://www.parismatch.tm.fr/actualite/twa800/framedepart.html. # The official government line has always been that top presidential attorney Vince Foster committed suicide in Fort Marcy Park, Washington D.C. The second culture harbors little doubt that the body of this man -- reported to be Hillary Clinton's lover as well as a Whitewater insider -- was moved from another location and dumped in the park, possibly even after being murdered. Why else entrust the investigation of the suspicious death of the highest-ranking White House official to die mysteriously in decades to Washington's version of Sergeant Schultz and Colonel Klink ... the (start ital)Park Police(end ital)? Now, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard of the London Sunday Telegram is bruiting about a purported crime scene photo which appears to show Mr. Foster with a second wound to the neck. Heard much about that on the NBC evening news? (For a transcript of Mr. Evans-Pritchard's March 3 interview with George Putnam on KIEV Radio, Los Angeles, see the web page of the Constitution Society, Sacramento Cal. (tel. 916-568-1022) at http://www.constitution.org/.) # The first culture winks knowingly at Bill Clinton's admitted "youthful marijuana experimentation," while reviling anyone who dares repeat the persistent rumors that Gov. Bill Clinton tolerated and even profited from cocaine smuggling into Mena Airport, back in his Arkansas salad days. Even the publication, in the Wall Street Journal last November, of an actual photocopy of Gov. Clinton's executive order restoring the right to carry a gun to his close friend and campaign donor -- and convicted cocaine smuggler -- Dan Lassater, seems to have made no more impression on these "true believers" than did the obscure celestial observations of Copernicus on the flat-earthers of (start ital)his(end ital) day. One might expect the Second Culture to call for the ouster of Hypocrite Bill, and his replacement by a REAL drug warrior. Interestingly -- and encouragingly -- a large and growing plurality of the citizenry appears to be much wiser than that. I'm now receiving several letters per week from mainstream citizens -- many too old to have been Hippies in the '60s -- who have seen relatives die of cancer without access to medical marijuana or even adequate (start ital)legal(end ital) pain relief, who are appalled at the crassness and hypocrisy of federal authorities overturning sensible citizen votes on these issues in Arizona and California. Some of these writers have even begun to characterize the drug war as a "hate crime," little different from the 19th century identification of the American Indian as a subhuman species, the better to seize their lands and property. "I don't do hate crimes," a regular reader of the Review-Journal wrote to me last week. "I hereby apologize for any vote I ever cast for a 'drug War' politician, and vow never to do it again." # The Tim McVeigh trial, in the retaliatory bombing of the ATF office in Oklahoma City two years back? I thought this was supposed to be the "trial of the decade." So why so little followup after FBI crime lab senior chemist and whistle-blower Frederic Whitehurst revealed that workers at the lab have been encouraged to fudge and lie about their results -- the better to convict suspects -- for years? ("Misconduct allegations arise in FBI lab probe," Los Angeles Times, Jan. 30, 1997, and "Report: FBI bomb team slacked off," AP New York Feb. 7, 1997.) Resigned and/or withdrawn: several government witnesses in the McVeigh case, with even the Ted Kaczynski "Unabomber" trial reportedly also in some jeopardy. The O.J. Simpson criminal jury was ridiculed for believing cops might frame innocent suspects. Yet how prominently do the networks now play this evidence that the government regularly and routinely (start ital)does(end ital) frame its suspects? Also ridiculed, of course, is the notion that government infiltrators may have known about plans to bomb the Murrah Building, and let them go forward. But isn't this precisely the pattern of the string of militia busts -- in Arizona, in Georgia, in West Virginia and in Washington state -- that quickly followed on the heels of the convenient Murrah Building bombing -- government infiltrators actually (start ital)suggesting(end ital) bank robberies and other major crimes, the better to beef up the bogus charges which could be leveled at the subsequent press conference? # National firearm registration and eventual confiscation? National ID cards tied to fingerprints; national ID numbers without which it will be impossible to work or transfer funds? The mainstream culture and their obedient press minions dismiss such fears as paranoid and delusional. Many on the Internet respond by downloading and circulating the actual bills now working their way through the houses of Congress, which duly authorize just such measures, while the mainstream press shouts "Delusional hate-filled white supremacist nuts! Ignore them! Ignore the little men behind the curtain!" I understand we're about to see a new James Garner movie -- a comedy about the secession of the militia-happy state of Idaho. And, of course, the Clint Eastwood thriller now playing at my local theater is the tale of a cat-burglar who witnesses a murder committed by the president of the United States ... in his love nest. What odd notions. I wonder where they could have come from, what with Leslie Stahl and Jane Pauley and Sam Donaldson and Tom Brokaw regularly and soothingly assuring us that nothing of the sort has ever happened ... or ever could. Vin Suprynowicz is the assistant editorial page editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Readers may contact him via e-mail at vin@lvrj.com. The web site for the Suprynowicz column is at http://www.nguworld.com/vindex/. The column is syndicated in the United States and Canada via Mountain Media Syndications, P.O. Box 4422, Las Vegas Nev. 89127. *** Vin Suprynowicz, vin@lvrj.com Voir Dire: A French term which means "jury stacking." =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= To unsubscribe from this mailing list, DISREGARD ANY INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE and go to the Web page at http://www.maillist.net/rightnow.html. New subscriptions can also be entered at this page. If you cannot access the World Wide Web, send an e-mail message to RightNow-Request@MailList.Net and on the SUBJECT LINE put the single word: unsubscribe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: New Email addresses for Important People (fwd) Date: 10 Apr 1997 13:49:55 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- ================================================================ SacredBull Newsservice mail list: Because Ridicule is a Weapon. ================================================================ TODAY'S ELECTRONIC CIVICS LESSON By Claire Wolfe and Charles Curley We at SacredBull believe wholeheartedly in good citizenship and participatory democracy. Our motto is: The lessons of civics class are eternal. They are as true today as they were when you learned them at your teacher's knee! Your leaders are always there to serve you, if you just let them. So if you want to change the world, the very, very best way is to ask politely-the SacredBull way. To help you contact those great people who work so hard to assure your freedom, here are the e-mail addresses of many of your most prominent and courageous leaders. In this list you'll find people in government and in the many, many, many fine organizations that work hand-in-hand with government to help make a better life for all Americans-including YOU! Please write to them. Tell them what a good job they're doing, and ask them nicely for all the new laws you want. After all, that's what America's all about! -- Hillary Clinton incharge@whitehouse.gov Bill Clinton auction@whitehouse.gov Al Gore treehugger@tobacco_lobby.gov Tipper Gore uptight@lyrics.org Newt Gingrich ethics@newtered.gov Republican National Committee invertebrates@slowdemocrat.org Democratic National Committee pander@slowsocialist.org Janet Reno (work) butch@murder.gov Janet Reno (home) penisenvy@whipme.com Donna Shalala shillelagh@good_for_you.gov Bruce Babbitt grabit@land.gov Dick Gephardt cheerleader@big.gov Dick Morris dick@large.com Ted Kennedy (work) leftover@dynasty.gov Ted Kennedy (home) scuba_driver@bridge.com Dianne Feinstein gun_toter@gunbanner.gov Charles Schumer sauron@mordor.gov John Huang I_spy@dnc.org Sarah Brady lobbyist@cia.org ATF obey@orelse.gov IRS ours@yours.gov FBI coverup@waco.gov Lon Horiuchi babylove@eagle_eye.com National Rifle Association w_lapierre@compromise.org CBS damn_blather@newsless.com Morris Dees fundraiser@hatespeech.org Marion Barry cokehead@bankrupt.gov Colin Powell player@world.gov In addition, the following e-mail addresses have recently been changed: Deng Chou Peng deng@ancestors.com Ron Brown oops@bosnia.com Vince Foster vfoster@kevorkian.com Jack Kevorkian kevorkian@grateful_dead.com Jerry Garcia jgarcia@grateful_dead.com Bob Dole sominex@yawn.com Theodore Kaczinski gorefan@slammer.com Susan McDougal lipsealed@slammer.com Jim McDougal chatterbox@slammer.com Richard Nixon atlast@hell.org Please also note that the fine people currently at unitednations.org will soon receive an exciting new domain name--unitednations.GOV! We'll keep you posted when that happens. Or you can just watch for the attractive blue berets to begin appearing in YOUR neighborhood. Finally, we have been trying to reach the following individual for some time now and have unfortunately had nothing but a series of bounced messages. If any of you civic minded citizens out there can tell us how to reach this fellow, we sure would appreciate it: Thomas Jefferson revolution@saveus.com Thank you! We hope you found today's civics lesson very, very useful. And please don't forget to notify us if you locate that Jefferson fellow! We think he could really be of help with our _next_ terrific civics lesson! ----- (c) 1997 by Claire Wolfe and Charles Curley. Permission to reprint freely granted, provided any reprint is accompanied by this copyright statement. We also request that any electronic reprints carry the SacredBull subscription information below. ================================================================ This article orginally appeared in the SacredBull mailing list. TO SUBSCRIBE: send mail to: majordomo@nighthawk.reichel.net with 'subscribe sacredbull' in the message body, and you are OURS. Hahahahahaha. We don't have unsubscribe instructions. ================================================================ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: CIA admits error in assessing chemical weapons depot data (fwd) Date: 10 Apr 1997 14:16:34 -0500 (CDT) http://www.dallasnews.com ---------- Forwarded message ---------- CIA admits error in assessing chemical weapons depot data WASHINGTON - The CIA conceded Wednesday it did a poor job handling reports that could have warned U.S. troops against blowing up an Iraqi weapons storage site after the Persian Gulf War. The site was later found to have contained chemical weapons. "Intelligence support before, during and after the war should have been better," Robert Walpole told reporters at a rare news conference held at the Central Intelligence Agency. He is the CIA's top official on Gulf War illness problems. "If you're looking for an apology that we should have given this information out sooner, I'll give that apology," Walpole said. "We should have gotten it out sooner." Some Gulf War veterans insist their medical ailments may be tied to exposure to poisons, possibly sarin gas, at the Khamisiyah site. Walpole acknowledged the agency was reluctant to share some of its most sensitive information with other top government officials; had "problems with multiple databases" that contained multiple names for a single site; and conducted "incomplete searches of files" that did not go deeply enough into the agency's records when analysts attempted to prepare lists of known or suspected chemical weapons sites. Walpole said task forces have been set up to deal with the various problems. But he insisted that the agency's new information "does not contradict previous intelligence warnings" before and after the war that Iraq was likely to have had chemical weapons; that the weapons might not be marked; and that Iraq did not use chemical weapons during the war. Critics of the agency's intelligence reports during the war argue that they came much too late to help the soldiers who destroyed the Khamisiyah site on March 4 and 10, and possibly March 12, 1991. The agency's warning, made public Wednesday, was sent on March 6, 1991, to intelligence officials at the Central Command headquarters in the Gulf. The agency's admissions come as acting Director George Tenet prepares for confirmation hearings next week before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Last month, Tenet released a statement saying the agency had already performed a "vigorous search of all documents" relating to Gulf War illness issues and was supporting other government agencies attempting to help Gulf War veterans find answers to their problems. Nora Slatkin of the CIA previously testified the agency had declassified and released all documents pertaining to possible exposure of U.S. forces at Khamisiyah. Walpole also released information indicating the CIA has not been completely clear about what it knew when. One of the dozens of recently declassified documents given to reporters showed the CIA was given information on Feb. 23, 1991, by a U.S. ambassador in the region. The ambassador's report, passed on by a CIA operative, included the specific map coordinates of the weapons dump, and said "the location is described as a chemical weapons facility." While the report did not specify the name Khamisiyah, Walpole himself said a simple check with a map that could be purchased openly placed the coordinates near Khamisiyah. However, up until one month ago, agency officials had insisted that "press reports suggesting that CIA provided DOD (Defense Department) with intelligence identifying Khamisiyah in Februrary 1991 as a suspect CW (chemical weapons) storage area are inaccurate. CIA did not identify Khamisiyah as a possible CW facility until 1995 and it was confirmed in 1996." Last month at a hearing in Salt Lake City, Walpole said the CIA knew in 1986 that had Iraq stored chemical weapons at the depot. But the newly released documents show a series of reports dating back to 1984 that should have given analysts reasons to suspect that Khamisiyah was a chemical weapons storage facility. Walpole said the agency was making the documents public in order to assess missteps. "We owe [Persian Gulf War] vets a full and accurate accounting of what happened," he said. Associated Press © 1997 The Dallas Morning News About us ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Skip Leuschner Subject: Re: [Fwd: Letter from Reader] Date: 10 Apr 1997 16:54:33 -0800 FYI, US News & WR had a one-pager on Colin Powell and the so-called Powell Doctrine in this week's issue. I wasn't a great fan of a Powell candidacy as the presidential race took shape in 96, but now, looking back on that whole costly and pointless debacle, and particularly the outcome, I find myself in a "back to basics" mode and looking only for a leader a majority of the American people can respect, trust and support. I know of no one like that in the mainstream stable of Dem or Rep wannabes. In that connection, and FWIW, I'll presume on your indulgence by sharing a Letter to the Editor of USN&WR I posted yesterday. Think about it. Skip > --------------------------------------------------------------- > > Subject: Letter from Reader > Date: Wed, 09 Apr 1997 07:37:29 -0800 > From: Skip Leuschner > Organization: Home > To: letters@usnews.com > > Dear Sir, > > I thank Ken Walsh for his reminder that Colin Powell could become our > next President. My spirits and morale soared at thought of a man of > stature, principle and integrity occupying the White House again, > cleaning up that ethical dung heap, restoring truthfulness and > disciplined logic to the decision process, providing an inspirational > example for young people, and displaying the kind of leadership needed > to restore America’s self respect. I want my pride in my country > back. Partisan nonsense aside, that will take a man of Powell’s > character. > > RAdm R. L. Leuschner, Jr. USN (Retired) > Independent > 23701 NW Hillhurst Rd > Ridgefield, WA 98642 > (360) 887-8015 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: RE: [Fwd: IP: FWD: Clinton wants Dan Burton Out of his way] (fwd) Date: 11 Apr 1997 07:36:35 -0500 (CDT) This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. Send mail to mime@docserver.cac.washington.edu for more info. --------------7F7C4AAC7ED8 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=us-ascii Content-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- -- ======================================================= Never Forget: Kent State 4, Ruby Ridge 2 plus dog, WACO 82, including 2 unborn babies. ======================================================= --------------7F7C4AAC7ED8 Content-Type: MESSAGE/RFC822 Content-ID: Received: from majordomo.pobox.com [208.210.124.23] by mx01.ny.us.ibm.net id 860719187.85860-1 Fri Apr 11 00:39:47 1997 Received: (qmail 8137 invoked by alias); 11 Apr 1997 00:39:40 -0000 Delivered-To: ignition-point-outgoing@majordomo.pobox.com Received: (qmail 8129 invoked by uid 516); 11 Apr 1997 00:39:39 -0000 Received: (qmail 8113 invoked from network); 11 Apr 1997 00:39:37 -0000 Received: from smtp.cisnet.com (root@204.179.144.4) by majordomo.pobox.com with SMTP; 11 Apr 1997 00:39:37 -0000 Received: from jbrunet (180.detroit-001.mi.dial-access.att.net [207.147.48.180]) by smtp.cisnet.com (8.8.4/8.7.3) with SMTP id UAA21273 for ; Thu, 10 Apr 1997 20:53:18 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <2.2.32.19970411004319.00720c98@mail.cisnet.com> X-Sender: jbrunet@mail.cisnet.com X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Pro Version 2.2 (32) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: owner-ignition-point@majordomo.pobox.com Precedence: list Reply-To: ignition-point@majordomo.pobox.com Hi all, The message in this post I am forwarding is absolutely chilling. It is important. I urge you to read it. Sincerely, Jerry Brunet >Reply-To: conchr-l@xc.org >Subject: CONCHR Clinton wants Dan Burton Out of his way >From: Craig Strickland >To: conchr-l@xc.org > >Mr. Weyrich is correct - the "Clintons are ruthless with all of their >political enemies". I'd hate to see an innocent man (if he is) destroyed. >Please remember him in your prayers. > >---- > >April 03, 1997 >by: Paul M. Weyrich > >The ghost of the late Vince Foster seems to be haunting the attempt by >Representative Dan Burton of Indiana to investigate the Clinton scandals in >the House. > >Bill and Hillary Clinton are ruthless with all of their political enemies, >but a special place is reserved for those who suggest that Foster did not >commit suicide at Fort Marcy Park. That is why the White House has placed >at the top of its enemies list Pittsburgh Tribune Review investigative >reporter Christopher Ruddy and it appears to be why Burton is now in the >political fight for his life just as he begins to probe the President's >problems. > >You see almost all of the Republican officials in the Congress didn't want >to touch the death of Vince Foster. Despite glaring questions posed by >Accuracy in Media Chairman Reed Irvine, Ruddy and others, the line of the >Republican leadership in Washington was that Vince Foster was a useless >distraction and out of respect for his widow, the Foster death should be >left alone. Time and again, both privately and publicly, when reporters >raised the matters Ruddy and Irvine unearthed, top Republicans would run >screaming from the room. One member of the Senate leadership finally >admitted to me that he didn't want to deal with the Foster issue because >"the implications of it all are too horrible for us to deal with." When I >asked him to elaborate he replied: "Well, if Foster didn't die the way >(Independent Counsel Robert) Fiske says he did, then it is likely the >President is somehow involved and if he is the democratic process simply >can't survive such a disclosure." > >Dan Burton, on the other hand, pursued the Foster death relentlessly. He >conducted his own investigation into the matter and was willing to openly >challenge the prevailing view inside and outside his own party, that the >Foster matter had best be left alone. In fact, one of the reasons that >Independent Counsel Ken Starr has yet to release his findings on Foster is >because he knows he might immediately face a challenge from Burton. > >Because of his pursuit of Foster, Burton has earned a special place in Bill >and Hillary's black book. That is why it is extraordinarily suspicious that >on the eve of the consideration of the money bill to fund the Burton >investigation into the Clinton scandals, out of nowhere comes longtime >Democratic party activist Mark Siegel who claims that Burton shook him down >over a promise by Siegel to raise funds for Burton. Both Burton and Siegel >agree that Siegel made the pledge to raise money and didn't keep it. They >disagree with the rest of the details. Siegel insists that Burton >threatened him and his career over the matter. Burton said he simply told >Siegel that he ought to keep his commitments. > >Well, the day after this allegation was made, Attorney General Janet Reno, >who hasn't been able to find a cause to appoint an independent counsel in >the Democratic fundraising scandals, swung into action. Already yesterday >Siegel and two associates have testified before a grand jury in Washington. >Although Burton has yet to be contacted by the FBI on the matter, it is >beginning to look like the Attorney General may try to indict Burton. If >she does, regardless of the merit of the case, Burton, under rules of the >GOP caucus, must be removed from his chairmanship. > >Look at what happened to Pennsylvania Congressman Joe McDade. He was >indicted and the indictment hung over his head for years. He was twice >re-elected with no trial having taken place. Finally he was tried and the >jury wasted no time in acquitting McDade. But in the meantime the >Republicans had taken control of the House and Bob Livingston had become >Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, the post McDade would likely have >had but for the indictment. Even though he was completely vindicated and >the voters continued to support him, McDade did not get his Chairmanship >following the acquittal. > >If Burton is indicted, as was the case with McDade, the indictment could >hang over his head for a long while with no case against him being brought >to trial. Meanwhile, the Deputy GOP Whip Denny Hastert of Illinois would >likely take Burton's place as chairman of the committee investigating the >Clintons. Hastert is one of the GOP officials who didn't want to touch the >Foster case. Although a competent and solid fellow, he does not have the >stomach to go after the Clintons the way Burton does. > >In fact, Burton is the one character the Clintons have to worry about. In >the Senate, Fred Thompson, the Chairman of the comparable committee, is >running for President by courting the national media and seems determined >to go after conservative groups as much as Clinton. Moreover, a united >Democratic party is able to prevent Thompson from going very far even if he >were inclined to, by invoking the filibuster. Ken Starr's investigation >into the Clintons has already been damaged and compromised by his strange >departure from and re-entry into the case. Burton has no such restraints on >him. His committee has adequate funding and he doesn't have to negotiate >with the minority to make things happen. > >Columnist Bob Novak noted in a piece on the same topic today that he has >known both Siegel and Burton for many years and believed both of them to be >honorable men, but it is evident that at this point one of them is lying. >If Burton did try to shake down Siegel, obviously he deserves to be removed >from office. If he did not, and both he and his lawyer, former U.S. >Attorney Joe di Genova, emphatically deny that he did any such thing, then >what is happening to Burton looks suspiciously like what has happened to a >long list of opponents of Bill and Hillary Clinton who have the potential, >at least, of getting close to the truth. > >You can't blame the Clintons for wanting Dan Burton out of the way. They >seem to have bested Ken Starr. They aren't worried about Thompson. Burton >is their last obstacle to a relatively free ride in their second term, the >way they had a free ride in their first term. > >If Dan Burton is truly innocent, we may see the American justice system >used here to ruin his career so he can be removed from the one position of >power in the otherwise compliant Washington which threatens the first >couple. No one would write this in a novel. The editors would reject it as >not being credible. >------------------------------------------------------ >You can unsubscribe from this conference at any time. >Just send the command: unsubscribe conchr-l to > > Jerry Brunet jbrunet@cisnet.com Brunet Computer Systems jbrunet@christcom.net Canfield, Ohio U.S.A. Business: http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/jbrunet Personal: http://www.cisnet.com/jbrunet/ Jesus is the only One Who can run my life without destroying me in the process. To subscribe or unsubscribe, email majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com with the message "subscribe ignition-point" or "unsubscribe ignition-point". http://ic.net/~celano/ip/ --------------7F7C4AAC7ED8-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: MRC Alert: Not Hitting Hillary on Hubbell; M*A*S*H Promoted War (fwd) Date: 11 Apr 1997 07:44:03 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- ***Media Research Center CyberAlert*** Friday, April 11, 1997 (Vol. Two; No. 47) +++ One year anniversary week. Serving America's liberal media bias needs via the Internet since April 8, 1996 +++ #### Distributed to over 2,100 recipients by the Media Research Center, bringing political balance to the media. Visit the MRC on the Web: http://www.mediaresearch.org. Past CyberAlerts can be read at: http://www.mediaresearch.org/mrc/cyberalert/ #### 1) CNN highlights two big Clinton fundraising disclosures (on revealing intelligence and hiding tobacco dollars), but the other networks look the other way. 2) Newspaper stories destroy White House line on Hubbell, but the networks skip the news in highlighting Hillary Clinton's radio interview. On CBS James McDougal fingers Web Hubbell. 3) On House and Senate fundraising investigations Peter Jennings wonders: "Is it a waste of time and money?" 4) A Hollywood film producer, who is in charge of a new ABC series, calls M*A*S*H a "racist" show that "promoted war." 5) A note to AOL subscribers on a CyberAlert you never got. > 1) The April 9 CyberAlert reported that of the broadcast network evening shows, only the CBS Evening News on Tuesday night reported, briefly, the New York Times story that the White House passed on top secret information to the Democratic National Committee. CNN ran a full story on The World Today. Wolf Blitzer explained the importance of the development skipped by ABC and NBC: "If true, then one White House source says that would be a serious breach of national security and a crime. The source says the case is causing major heartburn for the President's aides, who scrambled late into the night to figure out what happened." Given that ABC and NBC viewers didn't hear a word about it, the White House needn't have worried about much bad press. That's not the only story CNN has picked up on that the other networks have ignored. MRC analysts Steve Kaminski and Clay Waters observed that CNN covered a disclosure revealed in the April 3 USA Today. The USA Today story on the Ickes memos revealed that the Democrats encouraged tobacco companies to donate to state parties, instead of the national committee, in order to avoid federal disclosure laws. On CNN's The World Today Monday night (April 7) reporter Kelli Arena explained: "As Buttman haunted Bob Dole on the campaign trail for accepting tobacco industry donations, Democratic convention-goers listened to Vice President Al Gore's impassioned anti-tobacco speech....At the same time, tobacco executives tell CNN Financial News they were solicited repeatedly by Democratic fundraisers. Two companies, R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris, complied when the National Party told them to write their checks to state parties, thus avoiding stricter federal reporting requirements. Experts say the practice is legal, but is often used to hide controversial donations." Not a word yet on ABC, CBS or NBC about this hypocritical and slick maneuver. > 2) The April 14 Time magazine story on the news that Mack McLarty and Erskine Bowles solicited payments to Web Hubbell carried this sub-head: "The White House Seems to Have a Credible Story, But What Took So Long, And Why Does It Look So Bad?" As noted in the April 8 CyberAlert, an April 7 Washington Times story contradicted the White House line on how they had no idea, when Hubbell resigned in March, 1994, that he was in any trouble. Reporter Jerry Seper determined that Hillary Clinton had earlier been notified of an RTC investigation of Hubbell and Madison Guaranty. Seper was back again in Thursday's Washington Times. His April 10 story began: "The office of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton ordered the Resolution Trust Corp. in October 1993 to advise her of all media questions about an RTC probe of a failed Arkansas thrift at the core of the Whitewater investigation, including inquiries on Webster Hubbell's ties to suspected criminal wrongdoing." Thursday's New York Times carried a front page story headlined "A Wider Circle at White House Knew of Effort to Help Hubbell." Reporters Jeff Gerth and Stephen Labaton noted that while the White House maintains that top aides did try to get work for Hubbell, it "has said that the effort was not orchestrated and that many details -- notably the Riady payment -- were not known to President Clinton or the First Lady until they read about them in the newspaper last year." Referring to interviews they recently conducted, the Times reporters, however, asserted: "But the new interviews suggest that a wider circle of White House officials, at various levels, were intimately aware of the effort than has been previously known." Coverage of the Washington Times and New York Times stories? Not a syllable Thursday about either on the ABC, CBS or NBC evening shows. In fact, the three shows had nothing about fundraising on Wednesday night either. NBC's Today hasn't air a second on fundraising Monday through Thursday this week, but on Wednesday Today found a minute and 24 seconds for a 8am news break story on a LaJolla, California restaurant serving Lion meat for $100 a plate. "Animal rights activists were so outraged they staged a protest" Hillary Clinton's appearance Thursday on a Washington-based radio show distributed nationally by NPR generated stories on all the networks. -- Dan Rather announced on the April 10 CBS Evening News: "First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton fielded Whitewater questions and criticism today head-on, and speaking directly with offense and defense and in at least one instance, outright scorn. The First Lady ridiculed suggestions that the White House helped line up jobs for former law firm partner, and family friend, Web Hubbell was any attempt to buy Hubbell's silence." Reporter Rita Braver relayed that Hillary Clinton had no fear of indictment before running this soundbite from of her reaction to a question about Whitewater: "That's part of the continuing saga of Whitewater. You know the never ending fictional conspiracy that, honest to goodness, reminds me of some people's obsession with UFO's and the Hale-Bopp comet." Braver then showed a clip of Bill Clinton laughing when told of Hillary's comment. -- On World News Tonight Peter Jennings displayed a little less awe than Rather at the First Lady's openness: "Here in Washington today the President and the First Lady have each been obliged to say something about the so-called Whitewater affair. Though there was not much light shed." ABC then aired clips of the Hillary comet comment and the President's laughing reaction. -- On NBC Nightly News Tom Brokaw declared: "First Hillary Clinton and then the President today tried to laugh off Whitewater conspiracy theories, but as a result tonight that investigation is getting attention once again." Indeed, if she hadn't spoken, looking at the lack of network attention this week to Hubbell-related contradictions, you'd have to conclude Thursday would have been another day without any coverage. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski began: "Tom, Mrs. Clinton went on the offensive today to counter allegations of cover-up and conspiracy here at the White House..." Miklaszewski concluded: "But by saying he lied Hubbell also gives the Clintons some political cover. If the Clintons did not believe that Hubbell was in deep legal trouble they can claim that any money sent his way was out of compassion for a friend, and not a cover-up for a crime, Tom." Yes, they can claim that and avoid any media challenge. In relaying Mrs. Clinton's comments none of the three network stories mentioned any of the New York Times or Washington Times revelations that contradict her story. A few minutes after Rita Braver's piece, the CBS Evening News ran a short story from Phil Jones who interviewed James McDougal. Jones noted that McDougal changed his story and now says Bill Clinton was present at 1986 meeting in which an illegal $300,000 SBA loan was discussed. Jones then noted that Hubbell "was in a position to know everything about the Clintons and Whitewater." Jones to McDougal: "If you were the independent counsel?" McDougal: "I would have serious, long conversations with Web Hubbell." Jones: "Well, because as some say he knows where all the bodies are?" McDougal: "He must know more than I do because nobody 's ever given me a penny and I notice he got $400,000." An excellent point that the networks let Hillary slide by. > 3) Leading into an ad break on Thursday's World News Tonight Peter Jennings intoned: "When we come back, two investigations of fundraising abuse, two of them on Capitol Hill. Is it a waste of time and money?" John Cochran's story explored why there is both a House and Senate investigating committee when a joint committee was formed to probe Iran/Contra. Asked about it, Trent Lott conceded that he should have thought of going that way again. The end of Cochran's story reflected the media take on the two committee chairmen: "But they don't want to get together. The easy-going Thompson, who may have presidential aspirations, says it's important to be as tough on Republicans as Democrats." After a Thompson bite Cochran continued: "But Dan Burton is a hard-charging partisan and has resisted investigating anyone but Democrats." Cochran a ran a soundbite from Burton before concluding: "So although Congress complains a lot about too much duplication in government, we'll be seeing double when the House and Senate begin months of dueling hearings into campaign fundraising." > 4) "Gun," a new ABC anthology series with film director Robert Altman as Executive Producer, premieres Saturday night at 10pm ET/PT. The April 9 USA Today outlined the show's plot: "Gun is about one semi-automatic, pearl-handled gun and how it affects the lives of people it comes in contact with." Given Altman's view of guns, it's a bit odd to have him creating the program. "I don't think everybody should have a gun in their House," Altman is quoted in the April 6-12 Washington Post TV Week. "I don't care what the founding fathers said -- they didn't have a police force to call on." But that's a pretty rational view compared to his take on the M*A*S*H TV sit-com series. Altman produced the original film upon which the series was based. He told USA Today's Jefferson Graham: "It was irresponsible. No matter what the platitudes were, the main message of the show was that the villains were brown-skinned guys with narrow eyes. It was a racist show that promoted war." Did Altman just arrive on the same ship that took away the Heaven's Gate members? M*A*S*H a "racist" show that "promoted war"? The show starred Alda Alda as doctor who made fun of the military, cared for North Koreans before U.S. soldiers, railed against the senselessness of young men dying and, while set in Korea, M*A*S*H was seen by many as a commentary on the meaningless of the Vietnam War. > 5) AOL has had some e-mail delivery problems this week. From Monday's CyberAlert I received hundreds of "service unavailable" error messages for AOL recipients. I think AOL people received the Tuesday, April 8 CyberAlert early on Thursday after some delay and got the Wednesday, April 9 edition okay. To see the Monday, April 7 edition, you can go to the MRC Web site: http://www.mediaresearch.org/mrc/cyberalert/1997/ Of course, you'll have to get this message to know that you missed a message -- Brent Baker >>> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: mrc-cyber-request@list.us.net. Put "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" in the BODY of the message, NOT in the subject line. Problems and comments can be addressed to either: cyber@mediaresearch.org OR MediaResearchCenter@compuserve.com <<< =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= To unsubscribe from this mailing list, DISREGARD ANY INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE and go to the Web page at http://www.maillist.net/rightnow.html. New subscriptions can also be entered at this page. If you cannot access the World Wide Web, send an e-mail message to RightNow-Request@MailList.Net and on the SUBJECT LINE put the single word: unsubscribe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Chris Ferris Subject: News Flash: Clinton and Mobutu Swap Jobs! Date: 11 Apr 1997 11:08:38 -0400 (EDT) THIS IS A SATIRE THIS IS A SATIRE THIS IS A SATIRE THIS IS A SATIRE Bedeviled by crises in their respective countries, U.S. President William Jefferson Clinton and Zaire's dictator Mobutu Sese Seko have decided to swap jobs for a period of six months. As part of the formal "job swap" agreement, Mr. Clinton has agreed to ditch his American name and to take on a new name of "Momoney SeeSee Weewillie" so that he might be able to better "connect" with the impoverished people of Zaire in its capital city of Kinshasa. Upon his arrival in Kinshasa, Momoney was whisked to the Red Chinese Embassy in a Mercedes-Benz stretch limo. Local reporters indicated that when the Czech ambassador to Zaire showed up to greet Momoney at the Red Chinese Embassy, Momoney shoved him away, shouting, "Beat it, pal. There's only one kind of 'check' that interests me, and that's the kind I can put in my bank account!" After clinking wine glasses with smiling Red Chinese diplomats, Momoney traveled to a local Army barracks where he addressed a battalion of drunk, sleeping, undisciplined Zairian soldiers. Momoney, after waking the mob of snoring gun toters, implored them to take a renewed interest in defending Kinshasa against what he called a "rapidly approaching rabid Rebelpublican rabble in arms." The soliders reportedly hooted in derision, tossed Momoney a worn out Belgian FN FAL "sporterized" semi-automatic rifle in 7.62mm x 51mm NATO caliber along with a blocked, low-capacity magazine and one round of ammunition, and then advised him to defend Kinshasa singlehandedly, Barney Fife-style, at which point in time Momoney's Willie went wee wee. Momoney's billitary service advisor, pol-whore Dickless Morris, reportedly whispered to Momoney that he should allow the troops to continue drinking and should defend the capital by having unarmed HCI members holding hands and singing "The Old Fugged Boss" form a perimeter around the city. Sayuh Braydee was reportedly flying in to urge Momoney to engage in private piece talks with the Rebelpublican leader's oh so fine looking young girl friend from France. Sayuh commented during a hurried phone interview, "All 'Mo' is saying, is give piece a chance." Momoney, contemplating an image of Rebelpublican simbas denying him intimate female companionship (the ultimate African bush war torture), then decided to flee to a well-guarded villa in the northern portion of the vast country. As he boarded a helicopter which would whisk him to temporary safety at that villa, Momoney waved to a sullen Zairian crowd and shouted, "I cannot say that I have never said anything derogatory about Zaire, but then I cannot really remember if I did so or not. If I did so, I was proud to do so, but I can assure you that it will never happen again, so help me Lanny Davis. Also, take comfort in knowing that, as part of this "swap" deal, your own Mobutu Sese Seko, riddled with prostate cancer, was promised that I would leave HRC behind to make him more "comfortable" as he settled into what I call "The White House Routine", which consists primarily of lying and laying and, well, whatever, to use a Bob Doleism." Chickenor Steakabobila, the leader of the Rebelpublican forces advancing on the capital of Kinshasa, called upon Momoney SeeSee Weewillie to drop his pants and to use the code words "Paula Jones" during a pre-arranged radio transmission to indicate that Momoney intends to take mo money and run. (As has been Momoney's habit during his years as President of the U.S.A.) Military analysts predict a quick victory for the Rebelpublican forces and hint that Momoney may, in fact, defect back to the relative safety of Washington, D.C. before his six month contract expires. We shall see. THIS IS A SATIRE THIS IS A SATIRE THIS IS A SATIRE THIS IS A SATIRE Christopher C. Ferris Litchfield NH ferriscc@mainstream.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dick_Stephan@krinfo.com (Dick Stephan) Subject: Re[2]: [Fwd: Letter from Reader] Date: 11 Apr 1997 08:41:44 -0700 My boss had a placard on the wall - A small turtle with the caption: "Maybe it is a good thing that I move so slowly; I MAY be going in the WRONG DIRECTION." While I am personally outraged by the despicable behavior and character of the incumbent president, an equally unsatisfactory alternative would be an extremely effective and admired leader, moving us resolutely in the wrong direction. (Affirmative action and Second Amendment notions attributed to Colin do not reassure me at all, for example) I am looking for someone who recognizes the appropriate limits of government. Someone unlike the incumbent who's only tool is a big government hammer, and to whom every problem looks like a nail. Dick S ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Author: roc@mail.xmission.com at Internet FYI, US News & WR had a one-pager on Colin Powell and the so-called Powell Doctrine in this week's issue. I wasn't a great fan of a Powell candidacy as the presidential race took shape in 96, but now, looking back on that whole costly and pointless debacle, and particularly the outcome, I find myself in a "back to basics" mode and looking only for a leader a majority of the American people can respect, trust and support. I know of no one like that in the mainstream stable of Dem or Rep wannabes. In that connection, and FWIW, I'll presume on your indulgence by sharing a Letter to the Editor of USN&WR I posted yesterday. Think about it. Skip > --------------------------------------------------------------- > > Subject: Letter from Reader > Date: Wed, 09 Apr 1997 07:37:29 -0800 > From: Skip Leuschner > Organization: Home > To: letters@usnews.com > > Dear Sir, > > I thank Ken Walsh for his reminder that Colin Powell could become our > next President. My spirits and morale soared at thought of a man of > stature, principle and integrity occupying the White House again, > cleaning up that ethical dung heap, restoring truthfulness and > disciplined logic to the decision process, providing an inspirational > example for young people, and displaying the kind of leadership needed > to restore America's self respect. I want my pride in my country > back. Partisan nonsense aside, that will take a man of Powell's > character. > > RAdm R. L. Leuschner, Jr. USN (Retired) > Independent > 23701 NW Hillhurst Rd > Ridgefield, WA 98642 > (360) 887-8015 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: http://www.washtimes.com/investiga/ww.current.html Date: 11 Apr 1997 12:37:37 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- The Washington Times Investigative [IMAGE] =20 Published in Washington, D.C.. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5am -- April 11, 1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.washtimes.com (see the text Hillary spins some science =DEction into Whitewater =20 _________________________________________________________________ =20 By Paul Bedard THE WASHINGTON TIMES _________________________________________________________________ =20 H illary Rodham Clinton on Thursday called the Whitewater scandal a "fictional conspiracy," comparing it to the Heaven's Gate suicide cult's "obsession with UFOs and the Hale-Bopp comet." . . . . The first lady also denied that White House officials' efforts to find work for Webster Hubbell after he resigned as associate attorney general were intended to buy his silence in the Whitewater probe. "There isn't anything to be hushed up," she said. . . . . In addition, in interviews meant to spotlight her recent trip to Africa, Mrs. Clinton said friends and donors were invited to spend the night in the Lincoln Bedroom merely to entertain her husband. . . . . "He's a gregarious, outgoing, hospitable, gracious man, and I'm going to make sure that he has friends around to play cards with, to give his tours to, to watch sporting events with," she said on CNN. . . . . "It would be a very lonely place to live -- the White House -- if the president couldn't invite the people he wanted to get to know or to see, to spend time with them, and I'm not going to let that happen," she said, declaring that the first family will continue to invite guests and donors to spend the night. . . . . Mrs. Clinton didn't address charges that the White House essentially rented out the Lincoln Bedroom and other guest suites to raise money for President Clinton's re-election. . . . . Memos discovered in the fund-raising scandal show that the president backed using the bedrooms to raise money. Nearly 900 different people spent the night in the White House, and the guest rooms were occupied during most of his first term. . . . . The first lady said she regrets that outside observers feel the Clintons sold the Lincoln Bedroom to donors, noting that, unlike previous first families, she and Mr. Clinton don't own any real estate. . . . . "You know, the White House is the home we have. We don't have a Kennebunkport or a ranch in California," she said, referring to President Bush's Maine home and President Reagan's Santa Barbara, Calif., ranch. . . . . "Anyone who knows my husband knows that he loves people, he loves spending time with people, and we have had many, many guests, and we have been delighted to share the White House with people," she said. "I can't tell you how many times late at night the president, with just such joy and pride, shows people around the White House, shows them the treasures of our history that are there." . . . . She said Mr. Clinton has known many of the guests for "golly, 20, nearly 25 years now, [and they] have contributed to his campaigns, but I don't see where that should disqualify someone from being our friend or our guest." . . . . Mrs. Clinton said the first family has stayed in the White House on weekends instead of traveling to Camp David because daughter Chelsea's "activities kept us in Washington." . . . . The White House has said the president doesn't spend weekends at Camp David because he is allergic to the plants and trees in the Catoctin Mountains near Frederick, Md. . . . . Since returning from a whirlwind tour of Africa with Chelsea, Mrs. Clinton has granted interviews to promote the trip. Thursday's stops included CNN and "The Diane Rehm Show," which originates from Washington on WAMU-FM radio and also airs on other National Public Radio stations around the country. . . . . During her interview tour, she faced questions about new reports that she played a role in helping raise campaign money inside the White House and tracked inquiries on her former law partner, Mr. Hubbell, who quit the Justice Department in March 1994. . . . . The Washington Times on Thursday reported that the first lady's office ordered the Resolution Trust Corp. in October 1993 to advise her of all media questions about an RTC probe of a failed Arkansas thrift at the core of the Whitewater probe, including questions about Mr. Hubbell's ties to suspected criminal wrongdoing. . . . . "You know, I'm so used to having allegations now, after five years of constant allegations and charges, and my attitude is 'just wait until the dust settles,' and they seem to evaporate of their own weight because there's not much to them," Mrs. Clinton said. . . . . "There is this endless saga that someday, perhaps in my lifetime, will end," she said of charges of her involvement in most of the White House scandals, including Whitewater, "Travelgate" and the fund-raising affair. . . . . She called Whitewater "a never-ending fictional conspiracy that, honest-to-goodness, reminds me of some people's obsession with UFOs and the Hale-Bopp comet some days." . . . . Her reference was to the Heaven's Gate cult in San Diego, in which 39 members committed mass suicide last month in hopes of hitching a ride on a spaceship supposedly trailing the comet. . . . . Mr. Clinton burst into laughter when told of his wife's comments. "Did she say that?" he said. "That's pretty good." Asked if he agreed with her, he chuckled: "Well, if I didn't, I wouldn't disagree with her in public." . . . . Asked if she ever raised money at the White House, she said, "I don't believe so, no." . . . . She also denied that administration officials tried to buy the silence of Mr. Hubbell, a longtime Clinton friend with intimate knowledge of the Whitewater affair. . . . . "That was not the intention of anyone that I'm aware of, to try to help in what they thought was his time of need," she said, referring to his resignation and subsequent guilty plea to felony counts of tax evasion and mail fraud. He served 16 months in prison as part of a deal with Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr to cooperate in the probe. His cooperation never met prosecutors' expectations, law enforcement sources said. . . . . The White House last week said former Chief of Staff Thomas F. "Mack" McLarty and current Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles asked friends and business associates to hire Mr. Hubbell after he left Justice in March 1994. . . . . Mr. Hubbell has admitted deceiving the Clintons about his theft during a visit to Camp David, and Mr. Clinton on Thursday accepted his friend's apology. "I'm not angry with him, because he paid a very high price for the mistake he made," the president said. =20 FRONT PAGE | POLITICS | OPINION | INVESTIGATIVE | INTERNATIONAL | BUSINESS | LETTERS | SUBSCRIBE Copyright © 1997 News World Communications, Inc. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: BludyRed@aol.com Subject: SSA Website Date: 13 Apr 1997 19:54:53 -0400 (EDT) The following from the website www.ssa.gov Regards, Dennis ------------------ Online PEBES Service Suspended for StudyWednesday, April 9, 1997 News Release SOCIAL SECURITY Interactive PEBES Service Suspended for Period of Public Comment Ten years ago, Social Security inaugurated a service called the Personal Earnings and Benefit Estimate Statement (PEBES) which serves as a valuable financial planning toofor American workers. PEBES provides individuals with their earnings record by year, Social Security taxes paid, and an estimate of future retirement and disability benefits, as well as potential survivor benefits should the individual die. For the past decade, individuals have been able to request the PEBES statements by mail. Last year, SSA allowed individuals to request their PEBES through the internet. The actual statement was returned through the mail. The public's response to the internet service was overwhelmingly positive. Most requesters asked SSA for the ability to obtain the actual PEBES response online. Last month, after a year of testing and consultation with outside experts, SSA expanded the internet service by providing the individual with the opportunity the obtain their actual PEBES statement online. It is important to note that over the ten year-period that SSA has offered the PEBES paper process and during the past month that SSA has offered the online PEBES process, we have received no allegations of individuals fraudulently accessing SSA's records. We believe the PEBES statement is the most valuable document available today for American workers to plan for their own economic security in the event of retirement, disability, or death. Over the past few days, many of our citizens have expressed their concerns regarding the security of the sensitive data being available online. As a customer-driven agency, we value very much the input of the public we serve. SSA is--and always has been--vigilant about protecting the privacy of the sensitive information we maintain on American workers. In designing the online service, SSA consulted many experts in the field of privacy and systems security. A number of security features were built into the service to help prevent access of wage records by anyone other than the actual worker. Nothing--let me repeat that--nothing is more important to Social Security than maintaining the public's confidence in our ability to carry out one of our primary missions of protecting the privacy of the sensitive data we maintain on American citizens. That confidence has been questioned over the last few days. That is why today I am suspending the online PEBES service in order to conduct a rigorous evaluation of the system's security features. Public input in this evaluation will be crucial. To allow the public the opportunity to comment, Social Security will conduct a series of public forums across the country over the next 60 days to obtain input from experts in the areas of privacy and computer security, as well as others who wish to have their voices heard. The PEBES service is vital in order for American workers to plan for their financial future. Of this I believe there is no disagreement. Suspending the service while we undertake this important review is the responsible course of action in light of the concerns of the American public. In the end, it is important to have a PEBES process that is not only secure, but has the full support and confidence of the American people. John J. Callahan Acting Commissioner, Social Security Administration ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jack@minerva.com Subject: Re: SSA Website Date: 13 Apr 1997 19:11:25 PDT roc@mail.xmission.com wrote : > The following from the website www.ssa.gov > >Regards, >Dennis >------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >------------------ > > >It is important to note that over the ten year-period that SSA has offered >the PEBES >paper process and during the past month that SSA has offered the online PEBES >process, we have received no allegations of individuals fraudulently >accessing SSA's records. Typical government statement: Lots of words.....very little actual information. Obviously, if information can be requested on-line but only sent to the address known to the SSA for the one requesting the information it does make it much harder for the information to get to wrong hands. Something like waiting until the person whose information is desired goes away for a few days and then rifle their mail.....which is a fairly hefty crime. Then we come to the second part: "no allegations of individuals fraudulently accessing SSA's records" Well how is anyone to know. If X poses as Y as accesses there is little reason for Y to know or complain and except for the most ego centric hackers one would hardly X to run an add in the local paper and say I managed to get the earning's history of Y. There is certainly nothing in that release from the SSA that makes me happy or secure. Jack Jack Perrine | ATHENA Programming, Inc | 818-798-6574 | ---------------- | 1175 No. Altadena Drive | fax 398-8620 | jack@minerva.com | Pasadena, CA 91107 US | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tom Cloyes Subject: (fwd)A Note from the Grand Dupe Date: 13 Apr 1997 18:59:37 -0400 >Date: Sun, 13 Apr 1997 11:41:46 -0600 (MDT) >From: Jury Rights Project >Subject: A Note from the Grand Dupe >To: jrights@darkstar.cygnus.com > >Sorry for the extra mail, but we had to pass this on. We all need a laugh >this time of year. --- JRP > >Subject: Politically Incorrect Humor (fwd) >_________________________________________________ >The Infamous "Dupe Letter" >Typed by Lestat De Lioncourt for The Sixth Column >April 15, 1992 >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >Tribute (err, tax) season is around the corner yet again. The Director of the >Internal Revenue Service always puts a "Dear Taxpayer Letter" in all the >tribute booklets sent out. Read your letter in your IRS documents, and then >read this. Basically, this is a "What it Really Means" type of thing. >This is high comedy, as well as wicked truth... >_______________________________________________________________________________ > >A NOTE FROM THE GRAND DUPE > >Dear Fool: > > As the Grand Dupe of the Infernal Revenue Service, I want to thank you on >behalf of the defacto government of the United States and the International >Banking Cartel. Without your tribute, we could not provide essential >corporate welfare subsidies, we could not arm our chosen third world >dictators to continue our imperial colonization of the world, we could not >fund scientific research such as genetic engineering, biological and >psychological warfare techniques, eugenics, etc. Thank you for supporting >these programs. > > You are among the millions of idiots who comply with the phony tribute >"law" without legal obligation to do so. As a SLAVE and valuable customer of >the Infernal Revenue Service, you deserve excellence in the deception we >provide; you deserved to be treated with contempt, lied to, tricked and >cheated, and you deserve to know that the IRS considers everyone fair game. > > To fulfill our obligation to steal from you, we are making major changes >in the way we extort the life-blood from our victims. Under the newest guise >of tribute administration, known as By Hook or By Crook 2000, we are setting >up an airtight database to track all dollar movement. One program is >dedicated to seek out those ethical, moral people who are determined to have >nothing to do with our bogus Mafioso enterprise and incarcerate them within >our prison camps we are now building with your tribute dollars. We will work >with every dork who needs to "eat". At the same time, we will direct your >tribute dollars to the media to keep everyone in eternal confusion. All must >pay up, or else. > > We realize that the tribute law is in reality no law at all. We want to >do what we can to make you accept it nevertheless. To that end, we are >simplifying our forms and procedures to give the illusion it reduces the pain >it is causing tribute-payers. This year, we revised the tribute table so that >more uneducated tribute-payers can simply look up the tribute they "owe" >instead of doing the arithmetic. Also, if you have a small business, don't >worry, we will make sure you are out of business soon. > > Don't forget the option to file your tribute return electronically. With >our new cashless society coming up soon, you need the practice and >indoctrination. Electronic returns are more accurate and make it easier for >us to monitor your every move with your help. > > Our goal is to transform the tribute system by the end of this decade. >More and more people are waking up to our scam, so we are forced to take >unprecedented action. To achieve the deception you deserve, we are literally >"reinventing" the Infernal Revenue Service, making our internal organization >appear to be kind, gentle and docile. As we improve the way we lie, we also >will do a better job of serving up garbage to our CUSTOMERS, the >tribute-payers. We believe in accountability, and you are all accountable. >Please let us know if you have any suggestions for ways to further enslave >yourselves. > > Thank you again for your dedication to our cause. > >Shirley D. Predator >_______________________________________________________________________________ > ** Distribute this document far and wide ** > ** No newsgroup, no sig, no conferences are sacred for this one ** > Lestat De Lioncourt > _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ > _/ _/ _/ > _/_/ _/ > _/ _/ > _/_/_/_/_/_/_/ >C O L U M N >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Re-distributed by the: > Jury Rights Project (jrights@welcomehome.org) > To be added to or removed from the JRP mailing list, > send email with the word SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE in the title. > > > "You exceed your rights when you urge that laws be made in the shape of your conscience to block the pleasures permitted by mine. When you people prevail, you commit a crime against freedom, and that is the greatest immorality I know." -Vance Bourjaily, Country Matters (no date avail). Thanks to:Mark Johnson (onethumb@why.net) "A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." Benjamin Franklin "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies." --Thomas Jefferson (Thanks to Pat Fosness) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: piml] Congress May Investigate Reno - Gingrich (fwd) Date: 14 Apr 1997 07:55:11 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- This just proves that, only us little people have to obey the American law. ______________________________________________________________________________ Congress May Investigate Reno - Gingrich April 13, 1997 3.32 p.m. EST (2032 GMT) WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Sunday if Attorney General Janet Reno does not appoint a independent counsel on Democratic fund raising, Congress might have to investigate her role in the scandal. While saying he did not have much confidence in the attorney general, Gingrich stopped short of calling for her resignation. Reno was due to respond Monday to a request from congressional Republicans that she take the first step toward an independent counsel to investigate allegations of improper Democratic fund raising to help President Clinton in the 1996 campaign. Gingrich said on "Fox News Sunday'' he hoped Reno would make the appointment. But most officials think she will not, relying instead on a Justice Department investigation. If she does not, Gingrich was asked what he would do next. "I think at that point we would ask Chairman Henry Hyde (of the House Judiciary Committee) to investigate what we can do,'' he said. "The attorney general of the United States has said publicly she was briefed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that the Chinese Communists might be trying to buy the election,'' he said. "She claimed she called the national security adviser once but he didn't call back and she forgot.'' "Now I ask you this, could any serious adult in this country believe that you have been told by the Federal Bureau of Investigation we believe the Chinese Communists were trying to buy this election you could ever forget it?'' he asked. Asked if it were time for Reno to step down, Gingrich said, ''We'll know tomorrow.'' "If she can look at this mound of evidence ... look at the day after day revelations and not conclude it is time for an independent counsel, how can any serious citizen have any faith in her?'' Gingrich said. "She needs to answer in public, she needs to answer under oath, how could she possibly not have told the president and the secretary of state and the national security adviser once the FBI had reached her,'' he said. Clinton and Reno both maintained an independent counsel was unwarranted, even though allegations have continued to mount involving the role of the president, Vice President Al Gore, White House officials and the Democratic National Committee in raising campaign funds. Committees in both houses of Congress are looking into campaign fund raising in the last election. The Senate has broadened its investigation to include some Republican actions while the House committee under Republican Rep. Dan Burton of Indiana focused almost solely on the Democrat sides. Asked about the scope of the House committee, Gingrich referred to charges against the Democrats: "If any Republicans who took money from the Chinese Communists, or any Republicans who have taken money from Indonesia, or any Republicans who have national security violations or any Republicans who have abused or broken the law ... I think Dan Burton will go after them.'' "This is not about campaigns as usual,'' Gingrich said. ''This is about the most extraordinary act of systematically violating American law, bringing foreigners into the American process, endangering American national security.'' "We have never seen anything like the Clinton-Gore Democratic National Committee operations of the last three years,'' he added. "I think that is a national security issue.'' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: piml] [Fwd: Cokie Roberts on How Internet Is Ruining Representative Government] (fwd) Date: 14 Apr 1997 07:54:28 -0500 (CDT) This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. Send mail to mime@docserver.cac.washington.edu for more info. --1915762710-849352468-861022468=:11515 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII --1915762710-849352468-861022468=:11515 Content-Type: MESSAGE/RFC822 Content-ID: Received: from smtp1.nwnexus.com by mail1.halcyon.com (5.65v3.2/1.1.10.5/10Nov96-0444PM) id AA06729; Sun, 13 Apr 1997 14:37:18 -0700 Received: from iquest3.iquest.net by smtp1.nwnexus.com with SMTP id AA08553 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for ); Sun, 13 Apr 1997 14:36:55 -0700 Received: (qmail 4147 invoked from network); 13 Apr 1997 21:34:49 -0000 Received: from iquest7-140.iquest.net (HELO iquest7.iquest.net) (206.246.140.107) by iquest3-140.iquest.net with SMTP; 13 Apr 1997 21:34:49 -0000 Received: (qmail 8819 invoked from network); 13 Apr 1997 21:34:04 -0000 Received: from ind-0021-15.iquest.net (HELO rjtavel.iquest.net) (206.53.237.47) by iquest7-140.iquest.net with SMTP; 13 Apr 1997 21:34:04 -0000 Message-Id: <3.0.32.19970413173308.006a51e0@iquest.net> X-Sender: rjtavel@iquest.net X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0 (32) Government Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" This is a real syndicated column by Cokie Roberts. It is not a spoof. Cokie interviewed me about how the Internet is changing the relationship between citizens and government agencies, after she read about the FTC's decision to take email comments on the Staples merger. She then wrote this astonishing column with her husband, Steven Roberts. At the end of Cokie's column is a letter to the editor sent by Susan Ashdown, a reader of the Salt Lake Tribune, which is one of newspapers which ran the column. Since Susan brought this to my attention, I am including her letter. Cokie and Steven Roberts column, and Susan's letter to the editor, are redistributed with permission. Jamie Love (love@tap.org, 202.387.8030 http://www.cptech.org Salt Lake Tribune, April 5, 1997, Page A-11 Internet Could Become a Threat To Representative Government Cokie Roberts and Steven Roberts United Features Cyber seduction, cult by computer, kids caught in an indecent web! The headlines have been scary of late as we learn more about the dangers of the brave new world of the Internet. To be sure, the experts keep assuring us that the World Wide Web does more good than harm-that it can help young people find facts, police officers hunt down clues, and citizens communicate with their government. "If you're on-line, you're inside the Beltway," in the opinion of Graeme Browning, author of the book Electronic Democracy, which argues that the Internet is making individuals more politically powerful. Sounds good, but is it? For many parents, the idea of yet another influence in their children's lives over which they have no control is threatening. The horrible thought that, in the privacy of your own home, your child could be the target of some sick predator was frightening enough. Now, since reading the news recently, the fear of recruitment to some kooky cult must be added to the list of computer concerns. Responding to those worries, Congress passed the Computer Decency Act, aimed at blocking pornography on the Internet. The law was immediately challenged as an unconstitutional abridgement of free speech, and last month the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the case. In their questions the justices revealed the same wide-eyed wonder we feel when hearing about the latest form of communication. What is this thing anyway? How does it work and what can it do? One thing it clearly can do is bring citizens more into the decision-making processes of government. That came home to us recently when we heard that the Federal Trade Commission was accepting electronic mail on the question of whether Office Depot stores should be allowed to merge with Staples. The FTC has so far received thousands of comments and a spokeswoman says that, although the merger decision won't be based on what the agency hears from the public, she thinks the e-mail is a good idea. The FTC decided to do it, she admitted, because of pressure from the Consumer Project on Technology. "The Internet is the best thing in my lifetime for grassroots organizing," exults the Project's director, Jamie Love. He's managed to use the system to influence various government agencies, and to educate the public. Love argues that this type of organization and communication cuts through the special interest politics that he believes rules Washington. "I think there's a general sense that people who can hire a guy and game the system have a leg up," says Love. Somewhere between 250,000 to 350,000 people check into the site dealing with congressional activities every day. And then many of these people get in touch with their representatives, by e-mail, of course. They also get in touch with each other on public policy issues. According to Love, it's like an electronic town meeting. That analogy makes our blood run cold. Remember, that was Ross Perot's big idea. Let's just all get together, via computer, and let the politicians know what we want, so then they will do it! No more pandering to the big contributors, no more deals between members, just the voice of the people will be heard! We hear that and shudder. To us it sounds like no more deliberation, no more consideration of an issue over a long period of time, no more balancing of regional and ethnic interests, no more protection of minority views. The Founders were clear in their advocacy of representative democracy as opposed to direct democracy. In The Federalist, James Madison asserted that "the public voice pronounced by the representatives of the people will be more consonant to the public good than if announced by the people themselves convened for that purpose." But representative government is under attack. "We've been electing people for years and never been in worse shape and felt more disconnected," says Barbara Vincent of the National Referendum Movement. Her organization wants to put initiatives and referenda on the ballots of every state so that the people can decide "the really important issues" while Congress can handle "everyday affairs." And Ms. Vincent has public opinion on her side. In a bipartisan poll, fully three-quarters of the people said they favored putting national issues on ballots across the country. Computers could make that possible. And, if we're not careful, they might. Jamie Love is right that people think the game is fixed, and Barbara Vincent is right that the voters feel disconnected. The best thing the lawmakers can do to fix that is to call a halt to the money chase, to show constituents that they count. If that doesn't happen, congress could eventually find its very existence threatened, thanks to the Internet. And that would make the current debate over pornography seem like small potatoes. ------------------- To the Editors of the Salt Lake Tribune & United Features: Now I've heard everything. The Internet is nothing but a cyber-sewer, full of smut, cults, and now an even greater danger: easy access to government officials. Cokie Roberts and her husband say their "blood runs cold" at the idea of citizens emailing their opinions directly to the Federal Government instead of channeling them through their "representatives". They argue that it would mean the end of reasoned consideration of a variety of views, and worse, it might bring us closer to direct instead of representative democracy - not what the Founding Fathers intended. (The Founders weren't too keen on emancipation either, but never mind.) Talk about the end of reas ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: MRC Alert: Diversion Spiked; Crackpot Burton; Women Underpayed (fwd) Date: 14 Apr 1997 07:54:16 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- ***Media Research Center CyberAlert*** Monday, April 14, 1997 (Vol. Two; No. 48) Diversion Spiked; Crackpot Burton; Women Underpayed #### Distributed to over 2,100 recipients by the Media Research Center, bringing political balance to the media. Visit the MRC on the Web: http://www.mediaresearch.org. Past CyberAlerts can be read at: http://www.mediaresearch.org/mrc/cyberalert/ #### 1) Newspaper accounts reveal the White House had reason to keep Hubbell quiet and documents show the DNC diverted money to state parties to avoid limits and publicity. ABC, CBS and NBC ignore it all. 2) Time's Margaret Carlson agrees with Hillary Clinton's UFO charge and calls Dan Burton a "crackpot." 3) Women earn just 71 percent of what men get, "which really stinks" Katie Couric declares. It's her reporting that stinks. > 1) The disclosures keep coming in newspaper stories, so many that it's hard to keep track of them all. But that's not a problem for those who rely on the TV networks for their news. The networks have an easy to follow policy: ignore everything. At least that's what has happened over the past few days. The April 11 CyberAlert noted that Monday through Thursday last week the Today show hadn't mentioned any fundraising or Hubbell developments. Not even Hillary Clinton's UFO comment on Thursday could budge "America's most-watched morning show" as the blackout continued Friday. Last week's CyberAlerts detailed how the networks ignored: -- a Los Angeles Times story on how a White House lawyer wrote "monitor cooperation" next Web Hubbell's name on a 1994 memo. -- a Washington Times report that two weeks before Hubbell left Justice Hillary Clinton was formally notified that he was under investigation. -- a New York Times story headlined "A Wider Circle at White House Knew of Effort to Help Hubbell." -- and at night only the CBS Evening News mentioned a Washington Post story on how the White House passed on classified intelligence information to the DNC. Here's a list of weekend disclosures and how they weren't covered by the broadcast networks. -- In a piece that aired Friday on both Inside Politics and The World Today, CNN's Brooks Jackson discovered a connection between a donation and a favorable federal ruling for the donor. Jackson also explained how the Democrats avoided disclosure laws by getting contributors to donate to state parties instead of the national party. Jackson reported: "Legal publisher West Publishing was selling out to a Canadian rival. But West's Vance Opperman needed Clinton administration's approval. The Justice Department's antitrust division was threatening to sue. Only now is the full story beginning to emerge, buried in once secret documents recently released by the White House. June 4 last year, a secret ledger sheet at the Democratic National Committee lists Opperman for eight contributions adding up to $155,000 -- not directly to the national party, that would attract national attention. The ledger shows the donations directed to states....Opperman's company already had such a huge share of the legal publishing business that smaller publishers implored the Justice Department to protect them and consumers...." "On June 19, the Department of Justice announced an agreement allowing the sale. The DNC knew Opperman's 155,000 was coming before the administration approved the deal. But money was delivered just after: $25,000 to the New Jersey Democratic Party July 8; $11,000 to Rhode Island July 5..." -- "Boosts From Above Aided Huang's Rise Up the Ladder," declared a Saturday Los Angles Times headline. In the April 12 story reporter Alan Miller recounted how Commerce Dept. and DNC officials found John Huang's qualifications wanting for the top jobs he got, but their concerns were over-ruled from above. -- "Padres' Owner Also Hired Hubbell," read another Saturday LA Times headline. Reporter David Willman's disclosed: "The owner of the San Diego Padres baseball franchise was among those who hired Webster Hubbell after he resigned his high- ranking Justice Department position three years ago....In an interview, [Padres owner John] Moores said Friday that in 1994, he paid Hubbell an advance retainer $18,000 on the basis of a recommendation from Truman Arnold, a longtime friend of President Clinton....Moores said that Hubbell ultimately did not provide him with an accounting of any services he provided..." -- "White House Knew in '94 that Hubbell Was Focus of Inquiry," declared a Saturday New York Times story. Reporter Stephen Labaton asserted that when Hubbell resigned "the administration knew that Hubbell had already emerged as a crucial witness in several politically sensitive investigations of President Clinton and the First Lady. Shortly before his resignation, Hubbell was interrogated by federal regulators from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. about the role he and Mrs. Clinton had played in the 1980s, when they represented a savings and loan association that ended up accused of corruption." -- "DNC Diverted Controversial Donations: FEC Reports Don't Show Tobacco, Gambling Checks to State Parties," announced a front page story in Sunday's Washington Post. The story overlapped CNN's Friday report and an April 3 USA Today story ignored by the networks. The Post's Charles Babcock and Ira Chinoy explained: "Democratic National Committee officials channeled millions of dollars in campaign donations to state Democratic parties last year, effectively hiding big contributions from tobacco, gambling and other special interests. Contributors' checks routinely were sent to DNC headquarters before being passed on to the state parties, but documents show that DNC officials kept meticulous records of the donations so that donors and fundraisers received credit." So, Friday, Saturday and Sunday brought more evidence that the White House knew investigators were asking Hubbell about his Madison years with Hillary, thus giving a motive for hush money; another donor admitted paying Hubbell for no work; and it's revealed that the DNC hid big donations and got around limits by diverting funds to state parties. What kind of broadcast network coverage did all this generate? Nothing Friday, Saturday or Sunday night on ABC, CBS and NBC (there was no CBS Evening News in the east Sunday night.) Zilch also on CBS's Sunday Morning and NBC's Sunday Today. The Post story on state party diversion got one sentence from Cokie Roberts during an interview with a GMA/Sunday host. On World News Tonight/Sunday, ABC's Karla Davis put together a piece on how Newt Gingrich and Dick Armey were pressuring Attorney General Janet Reno to name an Independent Counsel on Monday, the deadline day for a decision. As viewers saw newspaper headlines scroll by, she explained: "The scandal is fueled by almost daily reports of suspect foreign contributions, convoluted bookkeeping and money-laundering by the Democratic National Committee..." Among the headlines: the Sunday Post story on diversion. But Davis didn't say a word about it. She concluded her piece by noting attention to Clinton's fundraising "is almost certain to intensify this week. The DNC is scheduled to release thousands more campaign documents as soon as tomorrow." Intensify? Something must be intense before it can be intensified. And fundraising coverage has been anything but intense on the TV networks. > 2) Last Thursday Hillary Clinton said those furthering the "fictional conspiracy" of Whitewater "reminds me of some people's obsession with UFO's and the Hale-Bopp comet." Time magazine columnist and former Deputy Washington Bureau Chief, Margaret Carlson, agrees. On the April 12 Capital Gang the CNN group discussed Congressman Dan Burton's House investigation. Picking up on Al Hunt'on. I fail to see how the direct expression of public opinion logically leads to the destruction of careful deliberation. Perot wasn't my choice for President, but the mere fact that "electronic town meetings" were his "big idea" does not automatically make them meritless. Personally my blood runs cold when I think of the representative democracy Cokie has in mind. Her brother, Tommy Boggs, of the Washington law firm Patton, Boggs & Blow made quite a name for himself as a lobbyist arguing strenuously on behalf of erstwhile Guatemalan dictators and death squad financiers in the 1980's and early 1990's. If as the Roberts claim, a halt to the money chase is a far better solution to voter discontent than the airing of public opinion through the Internet, then presumably this means that Tommy's firm will find better uses for its generous cash donations to candidates across the political spectrum. I can understand Cokie standing up for her brother's interests - I'd do the same for mine, who's done reasonably well as an Internet Service Provider, but at least I'd reveal my motives. Sincerely, Sue Ashdown Salt Lake City, Utah ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Liberty's Educational Advocacy Forum, Indiana-FIJA, Inc. Url: http://www.iquest.net/~rjtavel/ ************************* Not a high-tech law firm brochure. Dr. Tavel's Self Help Clinic and Sovereign Law Library promotes "action that raises the cost of state violence for its perpetrators (and) that lays the basis for institutional change " -- Noam Chomsky For Liberty in Our Lifetime, R.J. Tavel, J.D. ************************* Updated Daily by The Other One Computer Consulting International, Ltd. mailto:rjtavel@iquest.net ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --1915762710-849352468-861022468=:11515-- s charge that though Burton is a nice guy he is also a "crackpot," Carlson declared: "The UFO comparison is apt in his case. He is considered flaky and a bit of a crackpot, even though a nice guy. Some crackpots are nice." > 3) At the top of Friday's Today, Katie Couric plugged an upcoming segment: "Glamour magazine has designated today as Ask Your Boss for a Raise Day because today, three and a half months into 1997 marks the day when women's earnings finally catch up to what a man made in 1996, which really stinks." A little more than a half hour later, Couric introduced her guest, Glamour Senior Editor Jill Herzig: "Glamour magazine has designated today as 'Ask Your Boss for a Raise Day.' That's because today is the day women's earnings finally equal what men made in 1996. In other words, it takes a women more than 15 months to earn what a man makes in 12. So, this month's Glamour says it's time for women to get greedy, or really seek parity." Herzig claimed: "For the last decade women have earned 71 cents for every dollar a man earns doing exactly the same work and over a 30 year typical career span that adds up to a quarter of a million dollars, a huge amount of money. And this disparity exists in almost any field you can name. For example, on an assembly line a women earns $306 doing exactly the same job that a man earns $396 dollars for." Couric reiterated her guest's assertion: "And it's important to point out this is less pay for the very same work." Interesting that equal pay for equal work is Couric's standard. In the union world usually advocated by liberals it's seniority, not performance, that matters most. Friday night Peter Jennings relayed the politically-charged liberal numbers to a bigger audience. Jennings intoned on the April 11 World News Tonight: "From an organization called the National Committee on Pay Equity today, a study on how salaries compare for men and women. It says that in order to earn what the average man earned last year, 1996, the average women has had to go on working through the first three months and two weeks of this year, including today. Put another way, last year women earned only 71 percent of what men made and it hasn't changed in five years." Really? Only by the reasoning of liberals that compares all women to all men when obviously men have worked more years on average and don't take time off for children. Among men and women with equal education and experience pay is nearly identical. Last year the Independent Women's Forum released an illuminating analysis of male vs. female pay scales. You can read the report at: http://www.iwf.org/womens-figures.html Here are three points from the IWF analysis: -- "Occupation, seniority, absenteeism, and intermittent work-force participation are all critical variables in accounting for pay disparities. In other words, those who assume that discrimination is solely to blame for wage differences are drawing unsubstantiated conclusions." -- "Over time, women's wages have been steadily rising relative to men's wages. The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data show that, among people ages twenty-seven to thirty-three who have never had a child, women's earnings are close to 98 percent of men's. Economist June O'Neill notes, 'When earnings comparisons are restricted to men and women more similar in their experience and life situations, the measured earnings differentials are typically quite small.'" -- And counter to NBC's claim that nothing has changed in ten years, and ABC's that there's been no improvement in five, IWF noted: "Women's gains in the American economy and in the corporate world have been remarkable. The Korn/Ferry executive search firm found in a recent study that, during the past decade, the number of female executive vice-presidents more than doubled and the number of female senior vice-presidents increased by 75 percent." But why deal in reality when you can paint a simplistic picture of oppressed women mistreated by corporations. -- Brent Baker >>> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: mrc-cyber-request@list.us.net. Put "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" in the BODY of the message, NOT in the subject line. Problems and comments can be addressed to: cyber@mediaresearch.org <<< =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= To unsubscribe from this mailing list, DISREGARD ANY INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE and go to the Web page at http://www.maillist.net/rightnow.html. New subscriptions can also be entered at this page. If you cannot access the World Wide Web, send an e-mail message to RightNow-Request@MailList.Net and on the SUBJECT LINE put the single word: unsubscribe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: Surprise Fake Attacks Scaring Public (fwd) Date: 14 Apr 1997 13:09:36 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Monday, April 14, 1997 Surprise Fake Attacks Scaring Public BY DANA PRIEST THE WASHINGTON POST WASHINGTON -- A dozen U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopters, their lights out, descended from the night sky March 4 on a corner of Charlotte, N.C. They swooped among the high-rise apartment buildings, then dropped dozens of special operations troops, some with their weapons blasting, into an abandoned warehouse to capture a group of ''terrorists.'' Some terrified residents grabbed their guns. Others ducked into doorways. The 911 line went crazy, as did Mayor Pat McCrory's telephone line. ''I could barely hear the callers because of the helicopter noise and the gunfire in the background,'' McCrory recalled. Neither McCrory nor his police chief was sure what was going on. But they had a clue: Three months earlier, two men in jeans and T-shirts from the secretive U.S. Army Special Operations Command had visited McCrory's office to ask permission to conduct urban counterterrorism exercises they said would go unnoticed. McCrory signed a confidentiality statement agreeing not to disclose the event beforehand for national security's sake. ''We were misled,'' said McCrory, who was forced by the public outcry to kick the Army out of Charlotte after the first of what was to have been three days of urban anti-terrorism training. ''How they thought you could come in and out without any disturbance is beyond me. It was almost like a blitzkrieg operation. People went and got their guns. I feel fortunate no one was hurt.'' During the past three years, the U.S. Army Special Operations Command has conducted at least 21 such exercises in 21 U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Miami, Pittsburgh and Seattle. In city after city, the exercises have drawn fire from frightened residents who are not told beforehand that the several roaring helicopters flying in circles several hundred feet overhead late at night -- blacked out except for one that keeps on its tiny red tail light for safety -- are trying to get as close as possible to the buildings they appear about to crash into. The confusion and fear caused by their invasion is compounded when residents see dark-suited figures sliding down ropes dangling from the choppers and then begin firing loud blanks from their assault weapons. The simulated sound of grenades and incoming artillery often follows, as does, in some cases, the sound of real, small breaching explosives used to blast open doors. To top it off, local police are on hand to keep traffic away from the exercise site -- typically an abandoned warehouse, jail, apartment building -- but often refuse to tell motorists what the commotion is all about. Likewise with 911 operators and news media offices, which are not alerted to the exercises beforehand. Several callers to state law enforcement agencies have been told to call the Defense Department in Washington for information. Last June, troops were forced to leave Pittsburgh early because of the uproar. Exercises in a previously quiet Chicago suburb panicked residents there in 1995, and in 1990 exercises in Los Angeles were curtailed after inquisitive television and radio stations sent up helicopters to investigate a practice invasion above their city skyline and created a safety problem. After the Charlotte exercise -- code-named Exercise Cauldron Chariot -- the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) launched an investigation because the Army failed to coordinate the exercise with it, FAA spokesman Anthony Willett said. Special Operations Command spokesman Lt. Col. Pete Pierce said the Army retreated early from Charlotte because the operations were more disruptive than anticipated. He said people on the several streets closest to the exercises were notified just before the maneuvers but, he added, ''In the process of notification, people are going to get missed.'' Army officials argue that only cities give troops the chance to work on real-life challenges, such as using night-vision equipment in partially lighted areas, avoiding power lines and dropping troops quickly enough to go virtually unnoticed by the citizenry. It is safer for the troops to descend in secret than to alert residents and risk the sightseeing crowds that would gather, said one Army official, who added: ''And they don't want their equipment photographed. They don't want their tactics, operations and procedures known.'' As the threat of urban terrorism abroad has increased, Army officials say it has become all the more important that their troops be skilled at flying into an urban obstacle course of skyscrapers and towers and inserting teams of special operations troops: Green Berets, Rangers, the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and the supersecret Delta Force. Such troops would likely be deployed abroad to rescue hostages, capture bad guys and kill terrorists. The exercises also draw criticism from citizens worried that the Army may be secretly training local police and SWAT teams, which is forbidden by U.S. law under most circumstances. The possible participation of U.S. troops in the 1993 Branch Davidian debacle near Waco, Texas, in which more than 80 people died, still is debated hotly in some circles. U.S. law greatly restricts the type of training the military may conduct with domestic law enforcement agencies. Pierce said local law enforcement agencies only provide support by blocking off roads, for example. Never, he said, did they train with special operations troops. But some local police believe that joint training is part of the exercise. Such was the case in Pittsburgh, where the Army brought in 14 helicopters and 200 special forces troops last June to practice at the former Allegheny County Jail, a downtown subway station, a former hospital, a vacant steel mill and an empty, 750,000-square-foot airport. Craig Edwards, assistant superintendent of Allegheny County Police Department, said the Army exercise was ''a big joint effort'' that trained city and county SWAT police. ''We thought it went extremely well. ''These guys [police] love that stuff,'' Edwards said. ''It was great, but we look at the world a little bit differently,'' he said, acknowledging the controversy within the community. ''Terrorism can happen at any time.'' But asked for a further description of the training, Lt. Bert Cifrulak, the Pittsburgh's SWAT team leader, said Edwards was mistaken. ''We conducted no training with them and we provided no training,'' he said. ''. . . We sort of acted like tour guides by identifying sites.'' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: What Are the Goals of Goals 2000? (fwd) Date: 14 Apr 1997 14:23:12 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- The Phyllis Schlafly Report -- Vol. 30, No. 9 * Box 618, Alton, Illinois 62002 * April 1997 -- What Are the Goals of Goals 2000? The Goals 2000: Educate America Act, signed by President Clinton in 1994, established eight national education goals. But teaching children to read is not one of the eight national education goals. When Clinton talks about holding schools to "high standards," elementary school literacy is not one of those standards. When even President Clinton has said that 40% of 3rd graders can't read, doesn't it strike you as downright peculiar that teaching elementary school children to read is not one of our eight national education goals? Are the first and second years of school, at a cost of at least $5,000 per child per year, just glorified baby-sitting? Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan, who has been enthusiastically implementing federal education plans, capsuled this new approach when he said in his 1997 State of the State address, "Books are no longer the key to success. It's the keyboard." This means that giving children the skill to read the great books of Western literature, history, politics, and science is not part of school "reform." Local control is out, too. President Clinton made a speech on January 22 to a group identified by the White House as "the students, parents and teachers of the Northbrook Area Schools Consortium." His audience was so friendly that it interrupted him with applause 29 times. One line in his speech, however, was greeted by stony silence. That's when he said, "We can no longer hide behind our love of local control of the schools." That was a telltale admission that the real goal of the Clinton Administration's education plan is to eliminate local control of public schools. One of the vehicles of this elimination is the new entity he was addressing that day called a "consortium." Twenty suburban Chicago school districts have been surreptitiously combined to form what Clinton praised as the First in the World Consortium. This Consortium has already received $450,000 of federal Goals 2000 financing, and the contract gives total authority over future financing and personnel decisions to the 20 superintendents who have constituted themselves as the board of directors. Completely excluded from the governing process are the 20 elected school boards. One school board member, Eva Sorock of Wilmette, had to file a Freedom of Information request even to see the grant application for the $450,000 already received. She discovered that the superintendents had promised to implement "progressive methods" that parents have opposed for years, including student-centered instruction, experiential learning, group projects, integrated curricula, and assessments rather than grades or tests. Goals 2000 is part of a coordinated national plan to impose federal mandates, bypass local control, and eliminate accountability. Once a state accepts Goals 2000 funding, it must implement Goals 2000's national goals and objectives. Section 318 pretends to prohibit federal control of curriculum, but that's just a placebo, because the statute includes dozens of specific mandates about curriculum, instructional materials, standards, content, and assessments. Section 306 repeatedly uses the mandatory word "shall," and it's obvious that the verb means must. Section 306 mandates that the state shall establish a "state improvement plan," shall establish a strategy "for meeting the National Education Goals," shall adopt "state content standards and state student performance standards for all students," shall implement state assessments "consistent with relevant, nationally recognized professional and technical standards," shall provide "coherent information about student attainments relative to state content standards," and shall align "state and local curricula, instructional materials, and state assessments with state content standards." Last year, Congress passed some amendments to the Goals 2000 Act, but Michael Cohen, adviser to Education Secretary Richard W. Riley, said, "There isn't anything that undermines or in any way alters the fundamental goals of the program." Even if a state spends its Goals 2000 money on computers, it still must comply with this federal law that uses the following words scores of times: "shall," "will," "require," or "must." The Goals 2000 statute codifies the eight national education goals. But the goals themselves are defective, particularly the first goal, "By the year 2000, all children in America will start school ready to learn." Many schools are using this language to bring health clinics and a wide array of social services into the public schools, financed in devious ways through Medicaid. This is one cause of the tremendous increase in Medicaid costs, and it's part of the Administration's plan to bring the rejected Clinton proposal for socialized medicine in through the schoolhouse door. The interlocking of Goals 2000 and School-to-Work reconfirms that the federal plan is to bypass elected school boards and state legislatures and put all authority in the hands of those who control the stream of federal funding. We must get the feds out of the classroom if we value our freedom. We must defund School-to-Work and Goals 2000. April '97 Phyllis Schlafly Report includes: School-to-Work and Goals 2000 School-to-Work Will Train, Not Educate What Are the Goals of Goals 2000? The Clinton-Riley Initiatives http://www.eagleforum.org/psr/ ============================================ EAGLE FORUM PO Box 618 Alton, IL 62002 Phone: 618-462-5415 Fax: 618-462-8909 Are you on our E-mail list? Just send us an e-mail message with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line! Tell a friend about us! URL: http://www.eagleforum.org E-mail: eagle@eagleforum.org ============================================ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tom Cloyes Subject: (fwd)Foreign Doctrine: Church/State Date: 14 Apr 1997 18:14:37 -0400 >X-Sender: eplurib@megalinx.net >Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 13:17:47 -0400 >To: eplurib@megalinx.net >From: E Pluribus Unum >Subject: Foreign Doctrine: Church/State > >In the matter of "Separation of Church and State", the Constitution for the >United States of America reads thusly: "Congress shall make no law >respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise >thereof;" It makes no reference to prohibiting prayer, Bible reading, or >the display of religious material in either government institutions of >public schools. > >The "Separation of Church and State" is a foreign doctrine, adopted by our >government from the text of the Constitution of the Union of Soviet >Socialist Republics. > >The full text of this document can be found at: > >http://mmc.cns.net/un/ussr.txt > >------------------------------------------------------- > > CONSTITUTION > (FUNDAMENTAL LAW) > OF THE UNION > OF SOVIET SOCIALIST > REPUBLICS > > Adopted at the Seventh > (Special) Session of > the Supreme Soviet > of the USSR, > Ninth Convocation, > On October 7, 1977 > > Novosti Press Agency Publishing House > Moscow, 1985 > > >II. THE STATE AND THE INDIVIDUAL > >Chapter 6: CITIZENSHIP OF THE USSR / EQUALITY OF CITIZENS' RIGHTS > > Article 52. Citizens of the USSR are guaranteed freedom of conscience, >that is, the right to profess or not to profess any religion, and to conduct >religious worship or atheistic propaganda. Incitement of hostility or hatred >on religious grounds is prohibited. > In the USSR, the church is separated from the state, and the school from >the church. > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- >-------- > >The adoption of this Soviet doctrine, thru a massive campaign of >propaganda, has provided a pivotal step in the process of transforming our >Representative Republic into Socialist Communism. > > >In Liberty, > >Helen Reed-Johnson > > >================================================== >E Pluribus Unum - http://home.megalinx.net/~eplurib/home.html > >Patriot Personals - for Lovers of Liberty & Hearts that need love >http://home.megalinx.net/~eplurib/personal/personal.htm > >"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" Hosea 4:6 >P.O. Box 381; Groveport, OH 43125; (614) 836-7650 >mailto:eplurib@megalinx.net > > "You exceed your rights when you urge that laws be made in the shape of your conscience to block the pleasures permitted by mine. When you people prevail, you commit a crime against freedom, and that is the greatest immorality I know." -Vance Bourjaily, Country Matters (no date avail). Thanks to:Mark Johnson (onethumb@why.net) "A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." Benjamin Franklin "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies." --Thomas Jefferson (Thanks to Pat Fosness) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Chris Ferris Subject: The Real Story About ABC's New TV Show "GUN" Date: 15 Apr 1997 14:14:12 -0400 (EDT) THIS IS A SATIRE THIS IS A SATIRE THIS IS A SATIRE THIS IS A SATIRE ABC has breathlessly announced the premiere of a revised version of its new TV series "GUN", in which revised version the entire focus will be on President Clinton's misuse of his personal "GUN", episode after episode, and the terrible effect of such chronic misuse of the Presidential "GUN" on a wide range of innocent, defenseless, vulnerable American women over time. Noted actresses have been brought on board to play the parts of Gennifer Flowers and Paula Jones. Lesser known nubile young ladies have been hired to fill the roles of the thousands of extras needed to portray the horde of innocent females done in over the past three decades by the pre-Presidential Clintonian "GUN". As the finishing touches are being placed on the upcoming premiere of the revised, tweaked ABC series "GUN", the Presidential "GUN" in question has been sent off to a prominent urological gunsmith in the sun baked Funshine State for the application of a durable, shiny, nickel-plated finish to all of its external and internal parts. When asked if he minded jetting off to the Greater Miami area to have his personal "GUN" plated,the President hooted and laughed as he shouted to speechless reporters, "What the heck, boys and girls, have 'GUN', will travel! Just call me Gal-I-Dun." The nickel plated shooting iron featured in the first few episodes of the unrevised "GUN" series has been sold to Janet "Annie Oakley" Reno and the funds used from that sale have been used to pay for one dinner for Craig Livingstone, a jobless, malnourished welfare recipient who, under current Presidential guidelines, has recently been rehired to work in the White House basement mail room as a processor of junk mail and a keeper of certain, selected lists. ______________________________________________________________________________ THIS IS A SATIRE THIS IS A SATIRE THIS IS A SATIRE THIS IS A SATIRE Christopher C. Ferris Litchfield NH ferriscc@mainstream.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Joe Sylvester Subject: Re: off topic Date: 15 Apr 1997 23:04:11 -0500 At 07:18 AM 4/15/97 -0400, Howlin' Blue wrote: >I'm really getting to like this Woods kid. > >Not only does he study a particular craft his entire life and at the >ripe old age of 21 chew up the craft's elite in their hallowed monument >to themselves (no affirmative action necessary, thank you very much), he >shows great taste in who he doesn't watch basketball games with. > >Someone named clinton asked him to join him at Shea stadium, last night, They play *basketball* in Shea Stadium ? I thought that was one of the playgrounds of the boys of summer, not players of that game played at midnight in certain sections of the town. Ah maybe that's it , Tiger was invited to attend a midnight basketball tournament in Shea stadium. >but Mr. Woods passed. He left for 'an undisclosed country' for some R & >R. >Wonder if his daddy having been SF had anything to do with that? Was Tigher overcome with a desire to spit? If so then his padre's former occupation just might have been the reason for his rejection of Clinton's attempt to bask a bit in his limelight. The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution. ---Doug McKay" Joe Sylvester Don't Tread On Me ! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: MRC Alert: McDougal the Felon; Cut F-22 But Not Welfare (fwd) Date: 16 Apr 1997 08:06:40 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- ***Media Research Center CyberAlert*** Tuesday, April 15, 1997 (Vol. Two; No. 49) MRC Alert: McDougal the Felon; Cut F-22 But Not Welfare #### Distributed to over 2,100 recipients by the Media Research Center, bringing political balance to the media. Visit the MRC on the Web: http://www.mediaresearch.org. Past CyberAlerts can be read at: http://www.mediaresearch.org/mrc/cyberalert/ #### 1) McDougal and Reno lead all the newscasts, but CBS emphasizes McDougal's credibility problem. Dateline NBC's McDougal interview will just be that show's fifth scandal story in 27 months. 2) The White House releases another pile of documents, but only CBS airs a full story. NBC ignores their release. 3) Networks worry about wasting money on new F-22 fighter, but NBC warns of "disastrous effect" of welfare reform. > 1) The three broadcast network evening newscasts all led Monday night with the sentencing of Jim McDougal and Janet Reno's decision to not appoint an independent counsel. On NBC Nightly News Jim Miklaszewski showed a clip of McDougal's Dateline NBC interview with Stone Phillips that will run Tuesday night. McDougal said of Clinton: "I just got sick and tired of lying for the fella." Miklaszewski noted "That could be big trouble for President Clinton," before explaining McDougal's charge that Clinton was involved in a scheme to obtain an illegal $300,000 SBA loan. After airing a clip of McDougal asserting his credibility doesn't matter since he pointed Ken Starr toward other witnesses and evidence, Miklaszewski concluded his story: "Privately White House officials say McDougal's credibility does matter. That it's his word against the President. But tonight there's worried silence and no comment. Clinton aides admit they have no idea what McDougal turned over to investigators." CBS Evening News viewers got a spin more sympathetic to the White House. Reporter Phil Jones concluded: "This may sound like bad news for the Clintons, but in the end McDougal's credibility will always be in question for he is a convicted felon. Phil Jones, CBS News, Washington." In two years and three plus months, Tuesday's Dateline interview with McDougal will be just the fifth Clinton-scandal story aired by the NBC magazine show. A check of the MRC's Media Tracking System from January 1, 1995 through last week found: -- An August 8, 1995 interview with Senator D'Amato about his Whitewater hearings -- A January 17, 1996 profile of fired travel office chief Billy Dale -- A January 26, 1996 piece on Hillary Clinton testifying before a grand jury -- More than a year and a campaign season later, a March 2, 1997 story on the selling of the Lincoln bedroom. Dateline airs two to four times a week, or about 350 times since January 1, 1995. Dateline averages four stories per show. Five of 1,400 segments equals 0.3 percent, meaning 99.7 percent of Dateline stories have not dealt with Clinton scandals. Remember that the next time a reporter wonders why the scandals are not "resonating" with the public. > 2) Also on Monday the White House released another pile of documents. On CNN's Inside Politics and World Today viewers learned about some intriguing ties between John Huang and the Chinese Embassy. But the networks didn't pick up that angle. NBC Nightly News didn't mention anything about the papers. On the CBS Evening News Rita Braver looked at who got a ride on Air Force One. She also noted that a few months after he resigned from the Justice Department Web Hubbell got a seat at a Clinton fundraising dinner. On ABC Peter Jennings offered, in full: "The Democratic National Committee today released thousands of documents concerning fundraising, one of them from 1992 in which party officials request that major fundraisers be given serious consideration for jobs in the Clinton Administration. And at least 20 of them, we learn from these documents, end up working for the government. There was also a list with 62 fundraisers who were rewarded with flights on Air Force One or Air Force Two. Just got those documents today, more analysis of them to come." We'll see. In the past the networks have quickly dropped Clinton scandals stories and failed to follow-up on revelations. > 3) Enough with scandal coverage, or lack thereof. Here's some old-fashioned policy bias. Last Wednesday (April 9) Lockheed- Martin unveiled a new fighter plane, the F-22. The three broadcast networks all focused on its cost and raised doubts about its necessity. -- On World News Tonight ABC's Peter Jennings announced: "It is also the most expensive fighter plane ever built -- 80 to 100 million dollars each as of now and the cost is expected to keep on rising. As we said it is your money big time and it certainly raises questions today about whether everything the Pentagon wants is worth the price." -- Dan Rather intoned on the CBS Evening News: "There is also news about a highly publicized new U.S. warplane that's making $70 billion in tax money disappear. This was roll-out day for the F-22, billed as the stealth attack jet for the 21st Century and billed, as always, to you." -- Tom Brokaw, on the NBC Nightly News, told viewers: "A fierce political version of an aerial dogfight over a new and very expensive fighter plane, the F-22. The F-22 was a good idea at the time of conception, but do we really need it now? And a whole new generation of other expensive weapons. Here's NBC's Ed Rabel." Ed Rabel explained: "The F-22 was designed a decade ago counter sophisticated new Soviet aircraft then on the drawing boards. But with the Soviet Union now just a memory, critics are calling the plane, rolled out today by manufacturer Lockheed-Martin, a Cold War relic and an expensive one at that -- a 160 million a copy gold-plated gizmo outmatching any conceivable threat." Eugene Carroll, Center for Defense Information: "We're spending money we don't have to build and airplane we don't need to defeat a non-existent enemy." Of course, these critics would have more credibility if they hadn't fought military weapons during the Cold War. Liberals oppose military spending and favor social welfare spending. By coincidence that's just what NBC advocates. The next night, on the April 10 NBC Nightly News, Brokaw ominously warned: "In Southern California, the welfare reform requirements could have a disastrous effect. That's the conclusion of a university study out today. Too much expected too soon of too many. Here's NBC's George Lewis." As viewers saw video of an overweight women walking with two kids, even up some stairs, George Lewis asserted: "April Boyd is a single mom with six children. Because of a hip injury suffered in a car accident she says she's unable to work. Boyd is one of a half a million Los Angeles-area residents who could lose part or all of their welfare benefits." Boyd: "We're already struggling, so it'll just be all that harder for us because right now I can't even work no more." Lewis: "Today's USC study predicts that welfare reform will push thousands of people deeper into a life of poverty and overwhelming personal problems." After a soundbite from a study author, Lewis reeled off some of the dire numbers about unsupported disabled children and how 21,000 more children will end up in foster care. Though credible studies put homelessness at under one million nationwide, Lewis preposterously charged: "And homelessless could rise by as many as 190,000 people. Economically depressed neighborhoods, like LA's skid row, will be hit the hardest. But the prediction is that the economic impact for the entire community could go as high as a billion and a half dollars a year. This afternoon a state welfare official criticized the USC study, saying it went out of its way to paint, what he called, a doom and gloom picture." Viewers saw a clip of the Governor walking between Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie as Lewis noted: "Republican Governor Pete Wilson predicts that most people kicked off the welfare rolls will find work. April Boyd is not so sure." Boyd: "If you don't walk in a person's shoes such as myself you'll never know how we feel and what we going through." Over video of April going up steps unassisted, Lewis concluded: "Most everyone thought that overhauling the welfare system would be a good idea. Now, there are new concerns being raised about the human consequences of doing that." How about a little concern for the human consequences of an ever-rising tax burden on workers carrying those who think they have a right to other people's money. -- Brent Baker >>> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: mrc-cyber-request@list.us.net. Put "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" in the BODY of the message, NOT in the subject line. Problems and comments can be addressed to: cyber@mediaresearch.org <<< =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= To unsubscribe from this mailing list, DISREGARD ANY INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE and go to the Web page at http://www.maillist.net/rightnow.html. New subscriptions can also be entered at this page. If you cannot access the World Wide Web, send an e-mail message to RightNow-Request@MailList.Net and on the SUBJECT LINE put the single word: unsubscribe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: Anti-tax Constitutional amendment fails in House (fwd) Date: 16 Apr 1997 08:20:07 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Anti-tax Constitutional amendment fails in House April 15, 1997 7.32 p.m. EST (0032 GMT) WASHINGTON (AP) -- By a decisive margin, the House failed to pass a proposed Constitutional amendment which would make it harder for Congress to raise taxes. The amendment, which would require a two-thirds vote of Congress for any tax increases, mustered 233 votes in favor to 190 against, 49 votes short of the two-thirds majority also needed to advance a change to the Constitution. It was the second year the House failed to pass the bill on the tax filing deadline day. And last year it fell only 37 votes short. But the GOP used the lengthy floor debate to emphasize its tax-changing agenda and its differences with the White House. "Down at the other end of Pennsylvania (Avenue) they seem to be committed to raising taxes, to taking more of your pay and to having more of your money to spend through the bureaucracy,'' said House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. Defeat of the tax limitation amendment came after the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed measures making it a crime for IRS workers to snoop through tax returns. Democrats denounced the amendment as a "gimmick'' timed solely for media coverage on the tax deadline day and said it would severely damage the budget process. Rep. Joe Moakley, D-Mass., observed that the amendment was being debated even though the GOP was routinely waiving a similar requirement made in House rules two years ago that requires a three-fifths vote for any measure containing a federal income tax rate increase. The GOP has waived the rule several times as legislation has gone to the floor on Medicare premiums, earned income tax credits, small business tax breaks and other politically sensitive issues, he said. Republicans countered that core principles were at stake. "This isn't only about keeping a lid on the taxes that American people pay, it's about shrinking the size and power of the federal government,'' said Rep. Thomas DeLay, R-Texas, the House majority whip. "It will require Congress to focus on options other than raising taxes to balance the budget,'' said House Rules Committee Gerald Solomon, R-N.Y. Supporters of the constitutional amendment said 14 states now require a supermajority vote to raise taxes. The conservative Heritage Foundation said these states have been able to limit the growth of government and have enjoyed a more rapid pace of economic growth and job creation. Not all of the tax reform debate was confined to the Capitol. In Boston, five Republican congressmen engaged in a modern-day re-enactment of the Boston Tea Party by tossing the U.S. Tax Code into Boston Harbor. "It's time to dump an income tax code that has dumped on us too long,'' said Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La. In Lafayette Park opposite the White House, about 40 people gathered for a "Taxpayer Day of Outrage Rally'' to call for tax reform and tax cuts. Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson was there, as was someone dressed like the grim reaper. Aside from the photo opportunities, House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, hinted at progress on budget talks following a recent meeting with White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles. "I don't see a reluctance by Erskine to include a good-sized tax package,'' Armey said. Meanwhile, Gingrich and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said they intend to focus on three major tax issues this year: reducing capital gains and estate taxes and passing a $500 per child tax credit for families. Lott said that "at the very minimum'' he wants the capital gains rate cut to 19.8 percent from the current 28 percent. "We will never rest until that goal is achieved,'' he said. Gingrich left open the possibility the GOP might not achieve its tax agenda this year. "But we're going to move in the right direction,'' he said. He also said he is exploring a tax amnesty plan in order to collect billions of dollars in overdue taxes. The bill outlawing IRS browsing of taxpayer files sailed through both chambers. The Senate voted 97-0 to pass a bill to impose a maximum one year in jail and a $100,000 fine on Internal Revenue Service workers who browse through confidential taxpayer records without authorization. The House approved a similar bill by a 412-0 margin. "This step in beginning to curb IRS abuses is only the first step in what I think will be a real landmark Congress in bringing the Internal Revenue Service under control,'' said Gingrich. Its passage came a week after the General Accounting Office reported the IRS has yet to stamp out the practice. The GAO found 1,515 IRS workers were investigated for browsing through files in the 1994 and 1995 fiscal years, and 23 were fired. It's unclear when the bill will be sent to President Clinton for his signature; minor differences between House and Senate versions remain. Earlier, the House voted 412-0 to pass a resolution expressing a sense of the Congress in support of family tax relief. The anti-browsing bills are H.R. 1226 and S. 522; the constitutional amendment for a supermajority vote on taxes is H.J. Res. 62. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: John Curtis Subject: Re: MRC Alert: McDougal the Felon; Cut F-22 But Not Welfare (fwd) Date: 16 Apr 1997 09:48:31 -0400 > > "Privately White House officials say McDougal's credibility >does matter. That it's his word against the President. But tonight >there's worried silence and no comment. Clinton aides admit they >have no idea what McDougal turned over to investigators." > Hmmm. His word plus David Hale's word plus unamed other sources or materials that Starr refered to. Net Lawyer (Not) Alert: Is this going to be a Hiss thing? Clinton accused of perjury in the McDougal trial, based upon McDougal's testimony, Hale's testimonay and whatever other collaborating evidence they can drag up? Did he finally tell one lie too many? ciao, jcurtis ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Chris Ferris Subject: U.S. Military Commences Anti-Terrorism "NBC Training" Road Show Date: 17 Apr 1997 10:40:48 -0400 (EDT) Today's largest New Hampshire daily carried a national wire service story advising that, with the anniversary of the '95 OKC bombing fast approaching, the U.S. military has assembled a multi-service task force of nuclear, biological and chemical warfare experts who will be travelling from city to city around the U.S. (at a cost of about $50 million, if my memory serves me correctly) to train "local authorities" how to respond to varied terrorist threats. As I reviewed the article, I wondered to myself if special ops and intel types would be accompanying these "NBC" experts to train local, state and federal law enforcement officers? Can anyone envision possible "posse comititatus" act violations, if military special ops and intel types tag along with the "NBC" gang to train local, state and federal gendarmes? I can. Could someone please surf the Net, find this specific article and post it to roc for everyone's review? I don't have that surfing capability, given the simple configuration of my computer (receive and send e-mail only) at the present time. Many thanks, Chris Ferris Litchfield NH ferriscc@mainstream.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Patricia Fosness Subject: Re: U.S. Military Commences Anti-Terrorism "NBC Training" Road Date: 17 Apr 1997 09:36:41 -0600 >terrorist threats. As I reviewed the article, I wondered to myself if >special ops and intel types would be accompanying these "NBC" experts to >train local, state and federal law enforcement officers? Can anyone envision >possible "posse comititatus" act violations, if military special ops and >intel types tag along with the "NBC" gang to train local, state and federal >gendarmes? I can. As a Denver resident (they're starting here), you bet I can - and will keep my eyes open..... >Could someone please surf the Net, find this specific article and post it to >roc for everyone's review? I don't have that surfing capability, given the >simple configuration of my computer (receive and send e-mail only) at the >present time. No problemo. Here it is => 04/16/1997 17:19 EST Cities Trained Against Terrorists By SUSANNE M. SCHAFER AP Military Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- As the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing nears, the Pentagon has begun a training program designed to help 120 cities deal with the potential terrorist use of chemical, biological or even nuclear weapons. Local police, firefighters, medics and other emergency workers will learn to identify such deadly weapons, deal with victims and carry out any decontamination that might be required, officials said Wednesday at a Pentagon briefing. Under this year's $42.6 million program, the military will set up a multi-service ``Chem-Bio Quick Response Force,'' of up to 500 people. Members of the force will travel around the country training local officials, and the Pentagon plans to set up a hot line and an Internet site with further help. Specialized training also will be done at some military installations. The commander of the Army's Chemical Biological Defense Command, Maj. Gen. George Friel, will be in charge of the training program. Friel is based at Aberdeen, Md. Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., a member of the House National Security Committee, who has pressed for such help for local authorities, called the Pentagon program ``a good step ... long overdue, but it's not enough.'' ``The first responder to terrorism is not the military,'' Weldon said. ``It's the 1.2 million men and women across the country .... who day in and day out respond to disasters.'' He said local emergency workers, many of them volunteers, could be overwhelmed before federal assistance could arrive. Carl Hooker, deputy chief of the Houston Fire Department, welcomed the program. ``There's no way cities can prepare properly for something like that,'' Hooker said in an interview. ``No question about it, it will make us more secure in dealing with a terrorist event.'' Hooker said interest in dealing with such a crisis has grown, particularly since the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building that killed 168 people. As the bombing anniversary, Saturday, nears federal agencies are quietly fortifying security. The FBI sent out a reminder about the date and its history. Some agencies, like the Social Security Administration, issued a list of precautions about reporting suspicious events, abandoned packages and the like. Pentagon officials said the training will be coordinated through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and make use of experts from the FBI, the Public Health Service, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Department. But since the military has had expertise in dealing with chemical weapons since World War I, the Pentagon will take the lead in the training, officials said. By Oct. 1, 27 cities will be assessed for setting up the initial programs. Over the next three years, the officials said, they hope to reach the nation's 120 largest cities -- if those cities want to take part. Each city's needs are different, the officials noted, citing security steps Atlanta took for the Olympics and Washington's preparations for the inauguration. Denver offered to be the pilot city for the program, and a team arrived there Monday to assess its needs. By the time leaders of the world's top industrialized democracies gather there for an economic summit in June, the initial training work will be well on its way, the officials said. Besides Denver, the next eight cities to be studied are New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Washington; Houston; Kansas City, Kan; San Diego; and Philadelphia. The remaining cities are Detroit; Dallas; Phoenix; San Antonio; San Jose, Calif.; Baltimore; Indianapolis; San Francisco; Jacksonville, Fla.; Columbus, Ohio; Milwaukee; Memphis, Tenn.; Boston; Seattle; Atlanta; Honolulu; Miami; and Anchorage, Alaska. The FBI decided which cities needed to be looked at, the officials said, but any community can request assistance. Congress approved the program in last year's defense budget, and the Clinton administration is seeking $48.7 million to pay for it in fiscal 1998. Federal law prohibits the military from participating in law-enforcement activities, such as conducting arrests or doing investigations. However, it does not bar the military from providing training or assistance to law enforcement agencies -- such as the aid currently being given in the upper Midwest due to the flooding. ================================================== E Pluribus Unum - http://home.megalinx.net/~eplurib/home.html At 10:40 AM 4/17/97 -0400, you wrote: Pat Fosness listowner rkba-co "Today, Americans would be outraged if UN troops entered Los Angeles to restore order. Tomorrow, they will be grateful." -- Henry Kissinger ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Patricia Fosness Subject: SAFAN ALERT: Security tightened at NORAD Date: 17 Apr 1997 09:40:56 -0600 Golly, what a happy coincidence that the anti-terror training group just started working here in Denver a couple of days ago. >From: SafanNews@aol.com >Date: Thu, 17 Apr 1997 00:23:57 -0400 (EDT) >To: SafanNews@aol.com >Subject: SAFAN ALERT: Security tightened at NORAD > >SAFAN ALERT: April 17, 1997 > >SECURITY TIGHTENED AT NORAD > >COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., April 16 (UPI) -- Security at Cheyenne >Mountain Air Station in Colorado has been tightened because of >``special security concerns'' brought to the attention of the military. > >Commander Dave Knox, spokesman for the North American >Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Space Command in Colorado >Springs, said Wednesday that a federal agency provided information >warranting the extra measures. > >Knox declined to identify the agency but ABC News reported that on >Tuesday, the FBI contacted the installation about 65 miles south of >Denver. > >Barricades have been placed at the main gate of Cheyenne Mountain, >most public tours have been canceled and anyone passing through the >gates must show identification. The threat ``was about a specific >organization and it did not get into specifics as to what its intentions >were,'' Knox told UPI, declining to identify the group by name. > >Knox would not directly respond to questions as to whether the threat >was related to possible action by extremist groups to mark April 19, the >anniversaries of the Oklahoma City bombing and the fiery end to the >Waco siege. > >He said, ``I will tell you that we take those anniversaries into our day-to- >day force protection posture. That is something we're looking at, but I >can't address it specifically.'' > >The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was blown up on April 19, 1995, >and the Branch Davidians' 51-day standoff at Mount Carmel near Waco, >Texas, ended on the same date in 1993. > >Copyright 1997 by United Press International. > >++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > "A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize > the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the >region > of ignorance that tyranny begins." .........Benjamin Franklin >++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > SAFAN %Dot Bibee (SafanNews@aol.com) Ph/FAX (423) 577-7011 > SAFAN Internet Newsletters are archived on http://feustel.mixi.net >++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Pat Fosness listowner rkba-co "Today, Americans would be outraged if UN troops entered Los Angeles to restore order. Tomorrow, they will be grateful." -- Henry Kissinger ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: MRC Alert: Letting Clinton Blow Smoke; More Fundraising Rules (fwd) Date: 17 Apr 1997 10:57:48 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- ***Media Research Center CyberAlert*** Thursday, April 17, 1997 (Vol. Two; No. 51) Letting Clinton Blow Smoke; More Fundraising Rules #### Distributed to over 2,100 recipients by the Media Research Center, bringing political balance to the media. Visit the MRC on the Web: http://www.mediaresearch.org. Past CyberAlerts can be read at: http://www.mediaresearch.org/mrc/cyberalert/ #### 1) More evidence of White House misstatements on Hubbell and an allegation that a top aide misused her office. Two of the days three revelations that the networks ignored. 2) ABC and CBS showcase Clinton's "concern" about teenage smoking but fail to note that Democrats solicited and then hid tobacco dollars. But they find time to discuss Gingrich's "fine." 3) "If you really care" about illegal fundraising, a reporter tells Gingrich, then you must demand more rules and bureaucracy. 4) Newsweek's Evan Thomas inadvertently concedes that the media will follow the White House spin by focusing on Burton, not the facts. > 1) Wednesday brought another round of Clinton scandal developments: Evidence of White House deception in their story about Web Hubbell; Charges the Secretary of Labor nominee misused her previous White House position to financially benefit a business partner; and a convoluted tale of campaign cash and a shady deal involving Mack McLarty. As usual, the networks ignored them all. Here's a brief summary of each: -- A Wednesday, April 16 Washington Post story raised more questions about "hush money." Reporter Susan Schmidt began: "In the nine months after he resigned from the Justice Department in 1994 and before he pleaded guilty to charges of bilking his former law firm, Webster Hubbell had more than 70 meetings with Clinton administration officials, records show. An appointment calendar, telephone message slips and other documents obtained by The Washington Post indicate that the extent of Hubbell's contacts within the upper reaches of the White House and the administration was much broader than was previously known." -- Wednesday's New York Times and USA Today carried stories detailing questionable activities by Labor nominee Alexis Herman. USA Today reporter Edward Pound's lead: "Secretary of Labor nominee Alexis Herman, while serving in a top administration job, provided extraordinary access to the White House for a former business associate who bought her consulting company. USA Today has learned that Herman, while the director of the White House Office of Public Liaison, repeatedly opened the doors of the White House to Vanessa Weaver, a close friend. In some cases, Weaver brought along clients or others she was trying to sign up, or she arranged through Herman for them to participate in prestigious White House events." -- On Tuesday night PBS ran an edition of Frontline produced by Peter Boyer in which he traced the role of Nora and Eugene Lum in making some Clinton cronies very rich. It's a pretty complex story and I've only seen the first 15 minutes of the show, but as explained in Walter Goodman's New York Times television review on Tuesday, the Lums were used in 1992 "as a channel for large amounts of cash from prosperous Asian-Americans." The real news in the program comes in what Boyer uncovered about Mack McLarty. Goodman outlined the revelations, noting that Boyer tracks the Lums "to Oklahoma and finds them being used as fronts to benefit a giant utility company headed by Thomas McLarty, who later became the President's Chief-of-Staff. The details of that operation, which an Oklahoma official suggests amounted to a political fix, are too complicated the short explication," but the result "was that the McLarty company benefited; the Lums suddenly became millionaire part-owners of a new natural gas outfit; Ron Brown's son, Michael, received a nice piece of the new company..." Wednesday night not a word on ABC, CBS or NBC about any of these three disclosures. > 2) While the broadcast networks didn't find time Wednesday night for Clinton scandals, they ran lengthy packages on tobacco which failed to note Clinton hypocrisy on the issue. But at the same time the networks did manage to squeeze in news about the status of Newt Gingrich's "fine." ABC's World News Tonight devoted the first seven minutes to a series of stories on the potential $300 billion settlement deal with tobacco companies. Introducing a piece, Peter Jennings explained: "The Clinton administration has been very concerned about the increase in teenage smoking recently and very vocal about its belief that the tobacco companies deliberately go after kids..." Yeah, "very concerned" about getting their cut of tobacco profits from sales to teens. ABC failed to note that recently released documents show that Clinton and the Democrats solicited contributions from tobacco companies and then asked that the money go to state parties in order to avoid federal disclosure rules. USA Today uncovered the scheme April 3 and CNN ran a story on April 7 (See the April 11 CyberAlert for details.) The Sunday April 13 Washington Post ran a front page story on how Democrats "channeled millions of dollars to state Democratic parties last year, effectively hiding big contributions from tobacco, gambling and other special interests." But ABC, CBS and NBC have yet to utter a word about this scheme. On Tuesday night (April 15) CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather failed to mention the hypocrisy when he introduced a clip of Clinton denouncing teen smoking: "President Clinton is in New York tonight. Besides fundraising for Democrats the President came here to campaign against teenage smoking. At a quote 'Kick Butts Rally' at a junior high school in Brooklyn the President told students they have to take responsibility for their future." Meanwhile, the three evening shows on Wednesday night ran pieces on how Newt Gingrich is expected to announce on Thursday how he'll pay off the $300,000 assessment imposed by the ethics committee. But instead of calling it an assessment (to cover the cost of the investigation), ABC and NBC referred to it as a "fine." ABC's Peter Jennings suggested that Gingrich "will have to take out a loan to repay the bulk of the fine." NBC Nightly News ran the words "Ethics Fine" below a photo of Gingrich as Tom Brokaw introduced a full story from Lisa Myers: "In Washington tonight Newt Gingrich is trying the political equivalent of a triple somersault. How does he make good on that fine leveled against him for ethics violations, at the same time please his fellow Republicans and his wife." > 3) Speaking of Speaker Gingrich, an exchange he had over the weekend with a reporter illustrates that, to many reporters in Washington, more regulation to limit speech and spending is the only acceptable response to the Clinton fundraising mess. Gingrich got into a bit of a debate with Jane Mayer of the New Yorker when he appeared on the April 13 Fox News Sunday. Mayer, a former Wall Street Journal reporter, co-authored the book Strange Justice which attacked Clarence Thomas and backed Anita Hill's version of events. Here's the relevant portion of Fox News Sunday: Gingrich: "How long do the Democrats get to pretend they don't have an obligation as patriots to investigate? How long do the Democrats get to misdefine this case? This, here you have, let's stay on the one narrow case. The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports the Chinese Communists may be trying to buy the election. The Bank of China transfers to Charlie Trie the money that he was taking to the presidential defense fund. How long can Henry Waxman of the Democrats say, We don't want to investigate whether or not the Chinese Communists were trying to buy the American election'?" Mayer: "If this is such, though, if you really care about this issue, then why is it that there are only two co-signers to the campaign finance bill that's serious in the Senate?" Gingrich: "Because it's not a campaign finance bill." Mayer: "You know, it seems like it's just being demagogued, but nobody really is trying to reform." Gingrich: "In the first, in the first place, the Clinton-Gore team broke the current campaign law. Why would you think the people who broke the law are suddenly going to -- I mean, of course, they're calling for a new law. That way, we won't look at the fact that they broke the law." Mayer: "Haven't both sides said that they had to give back money because they, I don't know if you want to say broke the law, but breached the rules or whatever?" Gingrich: "You compare jaywalking and felony." Mayer: "I think someone went to jail for giving money in the wrong way to the Republican Party to Bob Dole, didn't they?" Gingrich: "Well, in fact, if the same standard were applied to the Democratic National Committee, they would have to give back $300 million in penalties." > 4) The demonization of Congressman Dan Burton, the Chairman of the House investigating committee, continues. MRC news analyst Steve Kaminski caught this diatribe from Newsweek's Evan Thomas on last weekend's Inside Washington: "Burton is a car wreck waiting to happen. He's got real problems himself on campaign fundraising. Some lobbyist accused him of trying to extort money from him. The Justice Department's on the case. Burton is, shall we say, a complicated guy. He once, I think, said he wanted to nuke Iraq to avoid the Kuwait War. I mean, he's got all sorts of problems. It's great for the White House to take the press attention away from a serious, sober congressional hearing and put it on Burton." So the White House decides what gets attention? If the media are interested in a providing a "serious, sober" examination of what happened maybe they could show a bit more interest in the evidence as it is disclosed and a bit less interest in diverting attention to irrelevant analysis of the policy positions of a Congressman. -- Brent Baker >>> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: mrc-cyber-request@list.us.net. Put "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" in the BODY of the message, NOT in the subject line. Problems and comments can be addressed to: cyber@mediaresearch.org <<< =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= To unsubscribe from this mailing list, DISREGARD ANY INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE and go to the Web page at http://www.maillist.net/rightnow.html. New subscriptions can also be entered at this page. If you cannot access the World Wide Web, send an e-mail message to RightNow-Request@MailList.Net and on the SUBJECT LINE put the single word: unsubscribe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: Memo To President Newt: Off With Cling-Tong's Head! (fwd) Date: 17 Apr 1997 13:15:40 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- L Exegesis Update A Forum Encouraging Moral Excellence Friday, April 18, 1997 Published Worldwide from Washington Memo To President Newt: Off With Cling-Tong's Head! Cling-Tong Bil, the Chinese Ambassador, must be even more mired in corruption, dishonesty and international drug and arms dealing than we poor innocents had previously thought. His former business partner, James McDougal, has been chatting with the Special Prosecutor and as a result, his jail sentence was reduced from 84 years to just three. Many have been impatient for the long-awaited impeachment of Mr. Cling-Tong and his deputy, which is now getting closer: there are so many reasons to choose. Mr. Cling-Tong's so-called Presidency has been compared to the Titanic. It has now been revealed that the august liner sank due to several small holes rather than one large one. If the Whitewater/Chinese/FBI Files iceberg seems to have been looming for a long time, perhaps that will give us an idea its immensity. It isn't simply about defrauding taxpayers in Arkansas: it's about dismissing innocent people and worse, killing innocent people. The Cling-Tong body count, friends and colleagues who have died in unexplained circumstances in recent years, is currently at 83. Some say such talk is a conspiracy theory. They may say what they wish, but there are 83 bodies, all extremely dead. It's about international arms and drug dealing; it's about selling the White House and humiliating the American people. Above all, it's about reducing the Presidency of the United States to a utility of the Chinese government. It's about treason. Mr. Cling-Tong's Asian dealings have obviously benefited him and the Chinese: So who's worse off? As Americans streamed to the Post Office to mail their tax returns this week, we were reminded. Mr. Cling-Tong's Asian adventures are costing the taxpayer at least $40 billion annually. In other words, the first $300 each American pays in taxes this year goes straight to the Chinese government as a subsidy for the pleasure of doing business with the bloodthirsty "butchers of Beijing", as Mr. Cling-Tong once called them. Oh, but surely you jest? No, we do not. As we have previously stated, this is the remains of a failed policy called appeasement, or 'constructive engagement'. The years are waning rapidly in which the United States will still be able to defeat China militarily. Cling-Tong Bil is accelerating that process: as he reduces the size of the US military, he provides China with money, arms and trade, and as many nights in the Lincoln Bedroom and rides on Air Force One as they would like. It is suggested that Mr. Cling-Tong is guilty of many crimes, but treason is by far the worst. What would his Chinese friends do with such criminals? Place 100,000 new police officers around the White House? Send in the National Guard to clear the drug dealers out of the Lincoln Bedroom? Question Mr. Cling-Tong's friends, most of whom are either in jail, dead, or still in China? Or even begin midnight basketball at the Vice-President's residence? Those who have not been seduced by the media into somnolence are impatient both for justice for the Cling-Tong gang and for real reform, which Newt Gingrich and his lieutenants are finding more difficult than they had imagined. At least they are trying. Above all, what Americans want is an honest discussion about the size and role of government, and that's something almost everyone in Washington has been trying to avoid. Likewise in Britain, where the election campaign has just two weeks to go, the British seem anxious for a real debate about the role of Europe, something both Prime Minister John Major and Labor Party Leader Tony Blair have carefully avoided. As a result, the election has reduced folks to boredom, though the latest polls show Labor's lead down from 30% to 12%. Our favorite moment of the week was Mr. Newt's impersonation of Margaret Thatcher on CNN's Larry King Live. Maybe he'll also impersonate her resolve to get taxes down, government shrunk and moral values restored. If Mr. Cling-Tong and Algore are impeached, Mr. Newt may get his opportunity, because it will be he who then sits in the Oval Office. Memo to future President Newt: in Britain, you know what they do with traitors? They take them to The Tower of London and cry: "Off with his head!" Chop, chop. =87 Steve Myers =D7 Editor ________________________________________________________________________ =A9 Exegesis 1997 * PO Box 789, McLean VA 22101, USA Subscriptions USA $32.95, Overseas $44.95, Students $19.95 Voice (703) 734 5656 * Fax (703) 734 0606 Internet: www.sm.org/exegesis * E-Mail: exegesis@sm.org ___________________________________________________ Our Web Pages are at www.sm.org ___________________________________________________ Exegesis: A Forum Encouraging Moral Excellence www.sm.org/exegesis GodSpeed!, our travel service, Please call us on 1-800 571 7121 for the lowest fares and best bargains. www.sm.org/travel ExTel, Long-Disatnce telephone service www.sm.org/extel The Global Opportunity Foundation www.sm.org/gof ___________________________________________________ Our May trip to Israel and the UK -just one space left www.sm.org/tour or call us on 1-800 571 7121. ___________________________________________________ =3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D= -=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-= =3D To unsubscribe from this mailing list, DISREGARD ANY INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE and go to the Web page at http://www.maillist.net/rightnow.html. New subscriptions can also be entered at this page. If you cannot access the World Wide Web, send an e-mail message to RightNow-Request@MailList.Net and on the SUBJECT LINE put the single word: unsubscribe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: BludyRed@aol.com Subject: 2nd Amendment revision Date: 17 Apr 1997 23:17:55 -0400 (EDT) The Honorable (?) Major Owens, the esteemed representative from NYC is at it again. He is the one who claimed on the House floor that over 200 MILLION black slaves were thrown overboard during the transit from Africa to America during the slave trade. That averages to about 2,000 slaves a day for over 300 years. He also claimed sharks still swim the route looking for food. I believe he later amended his remarks to "LOTS" of slaves. Well, he wants to amend something else now. If the anti gunners are so certain that the 2nd Amendment does NOT ennumerate an individual right, then why do they want this Amendment? Could be they are not so certain after all. Best regards, Dennis Baron ---------------- Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to clarify the meaning of the Second Amendment. (Introduced in the House) HJ 61 IH 105th CONGRESS 1st Session H. J. RES. 61 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to clarify the meaning of the Second Amendment. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 6, 1997 Mr. OWENS introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary JOINT RESOLUTION Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to clarify the meaning of the Second Amendment. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification: `Article -- `The right enumerated in the second article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States shall be construed as a right of States and not of individuals.'. END ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: linzellr@datastar.net (Robert Linzell) Subject: Clinton Crushes Sweatshops (1 of 3) Date: 18 Apr 1997 08:17:03 -0500 The following article describes yet another of the Clinton regime's hits against private enterprise, privacy, sovereignty and ordinary citizens' accumulation of wealth. This agreement gives alarming new power to governments, the Apparel Industry Partnership and the transnational corporations. Here's globalist intervention at its finest, all done for the sake of the children. A word to the wise.... --Bob _______________________________________________________________ | Robert S. Linzell linzellr@datastar.net | | Disclaimer: The content of the preceding message reflects | | my opinion only, unless otherwise indicated. | | "Live" from South Mississippi State Motto: Virtute et Armis | |_______________________________________________________________| ----- Begin Included Text ----- 220 604 <97041404.eco-gov.world.economic-aab@ZipNews.com> article Path: uunet!in3.uu.net!192.239.17.140!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!ais.net!arclight.uoregon.edu!super.zippo.com!zdc!usenet Newsgroups: zipnews.gov.world.economic Lines: 85 Sender: root@linda.zippo.com Approved: news@zippo.com Message-ID: <97041404.eco-gov.world.economic-aab@ZipNews.com> Xref: uunet zipnews.gov.world.economic:604 *97041404.eco CLINTON ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT TO END APPAREL SWEATSHOPS (Code of conduct will apply to overseas contractors) (620) By Wendy S. Ross USIA White House Correspondent Washington -- President Clinton April 14 announced an historic agreement by labor, human rights and industry leaders to help improve working conditions in United States garment and footwear companies and their overseas contractors. The announcement, the result of an agreement reached by several large companies and labor and human rights groups, "will improve the lives of millions of garment workers around the world," Clinton said during a White House ceremony. "Human rights and labor rights must be part of the basic framework under which all businesses compete," he said. Included in the agreement are NIKE, Inc., Liz Claiborne, Inc., Reebok International Ltd., LL Bean, Inc., Patagonia, Phillips-Van Heusen, and Tweeds, Inc. Clinton urged other U.S. companies "to join the crusade." The agreement was formulated by the Apparel Industry Partnership, a diverse task force formed as a result of a White House meeting last August. Clinton had challenged the apparel industry to take steps to assure that company products are made in compliance with acceptable labor standards, and to inform consumers that the products they buy are not made under exploitative conditions. "As has now been painfully well documented," the President said at the April 14 White House event, "some of the clothes and shoes we buy here in America are manufactured under working conditions which are deplorable and unacceptable. Mostly overseas, but unbelievably, sometimes here at home as well." He said the Partnership Agreement includes "a workplace code of conduct that companies will voluntarily adopt, and require their contractors to adopt, to dramatically improve the conditions under which goods are made. "The code will establish a maximum work week, a cap of 12 hours on the amount of overtime a company can require," and require that employers pay at least the minimum or prevailing wage. "Most important, it will crack down on child labor -- prohibiting the employment of those under 15 years of age in most countries," he said. The agreement, Clinton added, includes standards for internal and external monitoring to make sure companies and contractors live up to the code of conduct. "As important as the fabric apparel workers make for us is the fabric of their lives, which is a part of the fabric of our lives -- here at home and around the world," Clinton said. The President acknowledged that the agreement "is just the beginning. We know sweatshop labor will not vanish overnight," he said. "That is why we need more companies to join this crusade and follow its strict rules of conduct." Gene Sperling, the National Economic Advisor, characterized the agreement as "a very historic first step." It's "a pretty unique thing for companies to get together with unions and human rights groups and make this kind of a pact," he said. The agreement, he noted, includes "a very significant" workplace code of conduct, independent external monitors, and an association that will ensure that the independent external monitors are accountable. These three parts of the agreement, he said, "will be very significant in giving the public confidence that when they're buying a product from one of the companies that is part of this agreement, that that would not be a product that was made with child labor or in a sweatshop." But Sperling acknowledged that the agreement in itself does not end sweatshops. "It is the actions that will take place from here" on, he said. "We clearly hope that now that this breakthrough agreement has taken place, that will give impetus for more and more companies to come on board." NNNN ----- End Included Text ----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: linzellr@datastar.net (Robert Linzell) Subject: Clinton Crushes Sweatshops (Part 2 of 3) Date: 18 Apr 1997 08:17:16 -0500 The following article is Comrade Clinton's spin on his grand globalist scheme to interfere with private enterprise. Don't you just love doublespeak? --Bob _______________________________________________________________ | Robert S. Linzell linzellr@datastar.net | | Disclaimer: The content of the preceding message reflects | | my opinion only, unless otherwise indicated. | | "Live" from South Mississippi State Motto: Virtute et Armis | |_______________________________________________________________| ----- Begin Included Text ----- 220 608 <97041402.eco-gov.world.economic-aab@ZipNews.com> article Path: uunet!in2.uu.net!204.191.124.105!ott.istar!news.istar.net!news.maxwell.syr.edu!zdc-e!super.zippo.com!zdc!usenet Newsgroups: zipnews.gov.world.economic Lines: 179 Sender: root@linda.zippo.com Approved: news@zippo.com Message-ID: <97041402.eco-gov.world.economic-aab@ZipNews.com> Xref: uunet zipnews.gov.world.economic:608 *97041402.eco TRANSCRIPT: CLINTON LAUDS NEW PARTNERSHIP ON LABOR STANDARDS (Apparel industry leaders agree on code of conduct) (1540) Washington -- President Clinton has endorsed an apparel industry initiative designed to ensure that clothes and footwear purchased in the United States are manufactured under decent and humane working conditions. Representatives of industry, labor, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and consumer groups joined Clinton at the White House April 14 to announce agreement on a voluntary code of conduct that includes prohibitions against child labor, a guaranteed minimum or "prevailing industry" wage, and a maximum 60-hour work week. Participating companies have agreed to adopt the code of conduct voluntarily, and will require their U.S. and overseas contractors to adhere to those standards. "It will require safe and healthy working conditions and freedom from abuse and harassment. Most important, it will crack down on child labor -- prohibiting the employment of those under 15 years of age in most countries," Clinton said. The agreement is the product of a presidential task force that was launched in August 1996. Participants include Liz Claiborne, Nike, Phillips-Van Heusen, Reebok, L.L. Bean, Patagonia, Tweeds, Nicole Miller, Karen Kane, UNITE, Business for Social Responsibility, the International Labor Rights Fund, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, the National Consumers League, the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights, and the Retail, Wholesale, Department Store Union. Parties to the agreement have pledged to take steps to ensure that the code is enforced. They will also work to develop a mechanism -- perhaps through labels or advertising -- to let U.S. consumers know that no sweatshop labor was used on a given product line. The president described the agreement as an historic step, but one that represents "just the beginning" in the fight against abusive labor conditions. "Our real measure of progress must be in the changed and improved lives and livelihoods of apparel workers here at home and around the world. That is why we need more companies to join this crusade and follow its strict rules of conduct," he said. Following is a White House transcript of President Clinton's remarks: (begin transcript) THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. I would like to begin, first of all, by thanking all of the members of this partnership -- the co-chairs, Paul Charron of Liz Claiborne and Linda Golodner of The National Consumers League; Jay Mazur of UNITE. I thank Kathie Lee Gifford, who has done so much to bring public attention to this issue. I thank the members of Congress who are here: Congressman George Miller, Congressman Bernie Sanders, Congressman Lane Evans, Congressman Marty Martinez, and especially I thank my good friend, Senator Tom Harkin, who first brought this issue to my attention a long time ago. Thank you very much, sir, and thank all of you for your passionate concern. (Applause.) I thank the former Secretary of Labor, Bob Reich, and acting Secretary, Cynthia Metzler and Secretary-designate, Alexis Herman who is here. And I thank Maria Echaveste and Gene Sperling for their work. The announcement we make today will improve the lives of millions of garment workers around the world. As has now been painfully well documented, some of the clothes and shoes we buy here in America are manufactured under working conditions which are deplorable and unacceptable. Mostly overseas, but unbelievably, sometimes here at home as well. In our system of enterprise, which I have done my best to promote and advance, we support the proposition that businesses are in business to make a profit. But in our society, which we believe to be good and want to be better, we know that human rights and labor rights must be a part of the basic framework within which all businesses honorably compete. As important as the fabric apparel workers make for us is the fabric of their lives, which is a part of the fabric of our lives -- here at home and around the world. Their health and their safety, their ability to make a decent wage, their ability to bring children into this world and raise them with dignity and have their children see their parents working with dignity, that's an important part of the quality of our lives and will have a lot to do with the quality of our children's future. Last August, when the Vice President and I brought together the leaders of some of our nation's largest apparel and footwear companies, and representatives of labor, consumers, human rights and religious groups I was genuinely moved at the shared outrage at sweatshop abuses and the shared determination to do something about it. That led to this apparel industry partnership. This partnership has reached an agreement -- as already has been said -- that will significantly reduce the use of sweatshop labor over the long run. It will give American consumers greater confidence in the products they buy. And, again, I say they have done a remarkable thing. Paul Charron said it was just the beginning, because even though there are some very impressive and big companies represented on this stage, there are some which are not. But I would like to ask all the members of the partnership here to stand and I think we ought to express our appreciation to them for what they have done. (Applause.) Now, here's what they agreed to do: first, a workplace code of conduct that companies will voluntarily adopt, and require their contractors to adopt, to dramatically improve the conditions under which goods are made. The code will establish a maximum work week, a cap of 12 hours on the amount of overtime a company can require, require that employers pay at least the minimum or prevailing wage, respect basic labor rights. It will require safe and healthy working conditions and freedom from abuse and harassment. Most important, it will crack down on child labor -- prohibiting the employment of those under 15 years of age in most countries. It will also take steps to ensure that this code is enforced and that American consumers will know that the tenets of the agreement are being honored. The apparel industry has developed new standards for internal and external monitoring to make sure companies and contractors live up to that code of conduct. It will also form an independent association to help implement the agreement and to develop an effective way to share this information with consumers, such as labels on clothing, seals of approval in advertising or signs in stores to guarantee that no sweatshop labor was used on a given product line. Of course, the agreement is just the beginning. We know sweatshop labor will not vanish overnight. We know that while this agreement is an historic step, our real measure of progress must be in the changed and improved lives and livelihoods of apparel workers here at home and around the world. That is why we need more companies to join this crusade and follow its strict rules of conduct. One of the association's most important tasks will be to expand participation to as many large and small companies as possible. And I urge all of America's apparel companies to become part of this effort. If these people are willing to put their names, their necks, their reputations and their bottom lines on the bottom line of America, every other company in America in their line of work ought to be willing to do the very same thing. (Applause.) We have spent a lot of time trying to find jobs for everybody in America who wants to work, and we have spent a lot of time saying that people who are able-bodied, who can work, should be required to work. Now, we are also reminding ourselves that no one, anywhere, should have to put their safety or their dignity on the line to support themselves or their children. This is a great day for America, a great day for the cause of human rights, and I believe a great day for free enterprise. And I thank all of those who are here who made it possible. I'm proud that this agreement was industry-led and wholly voluntary. Like the TV industry's decision to rate its programming, like the new private sector effort to help move people from welfare to work, like the high-tech industry's efforts to wire our schools and our classrooms to the Internet, all of them, by the year 2000, which we will continue this Saturday. This is further evidence that we can solve our problems by working together in new and creative ways. The apparel industry understands that we all share a stake in preparing our country for the 21st century and preparing the world to be a good partner. Reaching across lines that have too often divided us in the past, this new partnership will create more opportunity for working families. It will demand more responsibility for working conditions. It will build a stronger community here in America and bind us to the community of people all around the world who believe in the value of work, but who also believe in the importance of its dignity and sanctity. Thank you and God bless you all. (Applause.) (end transcript) NNNN ----- End Included Text ----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: linzellr@datastar.net (Robert Linzell) Subject: Clinton Crushes Sweatshops (Part 3 of 3) Date: 18 Apr 1997 08:17:36 -0500 The following article outlines the agreement mentioned in the previous two articles. This grand scheme ought to effectively stifle competition from smaller, local businesses (note the enthusiastic participation of Big Business, which is widely held to be in bed with Big Government). Furthermore, the earning power of third-world families, who formerly depended on the income generated by their children, will be drastically slashed, leading to further poverty and dependence on Big Government. Remember, the mantra of the socialists is: "If it saves just one life, it's worth it. It's for the children." Be afraid--be very afraid. Yours in Liberty, Bob _______________________________________________________________ | Robert S. Linzell linzellr@datastar.net | | Disclaimer: The content of the preceding message reflects | | my opinion only, unless otherwise indicated. | | "Live" from South Mississippi State Motto: Virtute et Armis | |_______________________________________________________________| ----- Begin Included Text ----- 220 603 <97041405.ECO-gov.world.economic-aab@ZipNews.com> article Path: uunet!in1.uu.net!206.229.87.25!news-peer.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!sprint!arclight.uoregon.edu!super.zippo.com!zdc!usenet Newsgroups: zipnews.gov.world.economic Lines: 368 Sender: root@linda.zippo.com Approved: news@zippo.com Message-ID: <97041405.ECO-gov.world.economic-aab@ZipNews.com> Xref: uunet zipnews.gov.world.economic:603 *97041405.ECO TEXT: REPORT OF U.S. APPAREL INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIP (Sets global standards for humane labor conditions) (2310) Washington -- Members of the U.S.-based Apparel Industry Partnership have issued a report to President Clinton that offers a set of standards for humane working conditions and outlines a plan for promoting those standards in the United States and overseas. The "Workplace Code of Conduct" includes prohibitions against forced labor, child labor and workplace abuse, a maximum 60-hour work week, and the requirement that employers pay workers the minimum wage required by local law or the prevailing industry wage -- whichever is higher. Companies that agree to participate in the plan will adhere voluntarily to the code of conduct and will require their domestic and overseas contractors to abide by its provisions as well. Participating corporations include Liz Claiborne, Nike, Phillips-Van Heusen, Reebok, L.L. Bean, Patagonia, Tweeds and Nicole Miller. The partnership that devised the code is a coalition of apparel industry representatives, consumer groups, labor organizations and non-governmental organizations. It was launched following an August 1996 White House meeting on domestic and international labor issues. The report was released at an April 14 ceremony at the White House, and its findings have been endorsed by President Clinton. He described the initiative as an "historic step" forward in the fight against abusive labor conditions. According to the report, the partnership will in the next six months form a non-profit association that will develop internal and external monitoring criteria, and serve as an information resource for consumers, among other functions. Following is the text of the partnership's report to the president: (begin text) REPORT OF APPAREL INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIP The members of the Apparel Industry Partnership hereby report to the President and to the public on: -- The announcement of the attached "Workplace Code of Conduct" as a set of standards defining decent and humane working conditions: -- The individual determination of each company participating in the partnership to adhere to the Code and to implement as soon as reasonably practicable a monitoring program consistent with the attached "Principles of Monitoring," by adopting an internal monitoring program consistent with such principles and utilizing an independent external monitor that agrees to conduct its monitoring consistent with such principles; and -- The partnership's commitment to work together to form, during a six-month transition period, a nonprofit association that would have the following functions intended to provide the public with confidence about compliance with the Code: 1. To determine the criteria for company membership in the association and for companies to remain members in good standing of the association; 2. To develop criteria and implement procedures for the qualification of independent external monitors; 3. To design audit and other instruments for the establishment of baseline monitoring practices; 4. To continue to address questions critical to the elimination of sweatshop practices; 5. To develop means to maximize the ability of member companies to remedy any instances of noncompliance with the Code; and 6. To serve as a source of information to consumers about the Code and about companies that comply with the Code. The association would be governed by a board whose members would be nominated by companies, labor unions and consumer, human rights and religious groups. The partnership would work together during this transition period to further determine the governance of the association. WORKPLACE CODE OF CONDUCT The Apparel Industry Partnership has addressed issues related to the eradication of sweatshops in the United States and abroad. On the basis of this examination, the partnership has formulated the following set of standards defining decent and humane working conditions. The partnership believes that consumers can have confidence that products that are manufactured in compliance with these standards are not produced under exploitative or inhumane conditions. Forced Labor. There shall not be any use of forced labor, whether in the form of prison labor, indentured labor, bonded labor or otherwise. Child Labor. No person shall be employed at an age younger than 15 (or 14 where the law of the country of manufacture/1 allows) or younger than the age for completing compulsory education in the country of manufacture where such age is higher than 15. Harassment or Abuse. Every employee shall be treated with respect and dignity. No employee shall be subject to any physical, sexual, psychological or verbal harassment or abuse. Nondiscrimination. No person shall be subject to any discrimination in employment, including hiring, salary, benefits, advancement, discipline, termination or retirement, on the basis of gender, race, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, nationality, political opinion, or social or ethnic origin. Health and Safety. Employers shall provide a safe and healthy working environment to prevent accidents and injury to health arising out of, linked with, or occurring in the course of work or as a result of the operation of employer facilities. Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining. Employers shall recognize and respect the right of employees to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Wages and Benefits. Employers recognize that wages are essential to meeting employees' basic needs. Employers shall pay employees, as a floor, at least the minimum wage required by local law or the prevailing industry wage, whichever is higher, and shall provide legally mandated benefits. Hours of Work. Except in extraordinary business circumstances, employees shall (i) not be required to work more than the lesser of (a) 48 hours per week and 12 hours overtime or (b) the limits on regular and overtime hours allowed by the law of the country of manufacture or, where the laws of such country do not limit the hours of work, the regular work week in such country plus 12 hours overtime and (ii) be entitled to at least one day off in every seven day period. Overtime Compensation. In addition to their compensation for regular hours of work, employees shall be compensated for overtime hours at such premium rate as is legally required in the country of manufacture or, in those countries where such laws do not exist, at a rate at least equal to their regular hourly compensation rate. (Any company that determines to adopt the Workplace Code of Conduct shall, in addition to complying with all applicable laws of the country of manufacture, comply with and support the Workplace Code of Conduct in accordance with the attached Principles of Monitoring and shall apply the higher standard in cases of differences or conflicts. Any company that determines to adopt the Workplace Code of Conduct also shall require its contractors and, in the case of a retailer, its suppliers to comply with applicable local laws and with this Code in accordance with the attached Principles of Monitoring and to apply the higher standard in cases of differences or conflicts.) -------- 1/All references to local law throughout this Code shall include regulations implemented in accordance with applicable local law. PRINCIPLES OF MONITORING I. OBLIGATIONS OF COMPANIES/1 A. Establish Clear Standards -- Establish and articulate clear, written workplace standards./2 -- Formally convey those standards to company factories as well as to contractors and suppliers./3 -- Receive written certifications, on a regular basis, from company factories as well as contractors and suppliers that standards are being met, and that employees have been informed about the standards. -- Obtain written agreement of company factories and contractors and suppliers to submit to periodic inspections and audits, including by independent external monitors, for compliance with the workplace standards. B. Create An Informed Workplace -- Ensure that all company factories as well as contractors and suppliers inform their employees about the workplace standards orally and through the posting of standards in a prominent place (in the local languages spoken by employees and managers) and undertake other efforts to educate employees about the standards on a regular basis. C. Develop An Information Database -- Develop a questionnaire to verify and quantify compliance with the workplace standards. -- Require company factories and contractors and suppliers to complete and submit the questionnaire to the company on a regular basis. D. Establish Program to Train Company Monitors -- Provide training on a regular basis to company monitors about the workplace standards and applicable local and international law, as well as about effective monitoring practices, so as to enable company monitors to be able to assess compliance with the standards. E. Conduct Periodic Visits and Audits -- Have trained company monitors conduct periodic announced and unannounced visits to an appropriate sampling of company factories and facilities of contractors and suppliers to assess compliance with the workplace standards. -- Have company monitors conduct periodic audits of production records and practices and of wage, hour, payroll and other employee records and practices of company factories and contractors and suppliers. F. Provide Employees With Opportunity to Report Noncompliance -- Develop a secure communications channel, in a manner appropriate to the culture and situation, to enable company employees and employees of contractors and suppliers to report to the company on noncompliance with the workplace standards, with security that they will not be punished or prejudiced for doing so. G. Establish Relationships with Labor, Human Rights, Religious or Other Local Institutions -- Consult regularly with human rights, labor, religious or other leading local institutions that are likely to have the trust of workers and knowledge of local conditions and utilize, where companies deem necessary, such local institutions to facilitate communication with company employees and employees of contractors and suppliers in the reporting of noncompliance with the workplace standards. -- Consult periodically with legally constituted unions representing employees at the worksite regarding the monitoring process and utilize, where companies deem appropriate, the input of such unions. -- Assure that implementation of monitoring is consistent with applicable collective bargaining agreements. H. Establish Means of Remediation -- Work with company factories and contractors and suppliers to correct instances of noncompliance with the workplace standards promptly as they are discovered and to take steps to ensure that such instances do not recur. -- Condition future business with contractors and suppliers upon compliance with the standards. II. OBLIGATIONS OF INDEPENDENT EXTERNAL MONITORS A. Establish Clear Evaluation Guidelines and Criteria -- Establish clear, written criteria and guidelines for evaluation of company compliance with the workplace standards. B. Review Company Information Database Conduct independent review of written data obtained by company to verify and quantify compliance with the workplace standards. C. Verify Creation of Informed Workplace Verify that company employees and employees of contractors and suppliers have been informed about the workplace standards orally, through the posting of standards in a prominent place (in the local languages spoken by employees and managers) and through other educational efforts. D. Verify Establishment of Communications Channel Verify that the company has established a secure communications channel to enable company employees and employees of contractors and suppliers to report to the company on noncompliance with the workplace standards, with security that they will not be punished or prejudiced for doing so. E. Be Given Independent Access To, and Conduct Independent Audit of, Employee Records -- Be given independent access to all production records and practices and wage, hour, payroll and other employee records and practices of company factories and contractors and suppliers. -- Conduct independent audit, on a confidential basis, of an appropriate sampling of production records and practices and wage, hour, payroll and other employee records and practices of company factories and contractors and suppliers. F. Conduct Periodic Visits and Audits Conduct periodic announced and unannounced visits, on a confidential basis, of an appropriate sampling of company factories and facilities of contractors and suppliers to survey compliance with the workplace standards. G. Establish Relationships with Labor, Human Rights, Religious or Other Local Institutions -- In those instances where independent external monitors themselves are not leading local human rights, labor rights, religious or other similar institutions, consult regularly with human rights, labor, religious or other leading local institutions that are likely to have the trust of workers and knowledge of local conditions. -- Assure that implementation of monitoring is consistent with applicable collective bargaining agreements and performed in consultation with legally constituted unions representing employees at the worksite. H. Conduct Confidential Employee Interviews -- Conduct periodic confidential interviews, in a manner appropriate to the culture and situation, with a random sampling of company employees and employees of contractors and suppliers (in their local languages) to determine employee perspective on compliance with the workplace standards. -- Utilize human rights, labor, religious or other leading local institutions to facilitate communication with company employees and employees of contractors and suppliers, both in the conduct of employee interviews and in the reporting of noncompliance I. Implement Remediation Work, where appropriate, with company stories and contractors and suppliers to correct instances of noncompliance with the workplace standards. J. Complete Evaluation Report Complete report evaluating company compliance with the workplace standards. -------- 1/It is recognized that implementation by companies of internal monitoring programs might vary depending upon the extent of their resources but that any internal monitoring program adopted by a company would be consistent with these Principles of Monitoring. If companies do not have the resources to implement some of these Principles as part of an internal monitoring program, they may delegate the implementation of such Principles to their independent external monitors. 2/Adoption of the Workplace Code of Conduct would satisfy the requirement to establish and articulate clear written standards. Accordingly, all references to the "workplace standards" and the "standards" throughout this document could be replaced with a reference to the Workplace Code of Conduct. 3/These Principles of Monitoring should apply to contractors where the company adopting the workplace standards is a manufacturer (including a retailer acting as a manufacturer) and to suppliers where the company adopting the standards is a retailer (including a manufacturer acting as a retailer). A "contractor" or a "supplier" shall mean any contractor or supplier engaged in a manufacturing process, including cutting, sewing, assembling and packaging, which results in a finished product for the consumer. (end text) NNNN ----- End Included Text ----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jack@minerva.com Subject: Re: Clinton Crushes Sweatshops (Part 3 of 3) Date: 18 Apr 1997 08:51:55 PDT roc@mail.xmission.com wrote : >The following article outlines the agreement mentioned in the previous two >articles. This grand scheme ought to effectively stifle competition from >smaller, local businesses (note the enthusiastic participation of Big >Business, which is widely held to be in bed with Big Government). Furthermore, >the earning power of third-world families, who formerly depended on the income >generated by their children, will be drastically slashed, leading to further >poverty and dependence on Big Government. Remember, the mantra of the >socialists is: "If it saves just one life, it's worth it. It's for the >children." Be afraid--be very afraid. > >Yours in Liberty, > >Bob > _______________________________________________________________ >| Robert S. Linzell linzellr@datastar.net | >| Disclaimer: The content of the preceding message reflects | >| my opinion only, unless otherwise indicated. | >| "Live" from South Mississippi State Motto: Virtute et Armis | >|_______________________________________________________________| > > > >WORKPLACE CODE OF CONDUCT > >The Apparel Industry Partnership has addressed issues related to the >eradication of sweatshops in the United States and abroad. On the >basis of this examination, the partnership has formulated the >following set of standards defining decent and humane working >conditions. The partnership believes that consumers can have >confidence that products that are manufactured in compliance with >these standards are not produced under exploitative or inhumane >conditions. I have no idea whether the glowing phrases of the President or the nasty comments of those in the trenches are closer to reality. However, TRUTH is not an attribute that the Clinton's have much experience with. At any rate what follows is what was on the A-Infos list. It looks on what WJC did as something that is all illusion with no benefits for the workers at all Jack A AA AAAA The A-Infos News Service AA AA AA AA INFOSINFOSINFOS http://www.tao.ca/ainfos/ AAAA AAAA AAAAA AAAAA ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Rhodes ) Labor Alerts/Labor News a service of Campaign for Labor Rights NOTE: This alert has an action component!!! (see below) APPAREL TASK FORCE FIASCO what the agreement really means [Note: Commentary on the Task Force agreement includes text from a press release issued April 12 by Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange, Trim Bissell of Campaign for Labor Rights, Dr. Elaine Bernard of Harvard University Tra= de Union Program, Thuyen Nguyen of Vietnam Labor Watch, Jeff Ballinger of Pre= ss for Change, Max White of Justice Do It Nike and Reverand Max Surjadinata o= f United Church of Christ.] On August 2nd, in a Rose Garden press conference, President Clinton and then-Secretary of Labor Robert Reich announced the formation of a Task For= ce charged with producing standards for a "no sweat" clothing label within 6 months. The Task Force consisted of apparel industry giants like Nike and Liz Claiborne and several human rights and labor groups. That the Task Force took nearly 8 =BD months to produce a report was due to intransigenc= e by industry representatives, who refused to accept any meaningful change from the status quo. The Presidential Task Force's agreement on sweatshops, to be released on April 14, demonstrates that grassroots activism is still needed to win justice for apparel industry workers -- now more than ever. Unfortunately= , the good-faith efforts of the human rights and labor representatives on th= e task force were not matched by the representatives of the apparel industry= . (Are we surprised?) Industry reps stonewalled on every major point which might have ameliorated the misery of those whose labors enrich them. Amon= g the horrors of this agreement are the following points: * Companies shall pay the local minimum wage or prevailing industry wag= e. It is widely ackowledged that third world countries tend to set the minimu= m wage well below what workers need to meet even their most basic needs. Th= ey do so to encourage investment by foreign capital. In effect, then, it is the garment industry and not truly the countries themselves which set lega= l minimum wages so low -- because governments understand full well that the industry locates its production in the lowest wage havens. What we have, with the Task Force agreement, is an industry promise to "comply" with the low-wage standard that its own practices have created. * The agreement accepts a 60-hour work week (48 hours plus 12 hours mandatory overtime) as the norm and then says, "Except in extraordinary business circumstances," workers will not be forced to work more than that= . Anything could qualify as an "extraordinary circumstance," making even the commitment to an outrageous 60-hour week meaningless. Moreover, the agreement addresses only mandatory overtime. Already, garment industry workers put in endless hours of supposedly "voluntary" overtime. There should be NO mandatory overtime. If workers were paid a living wage for a= n 8-hour day, excessive "voluntary" overtime would cease. * Employees shall be compensated for overtime hours at the legal rate or= , where none exists, at a rate at least equal to their regular hourly compensation rate. Labor unons the world over call for overtime to be paid at a higher rate than the regular hourly wage. The Task Force agreement should call for at least time-and-a-half for overtime. * To verify whether industry complies with even these paltry standards, the agreement states that companies shall use independent external monitor= s. The agreement does not insist that companies use local human rights, labor or religious groups that have the trust of the workers and knowledge of local conditions. Instead, the companies can use private accounting firms and merely "consult regularly" with local institutions. The "independence= " of such firms is demonstrated by Nike's contract with the accounting firm = of Ernst and,Young, which issues secret reports to Nike. Its monitoring has failed to prevent ongoing, systematic abuse by factories contracting to do production for Nike. As experience already has proven, employees working = in repressive situations are unlikely to speak openly to representives of fir= ms which are answerable only to the apparel companies. THE RESULT OF THIS AGREEMENT is that apparel companies can continue to pay their workers 20 cents an hour for "regular" 60-hour work weeks, push them to do unlimited hours of "voluntary" overtime beyond that, monitor conditions via accounting firms which have no connections to the workers A= ND be rewarded for this behavior with a "no sweatshop" seal of approval. The agreement produced by the Task Force demonstrates all too clearly that we cannot leave the fate of the world's apparel workers in the hands of presidential commissions. It is imperative that grassroots activists continue to support struggling factory workers, mobilize public opinion an= d pressure abusive corporations until workers at home and abroad are paid living wages and treated with dignity. REQUESTED ACTIONS: 1. CONTACT THE WHITE HOUSE. Let it be known that you want meaningful standards for a "no sweat" label. A good place to begin is with wages. A= s noted above, the apparel industry situates its production in countries whe= re the minimum wage is widely acknowledged to be set below a livable rate sufficient to meet even the most basic needs of workers and their families= . In most cases, the legal minimum wage is barely half of what workers truly require. If the members of the Presidential Task Force wish to demonstrat= e sincerity, they should swiftly and publicly commit themselves to paying at least double the legal minimun in the countries where they produce. Further, they should commit themselves to having that new standard fully implemented during the six-month transition period of the agreement. Whit= e House comment line: 202-456-1111, fax: 202-456-2461, email: president@whitehouse.gov 2. CONTINUE TO SUPPORT CAMPAIGNS for the rights of working people around t= he world and here at home. Important campaigns being conducted at this time include: Nike, Disney, Guess, Starbucks, Hyundai in Tijuana, California strawberry growers, the Case Farms poultry processing plant in North Carolina and the FLAV-R-PAC and Gardenburger boycotts in support of Oregon farmworkers. Sources of information on these campaigns: Campaign for Labor Rights newsletter. Send $35 to 1247 "E" Street SE, Washington, DC 20003. For a sample copy, contact clr@igc.apc.org or (541) 344-5410. Watch our Labor Alerts/Labor News Service for more information. Campaign for Labor Rights web site: http://www.compugraph.com/clr Action packets: Contact Campaign for Labor Rights at clr@igc.apc.org or (541) 344-5410 and we will put you in touch with the organization which produces action packets for any of the campaigns which we support. In the case of the Nike campaign, Campaign for Labor Rights produces a constantly-revised action packet, available by email or in hard copy ($3 o= r $5 donation requested for hard copy version). ******** The A-Infos News Service ******** COMMANDS: majordomo@tao.ca REPLIES: a-infos-d@tao.ca HELP: a-infos-org@tao.ca WWW: http://www.tao.ca/ainfos/ | > >Forced Labor. There shall not be any use of forced labor, whether in >the form of prison labor, indentured labor, bonded labor or otherwise. > >Child Labor. No person shall be employed at an age younger than 15 (or >14 where the law of the country of manufacture/1 allows) or younger >than the age for completing compulsory education in the country of >manufacture where such age is higher than 15. > >Harassment or Abuse. Every employee shall be treated with respect and >dignity. No employee shall be subject to any physical, sexual, >psychological or verbal harassment or abuse. > >Nondiscrimination. No person shall be subject to any discrimination in >employment, including hiring, salary, benefits, advancement, >discipline, termination or retirement, on the basis of gender, race, >religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, nationality, political >opinion, or social or ethnic origin. > >Health and Safety. Employers shall provide a safe and healthy working >environment to prevent accidents and injury to health arising out of, >linked with, or occurring in the course of work or as a result of the >operation of employer facilities. > >Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining. Employers shall >recognize and respect the right of employees to freedom of association >and collective bargaining. > >Wages and Benefits. Employers recognize that wages are essential to >meeting employees' basic needs. Employers shall pay employees, as a >floor, at least the minimum wage required by local law or the >prevailing industry wage, whichever is higher, and shall provide >legally mandated benefits. > >Hours of Work. Except in extraordinary business circumstances, >employees shall (i) not be required to work more than the lesser of >(a) 48 hours per week and 12 hours overtime or (b) the limits on >regular and overtime hours allowed by the law of the country of >manufacture or, where the laws of such country do not limit the hours >of work, the regular work week in such country plus 12 hours overtime >and (ii) be entitled to at least one day off in every seven day >period. > >Overtime Compensation. In addition to their compensation for regular >hours of work, employees shall be compensated for overtime hours at >such premium rate as is legally required in the country of manufacture >or, in those countries where such laws do not exist, at a rate at >least equal to their regular hourly compensation rate. > >(Any company that determines to adopt the Workplace Code of Conduct >shall, in addition to complying with all applicable laws of the >country of manufacture, comply with and support the Workplace Code of >Conduct in accordance with the attached Principles of Monitoring and >shall apply the higher standard in cases of differences or conflicts. >Any company that determines to adopt the Workplace Code of Conduct >also shall require its contractors and, in the case of a retailer, its >suppliers to comply with applicable local laws and with this Code in >accordance with the attached Principles of Monitoring and to apply the >higher standard in cases of differences or conflicts.) > >-------- >1/All references to local law throughout this Code shall include >regulations implemented in accordance with applicable local law. > > >PRINCIPLES OF MONITORING > >I. OBLIGATIONS OF COMPANIES/1 > >A. Establish Clear Standards > >-- Establish and articulate clear, written workplace standards./2 > >-- Formally convey those standards to company factories as well as to >contractors and suppliers./3 > >-- Receive written certifications, on a regular basis, from company >factories as well as contractors and suppliers that standards are >being met, and that employees have been informed about the standards. > >-- Obtain written agreement of company factories and contractors and >suppliers to submit to periodic inspections and audits, including by >independent external monitors, for compliance with the workplace >standards. > >B. Create An Informed Workplace > >-- Ensure that all company factories as well as contractors and >suppliers inform their employees about the workplace standards orally >and through the posting of standards in a prominent place (in the >local languages spoken by employees and managers) and undertake other >efforts to educate employees about the standards on a regular basis. > >C. Develop An Information Database > >-- Develop a questionnaire to verify and quantify compliance with the >workplace standards. > >-- Require company factories and contractors and suppliers to complete >and submit the questionnaire to the company on a regular basis. > >D. Establish Program to Train Company Monitors > >-- Provide training on a regular basis to company monitors about the >workplace standards and applicable local and international law, as >well as about effective monitoring practices, so as to enable company >monitors to be able to assess compliance with the standards. > >E. Conduct Periodic Visits and Audits > >-- Have trained company monitors conduct periodic announced and >unannounced visits to an appropriate sampling of company factories and >facilities of contractors and suppliers to assess compliance with the >workplace standards. > >-- Have company monitors conduct periodic audits of production records >and practices and of wage, hour, payroll and other employee records >and practices of company factories and contractors and suppliers. > >F. Provide Employees With Opportunity to Report Noncompliance > >-- Develop a secure communications channel, in a manner appropriate to >the culture and situation, to enable company employees and employees >of contractors and suppliers to report to the company on noncompliance >with the workplace standards, with security that they will not be >punished or prejudiced for doing so. > >G. Establish Relationships with Labor, Human Rights, Religious or >Other Local Institutions > >-- Consult regularly with human rights, labor, religious or other >leading local institutions that are likely to have the trust of >workers and knowledge of local conditions and utilize, where companies >deem necessary, such local institutions to facilitate communication >with company employees and employees of contractors and suppliers in >the reporting of noncompliance with the workplace standards. > >-- Consult periodically with legally constituted unions representing >employees at the worksite regarding the monitoring process and >utilize, where companies deem appropriate, the input of such unions. > >-- Assure that implementation of monitoring is consistent with >applicable collective bargaining agreements. > >H. Establish Means of Remediation > >-- Work with company factories and contractors and suppliers to >correct instances of noncompliance with the workplace standards >promptly as they are discovered and to take steps to ensure that such >instances do not recur. > >-- Condition future business with contractors and suppliers upon >compliance with the standards. > >II. OBLIGATIONS OF INDEPENDENT EXTERNAL MONITORS > >A. Establish Clear Evaluation Guidelines and Criteria > >-- Establish clear, written criteria and guidelines for evaluation of >company compliance with the workplace standards. > >B. Review Company Information Database > >Conduct independent review of written data obtained by company to >verify and quantify compliance with the workplace standards. > >C. Verify Creation of Informed Workplace > >Verify that company employees and employees of contractors and >suppliers have been informed about the workplace standards orally, >through the posting of standards in a prominent place (in the local >languages spoken by employees and managers) and through other >educational efforts. > >D. Verify Establishment of Communications Channel > >Verify that the company has established a secure communications >channel to enable company employees and employees of contractors and >suppliers to report to the company on noncompliance with the workplace >standards, with security that they will not be punished or prejudiced >for doing so. > >E. Be Given Independent Access To, and Conduct Independent Audit of, >Employee Records > >-- Be given independent access to all production records and practices >and wage, hour, payroll and other employee records and practices of >company factories and contractors and suppliers. > >-- Conduct independent audit, on a confidential basis, of an >appropriate sampling of production records and practices and wage, >hour, payroll and other employee records and practices of company >factories and contractors and suppliers. > >F. Conduct Periodic Visits and Audits > >Conduct periodic announced and unannounced visits, on a confidential >basis, of an appropriate sampling of company factories and facilities >of contractors and suppliers to survey compliance with the workplace >standards. > >G. Establish Relationships with Labor, Human Rights, Religious or >Other Local Institutions > >-- In those instances where independent external monitors themselves >are not leading local human rights, labor rights, religious or other >similar institutions, consult regularly with human rights, labor, >religious or other leading local institutions that are likely to have >the trust of workers and knowledge of local conditions. > >-- Assure that implementation of monitoring is consistent with >applicable collective bargaining agreements and performed in >consultation with legally constituted unions representing employees at >the worksite. > >H. Conduct Confidential Employee Interviews > >-- Conduct periodic confidential interviews, in a manner appropriate >to the culture and situation, with a random sampling of company >employees and employees of contractors and suppliers (in their local >languages) to determine employee perspective on compliance with the >workplace standards. > >-- Utilize human rights, labor, religious or other leading local >institutions to facilitate communication with company employees and >employees of contractors and suppliers, both in the conduct of >employee interviews and in the reporting of noncompliance > >I. Implement Remediation > >Work, where appropriate, with company stories and contractors and >suppliers to correct instances of noncompliance with the workplace >standards. > >J. Complete Evaluation Report > >Complete report evaluating company compliance with the workplace >standards. > >-------- >1/It is recognized that implementation by companies of internal >monitoring programs might vary depending upon the extent of their >resources but that any internal monitoring program adopted by a >company would be consistent with these Principles of Monitoring. If >companies do not have the resources to implement some of these >Principles as part of an internal monitoring program, they may >delegate the implementation of such Principles to their independent >external monitors. > >2/Adoption of the Workplace Code of Conduct would satisfy the >requirement to establish and articulate clear written standards. >Accordingly, all references to the "workplace standards" and the >"standards" throughout this document could be replaced with a >reference to the Workplace Code of Conduct. > >3/These Principles of Monitoring should apply to contractors where the >company adopting the workplace standards is a manufacturer (including >a retailer acting as a manufacturer) and to suppliers where the >company adopting the standards is a retailer (including a manufacturer >acting as a retailer). A "contractor" or a "supplier" shall mean any >contractor or supplier engaged in a manufacturing process, including >cutting, sewing, assembling and packaging, which results in a >finished product for the consumer. > >(end text) >NNNN > >----- End Included Text ----- > > > Jack Perrine | ATHENA Programming, Inc | 818-798-6574 | ---------------- | 1175 No. Altadena Drive | fax 398-8620 | jack@minerva.com | Pasadena, CA 91107 US | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: Revere's Ride (fwd) Date: 18 Apr 1997 12:37:43 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- mpkdka@nauticom.net, MR-GOODWRENCH@prodigy.net Here is a post I made on the Internet today: Today is the anniversary of Paul Revere's ride. Most of the children in my school district (Fox Chapel) will probably never know this story, since they are not taught pre-civil war American history. If you don't believe that this could possibly be the case in your school district, ask your children and you neighbor's children what they are taught regarding the American revolution. You'll most likely be shocked to find that they know practically nothing on the subject. If you are interested in a great account of the beginning of the American Revolution, I would highly recommend "Paul Revere's Ride" by John Hackett-Fisher Anyway, here's the whole story of Paul Revere's ride: *************************************************************** (The primary goal of the Brittish regulars was to aprehend the leaders of the opposition, Sam Adams and John Hancock. There secondary goal was to disarm the populace along the way.) Revere confronted 2 British regulars manning a road block as he headed north across Charlestown Neck. As he turned around, the regulars gave chase and he eluded them. He then continued on to Lexington, to the home of Jonas Clarke where Sam Adams and John Hancock were staying. There, his primary mission was fulfilled when he notified Adams and Hancock that "The Regulars are coming out!" (he never exclaimed, "The British are coming". This would have made no sense at the time since the colonists considered themselves British). Revere and Dawes then headed for Concord and came across Doctor Prescott who then joined them. They decided to alarm every house along the way. Just outside of the town of Lincoln, they were confronted by 4 Regulars at another road block. They tried unsuccessfully to run their horses through them. Prescott, who was familiar with the terrain, jumped a stone wall and escaped. Revere and Dawes tried to escape and shortly into the chase they were confronted by 6 more regulars on horseback. Revere was surrounded and taken prisoner. Dawes got away as they were taking Revere into custody. The British officers began to interrogate Revere, whereupon Revere astonished his captors by telling them more than they even knew about their own mission. (HA!) He also told them that he had been warning the countryside of the British plan and that their lives were at risk if they remained in the vicinity of Lexington because there would soon be 500 men there ready to fight. Revere, of course, was bluffing. The Regulars had Revere remount his horse and they headed toward Lexington Green, when suddenly, they heard a gunshot! Revere told the British officer that the shot was a signal "to alarm the country!". Now the British troops were getting very nervous (hehe). A few minutes later, they were all startled to hear the heavy crash of an entire volley of musketry from the direction of Lexington's meeting house and then the Lexington town bell began clanging rapidly! Jonathan Loring, a Lexington resident captured earlier, turned to his captors and shouted "The bell's a' ringing! The town's alarmed, and you're all dead men!" The British officers then talked urgently among themselves and decided to release their captives so as they would not slow their retreat. ******************** A few notes: The purpose of the British road blocks was to prevent the colonists from communicating with each other outside of their towns. Their primary mission to capture Hancock and Adams, they thought, was top secret. The town bell was actually ringing to alert the Lexington Company of Militia to assemble on the town common because the British regulars were on the march. It was a general alarm, not an alarm of an imminent threat. The heavy crash of an entire volley of musketry was the result of a group of men discharging their guns prior to entering the tavern - many of the taverns at that time prohibited their patrons from entering with loaded weapons and the only way to unload a musket is to discharge it. -Dave http://www.city-net.com/~davekle/ BTW, as a side-note, I've come across several accounts of public school teachers, who for some reason, are determined to dismiss the importance of Revere's ride. They all have the same comment which is simply, "Revere was captured by the British". Imagine if you were a child in the public school and you bought that line. What a shame. I'd rather our children are not even be taught pre-civil war history (as is the case in my school district) if they are going to re-write it or brush over such important and interesting facts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: Taxes Date: 18 Apr 1997 14:32:56 -0500 (CDT) > > Taxes Taxes Taxes > > Tax his cow, tax his goat; tax his pants, tax his coat. > Tax his crops, tax his work; tax his tie, tax his shirt. > Tax his chew, tax his smoke; teach him taxes are no joke. > Tax his tractor, tax his mule; teach him taxes are the rule. > Tax his oil, tax his gas; tax his notes, tax his cash. > If he hollers, tax him more; tax him 'till he's good and sore. > Tax his coffin, tax his grave; tax the sod in which he lays. > Put these words upon his tomb: Taxes drove me to my doom." > After he's gone he can't relax; they'll still go after > INHERITANCE TAX! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Fritz Sands Subject: RE: Revere's Ride (fwd) Date: 18 Apr 1997 13:51:11 -0700 FWIW, my 9-yr-old, in the Issaquah (WA) public school system, studied the revolutionary war this year through reading historical novels on the subject. One of the books was quite interesting to me. The title is _My Brother Sam Is Dead_. The novel occurs in a mostly Tory-sympathizing town during the revolution. When the colonial troops come through, the first thing they do is confiscate all privately-owned firearms. The narrator's brother Sam joins the colonial troops. At the end of the novel, Sam is falsely accused of plundering food and is shot by a firing squad dispensing military justice. Fritz > ---------- > From: pwatson@utdallas.edu[SMTP:pwatson@utdallas.edu] > Reply To: roc@mail.xmission.com > Sent: Friday, April 18, 1997 10:37 AM > To: against constitutional terrorist; restore our constitution > Subject: Revere's Ride (fwd) > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 11:30:27 -0400 > From: David Kleber > To: piml@mars.galstar.com, quinn@sgi.net, BobKleber@compuserve.com, > mpkdka@nauticom.net, MR-GOODWRENCH@prodigy.net > Subject: piml] Revere's Ride > > Here is a post I made on the Internet today: > > Today is the anniversary of Paul Revere's ride. > > Most of the children in my school district (Fox Chapel) > will probably never know this story, since they are not > taught pre-civil war American history. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Subject: *URGENT* Alert--Seattle NRA Meeting Date: 18 Apr 1997 21:56:18 -0700 (PDT) [From Joel Friedman] The NRA Board of Directors election is over, and the votes are being counted. I would like to ask all of you--who are interested--to help me with an important petition drive. Please cross post this to any and all lists that you are familiar with. The petition explains exactly what I am trying to do, and is for those who feel the same way as I do. Your help in getting as many signatures as possible will be appreciated. Please copy this petition and circulate it to as many NRA members as possible. Thank you again for your attention. Sincerely, Joel Friedman Benefactor Member e-mail: mochi1@ix.netcom.com PETITION TO THE NRA BOARD OF DIRECTORS We, the undersigned NRA members, request the NRA Board of Directors to re-elect Mr. Wayne La Pierre as the Executive Vice President. NAME NRA MEMBER # ADDRESS __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Please snail-mail the petitions no later than April 25 to: Joel Friedman 800 E. 4th. St. Los Angeles, CA 90013 or e-mail them to: mochi1@ix.netcom.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "E. J. Totty" Subject: Re: 2nd Amendment revision Date: 19 Apr 1997 06:45:36 -0700 Dennis, [...] If the anti gunners are so certain that the 2nd Amendment does NOT ennumerate an individual right, then why do they want this Amendment? [...] Well, ya see, Dennis, it's all because New York has a lead on the rest of the country with Outcome Based Education (OBE). Now, you must understand that OBE graduates think that you can change the meaning of the words in a sentence by simply passing a law! So, the sorry result is, that when (and it will happen - not if) this occures, the other amendments will also be changed accordingly. The Republicans, not to be outdone, will simply pass an amendement saying that the 1st Amendment is only for the elected officials. The States will be only too glad to take that one up! The Democrats, not to be equaled, and wanting to save money on all those military bases, will pass a law expanding on the 3rd Amendment, making mandatory housing (your house and mine) immediately subject to forfeiture and acqusition for military personel. We get to move out free of charge. The Republicans, seeing that 4th Amendment has already been raped, move quickly and overtake the 5th Amendment, passing a law that makes _everyone_ guilty of any crime. When you are born, you are guilty - period. It's just a matter of time before you get arrested. If you are arrested for anything, the prosecutor may charge you with anything he/she desires and you must prove your innocence of all those crimes. Of course, you understand that if you were old enough to be around when the Hindenberg blew-up, you'll get blamed for that too! For those of you who think what I wrote is madness, just remember, in the U.S. Congress such madness gets enacted - on a daily basis! ET ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "E. J. Totty" Subject: Re: 2nd Amendment revision Date: 19 Apr 1997 06:45:36 -0700 Dennis, [...] If the anti gunners are so certain that the 2nd Amendment does NOT ennumerate an individual right, then why do they want this Amendment? [...] Well, ya see, Dennis, it's all because New York has a lead on the rest of the country with Outcome Based Education (OBE). Now, you must understand that OBE graduates think that you can change the meaning of the words in a sentence by simply passing a law! So, the sorry result is, that when (and it will happen - not if) this occures, the other amendments will also be changed accordingly. The Republicans, not to be outdone, will simply pass an amendement saying that the 1st Amendment is only for the elected officials. The States will be only too glad to take that one up! The Democrats, not to be equaled, and wanting to save money on all those military bases, will pass a law expanding on the 3rd Amendment, making mandatory housing (your house and mine) immediately subject to forfeiture and acqusition for military personel. We get to move out free of charge. The Republicans, seeing that 4th Amendment has already been raped, move quickly and overtake the 5th Amendment, passing a law that makes _everyone_ guilty of any crime. When you are born, you are guilty - period. It's just a matter of time before you get arrested. If you are arrested for anything, the prosecutor may charge you with anything he/she desires and you must prove your innocence of all those crimes. Of course, you understand that if you were old enough to be around when the Hindenberg blew-up, you'll get blamed for that too! For those of you who think what I wrote is madness, just remember, in the U.S. Congress such madness gets enacted - on a daily basis! ET ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Howlin' Blue" Subject: WPost on Waco Date: 19 Apr 1997 16:40:30 -0600 STILL BURNING Was Waco a Massacre? Four Years Later,=20 The Question Hasn't Been Extinguished By Richard Leiby and Jim McGee Washington Post Staff Writers Friday, April 18 1997; Page C01 The Washington Post You can't believe your eyes. But the man on the screen, a distinguished scientist, makes it all seem true. He is pointing out bright bursts that look to him like machine gun fire. You are witnessing what could be a military-style slaughter of civilians -- My Lai in America. First they were gassed, then burned, then shot. It all happened on April 19, 1993, according to a new documentary film, "Waco: The Rules of Engagement." It's all a load of bunk, says the government -- but still, you have to wonder. This is not another quickie video cranked out by militia nuts. It's a serious documentary that quotes real experts, cost nearly $1 million and was first screened in January at Robert Redford's prestigious Sundance Film Festival. In the handful of cities where the film has played, audiences are stunned and angered when they leave the theater. "One of the most disturbing films you'll ever see," the San Francisco Chronicle said in its review. "It is the documentary that will not go away," wrote a columnist in the Boston Globe. "Waco: The Rules of Engagement" suggests that the government's version of events -- as recounted in official reports and three sets of congressional hearings -- basically amounts to a lie. Contrary to all testimony, the film alleges that federal forces shot at Branch Davidians on April 19, probably with machine guns. The filmmakers say the muzzle flashes are visible on a heat-sensitive surveillance tape made that day by the FBI. Of course, there's another possibility: that the film's central conclusion is dead wrong. That's what the FBI says, backed by top officials of the Justice Department. They perceive "Waco" as anti-government propaganda, and potentially dangerous. Timothy McVeigh was inspired to blow up a federal building, prosecutors say, to avenge the Branch Davidians who died. Somewhere between these polar opinions lurks that most elusive of commodities, The Truth. Finding it presents a challenge worthy of a high-tech thriller -- it's an excursion into the fever swamp of conspiracy and unthinkable cover-up, with detours into physics textbooks, FBI headquarters and secret military labs. Who shot at whom? What's the evidence? It's basic police work -- but it's rarely simple. Waco was a singularly complicated event -- the longest, largest and deadliest federal law enforcement operation in U.S. history. It began with a botched raid by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms on Feb. 28, 1993, that led to the deaths of four ATF agents and six Branch Davidians, members of a small, heavily armed sect focused on the Bible's book of Revelation. The FBI oversaw the 51-day standoff that ended with a tear gas assault by tank-driving commandos. At least 76 more Davidians (including 30 women and 25 children) died from fire, suffocation and gunshots. Before any investigation -- before the vast majority of the bodies had been pulled from the ashes -- President Clinton was unequivocal about who was to blame. He told reporters that "a bunch of religious fanatics decided to kill themselves." The FBI has always contended that its agents never fired on April 19, even when fired upon -- that the Davidians shot themselves and each other. Autopsy reports showed that 19 Branch Davidians had gunshot wounds. But Justice Department officials now acknowledge that the ballistics work done after Waco was rudimentary at best. Maybe for that reason alone, Waco isn't settled yet, at least in some minds. Wild theories about flame-throwing tanks and death squads have circulated since the beginning. It's a lot like Dallas 1963, and its infamous grassy knoll: New "evidence" can always be found, more questions can always be raised. The "Waco" filmmakers claim to have found proof of government malevolence -- in the form of a grainy, black-and-white videotape recorded by an FBI surveillance aircraft circling overhead. Shot from an altitude of about two miles, the video was made with an infrared camera designed to detect heat sources, including bursts of weapons fire on the ground. Called Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR), this technology was widely used in the Persian Gulf War to detect enemy tanks and installations. The military refers to FLIR (pronounced "fleer") as a form of "night vision" technology. The 90-minute FLIR tape shows things not recorded by TV news cameras, which were set up more than a mile away and provided only a view of the front of the compound. In 1994, during the criminal trial of the surviving Branch Davidians, federal prosecutors used the FLIR tape to help show that the Branch Davidians started the fire that consumed their compound on April 19. The 165-minute "Waco" documentary was produced by former CNN newsman Dan Gifford, his wife Amy, and Mike McNulty, who has been investigating Waco independently for years. It is heavy on C-SPAN footage from congressional hearings, audio tapes of FBI negotiations and home videos made by the Branch Davidians. But its shocking conclusion -- that FBI agents were intent on murdering Branch Davidians -- relies largely on the opinion of an expert who analyzed the FLIR tape. `Something Terrible' A portrait of Jesus stands guard over the big-screen TV in Edward Allard's living room in Springfield. A lifelong Catholic, Allard is a man of conviction and certitude. He also holds a doctorate in physics and is a former supervisor of the Department of Defense's night vision laboratory at Fort Belvoir. He knows what he is seeing on that tape -- he says the weapons signatures are so clear as to eliminate all doubt. He cues up the FLIR video and plays it in slow motion, frame by frame, each frame representing a 30th of a second. "Right there, something terrible happens," he says, pausing the tape. He's pointing to an area on the screen where he believes a team of men is firing into the burning cult compound. He has counted 44 distinct flashes in that area. He also points out bursts near an Army M-60 tank that's destroying the back of the compound -- "an infantry-tank maneuver," as he sees it. Where are the shooters? They aren't visible, Allard says, because their bodies are roughly the same temperature as the ground -- FLIR would not distinguish between the people and the background. They'd fade to gray. Allard, 63, worked for the Defense Department and as a thermal-image consultant for more than 30 years. He has agreed to serve as an expert witness in a civil lawsuit being waged by attorneys representing the estates and families of dead Branch Davidians, who say the government acted recklessly, negligently and perhaps criminally at Waco. In a federal court motion filed last October, former attorney general Ramsey Clark argues that Allard's analysis "leaves no doubt that the U.S. repeatedly fired gunshots into the church and at its occupants." Allard's assertion "is outrageous and absurd," the Justice Department responds in its motion. However, the government has produced no expert testimony on FLIR to answer Allard's claims in the civil case, or in the movie. The Justice Department issued a statement yesterday saying that the gunfire theory is contradicted by all available evidence. "The allegations presented by The Post are irresponsible and wrong. Given that the [FLIR] films have not been thoroughly analyzed, publication of such speculations at this particular time can only serve to inflame conspiracy theories." A year ago, around the time of the last Waco anniversary, the FBI was able to make this gunfire matter go away quietly. CBS News's "60 Minutes" was asking about those strange flashes on the FLIR tape. Its producers hired another expert who said he believed they were gunfire. Those are not gunshots, FBI officials insisted. They're reflections of sunlight on broken glass and blowing debris. And besides, there are no shooters visible on the tape, the FBI pointed out. You can't have gunshots without shooters. "60 Minutes" never ran a story. "I reached the conclusion that this was inconclusive," says Rome Hartman, a "60 Minutes" producer. The "Waco" documentary makers point to this as proof of a continuing cover-up. FBI spokesmen point to the same fact as confirming that the gunshot theory is nonsense. It's all a matter of how you see things. An FBI Screening In the audiovisual lab in the basement of FBI headquarters, a half-dozen Justice Department lawyers, FBI officials and technicians gather to show portions of the original FLIR -- this time to The Washington Post. The darkened room is filled with glowing screens and a huge console. There is no FLIR expert on hand, but John M. Hogan, Attorney General Janet Reno's chief of staff, says these bright blips are benign glints of noonday sun. The image here is dramatically better than Allard's version of the tape and the video equipment is the best that money can buy. "When the film is this quality, you can see things that are not producing heat," Hogan explains. The tape is slowed to points where others have seen gunfire. "If there are men there, they would be run over by the tank," he notes. "But there's no person there." The shooters-on-the-ground theory simply defies logic: "If you are a commander and you have tanks, why expose your people to gunfire?" he asks, exasperated. "At this point the FBI agents are risking their lives, pulling people out of the fire. Not standing back firing into the inferno." The technician cues up another tape, this time to show what people look like on FLIR. It's a sequence shot after the fire ended that afternoon, when men are searching frantically in a storm shelter for survivors. This part isn't in "Waco," the movie. The men's bodies are clearly evident at some points, ghostlike at others, as the temperatures of the backgrounds change. But here's the main point: If the FBI agents were trying to kill everyone, as the conspiracists argue, then why search for survivors at all? It's a convincing display. The government's lawyers are smiling as the reporters exit into the darkness of Pennsylvania Avenue. An FBI official says, "We don't want you to have any unanswered questions." Paranoia Runs Deep Suspicion and conspiracy theories tend to arise whenever the government clams up. The Kennedy assassination cottage industry thrives on withheld documents. The alleged Roswell, N.M., "alien" survives 50 years later because the government classified a report about a weather balloon. The FBI side of the story is scarcely represented in "Waco: The Rules of Engagement." The filmmakers say that's because the bureau refused their requests to interview key personnel involved in the standoff. The FBI says an examination of the entire FLIR tape -- which runs for several hours -- would provide context and further discredit the gunfire theory. Yet the government has delayed releasing the entire tape to attorneys who filed a Freedom of Information Act suit in Arizona. The bureau also hasn't provided a full copy to The Washington Post, which first requested one in December 1996. Why the delay? "National security issues," says a Justice Department spokesman. Lessons Learned Nine days after the debacle at Waco, Attorney General Reno told a House Judiciary Committee hearing: "To the great credit of the FBI, they received substantial fire from within the compound . . . without returning any fire." Under the operations plan approved by Reno -- the rules of engagement -- FBI snipers were allowed to respond with deadly force to gunfire that endangered their lives. All have sworn they did not. Snipers were interviewed and ammunition accounted for, according to Richard Scruggs, who wrote the Justice Department's October 1993 report on Waco. So why don't some people believe it? Perhaps because, in 1993, the FBI's elite Hostage Rescue Team -- its motto: "To Save Lives" -- didn't enjoy a reputation for restraint. The 50-man squad of sharpshooters and commandos was deployed to Waco seven months after its engagement in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, where an FBI sniper shot and killed a woman holding a baby in her arms, a day after her teenage son and a U.S. marshal were killed in a shootout. The shooting of Vicki Weaver at Ruby Ridge, during a standoff with her white-separatist husband, became the source of much internal investigation and embarrassment for the FBI. The bottom line is this: A high-ranking FBI official, E. Michael Kahoe, admitted covering up the truth about Vicki Weaver's death. He tried to rewrite history by destroying documents. Ruby Ridge and Waco had the same players, including Larry Potts, who was instrumental in decision-making during both incidents, and who has been suspended while officials probe his role at Ruby Ridge. Kahoe, who briefed Reno during the Waco siege, last year pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in connection with Ruby Ridge. The FBI learned its lesson. When confronted with a group of militants in Montana a year ago, the Hostage Rescue Team brought in outside negotiators and emphasized patience over confrontation. Maybe mistakes were made at Waco. Maybe secrets are being kept. But that doesn't mean that anybody in the FBI acted criminally there. It only means that people will keep asking questions. Expert Opinions Find enough FLIR experts, we figured, and maybe this controversy could be settled. Or could it? First, The Post mailed copies of the FLIR tape -- those portions obtained from court filings -- to people with infrared and weapons experience. After the FBI gave us a one-hour excerpt (but not the whole tape), we showed that to local defense contractors who specialize in interpreting FLIR. And we took the tape to the military's top scientists. In all, 12 examiners offered opinions. These days, infrared analysts are fairly easy to find. Once an expensive military technology, FLIR is now widely used in private industry and law enforcement -- especially in drug cases where infrared cameras are used to locate indoor marijuana growers' hot lamps and methamphetamine labs. Four of the analysts contacted by The Post, who have extensive military and weapons experience, were convinced that they saw bursts on the tape indicative of gunfire going into the compound. "The gunfire signatures are real," said Joseph Horn, an El Paso, Tex., consultant on firearms evidence, who wrote a letter pointing out five incidents that Allard had also deemed gunfire. But where were the shooters? "It bothered me that I wasn't able to see their bodies," said Horn, a former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy. "But the patterns of the firing were there." Ron Smith, who runs a business in Tempe, Ariz., supplying machine guns to law-enforcement and military agencies, said he counted seven separate instances of automatic weapons fire on the tape -- also directed at the buildings. He believes the alleged shooters could have been wearing FLIR-resistant camouflage. Both Smith and Horn admitted they are not scientific experts on infrared technology, although they have worked with it for years. "I don't care what kind of FLIR they used," Smith says. "Gunfire looks like gunfire." Tom Simpson is a computer imaging specialist in Camarillo, Calif., who once trained military officials on how to read FLIR. Here's his report on the Waco tape: "We observed no less than 60 of what can only be explained as gunfire energy bursts . . . all directed at the compound. We took great pains to explain these events in another fashion . . . but were unable to find that explanation." By this time, another expert, a PhD engineer named Edward Friday, who works for Systems Planning Corp. in Arlington, had gotten deep into the mystery. Last weekend he ran tests with a FLIR system at a firing range. He wanted to see if automatic weapons fire produced flashes and also establish whether FLIR would record sunlight reflections. Friday's results were inconclusive. "Flashes seen on the FBI videotape could be attributed to sun reflections," he wrote. "However, from our limited firearms experiments, it is not possible to eliminate firearms as the cause of these flashes." Second Opinions Maybe those experts weren't good enough. Maybe their equipment wasn't advanced enough. Next stop, the night vision lab at Fort Belvoir. We wanted the best eyeballs in the country. In that facility, the Army's brainiest scientists, engineers and physicists do top-secret work building the type of surveillance devices that helped defeat the Iraqi army during the Gulf War. We took a copy of the FBI's tape to the lab, to have it evaluated by four night vision scientists. Theirs would be only a visual review, they stressed -- no special equipment except a video-projection system. They watched intently for an hour, then voted unanimously:=20 "It looks like reflections to us," said John Palmer, the senior scientist. Nothing remotely resembling gunfire. How could so many analysts come to such different conclusions? Reading FLIR, it turns out, is as much an art as it is a science. A serious review begins with equipment that slows the movement of the tape to a frame-by-frame crawl, with each frame capturing a 30th of a second. The next step is a 60th-of-a-second review, aided by sophisticated equipment. Even with the best gear, though, the surrounding context -- the temperature, the position of the sun, other corroborative evidence, the type of FLIR camera -- can make a difference. So do the preconceptions of the reviewer. "I've always said that FLIR is one of the Army's most dangerous weapons," Fred Zegel says. "Because you can read so much into it." Zegel is acknowledged to be one of the top FLIR readers in the world. For more than two decades, he was the in-house expert at Fort Belvoir. Any close calls, show the tape to Fred. Zegel, 63, belongs in a novel by Tom Clancy. A mountain of a man with wild gray hair and a gentle manner, he is retired from the Army and working for Radian Inc., a defense contractor in Alexandria. Zegel knows and greatly respects Ed Allard, the scientist in the documentary. They were once colleagues at the night vision lab. Zegel watched the tape in two sessions, the first time at regular speed, in his office. "That was a reflection," he said, staring at flashes that Allard and the others claimed were gunfire. At another purported burst of bullets, Zegel said, "You are looking at exhaust there." The second time, he agreed to watch the film in a different setting -- at Allard's house, on Wednesday evening. Sitting in the living room, the former colleagues went over the tape frame-by-frame for four hours. Zegel's position gradually changed. He didn't agree totally with Allard, but he started to see things differently. He even saw things that Allard hadn't seen. "They look like men to me," Zegel said, indicating dark spots behind a tank. It looked as if people were dropping out of the tank, to assume firing positions: what Allard had called an infantry-tank maneuver. "In one instance, where the guys drop from tanks, that was firing," Zegel said. "There was no reflection." By the end of the night, Allard and Zegel had found a couple instances to agree on. In four spots on the tape, they disagreed. Adding no certainty except this: Everyone sees things differently. Like his old colleagues at the night vision lab and several of the other consultants, Zegel cautions that he cannot be certain without performing more complex tests -- a thermal scan, employing an oscilloscope and computers to analyze every pixel. Other experts suggest reenactments. All of this would cost tens of thousands of dollars. That might settle this question. Maybe. But even science can't remove all doubts. Were three shots fired at President Kennedy -- or four? People still argue about the sounds recorded on a police Dictabelt that captured the events of Nov. 22, 1963. Some play the Zapruder film and find further "evidence" of another shooter besides Lee Harvey Oswald. "The people who want to believe the conspiracy are going to believe it no matter what," says Richard Scruggs, who investigated Waco for the Justice Department. "It won't go away ever." The Waco FLIR, like Dallas's grassy knoll, may be with us always. @CAPTION: "Right there, something terrible happens": Infrared analyst Edward Allard describes what he says is evidence the FBI was shooting at Branch Davidians as their Texas compound burned during the 1993 raid that resulted in more than 70 deaths. @CAPTION: Four years after the fatal siege of the Branch Davidians, more questions than answers remain. @CAPTION: Fred Zegel, one of the world's top FLIR analysts, with an infrared imaging device. =A9 Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: BludyRed@aol.com Subject: April 19th Date: 19 Apr 1997 17:55:10 -0400 (EDT) You all may have noticed the torrent of press regarding the April 19th bombing in Oklahoma City which killed 136 people. Very little was devoted to the 80 that died at Waco. None that I saw was devoted to the following incident, that also occured on April 19th, and to which the quote applies. "Disperse, you rebels -- Damn you, throw down your arms and disperse!" --Maj. John Pitcairn, British Commander at Lexington, Massachusetts, April 19, 1775 It's funny that the mainstream media hardly ever talks about the historic significance of "the shot heard round the world." When a small band of men took it upon themselves to "stand up to" the royal British troops and began the American Revolution. The Declaration of Independance had not even been written at this time. But the tyranny of Great Britain had gone too far! Taxation without Representation, illegal searches and seizures, mandatory housing and feeding of British troops in colonial households, the Boston massacre. Why won't the media talk of these things? Because they, like the gun controllers, have an agenda and they do not want to fuel the fires of patriotism. Patriotism fosters Revolution don'tcha know? Their agenda, the media's and gun control organizations such as HCI, CPHV, CSGV, EFEHV, HELP, VPC and AFA is to disarm the American people and impose "New Age Communism" upon the citizens of this country. "The road to Hell is paved with the best of intentions." They all feel that their wisdom and sum knowledge is so great and that their intentions are so honorable that they must nanny us into the future. This "Bridge to the Future" has not been tried before (so they think) and will work to the betterment of all. It will provide us with reasonable health, welfare and safety. To determine what is the best for us, they have their own standards which they think the rest of us would not understand. I suspect some of us understand all to well. April 19 should be remembered for Waco and Oklahoma City, but it must also be remembered for the sacrifice of the few who stood up to tyranny and despotism. Men and women who were willing to give all they had including wealth, family, life and limb for "Liberty and Justice for all." We must all remember this sacrifice and the sacrifices of all "minutemen", militia members and members of the armed forces. Without them we would all be members of colonial British America or worse. "It is in vain, Sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace! But there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the North will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that Gentlemen want? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" --Patrick Henry, in his famous "The War Inevitable" speech, March, 1775. Best regards, Dennis Baron ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jacques Tucker Subject: Re: *URGENT* Alert--Seattle NRA Meeting Date: 19 Apr 1997 18:16:32 -0500 Sorry Joel. I'll pass. The solution is not to give Wayne LaPierre a vote of confidence. The answer is to give Mr. LaPierre duties commensurate with his abilities. The EVP should be a person who understands finances and business principles/procedures. Wayne has not demonstrated he knows how to keep the organization solvent. Wayne is fine representative of the goals of the NRA, but we must realign the structure of our staff. Respectfully, Jacques Tucker, NRA Life `````````````````````````````` At 09:56 PM 4/18/97 -0700, you wrote: >[From Joel Friedman] > >I would like to ask all of you--who are interested--to help me with an >important petition drive. > >Please cross post this to any and all lists that you are familiar with. > >The petition explains exactly what I am trying to do, and is for those >who feel the same way as I do. Your help in getting as many signatures as >possible will be appreciated. > >------------------------------------------------------------------ > > PETITION TO THE NRA BOARD OF DIRECTORS > >We, the undersigned NRA members, request the NRA Board of Directors >to re-elect Mr. Wayne La Pierre as the Executive Vice President. > >NAME NRA MEMBER # ADDRESS > >__________________________________________________________________ > >Joel Friedman >800 E. 4th. St. >Los Angeles, CA 90013 > >or e-mail them to: > >mochi1@ix.netcom.com > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "False is the idea of utility that would take fire from men because it burns, and water because one may drown in it; that has no remedy for evils, except destruction. The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm those only who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes." - Cesare Beccaria ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jacques Tucker Subject: Re: 2nd Amendment revision Date: 19 Apr 1997 18:16:42 -0500 >Of course, you understand that if you were old enough to be around >when the Hindenberg blew-up, you'll get blamed for that too! Oh $#!+, I knew if I just lived long enough... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Kenneth Mitchell Subject: Re: April 19th Date: 19 Apr 1997 21:42:46 -0700 At 05:55 PM 4/19/97 -0400, BludyRed@aol.com wrote: > You all may have noticed the torrent of press regarding the April >19th bombing in Oklahoma City which killed 136 people. > > Very little was devoted to the 80 that died at Waco. > > None that I saw was devoted to the following incident, that also >occured on April 19th, and to which the quote applies. > >"Disperse, you rebels -- Damn you, throw down your arms and disperse!" > --Maj. John Pitcairn, British Commander at Lexington, Massachusetts, > April 19, 1775 Another tragedy of April 19th; on April 19, 1938, German police and "brownshirt" hooligans smashed Jewish businesses, homes and synagogues in the rampage that has come to be known as "Krystalnacht", the "Night of broken glass". All four anniversaries of April 19 ought to give us reason to distrust an intrusive and powerful government. Ken Mitchell Citrus Heights, CA kmitchel@gvn.net 916-449-9152 (vm) 916-729-0966 (fax) --------------http://www.gvn.net/~creative/----------------------- "Still one thing more, fellow citizens," advised Mr. Jefferson. "A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and which shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities." !yaw gnorw eht su gnikat si noitartsinimdA notnilC ehT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Kenneth Mitchell Subject: Re: April 19th Date: 19 Apr 1997 21:42:46 -0700 At 05:55 PM 4/19/97 -0400, BludyRed@aol.com wrote: > You all may have noticed the torrent of press regarding the April >19th bombing in Oklahoma City which killed 136 people. > > Very little was devoted to the 80 that died at Waco. > > None that I saw was devoted to the following incident, that also >occured on April 19th, and to which the quote applies. > >"Disperse, you rebels -- Damn you, throw down your arms and disperse!" > --Maj. John Pitcairn, British Commander at Lexington, Massachusetts, > April 19, 1775 Another tragedy of April 19th; on April 19, 1938, German police and "brownshirt" hooligans smashed Jewish businesses, homes and synagogues in the rampage that has come to be known as "Krystalnacht", the "Night of broken glass". All four anniversaries of April 19 ought to give us reason to distrust an intrusive and powerful government. Ken Mitchell Citrus Heights, CA kmitchel@gvn.net 916-449-9152 (vm) 916-729-0966 (fax) --------------http://www.gvn.net/~creative/----------------------- "Still one thing more, fellow citizens," advised Mr. Jefferson. "A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and which shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities." !yaw gnorw eht su gnikat si noitartsinimdA notnilC ehT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tom Cloyes Subject: Re: April 19th Date: 20 Apr 1997 07:32:44 -0400 At 05:55 PM 4/19/97 -0400, you wrote: > You all may have noticed the torrent of press regarding the April >19th bombing in Oklahoma City which killed 136 people. > > Very little was devoted to the 80 that died at Waco. > > None that I saw was devoted to the following incident, that also >occured on April 19th, and to which the quote applies. > >"Disperse, you rebels -- Damn you, throw down your arms and disperse!" > --Maj. John Pitcairn, British Commander at Lexington, Massachusetts, > April 19, 1775 > >snippage On the way to work the other day, they said that "militia day" was named after the events that occured at Waco, and Oklahoma City, not one word of the real reason that militia day was named, that being the day "the shot heard around the world" was fired. It's too bad that the majority of Americans haven't the faintest inkling of what that day represents. Let's just hope that they wake-up to reality before it's too late. Tom "You exceed your rights when you urge that laws be made in the shape of your conscience to block the pleasures permitted by mine. When you people prevail, you commit a crime against freedom, and that is the greatest immorality I know." -Vance Bourjaily, Country Matters (no date avail). Thanks to:Mark Johnson (onethumb@why.net) "A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." Benjamin Franklin "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies." --Thomas Jefferson (Thanks to Pat Fosness) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: iwilsker@ih2000.net Subject: The HELP Network (Handgun Epidemic Lowering Plan) Date: 20 Apr 1997 12:00:19 -0600 (MDT) The Chicago medical community has set up a new anti-gun website at http://www.childmmc.edu/help/helphome.htm Ira Wilsker iwilsker@ih2000.net http://www.ih2000.net/ira/ira.htm OR http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/1814/ira.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jacques Tucker Subject: OKC per ET Date: 20 Apr 1997 19:35:43 -0500 Bomb relatives sign up O J's lawyer By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Washington MORE than 300 relatives of those killed in the Oklahoma bomb blast two years ago have signed up with O J Simpson's defence lawyer, Johnnie Cochran, in a lawsuit against the US government. The "wrongful death" petition was filed in the District Court of Oklahoma County at the end of last week to the consternation of the US Justice Department, which is already struggling to prevent the criminal trial of Tim McVeigh from degenerating into judicial farce. The blast killed 168 people on April 19 1995. Mr Cochran and his Oklahoma co-counsel John Merritt allege that the bombing was a bungled sting operation by the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), and that numerous federal officials had "detailed prior knowledge of the planned bombing" yet "failed to prevent it from taking place". It is part of a scattershot series of lawsuits that also targets Britain's chemical company ICI on the grounds that its "agent", ICI Explosives USA, manufactured the fertilizer that might have been used in the bombing. The evident purpose of hounding any entity with "deep pockets", however tenuously linked to the explosion, is sure to provoke criticism that some families are coveting blood money. A claim filed in a US federal court last month by 50 families was clearly motivated by suspicions of an FBI cover-up, not by pecuniary gain. The case against ICI Explosives USA is unlikely to get very far since it was based on the original conclusions of the FBI that the lorry bomb was built with ammonium nitrate. A damning report by the Inspector General of the Justice Department has concluded that the fertilizer hypothesis was not based on forensic evidence from the crime scene. It was conjured out of thin air after ammonium nitrate fertilizer was found at the home of Tim McVeigh's co-defendant, Terry Nichols. The report noted that a dynamite wrapper was found at the bombing site, as was nitroglycerine, a major component of dynamite. And dynamite, as it happens, contains ammonium nitrate. But the Cochran suit against the FBI is a more serious matter. Documents provided to The Telegraph indicate that the Tulsa office of the ATF was about to arrest a group of neo-Nazis plotting to blow up federal buildings in Oklahoma - based on the undercover surveillance of their informant Carol Howe - when the FBI intervened in February 1995 to stop the raid. It appears that the local ATF had stumbled on a bigger operation being run by the grown-ups at the Justice Department. Two months later the Murrah building was blown up. So the FBI has some explaining to do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: Rites attract critics of U.S. Police State at Waco Date: 21 Apr 1997 08:16:37 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- dallasnews.com RITES ATTRACT CRITICS OF U.S. 'POLICE STATE' Four years after their compound burned to the ground, members of the Branch Davidian sect and some supporters returned to the site Saturday. They denounced what they called a federal "police state" and drew attention to their continuing legal battle with government officials. The 100 people who gathered on a concrete slab that once was the compound's gym were peaceful, though vociferous at times. The actions of the federal government in the 51-day standoff with the sect led by David Koresh have become a rallying cry for anti-government activists. Prosecutors have said that the fiery deaths inspired Timothy McVeigh to bomb the Oklahoma City federal building two years later. Saturday's ceremony attracted onlookers with a multitude of grievances and agendas. Billy Leighty, a 20-year-old dishwasher from Tulsa, complained that "secret spy planes" were following him for using drugs. David Buffington, a 31-year-old mechanic, said he had driven four hours from Brazoria County to stand up for gun owners' rights. "It's every man's God-given right to defend his family," he said. And Samuel E. Naive wandered through the crowd handing out fliers describing how he had been fired more than 15 years ago from a government job in Kentucky. "It's a sign of the times - everyone is focusing on the bad aspects of their life," said Gary Sampsell, 23, who drove 2 1/2 hours from San Antonio because his girlfriend wanted to see the site of the fire that killed Mr. Koresh and about 80 of his followers. One Branch Davidian who survived the siege, Clive Doyle, said he didn't condone the anti-government rhetoric. "I am not a member of militias," he said. "I don't speak to militias." But he criticized the government's handling of the Branch Davidian conflict and at one point compared his fellow disciples with Revolutionary-era patriots fighting off the "Red Coats." Other speakers, including former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, decried the shootout and blaze as a massacre; some compared it to the Nazi Holocaust. "We're not the only ones who lost out in this tragedy," said Mr. Doyle, 56, whose 18-year-old daughter Shari was killed in the blaze. "America lost out. Every time you allow a tragedy like this to take place, you forfeit your freedoms." Mr. Doyle and other Branch Davidians said they hoped to prevail in their ongoing civil suit against the federal officials who presided over the standoff. A group of Branch Davidian survivors and family members are suing Attorney General Janet Reno and top officials of the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in federal court, hoping to prove that the government was at fault in the siege. With hundreds of motions and arguments to be made, most observers say it will be years before the case goes to trial. Plaintiffs' attorneys are also trying to keep the case out of the hands of U.S. District Judge Walter Smith, who sentenced eight surviving Branch Davidians to prison on various charges, including weapons violations and manslaughter. Even as the legal wrangling drags on, some factions of the sect's remaining members have feuded over who is the rightful heir to the site of their former compound. Although much of the property is overgrown with grass, its surroundings evoke apocalyptic images: The skeletons of two burned-out buses stand near several rows of crape myrtle trees planted in memory of fallen sect members. Some onlookers who toured the property said they came only to see a piece of history. Scott Wright, 25, gathered pieces of rubble and melted glass to take back to his family at Fort Hood. He and a friend, Thomas Young, 22, said they were moved by the sight of the compound, even if they didn't agree with all the rhetoric they heard. "It's sad what happened here," Mr. Young said. "I didn't expect it to be this bad. I was expecting a halfway burned house or something." By Stephen Power / The Dallas Morning News 04/20/97 [IMAGE] Back to Top [IMAGE] Back to Texas&Southwest indexes [IMAGE] © 1997 The Dallas Morning News About us ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: AEP goes home -- Our loss (fwd) Date: 21 Apr 1997 08:27:13 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >From the (London) Electronic Telegraph April 20, 1997 Goodbye, good riddance TO the delight of the White House, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard is leaving Washington. Time and again his stories on the Clintons and their abuses of power have been proved correct. He leaves with a warning for Americans -------------- It was something of a compliment, I suppose, when the White House singled me out for attack in their report on the media "food chain" assault against the Clintons. Now, apparently, the President's men are relishing the prospect of my departure after four years as Washington correspondent for The Telegraph - the notorious London "tabloid", as they call it. "That's another British invasion we're glad is over," the White House told George magazine. "The guy was nothing but a pain in the ass." Good. Let me state for the record that I was not sent to Washington as part of a British government plot to destabilise the Clinton Administration in revenge for US meddling in Ulster. Or at least, I don't think I was. Contrary to assertions made in a Congressional hearing, I have never worked for British military intelligence, or MI5, or MI6, or for that matter MI7.5 - the fabled Welsh branch! No, I found my own way into a spitting match with President Clinton. It was the last thing I expected upon arriving in Washington, for I had succumbed to the Clinton charm years before at a meeting of the Democratic Leadership Council. As for Hillary, I was rather taken by her image of flinty altruism. Disappointment was swift, however. I was stunned when the new President - barely installed in the White House - repudiated his campaign promise for a tax cut. It was downhill from there. The Clintons look good from a distance. As Yale Law School graduates they have mastered the language and style of the mandarin class. It is only when you walk through the looking glass into the Arkansas underworld they came from that you begin to realise something is horribly wrong. You learn that Bill Clinton grew up in the Dixie mafia stronghold of Hot Springs, and that his brother, Roger, was a convicted drug dealer who was once taped during under-cover surveillance saying "got to get some for my brother, he's got a nose like a vacuum cleaner". You learn about sworn testimony that links Clinton to cocaine smuggling in the early 1980s. You learn that Clinton's chief of security in Little Rock was gunned down in 1993 by assassins who seem to be enjoying immunity. Oh, yes, and let us not forget the allegation that Bill and Hillary helped empty a bank called Madison Guaranty - but I will leave that to the special prosecutor, Kenneth Starr. Bill Clinton is not the first president with the skeletons of the mob in his closet. Harry Truman, for instance, was a protege of the Pendergast crime machine in Kansas City. All you have to know about Bill Clinton is that he chose Patsy Thomasson - top lieutenant of convicted cocaine dealer Dan Lasater - to be his White House chief of personnel. Once that has sunk in, you can start to understand how seriously this president has been compromised, and how much of a threat he could pose to the democratic system if allowed to get away with incremental abuse at a national level. The Clintons wasted little time taking charge of the US Justice Department. All US Attorneys were asked to hand in their resignations. It was a move of breath-taking audacity, one that gave the Clintons control over the prosecutorial machinery of the federal government in every judicial district in the country. They then set about eliminating the Director of the FBI, William Sessions, who was known for his refusal to countenance White House interference in the affairs of the Bureau. The post of FBI Director is supposed to be a 10-year appointment that puts it above politics. But Sessions was toppled in a Washington putsch, without a murmur of protest from America's press, and replaced by the hapless errand boy Louis Freeh. And I almost forgot, the Clintons installed their friend Webster Hubbell as "shadow" Attorney General - until Hubbell was jailed for Arkansas crimes. When you are living through events day by day it is hard to know whether you are witnessing a historic turning point, or just mistaking the usual noise of politics for something meaningful. But there is no doubt that strange things have been going on in America. The Clinton era has spawned an armed militia movement involving tens of thousands of people. The last time anything like this occurred was in the 1850s with the emergence of the southern gun clubs. It is easy to dismiss the militia as Right-wing nuts: it is much harder to read the complex sociology of civic revolt. At the very least the militias reveal the hatred building up against the irksome yuppies who run the country. It is under this president that domestic terrorism has become a feature of life in America, culminating in the destruction of the Oklahama federal building on April 19, 1995. What set the deadly spiral in motion was the Waco assault two years before, and the cover-up that followed. No official has ever lost a day's pay for precipitating the incineration of 80 people, most of them women and children, in the worst abuse of power since Wounded Knee a century ago. Instead of shame and accountability, the Clinton administration accused the victims of setting fire to themselves and their children, a posthumous smear that does not bear serious scrutiny. It then compounded the injustice by pushing for a malicious prosecution of the survivors. Nothing does more to sap the life of a democracy than the abuse of power. Public trust is dangerously low. According to polls, barely a quarter of the American people now feel that they can count on the federal government to do the right thing. A majority refuse to accept that Vincent Foster committed suicide, and they have good reason for their doubts. The paramedics and crime scene witnesses in Fort Marcy Park on July 20, 1993, tell a story that flatly contradicts the official findings. A police Polaroid shows a .22 calibre bullet wound in Foster's neck that the autopsy somehow failed to note. Are Americans to believe that Hillary Clinton's closest friend shot himself twice, with two different guns? The Washington press corps has chosen not to report on this sort of thing, of course, because it always gives more weight to the utterings of an "official" source, with a title, than it does to the testimony of a common citizen. It has the matter backwards, in my opinion, because the "official" usually has the greater interest in lying. Even so, the truth is getting out. Unauthorised stories are reaching the public through the samizdat links of the Internet and talk radio. From there it disseminates by word of mouth, spreading a thick layer of cynicism across the country. Of all the bad things that Clinton has done to America, the worst is turning the FBI into a federal replica of the Arkansas State Police. Whether it is the persecution of dissident investigators in the air disasters of Pan Am 103 and TWA 800, or allowing the White House to peruse the secret files of political opponents, or the alledged intimidation of key witnesses in the Foster case, the FBI is starting to look like the enforcement arm of a police state. The latest shocker is the decision to punish Frederic Whitehurst, the whistle-blower who first came forward with tales of corruption at the FBI crime labs. An internal inquiry has conceded that the lab tilted evidence "to incriminate the defendants" and cooked up the theory that a fertiliser bomb blew up the Oklahoma federal building after it found fertiliser at the house of a suspect, Terry Nichols. But the Justice Department seems more interested in denigrating Whitehurst, the lone hero of this sorry tale, than flagellating itself. Look at the treatment of Carol Howe, the undercover informant who tracked the early stages of what appears to be the Oklahoma bombing conspiracy. The moment she surfaced as a threat to the "lone bomber" case against Timothy McVeigh, this January, she was indicted on criminal charges. The FBI claims that she was dropped as an informant months before the bombing, but debriefing reports show the Bureau continued to receive her intelligence weeks after the blast. They also show that she named members of a neo-Nazi terrorist cell who had cased the Oklahoma federal building in December 1994 with the intention of bombing it. Yet the FBI did not follow up her reports. It conducted 26,000 witness interviews, most of them irrelevant, but could not find time to pursue the suspects who were specifically named by a paid informant. This leaves the nasty suspicion that the FBI is shielding this neo-Nazi group in order to cover its own tracks. If it turns out that the bombing was a bungled sting operation by the FBI, as some of the victims are now alleging, the only fit response is to send bulldozers down Pennsylvania Avenue to flatten the Hoover Building once and for all. A monument should be raised on the rubble of the FBI headquarters that reads Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes? (Who Shall Guard the Guards?) as a warning to free-born Americans of the next millennium. Is Bill Clinton to blame? Of course he is. Degradation spreads from the top down. Four years were damaging enough. Another four, if Clinton lasts, will do real harm to the institutions of the US federal government. Perhaps it is impolite for a London newspaper to say such things about a president of the United States. Many people think so. Clinton is not so bad, the argument goes. He is running a pretty good economy. The planes are flying on time. But you could have said the same about Benito Mussolini. A lot of people did, in fact, much to their regret later. Critics tell me that I have invested too much emotion in my quarrel with the Clintons. To that I plead guilty. It comes from befriending so many of their victims. I am content to be blacklisted as the "mad scribbler" - as the Washington Post called me this week - for I am confident that one day historians are going to view Clinton as a the last great cad of the 20th century, or worse. To the American people I bid a fond farewell. Guard your liberties. It is the trust of each generation to pass a free republic to the next. And if I know you right, you will rouse yourself from slumber to ensure exactly that. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: RE: OKC per ET (fwd) Date: 21 Apr 1997 08:28:05 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Bomb relatives sign up O J's lawyer By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Washington MORE than 300 relatives of those killed in the Oklahoma bomb blast two years ago have signed up with O J Simpson's defence lawyer, Johnnie Cochran, in a lawsuit against the US government. The "wrongful death" petition was filed in the District Court of Oklahoma County at the end of last week to the consternation of the US Justice Department, which is already struggling to prevent the criminal trial of Tim McVeigh from degenerating into judicial farce. The blast killed 168 people on April 19 1995. Mr Cochran and his Oklahoma co-counsel John Merritt allege that the bombing was a bungled sting operation by the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), and that numerous federal officials had "detailed prior knowledge of the planned bombing" yet "failed to prevent it from taking place". It is part of a scattershot series of lawsuits that also targets Britain's chemical company ICI on the grounds that its "agent", ICI Explosives USA, manufactured the fertilizer that might have been used in the bombing. The evident purpose of hounding any entity with "deep pockets", however tenuously linked to the explosion, is sure to provoke criticism that some families are coveting blood money. A claim filed in a US federal court last month by 50 families was clearly motivated by suspicions of an FBI cover-up, not by pecuniary gain. The case against ICI Explosives USA is unlikely to get very far since it was based on the original conclusions of the FBI that the lorry bomb was built with ammonium nitrate. A damning report by the Inspector General of the Justice Department has concluded that the fertilizer hypothesis was not based on forensic evidence from the crime scene. It was conjured out of thin air after ammonium nitrate fertilizer was found at the home of Tim McVeigh's co-defendant, Terry Nichols. The report noted that a dynamite wrapper was found at the bombing site, as was nitroglycerine, a major component of dynamite. And dynamite, as it happens, contains ammonium nitrate. But the Cochran suit against the FBI is a more serious matter. Documents provided to The Telegraph indicate that the Tulsa office of the ATF was about to arrest a group of neo-Nazis plotting to blow up federal buildings in Oklahoma - based on the undercover surveillance of their informant Carol Howe - when the FBI intervened in February 1995 to stop the raid. It appears that the local ATF had stumbled on a bigger operation being run by the grown-ups at the Justice Department. Two months later the Murrah building was blown up. So the FBI has some explaining to do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: 300 people join in suit against government over OKC (fwd) Date: 21 Apr 1997 08:29:30 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- AP 19-Apr-1997 0:06 EDT Copyright 1997. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Victims of the Oklahoma City bombing sued the government, a day care center and a Houston chemical company Friday, alleging they failed to protect the public from the deadly bomb blast. The lawsuits, filed by Johnnie Cochran and other lawyers, came on the eve of the second anniversary of the explosion at the federal building and beat a two-year statute of limitations that will expire Monday. The lawsuits were filed against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the America's Kids Day Care Center, which was inside the federal building, and ICI Explosives. Also named were bombing suspects Timothy McVeigh and co-defendant Terry Nichols. More than 300 people joined the lawsuit against the overnment. They claim the bureau had prior warning of the April 19, 1995 bombing and that officials of the day care center in the federal building knew or should have known about the attack. The agency has repeatedly denied having any prior knowledge of the explosion. The lawsuits also claim that ICI Explosives and its subsidiaries were negligent in the manufacturing of ammonium nitrate, which prosecutors say was used in the truck bomb that destroyed the building. Cochran sued ICI Explosives shortly after the 1995 bombing, but a judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying there was no legal grounds to claim negligence. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Chris Ferris Subject: Johnnie Cochran Vs. USG Re: OKC Bombing Litigation (fwd) Date: 21 Apr 1997 11:49:45 -0400 (EDT) Misaddressed the first time. My error. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Cc: roc@mainstream.net How's this for a nifty bumper sticker slogan: To Find The Real Truth About OK City It Takes A Cochran To Sink A Clinton (white letters on red background?) This is a first draft ... feel free to word-smith this slogan until we can "get it right" ... if Johnnie Cochran cannot expose USG complicity in and prior knowledge of the April 1995 OKC disaster, then I am Tiger Woods. Hey, if Clinton is a python, I have some really bad news for him: Cochran is an Anaconda. (See the movie, Mr. President.) Regards, Chris Ferris Litchfield NH ferriscc@mainstream.net If Bill Clinton Is A "President" (How about doing a whole bunch of these up, Then I Am Tiger Woods black letters on light orange background?) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Bomb relatives sign up O J's lawyer By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Washington MORE than 300 relatives of those killed in the Oklahoma bomb blast two years ago have signed up with O J Simpson's defence lawyer, Johnnie Cochran, in a lawsuit against the US government. The "wrongful death" petition was filed in the District Court of Oklahoma County at the end of last week to the consternation of the US Justice Department, which is already struggling to prevent the criminal trial of Tim McVeigh from degenerating into judicial farce. The blast killed 168 people on April 19 1995. Mr Cochran and his Oklahoma co-counsel John Merritt allege that the bombing was a bungled sting operation by the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), and that numerous federal officials had "detailed prior knowledge of the planned bombing" yet "failed to prevent it from taking place". It is part of a scattershot series of lawsuits that also targets Britain's chemical company ICI on the grounds that its "agent", ICI Explosives USA, manufactured the fertilizer that might have been used in the bombing. The evident purpose of hounding any entity with "deep pockets", however tenuously linked to the explosion, is sure to provoke criticism that some families are coveting blood money. A claim filed in a US federal court last month by 50 families was clearly motivated by suspicions of an FBI cover-up, not by pecuniary gain. The case against ICI Explosives USA is unlikely to get very far since it was based on the original conclusions of the FBI that the lorry bomb was built with ammonium nitrate. A damning report by the Inspector General of the Justice Department has concluded that the fertilizer hypothesis was not based on forensic evidence from the crime scene. It was conjured out of thin air after ammonium nitrate fertilizer was found at the home of Tim McVeigh's co-defendant, Terry Nichols. The report noted that a dynamite wrapper was found at the bombing site, as was nitroglycerine, a major component of dynamite. And dynamite, as it happens, contains ammonium nitrate. But the Cochran suit against the FBI is a more serious matter. Documents provided to The Telegraph indicate that the Tulsa office of the ATF was about to arrest a group of neo-Nazis plotting to blow up federal buildings in Oklahoma - based on the undercover surveillance of their informant Carol Howe - when the FBI intervened in February 1995 to stop the raid. It appears that the local ATF had stumbled on a bigger operation being run by the grown-ups at the Justice Department. Two months later the Murrah building was blown up. So the FBI has some explaining to do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: Branch Davidians lose Supreme Court appeal (fwd) Date: 21 Apr 1997 12:36:23 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Reuters New Media Monday April 21 11:54 AM EDT Cult Members Lose U.S. High Court Appeal WASHINGTON (Reuter) - The Supreme Court Monday let stand the convictions of six followers of cult leader David Koresh for the deadly 1993 gun battle with federal agents at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas. The high court rejected appeals by the cult members who were convicted after a jury trial of voluntary manslaughter of federal officers, using a firearm in a crime of violence and possessing machineguns and a grenade. The charges stemmed from the Feb. 28, 1992 raid by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which led to a shootout that killed four agents and wounded more than 20. Three cult members also were killed in the confrontation. The raid, carried out by 76 agents, was designed to arrest Koresh and conduct a search of the compound but he was tipped off and gunfire erupted from the compound when the agents tried to approach. A 51-day standoff followed, ending April 19, 1993, when FBI agents mounted an armored assault. A fire then engulfed the compound, killing Koresh and about 80 followers. The government charged that Koresh and his followers set the fire while surviving cult members said it began when federal tanks knocked over lanterns as they battered down walls to insert tear gas into the building. Those appealing to the Supreme Court were Jamie Castillo, Kevin Whitecliff, Brad Branch, Renos Avraam, Graeme Craddock and Paul Fatta. They received sentences ranging from 15 years to as much as 40 years in prison. A U.S. appeals court last year affirmed their convictions but ordered new sentencing for four sect members who had been given a 30-year prison term just for carrying a weapon during a violent crime. A total of 12 cult members initially had been charged in the case. Four were acquitted on all charges in 1994 while two others did not appeal their convictions. In appealing to the Supreme Court, the six made various arguments including that Congress had exceeded its power in making it a federal offense to possess a machinegun and that the jury should have been told that self-defense or the defense of others was a defense to voluntary manslaughter. But the high court sided with the Justice Department and denied the appeals without any comment or dissent. _________________________________________________________________ ________________________ ___________ Help _________________________________________________________________ Previous Story: 'Likely' Pieces of Missing War Plane Spotted Next Story: U.S. Justices Deny University Sex-Bias Appeal _________________________________________________________________ [ Index | News | World | Biz | Tech | Politic | Sport | Scoreboard | Entertain | Health ] _________________________________________________________________ Reuters Limited Questions or Comments ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: The Lingering mystery of TWA 800 (fwd) Date: 21 Apr 1997 17:40:06 -0500 (CDT) http://nypostonline.com/monday/oped/oped.htm ---------- Forwarded message ---------- The lingering mystery of TWA 800 =20 =20 By the time it's over, the investigation into what caused the catastrophic explosion of TWA Flight 800 last July will have cost taxpayers more than $100 million, the Clinton administration announced last week. =20 The joint FBI/National Transportation Safety Board probe is the most complicated forensic inquiry and largest accident reconstruction in history. This outlay of effort is quite appropriate for what may turn out to be the worst crime in America's history, with a death toll of 230. =20 No expense should be spared in the search for an explanation. Still, it is discouraging that eight months after the disaster, the investigators are no closer to solving the mystery than they were the day it happened. Indeed, even at this late stage, the FBI and NTSB cannot specify whether the Boeing 747 blew up in midair because of a mechanical glitch or an act of terrorism. =20 Of course, we don't know what happened over the Atlantic on July 17. But we do know that no such jet in history ever spontaneously combusted in flight. Passenger aircraft have, however, been downed by terrorists armed with missiles or bombs. =20 This does not mean terrorists were responsible for the TWA explosion -- there's a first time for everything. It does mean terrorists would be logical initial suspects. And in this case, several circumstances surrounding the crash point to sabotage. =20 The day before the crash, a group known as the Islamic Change Movement faxed a letter to an Arabic newspaper in London, an article in the American Spectator recounts. The Movement had faxed similar letters just before the bombing of U.S. personnel in Riyadh. The July 16 letter criticized America and said: "The invaders must prepare to leave alive or dead. Their appointment is the morning. Is the morning not near?" =20 The next morning, July 17, was also the beginning of Iraq's National Day. Saddam Hussein delivered an angry speech warning Americans of "the flaming fire" that threatens to burn them. Hours later, TWA 800 exploded. =20 Furthermore, a known Arab terrorist is reported to have boarded the plane in Athens -- from where it flew to New York -- before being kicked off by security officers. =20 None of this amounts to any sort of proof. But the specter of state-sponsored terrorism hangs over the disaster. If this is the true cause, it is not surprising that current investigations by law-enforcement and transportation-safety officials haven't produced results. =20 Terrorism, after all, is a national-security issue best dealt with by military and intelligence agencies. =20 We trust such organizations are conducting their own inquiries into TWA 800. After all, it was a communication intercepted by intelligence officers that helped solve the Pan Am 103 bombing. =20 If our defense community pursues this matter and discovers it to be the work of terrorists bankrolled by a foreign power, like Iraq or Iran, the next step won't be as easy as slapping cuffs on the perps. President Clinton would have to consider a very serious response. =20 We hope the NTSB won't be put in charge of carrying it out. _______________________________________________________________ =20 =20 Copyright =A91997, N.Y.P. Holdings Inc. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Liberty or Death Subject: (fwd) New Virus! Date: 21 Apr 1997 23:10:33 -0700 >There is a computer virus that is being sent across the Internet. > If you receive an e-mail message with the subject line "Free > Money," DO NOT read the message. DELETE it immediately, UNPLUG > your computer, then BURN IT to ASHES in a government-approved > toxic waste disposal INCINERATOR. > > Once a computer is infected, it will be TOO LATE. Your computer > will begin to emit a vile ODOR. Then it will secrete a foul, > milky DISCHARGE. Verily, it shall SCREECH with the tortured, > monitor-shattering SCREAM of 1,000 hell-scorched souls, drawing > unwanted attention to your cubicle from co-workers and > supervisors alike. After violently ripping itself from the wall, > your computer will punch through your office window as it STREAKS > into the night, HOWLING like a BANSHEE. Once free, it will spend > the rest of its days TORTURING household PETS and MOCKING the > POPE. > > Some filthy, disgusting miscreant ... some no-good, low-down, > good-for-nothing DIRTY SNAKE, in twisted pursuit of her own > sadistic dreams, is sending this virus across the Net via an e- > mail entitled "Free Money." What is so terrifying about this > virus is that you do not even to have to open the e-mail for it > to activate. In fact, you do not even need to RECEIVE the e- > mail. You do not even need to OWN a COMPUTER. "Free Money" can > infect even minor HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES. > > How it does this with straight ASCII code is, frankly, a matter > of some debate ... but BELIEVE YOU US, if this weren't a SERIOUS > situation, we wouldn't be discussing it in ALL CAPS. > > So, PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! forward this e-mail to all those you > claim to care about, all those you purport to love. Don't do it > later! Do it NOW! Now! Now! NOW! NOW! - Monte ----------------------------------------------------------------- Oh Lord, let the fire of your Holy Spirit sweep across this land, for fallen, fallen is America! Come, Lord, reveal Yourself in power and holiness to a Church that has forgotten Who You are, and to a People who have chosen to live in great darkness. Empower your children to walk in these last days in the fulness of the knowledge of Your Glory. Amen. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Liberty or Death Subject: (fwd) TRAITORS in arms Date: 21 Apr 1997 23:17:58 -0700 >>I wrote this message concerning Texas politics and the workings of >>STOCKING DEALERS ASSOCIATION with trying to BAN their gun show >>competition. The specific shops are in Texas, but there are NATIONAL >>implications regarding some manufacturors. >> >>>From csmart@eden.com Thu Apr 21 22:43:42 1997 >> >>Just got back from the hearings going on about HB 1980 and other anti-gun >>bills. 1980 is the anti-gun show bill. The bill would BAN SALES of guns >>by anyone OTHER than a FFL holder. The bill is not expected to make it >>out of committee BUT we have to keep our eye on it. >> >>One of the surprises of this bill was a little packet handed out by the >>anti forces. In it, several BIG GUN DEALERS spoke in glowing terms of >>how they SUPPORT THE BILL!! These JUDAS'S, these QUISLINGS would gladly >>BAN gun shows to put another 30 pieces of silver in their pocket. Like >>Bill Ruger's support of the 15 round mag ban (so he wouldn't face >>competition from GLOCK) these MONOPOLISTS WANT YOU TO REGISTER YOUR >>GUNS. Of course you will have to do it AT THEIR SHOP and AT THEIR PRICE. >> >>NO ONE should EVER AGAIN spend a PENNY at these stores, even if they are >>giving away 1911's for a dime. THEY ARE THE ENEMY. >> >>I have the copies of the letters, as does James Nicholson from TSRA and I >>would be HAPPY to provide them to anyone that doubts the claims I make. >>I do not have the capability to scan them right now. Here are a few GEMS >>from these ASSHOLES. >> >>(Letterhead-Carter's Shooting Center, Inc.) >>"It is a well known fact that Gun Shows in the State of Texas transfer or >>sell about as many firearms as all the traditional Store Front Operations >>combined, that range in size from Small Gun Shops to Mega-Super Stores." >> >>Signed, William O. Carter >>Carter's Country Outdoor Stores >> >>This letter further rants about "many unlicensed Gun Show Exhibitors at >>the same shows are selling hundreds of handguns every weekend to >>virtually anyone who walks up with the money, without any regard for the >>safety of our communitites." >> >>So good ol' WILLIAM CARTER is incensed that the "unlicensed Gun Show >>Exhibitor" is taking HALF HIS BUSINESS! >> >>I THINK WE SHOULD TAKE ALL HIS BUSINESS!!! And put it with someone with >>an OUNCE of DECENCY! This SCUM is spending YOUR MONEY he made from his >>HIGH PRICED GUNS to OUTLAW his competition! >> >>Is this the person you want to PROFIT from this STAB IN THE BACK? >> >>Then there is: >> >>(Letterhead- Nagel's Gun Shop) >> >>"I am writing about the bill you are sponsoring concerning the sale of >>handguns at gun shows by federally licensed dealers only. I agree with >>your proposal and this is something direly needed. >> >>I do not necessarily agree with the provisions of the so called "Brady >>Bill", but it is the law and for it to be effective there should be no >>loop holes. As a Federal Fierarms License Dealer, we have to abide by >>the provisions of the law. If the intent of the law is to be >>success-ful, then all sellers - particularily those at gun shows - should >>have to respect the nessacary restrictions. >> >>Allowing unlicensed dealers to sell at gun shows without respect to the >>law defeats the very purpose of the law. >> >>Our store does not sell at gun shows; my only interest in writing is as >>a concermed citizen. >> >>Sincerely >> >>Robert H. Nagel" >> >>So NAGEL'S GUN SHOP want to earn a few extra bucks REGISTERING YOUR >>PRIVATE TRANSACTION!! "all sellers-should have to respect the nessacary >>restrictions". >> >>I REALLY want THIS GUY to PROFIT while SELLING ME OUT!! >> >>Then there is more. Similar letters were in the package from >> >>(Letterhead- LYMAN) >>"We support the Texas House Bill 1980, which would restrict the illegal >>transfer and sale of firearms >> >>Richard J. Ranzinger >>Vice President, Sales >>Lyman Products Corporation >> >>Lyman Products Corp. >>475 Smith St. >>Middletown, Ct 06457-1541 >> >>1-860-632-2020 >>FAX 1-860-632-1699" >> >>How about letting them know how you feel about their CORPORATE SUPPORT >>for an ANTI-GUN BILL? >> >>(Letterhead- Dunkin-Lewis, Inc.) >> >>"I would like to wholeheartedly endorse your legislation (House Bill >>1980) to support the effective transfer of firearms by Federally licensed >>dealers. It is an excellent move and we would most definitely support it. >> >>Charles F. Dunkin" >> >>They list the company as "manufacturer's representatives". Would you >>want THEM to "represent" YOU? >> >>(Letterhead-Weatherby) >> >>"We understand you have introduced legislation in the Texas House, Bill >>1980, designed to stop the transfer of handguns at gun shows by >>individuals presenting themselves as collectors. We strongly support any >>legislation that prohibits the unlawful sale or transfer of any firearm. >> >>As a rifle and shotgun manufacturer, we support the public's right to own >>firearms, but we are concerned for the safety of all individuals and, >>further, concerned that handguns not get in the hands of certain >>individuals such as minors, non-citizens and convicted felons. >> >>Therefore, Weatherby is proud to add our name to the number of firearm >>manufacturers, dealers, distributors, owners and individuals who support >>your effort to get this important bill passed. >> >>Sincerley >> >>Bradley C. Ruddell >>Vice President Sales & Marketing >> >>cc: Ed Weatherby >> Bill Carter" >> >>REALLY makes me want to buy one of these overpriced paperweights. I >>guess that since they figure (wrongly of course) that this bill ONLY >>EFFECTS HANDGUNS, their ox won't get gored in this fight. >> >>AND >>(Letterhead-Smith&Wesson) >> >>"Dear Bill: >>Ken Sedlecky contacted me regarding pending legislation regarding the >>sales of firearms at gun shows. We like you believe that all firearms >>sales must meet all legal and regulatory requirements and any attempt to >>circumvent them is clearly illegal. Gun shows, the participants and all >>transactions occurring there must be subject to the same contrals as a >>sale in storefront. Our feelings on gun shows has not changed since >>1993,when we wrote you the attached letter on the subject. We certainly >>support the changes in the law being suggested by Representative Danburg. >> >>Sincerely >> >>Robert L. Scott >>Vice President >>Sales and Marketing" >> >>So for the past FOUR YEARS S&W HAS BEEN IN FAVOR OF GUN REGISTRATION! >> >>Show these SCUM the door. Maybe they're fit to sell fishing tackle, but >>I sure as HELL WILL NEVER SPEND A PENNY WITH ANY OUTFIT THAT SUPPORTS GUN >>REGISTRATION!! >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >>---------------------------------- >>To unsubscribe send a message to majordomo@pobox.com >>with the following line in the body: >> >>unsubscribe right2arms >> >>***Visit http://www.wizard.net/~kc/firearms.html >>to learn more about guns in America*** >> >>RIGHT2ARMS IS A PRIVATE UNMODERATED LIST. THE OWNER >>TAKES NO RESPONSIBILTY FOR CONTENT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. >> >> > > >For Help with Majordomo Commands, please send a message to: >Majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com >with the word Help in the body of the message > > - Monte ----------------------------------------------------------------- Oh Lord, let the fire of your Holy Spirit sweep across this land, for fallen, fallen is America! Come, Lord, reveal Yourself in power and holiness to a Church that has forgotten Who You are, and to a People who have chosen to live in great darkness. Empower your children to walk in these last days in the fulness of the knowledge of Your Glory. Amen. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tom Cloyes Subject: (fwd)Notice of Appeal Filed in Kriho Case (4/21/97) Date: 22 Apr 1997 07:06:20 -0400 >Date: Mon, 21 Apr 1997 22:35:05 -0600 (MDT) >From: Jury Rights Project >Subject: Notice of Appeal Filed in Kriho Case (4/21/97) >To: jrights@darkstar.cygnus.com > >>From the Jury Rights Project > >PRESS RELEASE: > >For immediate release: April 21, 1997 > > Notice of Appeal Filed in Kriho Case > >[Denver] -- A notice of appeal was filed Monday with the Colorado >Court of Appeals by Paul Grant, on behalf of his client, former >juror Laura Kriho. The notice states that Kriho will seek a >reversal of her conviction for contempt of court for failing to >volunteer information that was not requested of her during jury >selection. > Kriho was prosecuted after she was the lone holdout for >acquittal on the jury in a drug trial in Gilpin County last May. >During jury deliberations, Kriho allegedly criticized the drug >laws, discussed sentencing consequences for the defendant, and >argued the jury's right to judge the law as well as the facts in >a case. > The notice of appeal outlines over fifteen different issues >for the appellate court to review. > Grant contends that Kriho cannot be convicted of contempt of >court for failing to volunteer information and opinions which >were not specifically requested of her during voir dire. Grant >argues that Kriho was found not guilty of perjury, a nearly >identical charge. In addition, Grant points out that no previous >Colorado defendant has ever been convicted of the crime of >failing to volunteer information. Furthermore, Grant argues that >Kriho was never apprised of the exact nature of the charge >against her until after she was convicted. > Grant also argues that Kriho cannot be convicted of contempt >because her actions took place in the presence of the trial court >but were not disruptive to the court proceedings. > In addition, Grant states that the trial court erred by >refusing to continue Kriho's trial date to allow adequate >preparation time and by refusing to allow the defense to call >Deputy D.A. James Stanley and Judge Kenneth Barnhill as >witnesses. > Grant also will ask the appellate court to determine: >- whether the privilege of jury communications had been breached. >- whether Kriho's First Amendment rights had been violated. >- whether evidence of "improper deliberations" can be used as >evidence without violating the Sixth Amendment right to trial by >a fair and impartial jury. >- whether a trial court can use voir dire and its contempt power >to ban from the jury any juror who is independent enough to >resist government oppression. > > Grant believes prosecuting jurors sets a dangerous precedent. "The >jury system was created as a means for citizens to check the power of >their government," he says. "Punishing jurors for their beliefs and >speech will destroy the jury system, as will purging juries of all >independent-minded jurors. Laura Kriho's conviction must be overturned >to protect the jury system." > > Grant says Kriho, who was fined $1200, was lucky she didn't get >sentenced to jail. "The District Attorney had offered her a plea where >she would have received 90 days in jail and a $5000 fine. No other juror >should ever have to face such a threat." > > When asked if his client's prosecution might be having an impact on >potential jurors in the Oklahoma City Bombing trial, Grant replied, "I'm >sure some of the prospective jurors have heard of the Kriho case. That >may well have affected their responses to jury questioning. I don't know >if there would be any effect on their deliberations." > > ### > >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > For more information, contact the: > Jury Rights Project (jrights@welcomehome.org) > Background info.: http://www.execpc.com/~doreen > To be added to or removed from the JRP mailing list, > send email with the word SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE in the title. > Donations to support Laura's appeals can be made to: > -- Laura Kriho Legal Defense Fund -- > c/o Paul Grant (defense attorney) > Box 1272, Parker, Colo. 80134 > Email: pkgrant@ix.netcom.com > Phone: (303) 841-9649 > > > "You exceed your rights when you urge that laws be made in the shape of your conscience to block the pleasures permitted by mine. When you people prevail, you commit a crime against freedom, and that is the greatest immorality I know." -Vance Bourjaily, Country Matters (no date avail). Thanks to:Mark Johnson (onethumb@why.net) "A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." Benjamin Franklin "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies." --Thomas Jefferson (Thanks to Pat Fosness) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tom Cloyes Subject: (fwd):-{)>Militias have arrived Date: 22 Apr 1997 07:07:24 -0400 >Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 00:45:24 -0800 >From: Jon Roland >Subject: Militias have arrived >To: misc-activism-militia@uunet.uu.net > >Politically Incorrect, April 21, 1997, Bill Maher, on April 19: > >"Nothing happened. The FBI and the militias couldn't remember whose >turn it was to blow the other up." > >=================================================================== >Constitution Society, 1731 Howe Av #370, Sacramento, CA 95825 >916/568-1022, 916/450-7941VM Date: 04/22/97 Time: 00:45:26 >http://www.constitution.org/ mailto:jon.roland@the-spa.com >=================================================================== > > > "You exceed your rights when you urge that laws be made in the shape of your conscience to block the pleasures permitted by mine. When you people prevail, you commit a crime against freedom, and that is the greatest immorality I know." -Vance Bourjaily, Country Matters (no date avail). Thanks to:Mark Johnson (onethumb@why.net) "A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." Benjamin Franklin "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies." --Thomas Jefferson (Thanks to Pat Fosness) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tom Cloyes Subject: (fwd)Review: No More Wacos-What's Wrong With Federal Law Date: 22 Apr 1997 07:11:09 -0400 >Resent-Date: Mon, 21 Apr 1997 21:13:26 -0700 >Date: Mon, 21 Apr 97 21:09:44 -0700 >From: Virginia McMillan >X-Sender: jinks@carson.u.washington.edu >To: consensus-l@eskimo.com >Subject: Review: No More Wacos-What's Wrong With Federal Law Enforcement >Resent-Message-ID: <"jhoaC3.0.Fe5.Ke3Np"@mx1> >Resent-From: consensus-l@eskimo.com >X-Mailing-List: archive/latest/53 >X-Loop: consensus-l@eskimo.com >Resent-Sender: consensus-l-request@eskimo.com > >Conservative Consensus(tm) >---------------------------------------------------------------- > Events * Analysis * Commentary * Forecasts * Readers' Opinions >---------------------------------------------------------------- >What in the world is going on? www.eskimo.com/~ccnrs/news.html > >Book Review Column * V3X12 * 21/Apr/97 * ISSN 1074-245X > > > NO MORE WACOS: > > What's Wrong with Federal Law Enforcement and How to Fix It > > > By David B. Kopel and Paul H. Blackman. Publisher: > Prometheus Books, Amherst, NY, 14228; 1997 Telephone > (800) 421-0351. Hardcover, 524 pages, $26.95 > >Reviewed by Drs. Paul Gallant and Joanne Eisen > > There are some who will read "No More Wacos: What's Wrong >with Federal Law Enforcement and How to Fix It" because it is >the definitive chronicle of the Waco tragedy - the story of a >crossroads in modern American history. But Kopel and Blackman >used the story of Waco only as the backdrop for a book which >will forever change the way you look at government. > > At first blush, the reader is lulled into the false >perception of being immersed in a lurid tale, replete with >religion, guns, sex, and cult-politics. That perception is >shattered with the full realization that "No More Wacos" is not >a book about religion, or sex, or guns. > > It is, instead, a book meticulously documenting how the >present American system of government has evolved to where it >now threatens to derail the course of American history, >irrevocably - from the blueprint given as our birthright by the >Founding Fathers, into a literal dead-end police state. >Underscoring this, the authors point out: > > ...unlike the many deaths or injuries inflicted on > innocent children every day by abusive parents, > incompetent doctors, or criminals, the deaths of the > children at Waco would not have occurred but for the > acts of the federal government of the United States, > which most Americans expect to be under control of the > laws of the United States. > > The authors use the Waco story [and, to a lesser extent, >the Ruby Ridge incident] to illustrate the systematic erosion of >bedrock American values within American law-enforcement - from >the top on down, in an easy-to-read literary style rarely found >among academic authors. > > In "No More Wacos", Kopel and Blackman provide a cohesive >expose of little-known facts, all put together in a coherent, >objective manner. The prose is unbiased, energetic, and grabs >hold of the reader unrelentingly. Because the hundreds of >substantiating references and footnotes are relegated to the end >of each chapter, the pace of the story remains almost as rapid >as that of an action-packed novel. > > They also provide an interesting summary of the FBI >negotiating tapes, a small section of stark black-and-white >photos, and summary of events and persona. > > Kopel and Blackman cut right to the heart of the American >system of government today - the lack of oversight at all >levels, the lack of effective checks and balances on individual >officers and judges, and the insidious and growing >militarization and internationalization within American >law-enforcement. > > The authors provide, as well, a workable prescription for >fixing what's broken. Appendix-A provides a master plan of >easily understandable, far-reaching legal reforms to help ensure >that the same deadly mistakes documented within "No More Wacos" >won't happen again. These are reforms which, if enacted, would >change the incentives of those entrusted with interpreting the >law and enforcing it, replacing profit with accountability! > > David B. Kopel is an attorney, author, and Research >Director of the Independence Institute, a non-partisan >think-tank. Paul H. Blackman is a criminologist, author, and >is employed as Research Coordinator for the National Rifle >Association. > > Regardless of one's political persuasion, "No More Wacos" >is, finally, a book which all Americans who care about the >future of their children and their grandchildren should read. >We predict that you will not be able to keep this book on a >shelf in your own personal library for long - you will find >yourself sharing it with others. And be forewarned - you won't >get it back without a fight! > --- --- --- >COPYRIGHT 1997 by Conservative Consensus (unless otherwise >noted). Please redistribute widely, provided nothing is >changed, and our headers and trailers remain intact. >Publications may reprint provided credit is given. > >NEED AN ALTERNATIVE to the agenda-driven, mainline news media? >Join our list! Send email with SUBSCRIBE as the subject to: > > CONSENSUS-L-REQUEST@eskimo.com > >TELEVISION SHOW AVAILABLE! Guests, issues, news and commentary! >We tell you what others can't. Should we be on in your area? >Email ccnrs@eskimo.com for details. > >VISIT our Website: Two great newsletters! Plus, get free, >downloadable news and analysis that you can copy and pass on to >friends. Updates, back issues, reader comments. All TEXT -- >visit us with any browser. > > http://www.eskimo.com/~ccnrs/news.html > >Index > > >B >Blackman,Paul H-author V3X12 > >E >Eisen,Joanne-author V3X12 > >G >Gallant,Paul-author V3X12 > >K >Kopel,David B-author V3X12 > >N >No More Wacos-review V3X12 > >P >police state-from Waco V3X12 >police-international V3X12 > >T >tapes-Waco V3X12 > >---------------------------------------------------------------- > Subscribe/Unsubscribe requests: consensus-L-request@eskimo.com > Television, Newsletter, Editorial, etc: ccnrs@eskimo.com >---------------------------------------------------------------- > > > "You exceed your rights when you urge that laws be made in the shape of your conscience to block the pleasures permitted by mine. When you people prevail, you commit a crime against freedom, and that is the greatest immorality I know." -Vance Bourjaily, Country Matters (no date avail). Thanks to:Mark Johnson (onethumb@why.net) "A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." Benjamin Franklin "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies." --Thomas Jefferson (Thanks to Pat Fosness) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: Headstone Erected at Davidian Site (fwd) Date: 22 Apr 1997 08:02:27 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- .c The Associated Press By CHIP BROWN WACO, Texas (AP) - The glimmer of a maroon and gray headstone stood out among the other memorials on the sunsplashed prairie where more than 70 Branch Davidians died after a standoff with federal authorities four years ago Saturday. ``In remembrance of all the men, women and children who were victimized and brutally slaughtered in the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building,'' reads the marker, dated April 19, 1997. The monument to the 168 killed two years ago in Oklahoma City was erected by a religious group identified on the stone as The Branch Congregation of the Lord Our Righteousness. It gave permanence to the inextricable link between two of the greatest tragedies on American soil in recent history. There is a heightened sense of tension on April 19, when the anniversary of both events is observed. In Denver, Timothy McVeigh is on trial for the bombing, which prosecutors suggest he carried out in retaliation for the government raid on the Davidians' compound exactly two years earlier. About 100 people gathered peacefully for a memorial service at the site of the Branch Davidian siege, which ended when fire swept through the religious group's compound. ``I think the Oklahoma City bombing was a tragedy that should have never taken place,'' said Clive Doyle, a Davidian who survived the fire and was later acquitted of federal weapons charges. ``I do not promote or like anybody using us as an excuse to take action against others.'' The siege began after Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents tried to arrest sect leader David Koresh on weapons charges. The raid erupted into a gunbattle that left four federal agents and six Davidians dead. After weeks of negotiations, the FBI sent in armored vehicles to flush the cultists out with tear gas. Ultimately, the complex erupted in flames. The government said the Davidians started the fire but the 250 surviving sect members and relatives of the dead filed a lawsuit challenging that conclusion. Standing on the ground where the tanks battered the Mount Carmel compound before it burned, Doyle said the focus of the memorial service was remembering those who died in pursuit of their religious beliefs. ``I challenge ministers, the ATF or the FBI or anybody to make the Bible come alive and make sense the way David did,'' he said. ``Despite of what's been said about him and what happened here, he's the best teacher I've seen.'' Jack Zimmermann, a lawyer who represented Koresh's top lieutenant Steve Schneider, said he was concerned about comparisons to the Oklahoma City bombing. ``There is no equation between the religious philosophy of the Branch Davidians and the violent overthrow of the government,'' he said. ``We must make the equation of Branch Davidians and peacefulness.'' Koresh's lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, returned to the site for the first time since April 14, 1993, when he attempted to negotiate a peaceful end to the siege. ``The lesson and the reason I'm here is because we can not, we must not allow expediency of government to compromise individual rights.'' AP-NY-04-19-97 2144EDT Copyright 1997 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: wbg@hevanet.com (wbg) Subject: Re: (fwd) New Virus! Date: 22 Apr 1997 07:36:54 -0700 (PDT) All kidding aside, I ran across a *real* virus last Sunday that made a successful attempt to write to a write-protected 1.44 floppy - it jiggered around 4 or 5 of the files on the floppy disk, increasing one to "12 meg" and adding a new "8 meg" one, causing DIR to return a total value for the floppy of "21 meg". Yow. Wanna hear something *really* scary? I went into this customer's CMOS setup and ran the low-level hard drive format - which supposedly scrubs a hard drive about as clean as it can be washed short of sending it back to the factory in which it was made - and subsequently, on the next reboot on a fresh, undamaged boot floppy, there was again an attempt by *something* to write to the floppy. In case you haven't already heard it elsewhere, the virus wars are worse than they've ever been & not likely to get better any time soon. If you value your time, take a little of it to thoroughly virus-check *anything* you plan to introduce to your computer - floppy, CD-ROM, whatever. You Mac guys like Lobo can sit back smugly and mostly ignore this, since for a variety of reasons there's not a great deal of virus activity in the Mac environment. Almost reason enough to change :-) Brewster -- *********************************************************************** W. Brewster Gillett wbg@hevanet.com Portland, Oregon USA *********************************************************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Howlin' Blue" Subject: Re: (fwd) New Virus! Date: 22 Apr 1997 09:57:55 -0600 wbg wrote: > > You Mac guys like Lobo can sit back smugly and mostly ignore this, since > for a variety of reasons there's not a great deal of virus activity in the > Mac environment. Almost reason enough to change :-) Takes the same amount of time to write code to screw up a few hundred million units as it does to write code to screw up a few million units. That's not the real reason. MAC OS's are too simple, primative and naive to recognize a virus when they see one. OS says, 'oh pshaw, why are you wasting time trying to zap my drive when we could have a beer and scarf up some jap-anime?' Virus says, 'cool. can we listen to some nirvana while we do it?' The highly evolved life form known as WIN-95 recognizes one in a heartbeat, says 'EEEEEK!' and leaves disk dust strewn in four directions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: boydk@wrq.com Subject: Re: (fwd) New Virus! Date: 22 Apr 1997 09:10:58 -0700 Most of these "notices" I've seen involve viruses recieved in the text of an email. I don't think that's what Brewster is talking about here, but wether or not it is, be aware that it is simply not possible to get a "virus" by reading a text message. Some programs used to read text messages can be made to "freeze up" if they're sent escape or control codes that they don't understand, but that cannot cause file system corruption or anything other then simply having to re boot. You Win/tel guys know that re booting is no big deal ; ) -Boyd NRA, GOA, PB520 MAC6100, A-P-P-L-E! ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Author: wbg@hevanet.com All kidding aside, I ran across a *real* virus last Sunday that made a successful attempt to write to a write-protected 1.44 floppy - it jiggered around 4 or 5 of the files on the floppy disk, increasing one to "12 meg" and adding a new "8 meg" one, causing DIR to return a total value for the floppy of "21 meg". Yow. Wanna hear something *really* scary? I went into this customer's CMOS setup and ran the low-level hard drive format - which supposedly scrubs a hard drive about as clean as it can be washed short of sending it back to the factory in which it was made - and subsequently, on the next reboot on a fresh, undamaged boot floppy, there was again an attempt by *something* to write to the floppy. In case you haven't already heard it elsewhere, the virus wars are worse than they've ever been & not likely to get better any time soon. If you value your time, take a little of it to thoroughly virus-check *anything* you plan to introduce to your computer - floppy, CD-ROM, whatever. You Mac guys like Lobo can sit back smugly and mostly ignore this, since for a variety of reasons there's not a great deal of virus activity in the Mac environment. Almost reason enough to change :-) Brewster -- *********************************************************************** W. Brewster Gillett wbg@hevanet.com Portland, Oregon USA *********************************************************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Skip Leuschner Subject: Re: (fwd) New Virus! Date: 22 Apr 1997 08:47:34 -0800 wbg wrote: > You Mac guys like Lobo can sit back smugly and mostly ignore this, since > for a variety of reasons there's not a great deal of virus activity in the > Mac environment. Almost reason enough to change :-) > As a Mac guy too, I'm pleased to hear it. Hmmmm. Mac sure needs some kind of new strategy to increase sagging market share. You don't suppose - - - - Regards, Skip. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: wbg@hevanet.com (wbg) Subject: Re: (fwd) New Virus! Date: 22 Apr 1997 09:23:11 -0700 (PDT) I just about a month back finally got intimate with the sweetheart I'm taking to all the dances from now on (so far) - OS/2. Despite some rocky spots, that I'm steadily smoothing out (and were not unexpected) I'm not sorry I installed it. It just plumb works; and its signal property is that it runs my old "legacy" DOS and Win3 apps better (for the most part) than DOS or Win3 ever did. Interesting confirmation of that - about three-four weeks ago, one of the Win3 apps I was still running native stopped printing on me. Checked couple other Win apps - printing just fine. DOS apps - printing fine. HP printer self-test - just dandy. So I uninstall the little fuck, reinstall it, reinstall its November patch, reinstall all the HP drivers just to be sure - no joy. Call Support - no help. So I wonder . . . . . . uninstall the lil' bastard again, but this time, reinstall it under Win-OS/2 (OS/2's Win3 code) and run it there - wahoo, it's printing again. Sorta makes a believer outa ya. If I didn't want to preserve so many familiar DOS & Win3 apps, I'd chuck it all and run straight UNIX of probably the Linux flavor. UNIX does everything better than anything including the MAC OS, with the one failing that nobody's yet come up with a really universal, and speedy, emulator for running DOS/Win shit under it. I've spent over 12 years using UNIX, and I have substantially more respect for it than anything else available for the PC platform. And a properly-constructed implementation of MIT's X-Windows is more than just the equal of any GUI going. Check out the Silicon Graphics workstations' implementation of X some time. Blow yer sox off. Loved your comparative descripton, tho. Brew -- *********************************************************************** W. Brewster Gillett wbg@hevanet.com Portland, Oregon USA *********************************************************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Pengar Enterprises Inc. & Shire.Net LLC" Subject: Re: (fwd) New Virus! Date: 22 Apr 1997 10:37:56 -0600 > Most of these "notices" I've seen involve viruses recieved in the text > of an email. I don't think that's what Brewster is talking about here, > but wether or not it is, be aware that it is simply not possible to > get a "virus" by reading a text message. Some programs used to read > text messages can be made to "freeze up" if they're sent escape or > control codes that they don't understand, but that cannot cause file > system corruption or anything other then simply having to re boot. You > Win/tel guys know that re booting is no big deal ; ) > -Boyd NRA, GOA, PB520 MAC6100, A-P-P-L-E! > Actually, I believe there are some mail programs that will try and expand *attachments* and that an executable program could be sent as an attachment and run as part of a .exe self-expanding archive (.sea for us Mac folks :-). The Mac advantage is that even if bad attachments are sent they will be targeted to the more prolific platform and not run on our Macs! best Chad Chad Leigh Pengar Enterprises, Inc and Shire.Net chad@pengar.com info@pengar.com info@shire.net Full service WWW services from just space to complete sites. WWW Wholesale including virtual domains. Tango. PHP/FI Email forwarding -- Permanent Email Addresses. POP3 and IMAP Email Accounts. mailto:info@shire.net for any of these. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: Review: No More Wacos-What's Wrong With Federal Law Enforcement (fwd) Date: 22 Apr 1997 11:51:46 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Conservative Consensus(tm) Events * Analysis * Commentary * Forecasts * Readers' Opinions What in the world is going on? www.eskimo.com/~ccnrs/news.html Book Review Column * V3X12 * 21/Apr/97 * ISSN 1074-245X NO MORE WACOS: What's Wrong with Federal Law Enforcement and How to Fix It By David B. Kopel and Paul H. Blackman. Publisher: Prometheus Books, Amherst, NY, 14228; 1997 Telephone (800) 421-0351. Hardcover, 524 pages, $26.95 Reviewed by Drs. Paul Gallant and Joanne Eisen There are some who will read "No More Wacos: What's Wrong with Federal Law Enforcement and How to Fix It" because it is the definitive chronicle of the Waco tragedy - the story of a crossroads in modern American history. But Kopel and Blackman used the story of Waco only as the backdrop for a book which will forever change the way you look at government. At first blush, the reader is lulled into the false perception of being immersed in a lurid tale, replete with religion, guns, sex, and cult-politics. That perception is shattered with the full realization that "No More Wacos" is not a book about religion, or sex, or guns. It is, instead, a book meticulously documenting how the present American system of government has evolved to where it now threatens to derail the course of American history, irrevocably - from the blueprint given as our birthright by the Founding Fathers, into a literal dead-end police state. Underscoring this, the authors point out: ...unlike the many deaths or injuries inflicted on innocent children every day by abusive parents, incompetent doctors, or criminals, the deaths of the children at Waco would not have occurred but for the acts of the federal government of the United States, which most Americans expect to be under control of the laws of the United States. The authors use the Waco story [and, to a lesser extent, the Ruby Ridge incident] to illustrate the systematic erosion of bedrock American values within American law-enforcement - from the top on down, in an easy-to-read literary style rarely found among academic authors. In "No More Wacos", Kopel and Blackman provide a cohesive expose of little-known facts, all put together in a coherent, objective manner. The prose is unbiased, energetic, and grabs hold of the reader unrelentingly. Because the hundreds of substantiating references and footnotes are relegated to the end of each chapter, the pace of the story remains almost as rapid as that of an action-packed novel. They also provide an interesting summary of the FBI negotiating tapes, a small section of stark black-and-white photos, and summary of events and persona. Kopel and Blackman cut right to the heart of the American system of government today - the lack of oversight at all levels, the lack of effective checks and balances on individual officers and judges, and the insidious and growing militarization and internationalization within American law-enforcement. The authors provide, as well, a workable prescription for fixing what's broken. Appendix-A provides a master plan of easily understandable, far-reaching legal reforms to help ensure that the same deadly mistakes documented within "No More Wacos" won't happen again. These are reforms which, if enacted, would change the incentives of those entrusted with interpreting the law and enforcing it, replacing profit with accountability! David B. Kopel is an attorney, author, and Research Director of the Independence Institute, a non-partisan think-tank. Paul H. Blackman is a criminologist, author, and is employed as Research Coordinator for the National Rifle Association. Regardless of one's political persuasion, "No More Wacos" is, finally, a book which all Americans who care about the future of their children and their grandchildren should read. We predict that you will not be able to keep this book on a shelf in your own personal library for long - you will find yourself sharing it with others. And be forewarned - you won't get it back without a fight! --- --- --- COPYRIGHT 1997 by Conservative Consensus (unless otherwise noted). Please redistribute widely, provided nothing is changed, and our headers and trailers remain intact. Publications may reprint provided credit is given. NEED AN ALTERNATIVE to the agenda-driven, mainline news media? Join our list! Send email with SUBSCRIBE as the subject to: CONSENSUS-L-REQUEST@eskimo.com TELEVISION SHOW AVAILABLE! Guests, issues, news and commentary! We tell you what others can't. Should we be on in your area? Email ccnrs@eskimo.com for details. VISIT our Website: Two great newsletters! Plus, get free, downloadable news and analysis that you can copy and pass on to friends. Updates, back issues, reader comments. All TEXT -- visit us with any browser. http://www.eskimo.com/~ccnrs/news.html Index B Blackman,Paul H-author V3X12 E Eisen,Joanne-author V3X12 G Gallant,Paul-author V3X12 K Kopel,David B-author V3X12 N No More Wacos-review V3X12 P police state-from Waco V3X12 police-international V3X12 T tapes-Waco V3X12 Subscribe/Unsubscribe requests: consensus-L-request@eskimo.com Television, Newsletter, Editorial, etc: ccnrs@eskimo.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Howlin' Blue" Subject: Re: (fwd) New Virus! Date: 22 Apr 1997 13:09:45 -0600 wbg wrote: > > Loved your comparative descripton, tho. > > Brew Brew, I would be willing that thee, as did I, thought thy were responding to private mail. Thy were not. Thy edified the entirity of cyber-beria with the sagacity of thy wit. I love it when someone else does that. Makes me feel slightly less like an idiot. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: wbg@hevanet.com (wbg) Subject: Re: (fwd) New Virus! Date: 22 Apr 1997 09:27:24 -0700 (PDT) > > Most of these "notices" I've seen involve viruses recieved in the text > of an email. I don't think that's what Brewster is talking about here, > but wether or not it is, be aware that it is simply not possible to > get a "virus" by reading a text message. Some programs used to read > text messages can be made to "freeze up" if they're sent escape or > control codes that they don't understand, but that cannot cause file > system corruption or anything other then simply having to re boot. You > Win/tel guys know that re booting is no big deal ; ) > -Boyd NRA, GOA, PB520 MAC6100, A-P-P-L-E! I'll second and clarify that. The sort of virus I'm describing won't come in your email. It'll come on one of the 14 floppies you borrow from a buddy to bootleg yourself a copy of, say, Visio. It'll come encrusted onto that executable shareware you download from a website. It'll come on that $19.95 CD of "200 WINDOWS GAMES!". For those of you who use MS Word's macros, it may arrive in a new and interesting form. But you ain't likely to catch anything from email, unless the email attaches an executable that you then use. Brewster -- *********************************************************************** W. Brewster Gillett wbg@hevanet.com Portland, Oregon USA *********************************************************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jack@minerva.com Subject: Re: (fwd) New Virus! Date: 22 Apr 1997 13:36:27 PDT roc@mail.xmission.com wrote : >> >> Most of these "notices" I've seen involve viruses recieved in the text >> of an email. I don't think that's what Brewster is talking about here, >> but wether or not it is, be aware that it is simply not possible to >> get a "virus" by reading a text message. Some programs used to read >> text messages can be made to "freeze up" if they're sent escape or >> control codes that they don't understand, but that cannot cause file >> system corruption or anything other then simply having to re boot. You >> Win/tel guys know that re booting is no big deal ; ) >> -Boyd NRA, GOA, PB520 MAC6100, A-P-P-L-E! > >I'll second and clarify that. The sort of virus I'm describing won't come >in your email. It'll come on one of the 14 floppies you borrow from a >buddy to bootleg yourself a copy of, say, Visio. It'll come encrusted >onto that executable shareware you download from a website. It'll come on >that $19.95 CD of "200 WINDOWS GAMES!". For those of you who use MS Word's >macros, it may arrive in a new and interesting form. > >But you ain't likely to catch anything from email, unless the email >attaches an executable that you then use. > >Brewster Many problems are caused by differing definitions attached to various words like *executable*. A much greater problem is that MIME compliant mail will deliver documents / spread sheets that contain viruses and the mailer properly activates the correct processor like word to read the .DOC and presto your machine can now have an active virus. There are already hundreds of knows viruses specific to WORD documents and all are quite *contagious* if one has MIME compliant mail and is running with WIN95 and using OFFICE 97 one has major worries about documents / spread sheets received via E-mail. Conversely, if one is using the old fashioned products without all these exciting modern *problems* one has much less to worry about Jack > >-- >*********************************************************************** >W. Brewster Gillett wbg@hevanet.com Portland, Oregon USA >*********************************************************************** > > > Jack Perrine | ATHENA Programming, Inc | 818-798-6574 | ---------------- | 1175 No. Altadena Drive | fax 398-8620 | jack@minerva.com | Pasadena, CA 91107 US | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: Re: (fwd) New Virus! Date: 22 Apr 1997 15:47:43 PST On Apr 22, Skip Leuschner wrote: >wbg wrote: > >> You Mac guys like Lobo can sit back smugly and mostly ignore this, since >> for a variety of reasons there's not a great deal of virus activity in the >> Mac environment. Almost reason enough to change :-) >> > >As a Mac guy too, I'm pleased to hear it. > >Hmmmm. Mac sure needs some kind of new strategy to increase sagging >market share. You don't suppose - - - - > >Regards, Skip. Seems to me I heard a rumor that they hired Commodore Amiga USA's old Marketing staff on the theory that they wouldn't have to retrain them in 680X0 technology. Good luck with them as no one so far has been able to convince them that they weren't, "elected for life", long enough to get them to stop playing with their, "perks".....:-/ -- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | If Guns are | Let he who hath no | Keep weapon in every | by COLT; | outlawed, only | weapon sell his | Your hand = Freedom | DIAL | RIGHT WINGERS | garment and buy a | Powder on every side! | 1911-A1. | will have Guns. | sword. Jesus Christ | Dry. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: wbg@hevanet.com (wbg) Subject: Re: (fwd) New Virus! Date: 22 Apr 1997 17:46:01 -0700 (PDT) You wrote: > > As a Mac guy too, I'm pleased to hear it. > > Hmmmm. Mac sure needs some kind of new strategy to increase sagging > market share. You don't suppose - - - - > > Regards, Skip. I've seen stranger strategies. BoydK says *his* Mac is set up to multiboot to a Linux implementation. Now we're getting somewhere. UNIX is still about the only OS that truly handles all forms of comm with aplomb. Brewster -- *********************************************************************** W. Brewster Gillett wbg@hevanet.com Portland, Oregon USA *********************************************************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: linzellr@datastar.net (Robert Linzell) Subject: Hamilton Bookseller Has _Guns:_ Date: 23 Apr 1997 08:23:38 -0500 Hamilton Bookseller now has an Internet presence. They sell closeout, clear- ance or overstocked books at substantial price reductions. While browsing their Web site yesterday, I found a listing for Kopel's excellent compendium: GUNS: Who Should Have Them? Ed. By David B. Kopel. Item # 638250 Pub at $ 25.95 Your Cost $ 18.16 Experts in law, criminology, medicine, psychiatry and feminist studies address the major issues, including "Arms and Woman", "Background Checks and Waiting Periods", "The Second Amendment--Toward an Afro-Americanist Reconsideration" and "Assault Weapons". Hardbound 475 pages Prometheus The URL is: http://www.hamiltonbook.com/subject2/coi.html and lists numerous other interesting titles under the Politics subject in the ~Constitutional & Judicial Issues~ category. I highly recommend both the book and the vendor. Shipping is $3.00, regardless of the quantity of books, and Hamilton ships by mail at the book rate (somewhat slow delivery, but helps keep their overhead low). Orders must be prepaid (see their home page for links to ordering info); they accept checks or money orders only. Yours in the Struggle, Bob _______________________________________________________________ | Robert S. Linzell linzellr@datastar.net | | Disclaimer: The content of the preceding message reflects | | my opinion only, unless otherwise indicated. | | "Live" from South Mississippi State Motto: Virtute et Armis | |_______________________________________________________________| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: piml] [Fwd: http://www.jetlink.net/~mystery/good/yayyy.txt] (fwd) Date: 23 Apr 1997 14:27:44 -0500 (CDT) This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. Send mail to mime@docserver.cac.washington.edu for more info. --------------68132C5B1240 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=us-ascii Content-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- WOW! Almost too good to be true! One to follow, that's for sure! HT The State of California has passed a bill that should be considered a model for other states. Credit Assemblyman Keith Olberg for following through and pushing this bill. This short and sweet education bill agruably does more to improve the political awareness of California's graduating students than most could have hoped for. It requires the teaching of the Constituiton--in its entirety --along with numerous other pieces of the original intent puzzle, to students. The bill was amended several time during its trek through the legislative process. It was changed for the better, with the final version requiring the reading and teaching of George Washington's Farewell Address, The Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation. Give California's Legislature an "A" for the favorable vote! The bill passed the Senate on August 20, and the House on August 30, according to California's bill tracking office. AB-3086 is now awaiting the Governor's signature. Following is the text of the bill. THE PEOPLE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 51230 is added to the Education Code, to read: 51230. As a part of the course in American government and civics required for high school graduation pursuant to subparagraph (D) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 51225.3, all pupils shall read and be taught all of the following: (a) The Declaration of Independence (b) The United States Constitution, including the Bill of Rights (c) The Federalist Papers (d) The Emancipation Proclamation (e) The Gettysburg Address (f) George Washington's Farewell Address. SECTION 2. Notwithstanding Section 17610 of the Government Code, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code. If the statewide cost of the claim for reimbursement does not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000), reimbursement shall be made from the State Mandates Claims Fund. Notwithstanding Section 17580 of the Government Code, unless otherwise specified, the provisions of this act shall become operated on the same date that the act takes effect pursuant to the California Constitution. --------------68132C5B1240 Content-Type: MESSAGE/RFC822 Content-ID: Received: from smtp2.nwnexus.com by mail1.halcyon.com (5.65v3.2/1.1.10.5/10Nov96-0444PM) id AA07598; Wed, 23 Apr 1997 01:34:10 -0700 Received: from prostar.com by smtp2.nwnexus.com with SMTP id AA28470 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for ); Wed, 23 Apr 1997 01:33:40 -0700 Message-Id: <199704230833.AA28470@smtp2.nwnexus.com> X-Msmail-Priority: Normal X-Priority: 3 X-Mailer: Microsoft Internet Mail 4.70.1155 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_01BC4F7C.9E4089E0" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_01BC4F7C.9E4089E0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Harold, Another interesting item. The Federal courts will probably rule against it. Dave ------=_NextPart_000_01BC4F7C.9E4089E0 Content-Type: application/octet-stream; name="yayyy.txt at www.jetlink.url" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Description: yayyy.txt at www.jetlink (Internet Shortcut) Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="yayyy.txt at www.jetlink.url" [InternetShortcut] URL=http://www.jetlink.net/~mystery/good/yayyy.txt ------=_NextPart_000_01BC4F7C.9E4089E0-- --------------68132C5B1240-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: A Dallas Review of the Movie Waco The Rules of Engagement (fwd) Date: 23 Apr 1997 15:04:54 -0500 (CDT) A Dallas review of the movie "Waco the rules of engagement" (First some notes from fellow gun owners) Paul, Dorothy and I got there to see the film, but were turned away because of the "sold out" situation. Also, a couple our age who drove from Ft. Worth were turned away the same time. The people at the theater told us that theater's capacity was set at 200 people-we were encouraged by the interest in the film's showing. I tried to find information regarding the purchase of the video-no one could help me. Do you know how I could buy the video? Joe >By the time I got there, admittedly just as it was scheduled to start, it >was sold out, and they seemed to be turning people away, maybe not exactly >in droves, but at a goodly rate. I wonder how many earlier arrivals got >turned away. >We of course expect full reports from those who made it in. :) ********** Wade A. Smith writes: *********** > OOPS! I forgot to sent my comment. > *I* was not one of them who made it in. I was #23 on the waiting list. > Anyone make it? Paul? My wife and I made it in. We got there about 7:05 and they were sold out. But we found someone with two extra tickets, so we made it. Paul also was there. It was worth seeing. I'll give a report later tonight. As a teaser,the film claims that "60 Minutes" had the FLIR tape analyzed and found machine gun fire from the FBI. But "60 Minutes" decided not to air the report! The film gave excerpts from the report (which agreed with the film's expert, a FLIR analyst). Regards, Dan (A note from the movie producer) Sir, just a thank you for helping to get the word out on the screenings of our film ! Also a few minor corrections on the information you have so graciously provided to our potential audience. 1. The infra -red or F.L.I.R. ( Forward Looking Infra-Red ) device was mounted on a fixed wing , twin turbo prop British aircraft called an Astor Defender . It was supplied by either the US Army ( who have several of these "observation" aircraft) , or by the British government ( SAS). 2. The film shows that someone ( the FBI or ATF or ??? ) killed the Branch Davidians, We can not identify the shooters from the air borne footage we have, other than to say they were not Davidians. 3. The Sundance Film Festival was held in Park City Utah , in mid January, 1997. The film was also seen for three weeks in San Francisco, Calif. at the Roxie theater to near capacity crowds . It has also been seen at the Santa Barbara and Texas, A&M film festivals in recent weeks. 4.Dan Gifford and his wife Amy Sommer Gifford are the Executive Producers and William Gazecki and I ( Mike McNulty ) are the Producers. William Directed the film. I researched it and Dan, William and I wrote it. Mr. David Hamilton produced the original musical score...... And we all hope you get to see it and if "like " is the right word , like the film as well. Thank you once again for you time and effort in helping to get the word out. Sincerely , Mike McNulty ************************************************************************** http://www.waco93.com Dallas, Texas April 21, 1997 Well, Here is my movie review: I was sick by the time I left and had a pounding headache. It was the most emotional movie I have ever seen. It was very well done starting with actual film from the sect founders living in tents in the 1930's. Most of the film was footage from the FBI/BATF news briefings, Congress and Senate hearings, News film and the original raid film from the Waco reporters who went on the raid. Short clips from the FBI telephone negations claiming there were no guns in the helicopters, then flash to film of the copters with 2 armed men sitting on both sides, then flash to the Wayne Martin 911 phone call with automatic weapons fire getting louder along with the helicopter noise. Interviews from the Waco Sheriff who said they were very nice people who he liked and Dr. Tabor the religion PHD brought in by the FBI. The Sheriff and Dr. Tabor said David was having sex with 14 year old daughters of his people, with their approval, as part of a bible belief and that this is common law marriage so there was no legal proof or case for child abuse. Interviews with the Waco reporters who filmed the first raid, film and stills of the BATF standing in front of the building with no return fire. The BATF only called a cease fire after they had run out of all ammunition. Dick DeGuerin and Jack Zimmermann, Davidian lawyers, testifying before the House about how the Davidians had advance warning and could have easily killed all the BATF while they were still inside the tarp covered cattle trailers as they drove down the entrance road. Also, the Davidians could have killed the BATF after they ran out of ammo but no shots were fired as the BATF collected their wounded and were filmed by the reporters. Interviews clearly showing how the FBI took over and ignored their own experts and the religious scholars about not using pressure and violence to make the Branch Davidians assume this was the end times fight of Gods people against the evil Babylon federal government. Interviews with survivor Clive Doyle, about the loud music, bright lights at night, constant cussing, dropping of pants and mooning of the women and children and obscene gestures by the tank ATF and FBI agents. Destruction of all their cars and toys and crushing of the freshly buried Davidian grave by the tanks. A interview with a lawyer who drove David's grandmother up to the road block and was refused by the head BATF agent to let her try and talk them into giving up. As they turned towards the car the BATF said, loudly,"I hope she has said her good-bys to David". Clips of FBI agent Bob Ricks in his daily press briefings saying the FBI are in charge of everything and the Davidians have no control over anything. It was clear, this was about power and revenge. Just as David Koresh had a vision to write down for the first time ever his interpretation of the 7 seals and had completed volume one. Just as Dr. Tabor and the Lawyers were seeing an end in a few more days David promised to come out with the manuscripts. Just as they gave them new ribbons that night on April 18. The next morning at sun up tanks started the attack punching large holes into the building and injecting CS gas mixed with a solvent. Loud speakers announced "THIS IS NOT AN ATTACK, YOU ARE UNDER ARREST, SUBMIT YOURSELF TO THE PROPER AUTHORITIES". All morning the tanks pushed all the way inside the building pushing down the interior walls. The Women and Children were in the concrete room huddled under wet blankets. One tank pushed all the way inside the building injecting CS through the only door into the concrete room trapping them inside. On the back of the building a tank demolished the gymnasium where 5 bodies were found with severe trauma wounds. Cut, to experts talking about how most children would die from the CS gas others would have been collapsed with little body function or control. Then, the expert analysis of the Forward Looking Infra Red (FLIR) film from the overhead airplane. One can see machine gun blast from several positions near the rear hatch of the Bradley tanks towards the areas were bodies with bullet wounds were found inside the building. 1 second flame blast are visible from a tank on the front consistent with the launching of 40 mm pyrotechnic grenades that were later found at that spot. Seconds later the first fire erupts from the window just above where the tank pulled out of the building. At the rear of the building another 1 second flame blast and another pyrotechnic grenade with the fire erupting seconds later as the tank backed away. A grenade was found here after the fire as well. As the majority of Davidians move from the racing fire to the rear and West of the building, constant burst of machine gun fire erupts from 2 men in the court yard towards that same area. As the fire grows consuming the final area the two shooters can be seen firing and retreating away from the glowing inferno. About half the bodies found in this area had died from gun shot wounds. Expert testimony about how CS and solvent with fire forms Cyanide gas. Several dead body pictures showing grotesque contortions consistent with Cyanide poisoning. Of course there was House testimony about the compleat absence of any contingency plan for fire and of the BATF supervisor who refused to let the fire trucks pass the road block because of possible Davidian gunfire. Finally interviews with the Fort Worth coroner and his assistant about the FBI confiscating their video tape of the bodies, interference with their autopsy efforts and finally removing all control from any local people. The film was 3 hour long and yet I felt like they were only showing short clips of interviews and left out some things. But, 3 hours can hardly cover 51 days of psychological warfare against the Davidians and the public. How ironic on the day of this first showing so close to Waco Texas the Supreme Court of the United States turned down all of the Davidian appeals of their convictions for firearm violations. Regards, Paul Watson Dallas, Texas ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: H.R. 400 (Sample form message) (fwd) Date: 23 Apr 1997 18:17:17 PST On Apr 23, Dave Rydel wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] >Return-Path: >Date: Wed, 23 Apr 1997 08:36:32 -0700 (PDT) >X-Sender: wolfeyes@mail.cdsnet.net >To: danid@mind.net, gayleell@cdsnet.net, bilybolegs@aol.com, bueford80@aol.com, > eagleflt@flash.net, talkback@wave.net >From: "Carl F. Worden" >Subject: H.R. 400 (Sample form message) > >>X-Sender: spiker@pop.a001.sprintmail.com >>Date: Wed, 23 Apr 1997 05:50:42 -0600 >>To: coc8480@kcmetro.cc.mo.us >>From: "David E. Parsons" >>Subject: H.R. 400 (Sample form message) >> >>Dear Member of Congress; >> >>Please vote NO! on H.R. 400 for the following reasons. >> >>1. H.R. 400 requires applications to be made public 18 months after an >>application is filed, regardless of whether or not a patent is issued. >>(Under present law, an invention is kept secret until the patent is issued.) >>This radical change will make it easy for wealthy corporations, foreign or >>domestic, to steal inventions before the inventor has a chance to raise his >>own capital to produce it. The House floor debate proved it is a lie to say >>that H.R.400 gives small inventors a "choice" of whether to allow >>publication or not. >> >>2. H.R. 400 loosens up the "reexamination" of U.S. patents already issued >>and allows third parties (e.g., foreign or domestic) to participate in the >>process after paying a "reexamination fee." The inventor would lose the due >>process rights he now enjoys in U.S. courts. >> >>3. H.R. 400 specifies that the board of directors of the new private >>patent office include persons "with substantial background and achievement >>in corporate finance and management." This enables the big multinationals >>to ride roughshod over the rights of individual inventors. >> >>4. Why change something that has worked well for American inventors for >>207 years? >> >>5. Remember your oath of office wherein you swore to uphold and defend the >>Constitution. >> >>Sincerely, >> >> > > To receive posts from this list send an E-MAIL to me with the word "subscribe" in the subject box. ================================================================== EAGLEFLIGHT ///, //// \ /, / >. David E. Rydel \ /, _/ /. ***** \_ /_/ /. United States Theatre Command \__/_ < Voice-810-391-0798 /<<< \_\_ Fax-810-391-6785 /,)^>>_._ \ Alt.Fax-810-391-3528 (/ \\ /\\\ E-MAIL: EAGLEFLT@FLASH.NET // ```` ==============((`=================================================== A VOICE OF THE MILITIAS IN NORTH AMERICA To subscribe to The Konformist, send an email to Robalini@aol.com With the phrase "I NEED TO KONFORM". [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] -- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | If Guns are | Let he who hath no | Keep weapon in every | by COLT; | outlawed, only | weapon sell his | Your hand = Freedom | DIAL | RIGHT WINGERS | garment and buy a | Powder on every side! | 1911-A1. | will have Guns. | sword. Jesus Christ | Dry. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: Re: Bill Of Attainder Project (fwd) Date: 24 Apr 1997 07:56:10 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- The Lautenberg Act and Bills Of Attainder by Thomas M. Saunders Recently the Libertarian Party released an announcement warning of concerns about the Lautenberg Act. The 1996 law forbids anyone convicted of a domestic violence complaint to own firearms. A bill has been introduced by Congressman Bob Barr (R. Ga.), to repeal the retroactive parts of the bill. One aspect of the Lautenberg Act that has not been questioned is the fact that retroactive aspects of the law are forbidden in the Constitution under Article 1, Section 9, Paragraph 3, the smallest paragraph in the Constitution. This mandate forbids "ex post facto" laws to be passed. "Ex post facto" in this case is synonymous with retroactive. Article 1, Section 9, Paragraph 3, of the Constitution reads: "No bill of attainder, or ex post facto law shall be passed." The Lautenberg Act not only violates the aspects of being an ex post facto law, it is the classic bill of attainder in American law that no longer protects citizens. Currently, American law does not recognize a bill of attainder as an instrument which plunders life, liberty, and property. The Lautenberg Act, according to Jo Jorgensen of the Libertarian Party, would effectively violate Fourth, and Fifth Amendment protections against illegal search and seizure. Further, according to Jorgensen, it would deprive people of the right to self- defense. We contend that the Second Amendment is a civil right and any law which deprives a citizen of civil liberties should be considered a bill of attainder. The Lautenberg Act may have aspects that are far more devastating to American civil liberties than any other recent law. One aspect of the Lautenberg Act is the possibility that the ATF may ultimately have constabulary authority in all these cases, even misdemeanors. George Getz, Deputy Director of Communications for the Libertarian Party pointed out to me in a phone conversation that the ATF does not have the man power to achieve enforcement of this new law. Some supporters of the Bill Of Attainder Project have pointed out that law enforcement advances into multi-jurisdictional agreements between state and federal agencies eliminate the need for the ATF to worry about man power. Every cop in the country knows he virtually already has as much jurisdiction and constabulary power as any other law enforcement officer with few exceptions. Any exceptions that may exist are easily eliminated by a phone call. We contend that this law is another ploy to enable the government to acquire property. Our current system of justice is dedicated to passing laws that manufacture criminals, and plunder American life, liberty, and property. The Lautenberg Act increases the power it gives law enforcement to use asset forfeiture. Those who support the Bill Of Attainder Project understand that asset forfeiture should be forbidden as a bill of attainder. Without the right to own property above the government's right to take it makes Americans "subjects" not "citizens." The power to confiscate property is not a power the government should have because it has enabled America to become a police state. Americans have the right to private property, their citizenship, and to legislators dedicated to preserving these rights. The Lautenberg Act certainly reinforces this hold over Americans as subjects, and is related to and part of a growing number of laws and government policies which serve to oppress the American citizen. Americans need to understand the Second Amendment violations of the Lautenberg Act are only a single aspect of the evil this law presents. The Lautenberg Act characterizes the way suppressive laws are being introduced and sold to the American people. The media and the government manipulate the public by hiding the truth of the law by misrepresenting it. Americans are being deceived by the government and the media much the same as they hid the truth about the Panama invasion under the Bush Administration. In the case of suppressive laws like the Lautenberg Act, Americans are deceived through the manipulation of "social hysterical contagions." Public fear motivates action by politicians and the media but these actions all have hidden agendas. The method used by the government and the press is well documented by Barbra Trent, Director of the expose, "The Panama Deception." The public is being led to believe that by depriving families of guns who have had domestic disturbances to whatever degree, we protect women from violence. This law protects nobody. This law deprives every American citizen of guaranteed civil liberties, one of which is to be protected from the very "outlawing" this legislation promotes. Outlawing is fueled by social fear. It is the tool Hitler used to convince the German people to subjugate and discriminate against the Jews. It has no place in American justice. The consequences of calling the police in a domestic violence situation under the conditions of Lautenberg may discourage women from asking for help. Too many Americans have seen the police come to the scene of an alleged crime to collect inventory instead of the truth. Police will not discriminate between household members as to whose property they will confiscate, and they cannot determine who may actually own a firearm in a household. The abuse this law may cause has no protections for the innocent, especially from corrupt police. Domestic violence is just one condition of many that currently can be identified as social hysterical contagions. The use of these motivators for political purposes include the tyranny caused by the hysteria of the McCarthy era. The government and the media have used the technique of manipulating the public trust through the use of social hysterical contagions to impose policies used in the "War On Drugs." It is time for Americans to realize a unified effort is needed to stop this abuse. Americans need to restore their citizenship and their power to control the government. By demanding that the phrase "bill of Attainder" be defined in American law as a "law or legal device used to outlaw people, suspend their civil rights, confiscate their property, or put them to death or punish them without a trial" we as Americans can restore our citizenship. We can demand the law be based upon the premise, "thou shalt not steal" and we can stop the tyranny of the Lautenberg Act and many of the laws like it that deprive Americans of civil liberties. We urge all Americans who read this to pass the information on to others, as we know the American press will not tell the truths that this document contains. Until Americans are told the truth about how laws like Lautenberg effect our society, politicians will use social fears to motivate suppressive laws. For further information contact the Bill Of Attainder Project: Also see, "Defining Bills Of Attainder" which can be found on the Republic of Texas website on the internet. At 08:32 AM 3/24/97 -0600, you wrote: >---------- Forwarded message ---------- >Date: Mon, 24 Mar 97 00:37:11 >From: Alfred Adask >Subject: Re: Bill Of Attainder Project (fwd) > >Dear Tom > If you'd like to speak to the >Dallas Citizens for Legal Reform >group, give me a call at >972-418-8993. We meet on first, >third, and fifth Tuesdays of every >month. > Alfred Adask > >On Tue, 18 Mar 1997 07:41:28 -0600 >(CST), pwatson@utdallas.edu wrote: > >> >> >> >> >>---------- Forwarded message >---------- >>Date: Tue, 18 Mar 1997 02:37:50 >-0800 >>From: Tom Saunders > >>To: pwatson@utdallas.edu >>Subject: Bill Of Attainder Project >> >>Dear Sirs, >> >> I live just on the other side >of the Red River. >>If you could arrange for me to >address your group I would be >>glad to. >> >>Sincerely, >> >>Tom Saunders >>Bill of Attainder Project >> > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: Emergency! Bob Dole Betrays Conservatives by Endorsing the CWC (fwd) Date: 24 Apr 1997 08:14:01 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- EMERGENCY ALERT Thousand of Phone Calls Needed on Thursday _____________________________________________ Bob Dole Betrays Conservatives by Endorsing the CWC Vote NO on the Chemical Weapons Treaty _____________________________________________ The vote on Thursday, April 24, on the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) will be the first vote to be included in the Eagle Forum's 105th Congress scorecard. It is an important test of whether or not Republican Senators are willing to stand up for American interests against the internationalist ploys of Bill Clinton, Madeleine Albright, and now Bob Dole. This treaty is dangerous for America and will not protect our troops from chemical weapons. It is outrageous that President Clinton has set up the arbitrary date of April 29th for ratification, stating that our great nation will be like the "pariah nations" of Libya, Syria and Iraq if the Senate does not approve this awful treaty. Specifically, Eagle Forum opposes the CWC because: 1. There's absolutely no way that the U.S. or any treaty can enforce or verify a worldwide ban on chemical weapons. The countries most apt to use them, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and North Korea, won't sign the treaty and wouldn't obey it if they did. 2. The Chemical Weapons Treaty will actually increase the danger of chemical attack because it requires us to share the secrets of our defenses against chemical weapons with other countries. 3. So many chemicals used in weapons are so widely used for commercial purposes that its totally impractical to ban them. 4. The treaty would set up a massive new UN-style international inspection bureaucracy, which, of course, the U.S. taxpayers will have to pay for, and which will have the right to inspect any site in the United States, including factories, government buildings, and even individual homes. Bye, bye Fourth Amendment! 5. Four past Secretaries of Defense (Weinberger, Schlesinger, Cheney, and Rumsfeld) oppose this treaty as a danger to our national security. 6. If Clinton gets this treaty ratified, he will follow up with a whole series of bad UN treaties including the UN Treaty on the Rights of the Child. Today, former Senator Bob Dole betrayed the Reagan coalition by standing with Bill Clinton to endorse the CWC. Last year, during the election, he was listening to the voters and opposed the treaty. ACTION: Call your Senators and tell them to listen to you, the voter. Let them know you will not forget how they vote on the CWC. This is an urgent alert. Our national security, sovereignty and constitutional rights are on the line. Please help us flood the Senate with Phone calls opposing the Chemical Weapons Treaty. Senate Switchboard: 1-202-224-3121 or 1-800-962-3524 EAGLE FORUM PO Box 618 Alton, IL 62002 Phone: 618-462-5415 Fax: 618-462-8909 ******************************* Our site features: Phyllis Schlafly Columns The Phyllis Schlafly Report Education Reporter ******************************* URL: http://www.eagleforum.org E-mail: eagle@eagleforum.org ________________________________ Get on our E-mail list today! Just send us an e-mail message with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line! ________________________________ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= To unsubscribe from this mailing list, DISREGARD ANY INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE and go to the Web page at http://www.maillist.net/rightnow.html. New subscriptions can also be entered at this page. If you cannot access the World Wide Web, send an e-mail message to RightNow-Request@MailList.Net and on the SUBJECT LINE put the single word: unsubscribe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: Column, April 23 (fwd) Date: 24 Apr 1997 12:26:30 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- FROM MOUNTAIN MEDIA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATED APRIL 23, 1997 THE LIBERTARIAN, By Vin Suprynowicz Debunking the bad science of the baby-doctors Dr. Bernard Feldman, of the Department of Pediatrics of the University of Nevada School of Medicine, wrote to me on April 9: "Each time the issue of gun safety and control is brought up, your editorials invoke the issue of Second Amendment rights, rather than discussing the real issue of gun-related violence and deaths due to gunfire. "Pediatric firearm injuries are reaching epidemic proportions in the United States. In 1993, one American child (under age 20) was killed every 92 minutes by gunfire. Additionally, five more were wounded in the same time. Half of the gunshot deaths occurred with the dead kid's own finger on the trigger, being signed out by the coroner as either an accident or suicide. Handguns kept at home are 10 times more likely to injure a household occupant than an intruder. In that same household, suicide is five time more likely to occur and domestic homicide three times more likely. "Violence due to gunfire should be treated like any other epidemic disease. If society wishes to protect children from having a slug of lead slamming into their heads or chests and succumbing to this disease, ... parents should know whether guns are present in the homes of their children's friends and, if they are, ask whether the gun is locked in a safe place not accessible to children. In this way parents can make informed decisions about allowing their children to play in such a home. ... "If your editorials would promote such preventive measures, you would be doing your readers a far better service than stirring up hysteria about the loss of constitutional rights. Certainly, our founding fathers would have had second thoughts about the Second Amendment if they could have predicted the consequences of allowing the citizenry to retain their right to keep a loaded musket in their homes." # # # Knowing that no rebuttal by a mere layman would carry much weight in the face of the kind of grasp of statistical and causative reasoning displayed here by Dr. Feldman, I contacted Dr. Edgar A. Suter, M.D., national chairman of Doctors for Integrity in Policy Research, of San Ramon, Calif., to ask if he'd be willing to briefly respond. The next day, Dr. Suter answered via fax: "Dear Mr. Suprynowicz: According to the latest review of the 1990 Harvard Medical Practice Study, every year 180,000 Americans die from physician negligence -- nearly five times the number of Americans who die by gunshot. Careless doctors kill the equivalent of two jumbo jet crashes every three days. "Are physicians an epidemic public health menace? Of course not, because physicians save so many more lives than they take -- and so it is with guns, where every year 2.5 million Americans use guns every year to protect themselves, their families, and their livelihoods. Guns are used to save lives, prevent injuries, avert medical costs, and protect property. "Dr. Feldman's discussion of 'costs' of guns in the absence of a discussion of their benefits is poor accounting -- like trying to balance a checkbook by tallying withdrawals without adding deposits. Even Dr. Feldman's claim of an 'epidemic' is false, as any careful physician can observe from FBI data. Violence has been stable to declining for every racial and demographic group in the U.S. (start ital)except(end ital) for inner city teens and young adults involved in drug trafficking. Three-quarters of homicide 'victims' are criminals. "Dr. Feldman's American Academy of Pediatrics pretends that 20-year-old dueling drug dealers are 'innocent children.' Sensationalized reporting of relatively rare tragedies involving 'innocent children' notwithstanding, the most certain means of avoiding homicide in the U.S. is to avoid the drug trade. "By definition, criminals break laws. Predators who ignore laws against rape, murder, and drug trafficking also ignore gun laws. It is only the innocent victims who respect and are impeded and disarmed by gun laws. Victim disarmament is (start ital)not(end ital) a policy that saves lives. "As to suicide, gun controls have been shown to reduce (start ital)gun(end ital) suicides, but not (start ital)total(end ital) suicide rates because many lethal means (hanging, leaping, and auto exhaust) are even more accessible than guns. Suicide rates in the supposed gun-free paradises of Japan and Europe far outstrip U.S. suicide rates. ... "Without exception, all 15 of the studies of the protective use of firearms demonstrate one to four million -- or more! -- protective uses of guns annually, saving about 400,000 lives annually. The benefits of guns far outweigh the combined detriment of criminal, suicidal, and careless gun misuse -- 400,000 lives saved dwarf 38,000 gun deaths. "The University of Chicago Lott & Mustard study of progressive reform of concealed handgun laws, allowing good citizens to protect themselves where they are at greatest risk -- outside their homes -- demonstrated that, rather than "blood running in the streets," the net outcome of these reforms has been thousands of lives saved and violent crimes prevented. Guns offer an overwhelming net benefit in our society. "We can give Dr. Feldman some credit for his gun safety suggestions, but his suggestion that we treat crime as a disease is as ridiculous as treating disease as a crime." # # # In the limited space available, Dr. Suter could only touch on the kinds of statistical manipulation now in regular use by the nation's baby doctors in their well-organized "Guns are a Disease" campaign. For a really detailed dissection of this fraud, I recommend the Winter, 1997 special edition of "The Firearms Sentinel," featuring the treatise "Disarming the Data Doctors: How to Debunk the 'Public Health' Argument for 'Gun Control'," by Richard W. Stevens, adjunct professor of Legal Research and Writing, George Washington University School of Law. The publication is available at $5 (50 copies for $29.95) from Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, 2874 S. Wentworth Ave., Milwaukee, Wisc. 53207. The JPFO web page is at http://www.mcs.net/~lpyleprn/jpfo.html. Vin Suprynowicz is the assistant editorial page editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Readers may contact him via e-mail at vin@lvrj.com. The web site for the Suprynowicz column is at http://www.nguworld.com/vindex/. The column is syndicated in the United States and Canada via Mountain Media Syndications, P.O. Box 4422, Las Vegas Nev. 89127. *** Vin Suprynowicz, vin@lvrj.com Voir Dire: A French term which means "jury stacking." =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= To unsubscribe from this mailing list, DISREGARD ANY INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE and go to the Web page at http://www.maillist.net/rightnow.html. New subscriptions can also be entered at this page. If you cannot access the World Wide Web, send an e-mail message to RightNow-Request@MailList.Net and on the SUBJECT LINE put the single word: unsubscribe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Chris Ferris Subject: Anti-Government Extremist White House Supremacist Group Sparks Stand Off In Washington - Peruvian Government Sends Singing Help Date: 24 Apr 1997 15:22:58 -0400 (EDT) THIS IS A SATIRE THIS IS A SATIRE THIS IS A SATIRE THIS IS A SATIRE National news networks are reporting that an anti-government extremist group allegedly composed of White House supremacists has taken over a residential building located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. The group vows to remain there until the Year 2000. While not yet positively linked to any well known left-wing-militia-etheridge-come-to-my-window-radical organizations, the group's leader, an Arkansas Hillbilly named Billy Jeff Clinton, maintains that his close-knit anti-government extremist White House supremacists hate and distrust the government simply because the government is, in fact, the American people. Self-appointed, so-called "hate monitoring" groups nationwide have been thrown into a veritable tizzy by this latest turn of events. One spokesperson of such a "hate tracking" group who preferred to remain anonymous whined, "We're totally screwed now that Clintonistas hate 'the government' because 'the government' is the people! What are we supposed to do now ... report 'Clintonista hate mongers' to themselves? I mean, this could get very, very confusing!" The FBI's HRT (Hillbilly Rassling Team) has surrounded the residence and is playing hard core rap music through loudspeakers in an attempt to drive the anti-government extremist White House supremacists out of their NPR-loving minds. FBI Director Louie Louie Freeh has been in contact with President Alberto Fujimori in Peru and has asked Fujimori to send Peruvian Army commandos to Washington to assist in resolving this unexpected stand off. Fujimori has responded thus far only by sending to Washington the Peruvian Army Chorus, all of whom have been practicing singing the "It Takes A While To Faze a Village (of Clintonistas)" lullaby in Spanish. A passerby interviewed by a reporter from a prominent national news network commented, "If I am 'the government', which I now know I am, why should those extremist White House supremacist nuts holed up inside 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue hate me for no reason other than that they do not trust me to make my own decisions and to run my own life? This new brand of anti-government extremism, where bigoted White House supremacists hate us, the American people, we who comprise our own government, well, it has to be roundly and openly condemned by all Americans who do not need their lives to be run by Clinton's 'know betters' ... and that Arkansan Billy Jeff and his gang are certainly a bunch of 'know betters' ... why, I hear that he is calling his bunch of rag-tag militia 'Wee Willie's Volunteers' and that the group has been drilling outside the Oval Office. And I also hear that he has called for a national 'summit meeting' of like-minded 'volunteers.' 'Volunteers', yeah, right. I'll wager a month's pay that Willie's pals are sneaky, dangerous 'domestic extremists', every last one of them. Something has to be done about these anti-government extremist White House supremacist nuts. And soon." As the sun set above the site yesterday evening, Squeal Team Sex navel commandos from The Arkansas Navy could be seen moving Serta mattresses into position around the residence in preparation to be assaulted. The commanding officer of the Team, Ms. Tawny Kitten, commented, "We are not taking any chances with the likes of Billie Jeff. We Arkansan billitary professionals have encountered him before. We can predict his every move. We surmise that we will soon hear the voice of Johnny Paycheck booming out of the residence, shouting from boom box loudspeakers, 'Take This Job and Shove It!' But, battle-hardened billitary bimbos that we are, we will just be patient, we will continue to watch, wait and see what develops." Stay tuned to your local radio channels and TV stations for recurring updates regarding this latest Clintonista-created crisis, a crisis which makes a tidal wave of Whitewater appear to be but a small puddle. THIS IS A SATIRE THIS IS A SATIRE THIS IS A SATIRE THIS IS A SATIRE Christopher C. Ferris Litchfield NH ferriscc@mainstream.net (Think about it ... if we, the people, comprise 'the government', is not the Clinton Administration "anti-government" in an extreme way? Think about it. One can turn hysterical, neighbor-fearing fools' own words against them, yes, one can. In the words of the Nike ad, "Let's do it!") ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: New World Order - No such thing (ha!) (fwd) Date: 24 Apr 1997 14:13:16 PST On Apr 24, Dave Rydel wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] >Return-Path: >From: msmith01@eng.eds.com (Mark A. Smith) >Subject: New World Order - No such thing (ha!) >To: piml@mars.galstar.com (piml) >Date: Thu, 24 Apr 1997 11:13:44 -0400 (EDT) >Cc: prj@mail.msen.com (prj) > >USA to become 2nd class world power, >with a blessing from the Klinton Whitehouse. >-------------------------------------------- > > China, Russia issue U.S. superpower > challenge > April 24, 1997 > > BY MITCHELL LANDSBERG > Associated Press > > MOSCOW -- The presidents of Russia > and China agreed Wednesday to work > toward a new world order in which > regional powers would supplant the > United States as the world's lone > superpower. > > In language that sometimes recalled > an earlier era, Boris Yeltsin and > Jiang Zemin signed a joint statement > that called for the development of a > multipolar world that no one country > could dominate. > > "It is necessary to put an end to the > cold war mentality and oppose the > bloc policy," Yeltsin and Jiang said > in reference to the NATO alliance. > They also spoke of the importance of > the nonaligned movement -- a term not > often heard since the collapse of the > Soviet Union. > > In their statement and in remarks > afterward, both presidents implicitly > challenged the United States' status > as the world's only superpower -- > without ever mentioning it by name. > > Yeltsin said afterward that the > summit had "a tremendous, perhaps > even historic importance, because > we're determining the fate of the > 21st Century." > > China and Russia, once the lumbering > giants of world communism, were > rivals for decades but in recent > years have moved toward warmer > relations. Jiang came to Moscow on > Tuesday for a five-day visit designed > to cement a closer relationship. > > In addition to signing the "new world > order" statement, Jiang and Yeltsin > agreed that Russian Prime Minister > Viktor Chernomyrdin would visit China > in late June, and Yeltsin would go to > China in November. > > The new Sino-Russian friendship is > grounded in economic self-interest, > which may prove stronger than the > ideological bond that snapped in the > late 1950s. The two countries share a > vast border and have increased trade > sharply -- by 25 percent last year > alone. > > After Wednesday's meeting, spokesmen > for Jiang and Yeltsin said Russia and > China would sign a contract next > month for Russia to build a nuclear > power plant in China. > > So far, China's market reforms have > been far more successful than > Russia's, and Russia may have more to > gain from expanded trade. Also, with > NATO expanding on Russia's western > flank, Yeltsin may also be looking to > lessen the military threat to the > east. > > Today, Yeltsin and Jiang will be > joined by the presidents of the > Central Asian nations of Kazakstan, > Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to sign a > pact to reduce troops along the > 4,300-mile former Soviet-Chinese > border. > > > All content copyright 1997 Detroit Free Press > > To receive posts from this list send an E-MAIL to me with the word "subscribe" in the subject box. ================================================================== EAGLEFLIGHT ///, //// \ /, / >. David E. Rydel \ /, _/ /. ***** \_ /_/ /. United States Theatre Command \__/_ < Voice-810-391-0798 /<<< \_\_ Fax-810-391-6785 /,)^>>_._ \ Alt.Fax-810-391-3528 (/ \\ /\\\ E-MAIL: EAGLEFLT@FLASH.NET // ```` ==============((`=================================================== A VOICE OF THE MILITIAS IN NORTH AMERICA To subscribe to The Konformist, send an email to Robalini@aol.com With the phrase "I NEED TO KONFORM". [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] -- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | If Guns are | Let he who hath no | Keep weapon in every | by COLT; | outlawed, only | weapon sell his | Your hand = Freedom | DIAL | RIGHT WINGERS | garment and buy a | Powder on every side! | 1911-A1. | will have Guns. | sword. Jesus Christ | Dry. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: sabutigo@teleport.com Subject: Re: Emergency! Bob Dole Betrays Conservatives by Endorsing the Date: 24 Apr 1997 15:51:34 -0700 (PDT) At 08:14 AM 4/24/97 -0500, you wrote: > > > > >---------- Forwarded message ---------- >Date: Wed, 23 Apr 1997 17:44:19 -0500 >From: Eagle Forum >To: eagle@eagleforum.org >Subject: Emergency! Bob Dole Betrays Conservatives by Endorsing the CWC > > EMERGENCY ALERT > Thousand of Phone Calls Needed on Thursday >_____________________________________________ > Bob Dole Betrays Conservatives This is NOT news. BD has never been a conservative. S. "Life is always hopelessly complex to those who have no priniciples." -- Joseph Sobran "The most dangerous kind of ignorance is the ignorance of the educated." -- Thomas Sowell ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: sabutigo@teleport.com Subject: Re: Emergency! Bob Dole Betrays Conservatives by Endorsing the Date: 24 Apr 1997 15:51:34 -0700 (PDT) At 08:14 AM 4/24/97 -0500, you wrote: > > > > >---------- Forwarded message ---------- >Date: Wed, 23 Apr 1997 17:44:19 -0500 >From: Eagle Forum >To: eagle@eagleforum.org >Subject: Emergency! Bob Dole Betrays Conservatives by Endorsing the CWC > > EMERGENCY ALERT > Thousand of Phone Calls Needed on Thursday >_____________________________________________ > Bob Dole Betrays Conservatives This is NOT news. BD has never been a conservative. S. "Life is always hopelessly complex to those who have no priniciples." -- Joseph Sobran "The most dangerous kind of ignorance is the ignorance of the educated." -- Thomas Sowell ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: BludyRed@aol.com Subject: Bill of Attainder Project Date: 24 Apr 1997 23:35:48 -0400 (EDT) pwatson@utdallas.edu posts: >>Subject: Re: Bill Of Attainder Project (fwd) ====================================================================== The Lautenberg Act and Bills Of Attainder by Thomas M. Saunders<< snip>> The following forwarded from the NJ-RKBA list. I am trying to get a copy of the papers to verify. NJ is the home of the "Honorable" Frank Lautenberg Regards, Dennis Baron ---------- A colleague of mine pointed out some articles in The Star Ledger and The Home News & Tribune that were published in the Tuesdays (4/22) edition. The headline in The Star Ledger read "Domestic call leads to arms haul" while The Home News & Tribune reads "Domestic complaint uncovers gun cache". The story is about the father of a 32-year-old man who had a domestic-violence complaint filed against him. The son, who sheriff Ralph Froehlich did not want to identify because "the confiscation and arrest last week were the result of a domestic violence incident and he did not want to invade the privacy of the complainant or other innocent family members." (SL), was accused of domestic-violence. The police came to his residence and the victim (of the domestic-violence, the son's wife) surrendered two firearms. She then told police that the "subject of the restraining order had relocated to his parent's home" (HN&T). "The officers, tipped off to the possibility of a weapons cache at the Elizabeth address (the parent's home), went before Superior Court Judge Melvin Whitken, who extended the restraining order to include confiscation of weapons, the sheriff said." "Froehlich said even weapons registered to other family members may be confiscated from a residence to assure protection of the *alleged* (emphasis mine) victim of domestic violence." The police proceeded to the parent's home and confiscated an additional 42 weapons and 27 magazines. Some of the magazines were loaded (that's how the HN&T described them, don't ask me.) and were for assault weapons (also from the HN&T) that were not recovered. Because there were magazines that didn't match up to any of the guns they confiscated, the police suspected that there were still more guns somewhere. "Armed on Friday with another expansion to the restraining order - which included the Norwood Terrace address (the parent's home) and a business the father owned on Amboy Avenue in Elisabeth - authorities conducted further searches." (HN&T) (NOTE: nothing has been said about a search warrant only a restraining order!) "'Twenty-three more weapon were recovered by our search team hidden among equipment in the yard of the Amboy Avenue business.' DeTrolio said. 'Once we had found several items, the suspect told us where the other things were.'" "Of the weapons gathered the second day, three were found to be banned assault weapons - a 9mm Uzi, a .45-caliber Thompson submachine gun (which is actually a semiautomatic), and a Ruger mini-14 - and one was a .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol with its serial number defaced, police said." Because of this the father was charged with 3 counts of unlawful possession of assault firearms and one count of possession of a defaced firearm. The son was only charged with the domestic-violence complaint. "DeTrolio added that authorities are investigating two other of the confiscated guns to determine whether to charge the father with two more unlawful possessions." Another tribute to the fact that the law is so vague that even the police don't know what is banned and what is not. The sheriff, Ralph Froehlich, had this to say: "I believe firmly in the constitution and the right to bear arms. This incident, however, demonstrates the absolute need for a more effective means of gun registration and control. One family had 65 firearms in their possession. Three of these weapons were illegal (although I bet they were purchased legally!!!) one was defaced, and four handguns were found fully loaded. (How else do you defend your home from invasion or unwelcome intruders? Oops sorry that would include the Sheriff.) Storage of a loaded gun is an invitation to disaster. (They were fine up until they were confiscated!) How many guns does a person need? (It's not about need. Obviously 65 of them were not enough to keep the intrusive government out.) If you have Tuesday's Star Ledger or Home News & Tribune laying around, I would suggest reading the articles. It is on page B3 of The Home News & Tribune and I don't know what page of The Star Ledger, my colleague cut out the article and didn't know the page #. Jim F. Your worst nightmare is coming true. END ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: A MUST READ - Does Contacting Washington Do Any Good? (fwd) Date: 25 Apr 1997 09:34:28 PST On Apr 25, James B. Andrews wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] This commentary is from "Direct Line with Paul Weyrich", which appears on NET. You can read more of Paul Weyrich's commentaries at http://net.fcref.org/pwcomm/basepwc.htm Does Contacting Washington Do Any Good? April 21, 1997 by: Paul M. Weyrich Last night I filled in for Bill Lind with Brad Keena on the show "Next Revolution." We discussed "establishment conservatives" who sell out their country at critical moments in order to court favor with those in power. A question kept arising, however, which deserves more attention than we were able to give it on that show, and it is a matter which is raised frequently on Direct Line as well. Questioners legitimately ask: "Does contacting my Senator or Congressman really do any good because they seem to do what they please anyway." Well, let me make some observations, based on more than 30 years in this town, as a one-time staff member for two Senate leaders, and as a close observer of the congressional scene. If you drew a diagram of the U.S. Senate in philosophical terms you would place a minority of Senators, about 20 to be exact, on the right side. These are Senators who take their philosophy seriously. Except for an occasional tip toward local interests, they are reliable conservatives. They will vote right on questions of sovereignty, free enterprise, strong defense and traditional moral values--even when the world isn't watching or the ratings aren't being calculated. Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina or Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma come to mind. On the left side you would find a somewhat larger group, but still a minority. I put their number at 30. These Senators will vote the liberal line no matter what. They can even stand up to be counted on issues which are unpopular back home. Your freedom is less important to them than their vision of a powerful central government busily arranging all your affairs, and they are committed to a world government that can do the same thing on a global scale. They support measures to make radical lifestyles legitimate. Senator Ted Kennedy or the Senate Minority Leader, Tom Daschle, serve as good examples of this group. The rest of the Senators, about 50 in all by my calculations, are up for grabs. Oh, they have preferences and because they are forced to vote, they will in due course come down on one side or the other. But these Senators would be happy if they never had to take a stand, because that way they wouldn't get anyone upset. Their primary concern is their image and their own well being. Obviously, to win, conservatives need 31 of these 50 Senators for a matter which involves a majority vote, 21 of this same group to sustain a filibuster and 14 from this lot when opposing the ratifying of a treaty. Liberals, in order to win, need fewer from this group. They need only 21 for a majority, 10 to sustain a filibuster, and just 4 to defeat a treaty, although they are the ones usually pushing for the 67 votes to ratify treaties. So the question for all concerned becomes one of just how to get the votes of those who have no philosophy. The group of 50 can be divided into two parts. First there are those who are sincerely uncommitted. They number about 8 or so. These are people of extremely small vision. They never see the big picture. They want to do the right thing, but to win them over you have to satisfy their petty objections. It is hard for conservatives to get them because we usually speak in terms of the big picture, which they do not see at all. That leaves a large bloc of 42 Senators who belong to what I call the "insincerely uncommitteds." They make up their minds based solely on how they believe their vote will help them or hurt them. The only way you can get these Senators to vote with you is to make the linkage between your issue and their future. This is why we lose so many votes. We fail to make that connection. The left is brilliant at doing so. When President Reagan nominated the extraordinary scholar and appeals court judge Robert Bork to the U.S. Supreme Court, the initial reading in the Senate was that he would be confirmed by a decent margin. Many Democrats expressed support for him. Not only did the left crank up letters and get resolutions passed opposing Bork (as we often suggest our viewers do), but they threatened primary opponents against those Democrats who would vote for him. Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas was a good case in point. Bentsen initially said nice things about Bork. The liberals in Texas told him that if he supported Bork he would have a primary opponent. They even produced a would-be candidate. Bentsen thought Bork was qualified to be on the Supreme Court but he didn't want him badly enough to raise a few million dollars to fight off a primary challenge. So he turned around and came out against Bork. So did many other Senators for whom putting Bork on the court was not worth the cost in their own terms. Right-of-center people are much softer and nicer. They have strong convictions and some will even rattle sabers, but when all is said and done, they forgive those who cross them. Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, for example, was elected with the help of conservatives, just last year. He is listed as leaning in favor of the Chemical Weapons Convention. He has heard from few voters in Kansas on the issue. Some conservatives have complained, but no one of substance who supported his candidacy has stepped forward and said "Sam, if you vote for this treaty, we will run this candidate against you in the primary next year." That would cause him to have to make a real choice. Obviously, with the vote scheduled for this Thursday, no such scenario can now be played out. But you get my point. You don't always have to run a candidate against these Senators to get their attention. We lost several votes on the time extension on the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution just because the radical feminists threatened to make life miserable for the Senators by showing up to protest at their every public appearance. The radical feminists are just nasty enough to be credible in making that threat. In short, there are two ways to solve the problem we constantly have respecting the Congress. We can either find some more really principled men and women to run for the Senate and get them elected. Or, to win the "insincerely uncommitteds," we need to be credible in linking our issues to their future. That is what most of them really care about. Since they seek the absence of pain, they will go with whatever side has the capacity to inflict the most. The leftists in this country win votes they shouldn't win precisely because they are capable of making trouble for whoever steps out of line. The right loses those same votes in Congress because when push comes to shove they are not usually serious when they make threats. As is the case with children, the Senators soon figure out the difference between words and actions. What I just said about the Senate can be applied in the same manner to the House of Representatives. And the same diagram can be made for state legislatures and even many city and county legislative bodies. Politicians are politicians. It may be that for one unique time in our early history we had people who rose above that status to take the risk to found our nation. But today we have what we have and if we want to win there is no sense in treating the majority in Congress as statesmen who really listen to rational arguments. If you want to win these tough votes, you need to get together and organize and link your issue to their future. I guarantee that will get their attention. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= To unsubscribe from this mailing list, DISREGARD ANY INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE and go to the Web page at http://www.maillist.net/rightnow.html. New subscriptions can also be entered at this page. If you cannot access the World Wide Web, send an e-mail message to RightNow-Request@MailList.Net and on the SUBJECT LINE put the single word: unsubscribe [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] -- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | If Guns are | Let he who hath no | Keep weapon in every | by COLT; | outlawed, only | weapon sell his | Your hand = Freedom | DIAL | RIGHT WINGERS | garment and buy a | Powder on every side! | 1911-A1. | will have Guns. | sword. Jesus Christ | Dry. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: John Curtis Subject: Re: A Dallas Review of the Movie Waco The Rules of Engagement (fwd) Date: 25 Apr 1997 16:03:20 -0400 Paul Watson - thanks for posting the movie review, it makes me think I *must* see it, though it sounds heart wrenching. ON an unrelated note, this week's The New Republic (centrist Democrat weekly political rag) calls for the resignation of Janet Reno, based upon her ignoring "what is plain to anyone with eyes", which is, paraphrasing: Bill Clinton ran the organization collecting contributions that were made illegally and benefited him and his campaign. Don't know if anything is going to come of it, but even his friends are starting to slowly turn. ciao, jcurtis ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: MRC Alert: Tagegate Avoided; Biting Burton; Chain Saw Ted (fwd) Date: 25 Apr 1997 16:54:52 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- ***Media Research Center CyberAlert*** Friday, April 25, 1997 (Vol. Two; No. 57) Tagegate Avoided; Biting Burton; Chain Saw Ted #### Distributed to over 2,100 recipients by the Media Research Center, bringing political balance to the media. Visit the MRC on the Web: http://www.mediaresearch.org. Past CyberAlerts can be read at: http://www.mediaresearch.org/mrc/cyberalert/ Subscribe/unsubscribe information at end of this message. #### 1) Media ignore developments in a scandal, but it's not the fundraising scandal. Remember tapegate and Jim McDermott? 2) The first illegal foreign campaign donations in 12 years all go to Democrats. What does CBS highlight? Dan Burton's legal donations. 3) Ted Koppel not concerned about China trampling on the rights of Hong Kong residents. Meanwhile, he tramples over U.S. laws. > 1) Late Wednesday afternoon the wire services moved a story announcing that John and Alice Martin, the couple which had taped the cellular phone call of Newt Gingrich stratagizing with top Republicans, had agreed to plead guilty to wiretapping charges and will cooperate with investigators. The Washington Times put the news across the top of page one on Thursday and every other major paper ran stories inside. Washington Times reporter Laurie Kellman explained the seriousness of the investigation: "Among those who handled the tape or knew of it before excerpts were published in the New York Times on January 13 were Rep. Jim McDermott, to whom the Martins say they gave the tape; House Minority Whip David Bonior, whose staff allegedly suggested immunity for the couple; and Karen Thurman, Florida Democrat, to whom the couple first sent the tape. Yesterday's plea bargain with the Martins indicates that the Justice Department is pursuing more serious charges against lawmakers and aides." The Times quoted a Deputy Assistant Attorney General noting that anyone disseminating the tape committed a felony. Coverage of this development: A brief item on CNN's The World Today Wednesday night. But not a word on the April 23 or April 24 ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News or NBC Nightly News, nor a syllable about it on Thursday's morning shows. While the networks are ignoring the story the newspapers which published quotes from the tape are actively impeding the investigation. In an April 3 Washington Times story reporter Brian Blomquist relayed that "Deputy Assistant Attorney General Robert Litt asked the New York Times, the Atlanta Constitution and Roll Call in a March 26 letter to hand over their tapes voluntarily, along with 'any accompanying letter' from their source." The media outlets refused to help: "The newspapers said they would not cooperate in a matter that might reveal a source." A look back at coverage of the taped call will remind you of the media's angle: more interested in how it could be used to hurt Gingrich than in the unethical way in which it was obtained. On the January 13 CBS Evening News Dan Rather introduced a story by focusing not on the ethics of Democrats but on how Republicans are guilty of trying to change topics: "On Capitol Hill the House today was supposed to begin making full disclosure of House Speaker Newt Gingrich's ethical violations and tax problems. It didn't. And what's more, now there's an added ethics allegation based on what Gingrich said, in what he thought was a secret telephone call, which Democrats say is proof that Gingrich violated a promise to the House ethics committee not to mount a political damage control effort. But Republicans tried to shift the focus today away from what Gingrich actually said. Bob Schieffer has the latest." The next night, on the January 14 CBS Evening News, reporter Wyatt Andrews demonstrated how easy it is to tune in a cellular call and reviewed how the Martins claimed they caught the call, then concluded his piece: "...So now the Martins could be charged with a crime. Congressman James McDermott, who leaked the tape, could be charged with a crime and ironically, in the ways of Washington, mini-tapegate has for five days sidetracked substantive ethics charges against the Speaker of the House." Three months later and the networks have yet to get sidetracked from their obsession with Gingrich. > 2) Disclosures on the fundraising front haven't relented, but the networks refuse to cover them. Here are two items from this week: -- New York Times reporters Jeff Gerth, David Sanger and Sheryl WuDunn figured out why the Riaddy family of Indonesia poured so much money into the Democratic Party. They planned to buy a big U.S. bank, a move that would require approval from several regulatory agencies. The controversy over their donations and their representative, John Huang, dissuaded them from the idea. In a front page story on Thursday, April 24, the Times reporters explained: "The disclosure that the family intended to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a California bank offers the first significant indication that the Riady family had a specific business interest that would have required help from a range of government agencies and regulators..." -- "FEC Probing Illegal Funds from India," declared an April 23 page one headline in The Hill, a newspaper covering Capitol Hill. Reporter Jock Friedly discovered: "In the first solid evidence of illegal campaign contributions by a foreign government official in a dozen years, the Federal Election Commission is investigating at least $46,000 in contributions from a senior Indian intelligence officer to 18 current and former Democratic congressional candidates. The confidential FEC investigation -- which some critics fear has run off-track -- focuses on the activities of Lalit Gadhia, a long-time Maryland political activist who has ties to Gov. Parris Glendening (D) and pled guilty last summer to a felony charge of making false statements in campaign disclosures. "Gadhia has admitted receiving $100 bills from a top Indian Embassy official and illegally laundering the cash through Indian-Americans to election campaigns of India-friendly Democrats. The scheme, denied by the Embassy, was discovered by FBI agents who found receipts of packages that Gadhia sent to the Embassy, The Hill has learned. "This saga of international intrigue has drawn little attention despite the current concern about foreign money in U.S. elections." Indeed, none of the networks, not even CNN picked up the Hill revelation of "illegal" donations to Democrats. But when the Center for Responsive Politics made an announcement about legal fundraising by Congressman Dan Burton, chair of the House committee investigating fundraising, at least one network found it newsworthy. During the 8am news update on the April 17 CBS This Morning, MRC news analyst Steve Kaminski noticed, anchor Jose Diaz-Balart intoned: "Indiana Congressman Dan Burton who chairs the House committee investigating campaign fundraising turns out to have a somewhat unusual record himself: 84 percent of the money Burton raised for last election came from outside his state. It's important to state that there's nothing illegal about that." Then why is it news? (You can read the full story from The Hill at: http://www.hillnews.com) > 3) Friday's Nightline begins the first of a three-part look at Hong Kong by Ted Koppel, who was based there for ABC News from 1969 to 1971. But Koppel's not very concerned about the impending takeover by the Peoples Republic of China. In Thursday's USA Today, "Inside TV" columnist Peter Johnson reported that "Koppel predicts not much will change." Koppel told Johnson: "Everyone is focusing on what the nasty Chinese are going to do when they takeover Hong Kong, which now has some of the trappings of a democracy. But remember: Those trappings are pretty new." What Hong Kong has had is a bit more than just the "trappings of democracy." A fully democratically-elected legislature is new, but Hong Kong has long benefited from a common law legal system, independent judiciary, and guaranteed personal freedoms, including freedom of the press, speech, assembly and travel -- all rights denied in the PRC. In the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 China agreed to uphold these rights and to allow Hong Kong to govern itself. China has already violated the deal by forming an appointed legislature that will replace the current elected one when China takes over on July 1. And comments from China's leaders have made clear they have no intention of allowing any political opposition. Koppel doesn't seem to mind China's lack of regard for the rule of law, and he doesn't have much respect for it either if it gets in the way the view from his backyard deck. The National Park Service recently had to stop some workers, whom Koppel had hired, from cutting down tree branches in a national park that blocked the view of the C&O Canal and Potomac River from property Koppel owns in Montgomery County, Maryland. In the April 21 Washington Post Al Kamen reported that Koppel, who "doesn't want to see people when he looks out over the canal and Potomac, says the workers were not doing 'anything illegal. We were cutting things less than six inches in diameter that we were permitted to cut.'" Douglas Faris, Superintendent of the C&O Canal National Historic Park, disagreed, telling Kamen: "Periodically we get someone doing what they shouldn't be doing." Kamen noted that "some folks are fined thousands of dollars for cutting without permission," but no such penalty is contemplated for Koppel. And Washington media stars complain that Bob Dole gave Newt Gingrich a "sweetheart deal." -- Brent Baker >>> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: mrc-cyber-request@list.us.net. Put "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" in the BODY of the message, NOT in the subject line. Problems and comments can be addressed to: cyber@mediaresearch.org <<< =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= To unsubscribe from this mailing list, DISREGARD ANY INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE and go to the Web page at http://www.maillist.net/rightnow.html. New subscriptions can also be entered at this page. If you cannot access the World Wide Web, send an e-mail message to RightNow-Request@MailList.Net and on the SUBJECT LINE put the single word: unsubscribe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tom Cloyes Subject: [Fwd: Selected Cities for Waco Movie] Date: 27 Apr 1997 02:00:40 -0400 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------7A03310C7728 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit -- "You exceed your rights when you urge that laws be made in the shape of your conscience to block the pleasures permitted by mine. When you people prevail, you commit a crime against freedom, and that is the greatest immorality I know." -Vance Bourjaily, Country Matters (no date avail). Thanks to:Mark Johnson (onethumb@why.net) "A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." Benjamin Franklin "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies." --Thomas Jefferson (Thanks to Pat Fosness) --------------7A03310C7728 Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Received: from megalinx.net (first.megalinx.net [204.248.169.10]) by mail.bright.net (8.8.5/8.8.5/FNG) with SMTP id QAA17494 for ; Fri, 25 Apr 1997 16:07:27 -0400 (EDT) Received: (qmail 25369 invoked by uid 0); 25 Apr 1997 20:02:36 -0000 Received: from annex32.megalinx.net (HELO megalinx.net) (208.7.65.32) by first.megalinx.net with SMTP; 25 Apr 1997 20:02:36 -0000 Message-Id: <3.0.16.19970425155750.2d17ccc6@megalinx.net> X-Sender: eplurib@megalinx.net X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0 (16) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" NOTE: Some of these dates are still tentative, and some have yet to be officially announced. But for those of you who like to plan ahead, especially if you might be facing an out-of-town trip, here are the latest venues for seeing "WACO: THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT." We now have cities for some of the previous theater announcements. As these dates are "firmed up," I'll post follow-up announcements. SPREAD THE WORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [tba = to be announced] ================================================================= "WACO: THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT" will be showing at: ================================================================= THE HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH FILM FESTIVAL New York, NY (more details as they become available) Showing June 6 & 8 - (exact dates tba) ============================== The Cinema Village New York, NY (more details as they become available) Showing June 13 - tentative ============================== THE FLORIDA FILM FESTIVAL Maitland, FL (more details as they become available) Showing June 13 -18 - (exact dates tba) ============================== The Coolidge Corner Brookline, MA (more details as they become available) Showing in June - (exact dates tba) ============================== The MagicTheater Nevada City, CA (more details as they become available) Showing in July - (exact dates tba) ============================== The Key Theatre Washington, DC (more details as they become available) Showing in June or July - (exact dates tba) ============================== Rice University Houston, TX (more details as they become available) Showing in June or July - (exact dates tba) ============================== ==> And don't forget these previously announced theaters in which the film is either now playing, or will be playing soon during May and the first week of June: SEBASTOPOL CINEMAS 6868 McKinley Street Sebastopol, CA 95472 707-829-3921 Showing daily at 3pm & 7pm April 26 - May 2 - (possibly longer) THE DOBIE THEATER 2021 Guadalupe Austin, Texas 512-472-3456 Dobie Homepage Showing May 2 - 8 - (possibly longer) ATLANTA FILM FESTIVAL AMC PHIPPS PLAZA 14 3500 Peachtree Road N.E. Atlanta, GA (across the street from The Lenox Mall) Showing June 1 [END] ================================================== E Pluribus Unum - http://home.megalinx.net/~eplurib/home.html Patriot Personals - for Lovers of Liberty & Hearts that need love http://home.megalinx.net/~eplurib/personal/personal.htm "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" Hosea 4:6 P.O. Box 381; Groveport, OH 43125; (614) 836-7650 mailto:eplurib@megalinx.net --------------7A03310C7728-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: (Humor) - Teach Your Child About Politics (fwd) Date: 27 Apr 1997 00:05:53 PST This just about says it all. One of the best arguments against the Nanny State I've seen to date. On Apr 26, Ed Wolfe wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] [Sorry if this is a repost. I've lost a track a little of what's been where. - Ed] Teach Your Child About Politics by Joseph Sobran Because I write about politics, people are forever asking me the best way to teach children how our system of government works. I tell them that they can give their own children a basic civics course right in their own homes. In my own experience as a father, I have discovered several simple devices that can illustrate to a child's mind the principles on which the modern state deals with its citizens. You may find them helpful, too. For example, I used to play the simple card game WAR with my son. After a while, when he thoroughly understood that the higher ranking cards beat the lower ranking ones, I created a new game I called GOVERNMENT. In this game, I was Government, and I won every trick, regardless of who had the better card. My boy soon lost interest in my new game, but I like to think it taught him a valuable lesson for later in life. When your child is a little older, you can teach him about our tax system in a way that is easy to grasp. Offer him, say, $10 to mow the lawn. When he has mowed it and asks to be paid, withhold $5 and explain that this is income tax. Give $1 to his younger brother, and tell him that this is "fair". Also, explain that you need the other $4 yourself to cover the administrative costs of dividing the money. When he cries, tell him he is being "selfish" and "greedy". Later in life he will thank you. Make as many rules as possible. Leave the reasons for them obscure. Enforce them arbitrarily. Accuse your child of breaking rules you have never told him about. Keep him anxious that he may be violating commands you haven't yet issued. Instill in him the feeling that rules are utterly irrational. This will prepare him for living under democratic government. When your child has matured sufficiently to understand how the judicial system works, set a bedtime for him and then send him to bed an hour early. When he tearfully accuses you of breaking the rules, explain that you made the rules and you can interpret them in any way that seems appropriate to you, according to changing conditions. This will prepare him for the Supreme Court's concept of the U.S. Constitution as a "living document". Promise often to take him to the movies or the zoo, and then, at the appointed hour, recline in an easy chair with a newspaper and tell him you have changed your plans. When he screams, "But you promised!", explain to him that it was a campaign promise. Every now and then, without warning, slap your child. Then explain that this is defense. Tell him that you must be vigilant at all times to stop any potential enemy before he gets big enough to hurt you. This, too, your child will appreciate, not right at that moment, maybe, but later in life. At times your child will naturally express discontent with your methods. He may even give voice to a petulant wish that he lived with another family. To forestall and minimize this reaction, tell him how lucky he is to be with you the most loving and indulgent parent in the world, and recount lurid stories of the cruelties of other parents. This will make him loyal to you and, later, receptive to schoolroom claims that the America of the postmodern welfare state is still the best and freest country on Earth. This brings me to the most important child-rearing technique of all: lying. Lie to your child constantly. Teach him that words mean nothing - or rather that the meanings of words are continually "evolving", and may be tomorrow the opposite of what they are today. Some readers may object that this is a poor way to raise a child. A few may even call it child abuse. But that's the whole point: Child abuse is the best preparation for adult life under our form of GOVERNMENT. [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] -- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | If Guns are | Let he who hath no | Keep weapon in every | by COLT; | outlawed, only | weapon sell his | Your hand = Freedom | DIAL | RIGHT WINGERS | garment and buy a | Powder on every side! | 1911-A1. | will have Guns. | sword. Jesus Christ | Dry. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Liberty or Death Subject: Eugene Stoner is gone Date: 27 Apr 1997 21:16:43 -0700 > Eugene Stoner > Created M-16 Rifle > > By HOLCOMB B. NOBLE > N.Y. Times News Service > > Eugene M. Stoner, who developed America's classic assault rifle, > the M-16, while tinkering at night in his garage, died on Thursday at his > home in Palm City, Fla. He was 74. > > The cause of death was cancer, a spokesman for the family said. > > While he had no formal engineering education,. Stoner was widely > regarded as one of the world's foremost designers of and experts on small > arms. > > His M-16 has been standard issue for the U.S. armed forces since > 1963, and he designed a wide range of weapons of various types and > calibers as well. > > He held some 100 patents on his inventions, and was a co-founder > of. Ares Inc., a weapons research and development company based in Port > Clinton, Ohio. > > He was the company's chairman until he sold his interest 10 years > ago and moved to Florida. > > There he continued working on small-arms design and development at > the Knight Manufacturing Co., completing a longer-range, .50-caliber > semiautomatic rifle within the last few months. > > His role in the development of the M-16 was stmliar to that ot > Mikhail Kalashnikov in designing the Soviet counterpart, the AK47. > Kalashnikov also had no training when, as a soldier recovering from wounds > suffered in World War II, he pieced together gun parts to build a first > version. > > The two inventors of the world's leading small, rapid-fire assault > weapons, met at several conferences, became friends and cornpared notes. > > "Mikhail, your gun is more reliable than mine," Stoner told > Kalashnikov one time. "It is simpler." > > But Stoner said that while the AK47 was less complicated and > tended to break down less often, the M-16 was lighter and fired more > accurately. > > *************************************************** > We are diminished. For those who hadn't heard, Eugene apparently had asked that his military salute at his funeral be full-auto, something which has never been done. While I have my doubts as to whether they'll do it, no one deserves it more. I hope they grant his wish. - Monte ----------------------------------------------------------------- Oh Lord, let the fire of your Holy Spirit sweep across this land, for fallen, fallen is America! Come, Lord, reveal Yourself in power and holiness to a Church that has forgotten Who You are, and to a People who have chosen to live in great darkness. Empower your children to walk in these last days in the fulness of the knowledge of Your Glory. Amen. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: gdoty@earthlink.net (Greg Doty) Subject: Concealed Weapons - Florida law Date: 28 Apr 1997 11:17:22 -0700 (PDT) CARRYING CONCEALED WEAPONS The question frequently arises as to who is permitted to carry a concealed weapon, and are licenses really necessary. The following comes directly from the Florida Statutes and the Constitution of the State of Florida. It's their laws, let's use the laws against the oppressors. *** 790.01 Carrying concealed weapons.-- (1) Whoever shall carry a concealed weapon or electric weapon or device on or about his person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. (2) Whoever shall carry a concealed firearm on or about his person shall be guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084 (3) Nothing in this section shall relate to persons licensed as set forth in ss. 790.05 and 790.06. [NOTE: This sounds pretty clear - a felony offense for not carrying a concealed weapon without a license. One would wonder if there are any exceptions.] 790.051 Exemption from licensing requirements; law enforcement officers. -- Law enforcement officers are exempt from the licensing and penal provisions of this chapter when acting at any time within the scope or course of their official duties or when actin at any time in the line of or performance of duty. [NOTE: It would appear that only "law enforcement officers" are not required to be licensed in order to carry a concealed weapon. Now, just who do they mean by "law enforcement officer"?] 790.001 Definitions.-- (8) "Law enforcement officer" means: (c) Members of the Armed Forces of the United States, the organized reserves, state militia, or Florida National Guard, when on duty, when preparing themselves for, or going to or from, military duty, or under orders. [NOTE: It would appear that non military people are out in the cold and would require a license to carry a concealed weapon. But, just who is in the state militia?] Constitution of the State of Florida (1968) ARTICLE X. Miscellaneous Section 2. Militia. -- (a) The militia shall be composed of all ablebodied inhabitants of the state who are or have declared their intention to become citizens of the United States; and no person because of religious creed or opinion shall be exempted from military duty except upon conditions provided by law. BINGO !!! All ablebodied inhabitants of the state of Florida are militia members, and therefore are not required to be licensed to carry a concealed weapon. It's their law. Without getting into the controversy over who is a (c)itizen of the United States, the above should be more than sufficient ammunition to confuse and befuddle any cop, prosecutor or judge. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: piml] Court Limits No-Knock Searches (fwd) Date: 28 Apr 1997 17:16:55 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- .c The Associated Press By RICHARD CARELLI WASHINGTON (AP) - Police armed with court warrants to search for drugs cannot always enter homes without knocking and announcing themselves, the Supreme Court ruled today. They must be able to show they had a reason to believe a suspect would be dangerous or destroy evidence if alerted to the police raid, the justices said. The court unanimously refused to create a blanket exception to its 1995 decision that said no-knock entries usually are unlawful - prohibited by the Constitution's Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches. Law enforcement officials in Wisconsin had urged the justices to adopt such an exception for drug cases. ``Creating exceptions to the knock-and-announce rule based on the `culture' surrounding a general category of criminal behavior presents at least two serious concerns,'' Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the court. While a drug investigation ``frequently does pose special risks to officer safety and the preservation of evidence, not every drug investigation will pose these risks to a substantial degree,'' he said. ``A second difficulty ... is that the reasons for creating an exception in one category can, relatively easily, be applied to others,'' Stevens said. ``Armed bank robbers, for example, are by definition likely to have weapons, and the fruits of their crimes may be destroyed without too much difficulty. ``If a per se exception were allowed for each category of criminal investigation that included a considerable ... risk of danger to officers or destruction of evidence, the knock-and-announce element of the Fourth Amendment's reasonableness requirement would be meaningless,'' he said. A Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling that allowed no-knock searches in all felony drug cases had been challenged by Steiney Richards, convicted on cocaine-related charges after a Dec. 31, 1991, raid on his motel room in Madison. But today's decision, while saying the state Supreme Court was wrong to allow a blanket exception for drug cases, upheld Richards' conviction. ``The circumstances in this case show that the officers had a reasonable suspicion that Richards might destroy evidence if given further opportunity to do so,'' Stevens said. Police who stormed Richards' room found 120 packets of cocaine in his hotel room. Richards, a 19-year-old from Detroit, was arrested after jumping out a window. He eventually was sentenced to 13 years in prison. The case is Richards vs. Wisconsin, 96-5955. AP-NY-04-28-97 1103EDT Copyright 1997 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tom Cloyes Subject: (fwd)Fw: EPU Press Release Date: 29 Apr 1997 07:27:46 -0400 >Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 02:31:51 -0800 >From: Jon Roland >Subject: Fw: EPU Press Release >To: misc-activism-militia@uunet.uu.net >References: <3.0.16.19970429021924.3077e5bc@megalinx.net> > >I wholeheartedly endorse the statement below. -- Jon Roland > > >------------------------ > From: E Pluribus Unum > Subject: EPU Press Release > Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 02:24:59 -0400 > To: eplurib@megalinx.net > > >PLEASE FORWARD TO ALL MEDIA OUTLETS > >Re: Fort Davis, Texas April 27, 1997 > >Due to the ongoing incident at Fort Davis Texas, we have received >numerous calls and email messages from Patriots and Constitutional >Militia members. To date, no one within the Constitutional >Militia has voiced support for McLaren, et.al. > >1. Richard McLaren, et.al. are not, repeat, not a Militia group >by any stretch of the imagination. They do not recognize U.S. laws, >including Title 10, U.S.C. 311. They refer themselves as the "Texas >Defense Force". They are a "defense force" of "Texas" in name only. > >2. Richard McLaren, et.al. have successfully demonstrated, by their >recent actions, what the Constitutional Militia is not. The >Constitutional Militia does not advocate the *initiation* of force >to achieve political or social goals. McLaren et.al. publicly >admitted they forcefully entered a private residence; admitted >kidnapping the residents of that private dwelling, and in so doing, >caused bodily harm to one of those individuals. Each of these acts >are criminal by any definition. These criminal acts clearly separate >the Constitutional Militia from garden variety anarchists and >insurrectionists such as McLaren et.al. > >It has been suggested that this issue should not be discussed in >the public forum, as it only leads to controversy and needless >infighting. There is no controversy. This is criminal behavior, >and is being addressed as such. As for needless infighting, we will >gladly cease communication with anyone misguided enough to condone >or endorse the criminal activity of McLaren et.al. > >3. McLaren et.al. have no intention of submitting to the authority >of the duly elected sheriff of Jeff Davis County, Texas, or any one >else. They are operating from an indefensible position, both >strategically and philosophically. Quite possibly, they have willfully >signed their own death warrants. The Sheriff of Jeff Davis County Texas, >has been Constitutionally empowered to use whatever lawful means he >has at his disposal, to bring these perpetuators to justice with the >greatest dispatch possible, to ensure the rights and liberties of the >residents of his county. > >The Third Amendment to the Constitution prohibits the use of military >force against the citizenry. These protections are afforded to >McLaren et.al. even though they do not recognize the authority of the >Constitution. > >Recognizing the volatile situation currently underway at Fort Davis, >and to avoid possible injury or loss of innocent life, we strongly >urge McLaren et.al. to relocate any non-combatants (especially >children, if any) to a safe environment. > >4. We are monitoring our communication networks for anyone condoning >the criminal activity of McLaren et.al. or anyone recruiting aid and >comfort for McLaren et.al. We will consider any such individuals who >attempt to obstruct justice insurrectionists by law, and anarchists >by nature. > >The Constitutional Militia of the United States claims NO responsibility, >or kindred sprit for the actions of Richard McLaren, and those currently >in Fort Davis, Texas giving him aid and comfort. We ask all Media >organizations to refrain from using the term "Militia" when reporting >the Fort Davis Standoff. > >Richard McLaren, et.al. have proven themselves unworthy of such a title. > >Respectfully, > >J.J. Johnson > >E Pluribus Unum - Ohio > >Please repost widely > > > >---------------End of Original Message----------------- > >=================================================================== >Constitution Society, 1731 Howe Av #370, Sacramento, CA 95825 >916/568-1022, 916/450-7941VM Date: 04/29/97 Time: 02:31:54 >http://www.constitution.org/ mailto:jon.roland@the-spa.com >=================================================================== > > > "You exceed your rights when you urge that laws be made in the shape of your conscience to block the pleasures permitted by mine. When you people prevail, you commit a crime against freedom, and that is the greatest immorality I know." -Vance Bourjaily, Country Matters (no date avail). Thanks to:Mark Johnson (onethumb@why.net) "A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." Benjamin Franklin "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies." --Thomas Jefferson (Thanks to Pat Fosness) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Chris Ferris Subject: Obey the President's Directive: Become A Volunteer! Date: 29 Apr 1997 11:26:16 -0400 (EDT) 1. Volunteer to teach neighborhood kids to shoot safely and accurately. 2. Volunteer to assist your neighbors (scared of crime) in obtaining CCW licenses. 3. Volunteer to lobby for repeal of the Crime Bill of 1994. 4. Volunteer to campaign against Clintonistas at local, state and federal level. Now, don't you feel better, sort of warm and fuzzy inside? I know that I do, knowing that I will continue, at the President's directive, to volunteer to advance the causes of protecting the right to keep and bear arms and of defending freedom against Clintonista assaults. Thank you, Super Bill, for reminding me to do my part, and then some. Message received. Wilco. Christopher C. Ferris Litchfield NH ferriscc@mainstream.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tom Cloyes Subject: (fwd)Correction: EPU Press Release Date: 29 Apr 1997 12:11:32 -0400 >X-Sender: eplurib@megalinx.net >Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 11:13:06 -0400 >To: eplurib@megalinx.net >From: E Pluribus Unum (by way of E Pluribus Unum ) >Subject: Correction: EPU Press Release > >Re: Fort Davis, Texas April 27, 1997 > > > >These criminal acts clearly separate the Constitutional Militia from >garden variety anarchists and insurrectionists such as McLaren et.al. > > > >It has been brought to our attention that the term anarchist is >inappropriately used when refering to McLaren et.al. As Eric Pavano >correctly pointed out, "An anarchist is someone who believes that there >is no need for a government of any kind. It does not make someone violent >and it does not mean chaos." > > > >The Third Amendment to the Constitution prohibits the use of military >force against the citizenry. These protections are afforded to >McLaren et.al. even though they do not recognize the authority of the >Constitution. > > > >This sentence should be deleted and replaced with: > >The Posse Comitatus Act prohibits the use of military force against >the citizenry. These protections are afforded to McLaren et.al. even >though they do not recognize the authority of United States law. > > > > >In Liberty, > >Helen Reed-Johnson > > > > "You exceed your rights when you urge that laws be made in the shape of your conscience to block the pleasures permitted by mine. When you people prevail, you commit a crime against freedom, and that is the greatest immorality I know." -Vance Bourjaily, Country Matters (no date avail). Thanks to:Mark Johnson (onethumb@why.net) "A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." Benjamin Franklin "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies." --Thomas Jefferson (Thanks to Pat Fosness) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: Waco-Style raid would be foolish, Morales says (fwd) Date: 29 Apr 1997 12:27:27 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- http://www.dallasnews.com Officials tried to avoid violence with Republic WACO-STYLE RAID WOULD BE FOOLISH, MORALES SAYS AUSTIN - State and federal authorities chose not to try to arrest Richard McLaren and his anti-government colleagues for months because they didn't want to risk a violent confrontation like the Branch Davidian incident near Waco, Attorney General Dan Morales said Monday. But it is unclear whether any contingency plans were made to deal with Mr. McLaren, whose colleagues burst into a neighbor's home Sunday and took the owners hostage. The neighbors, Joe and Margaret "M.A." Rowe, both 51, were released after being held for more than 12 hours. The separatists have since "dug in" inside a sprawling resort subdivision in the rugged Davis Mountains in far West Texas and have threatened to put up a fight. Officials said Monday that the Texas Department of Public Safety had taken charge of state and federal forces that have sealed off the area. "It's really a state and local issue," a Justice Department official in Washington said. "The feds are in discussions with the state and locals about how we can help." For example, federal officials said that while a Texas Ranger negotiated the release of the Rowes, an FBI agent accompanied emergency medical services personnel to make the transaction. However, Ron Dusek, a spokesman for Mr. Morales, said the FBI was called in to handle the negotiations with Mr. McLaren and his colleagues. Mr. Morales said that Mr. McLaren attempted to contact him Sunday but that he declined to speak with him. He said he gave that information to the DPS and the FBI. Mr. Morales said state and federal officials decided some time ago not to attempt to serve warrants on Mr. McLaren, the self-styled Republic of Texas ambassador, and several of his followers in hopes of avoiding violence. "There was a sense that the prudent way by which to execute those warrants was basically to wait them out," Mr. Morales said in an interview Monday. "The only other option would be to stage a Waco-style raid upon the compound. That would have been foolish to take what I think would clearly have been seen as extreme action in order to serve civil warrants." Mr. McLaren and several other Republic of Texas members are wanted on state and federal contempt of court charges. Mr. McLaren, 43, has stayed close to what he called his "embassy" since December. Mr. Morales, whose office last year won an injunction against Mr. McLaren and several others for filing fraudulent liens, said there was no urgency to serve the warrants. "They were holed up in the west out by themselves, hundreds if not thousands of miles away from where they could cause any continuing harm," he said. Mr. Morales said he thinks the decision not to arrest Mr. McLaren was correct even in light of what has happened. "The state and federal officials with whom we have been dealing have made the right calls so far, and I think they continue to make the right calls," he said. Public Safety Commission Chairman James Francis of Dallas said the DPS has taken charge over the Jeff Davis County Sheriff's Department officers, FBI and Border Patrol at the scene. "The DPS is the primary police force in charge," he said. FBI agents from El Paso and Midland arrived at the scene Sunday after the U.S. Border Patrol, which had an office closer to the site. Justice Department officials said the border agents helped state and local officers set up a perimeter. FBI agents are scattered across the area, including Fort Davis and Alpine, and could be quickly mobilized if trouble develops. "We have people out there just in case," a federal official said. The FBI has no legal authority, officials said, because there is no evidence that any federal laws have been broken. Allegations of kidnapping and filing false property liens took place within Texas and are therefore state matters. If necessary, authorities could invoke federal laws against terrorism, hostage-taking, organized criminal enterprises and threats against public officials, Justice Department officials said. They said they would emphasize the approach used last year with the Montana Freemen, who eventually surrendered peacefully, rather than use a direct assault such as in the Waco incident. That includes a gradual application of pressure, such as shutting off electricity. The FBI also used outside negotiators who could talk to militia people on their own terms. Both President Clinton and Gov. George W. Bush's offices had little to say about the situation. "My understanding is that there are federal law enforcement authorities monitoring the situation, working closely with the Texas Department of Public Safety," said White House press secretary Mike McCurry. "But it is a matter that is being handled by the local jurisdictions." Bush spokeswoman Karen Hughes referred all inquiries to the Department of Public Safety. Staff writers David Jackson and Susan Feeney in Washington contributed to this report. By George Kuempel / The Dallas Morning News ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pwatson@utdallas.edu Subject: our country! (fwd) Date: 30 Apr 1997 08:21:41 -0500 (CDT) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- THE MANCHURIAN PRESIDENT Gene Crocker, Ph.D. Chairman, Finance Committee Reform Party National Organizing Committee radman5@wolnet.com April 28, 1997 "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting." ---Sun Tzu "Even if Beijing is proven to have tried to influence the election, you must not assume an evil motive." ---William Jefferson Clinton April 26, 1997 (Washington Post} "On Wednesday, FBI Director Louis J. Freeh and Attorney General Janet Reno briefed senior members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence about the establishment of a connection between the campaign financing scheme and the highest levels of the Chinese government. .....White House officials said yesterday they had received no such information or update from the Justice Department or the FBI." ---Bob Woodward April 25, 1997 (Washington Post) Clinton is not yet proven "legally" to be the Manchurian President. However, he is arguably the president that has done more damage to our country's sovereignty, manufacturing capability, trade balance, international commerce, and national security that any other public or historical figure. Clinton's boyish charm has taken this country's democracy a very long way towards self destruction. The irony of it all, is that, if Clinton's communist friends had keep their pocketbooks closed, most of us would not be the wiser concerning the Red Chinese manipulation of our government. Let's consider first, why the Chinese Communists made their illegal contributions, then let's discuss how our democracy is being all but destroyed by "legal" campaign contributions given to the Republican and Democratic parties and their candidates by corporations. The Chinese Communists had things all their own way. They had a one year trade surplus of over $40 Billion with the United States to finance their military and other deals, and much more was coming. They had cities like Long Beach, Ca, Victorville, Ca, Adelanto, Ca and Charleston, SC financing Chinese Communist deals to the tune of several hundred millions of dollars and building Chinese Communist Bases on American soil. They had banks and investment houses like the Aetna, CitiBank and Goldman Sachs brokering these deals and selling Chinese stocks to gullible investors. They had Big Businesses like MacDonald-Douglas selling Communist China "top secret" ballistic missile technology and getting away with it - with Clinton's express approval. They had the United States Commerce Department declare "Foreign Trade Zones" which are essentially free trade zones in the United States which the reds are planning on using. They got to lease or use closed military bases like Long Beach Naval Base, Norton AFB and George AFB. They had friends in the highest and lowest of places. 286 members of the House of Representatives had voted Most Favored Nation Trade Status for Communist China in June 1996. They had respected Senators like Dianne Finestein acclaiming Communist China to be right up there next to cheap labor. They had major US companies like Walmart, Boeing, IBM, Compaq, General Motors, United Technologies, Motorola and Price-Cosco pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into both the Democratic and Republican campaign coffers, while cooing sweet songs of mainland china profits that meant more political campaign contributions into the ears of Congress. They had hired "venerable and honorable" senior Republican and Democratic politicians like Haig, Kissinger, and Scrowcroft with retainers and honorariums to be their non-registered apologists. The Chinese Communists were extremely successful. They have bought the Government of Panama and gotten control of the Panama Canal (while Clinton removes our troops) and now have started work to buy the closing Treasure Island Naval Base at San Francisco Bay. Clinton have given them billions of dollars in loans and guarantees for construction in Communist China and the building of ships here. So why did the Red Chinese illegally launder funds and pour the two or twenty or forty or more millions of laundered dollars into the DNC and Clinton's campaign? Why did they endanger their amazing accomplishments. The answer is simple - they got greedy. The Chinese Communists wanted to get more of their people inside our government. They wanted greater access to top secret material. They wanted to have more inside information on US trade deals. They wanted to increase their positions of power in the government bureaucracy. They wanted more loans. They wanted to set policy. They wanted to be able to fire more of their enemies and they wanted to be able to hire more of their friends. They wanted to be able to make more crucial US decisions so that Communist China and their allies would benefit. And most important, Red China had a proven method of infiltrating our government. They were so successful with their "Spying with Campaign Finance Dollars" approach, so why should they change their method? The Democratic and the Republican parties have a long history of rewarding campaign fund raisers. Bush rewarded 8 of his RNC campaign fund raisers in 1988 with top government positions. Clinton rewarded 27 DNC fund raisers with top government positions in 1996. John Huang was so rewarded by Clinton after the 1992 election. John Huang is reputed to have made political donations to every republican or democratic politician in California and a whole lot in other states. He became Clinton's personal friend by raising large amounts of campaign contributions and making important political loans. No one cried "red" so Clinton appointed him to be Assistant Commerce Secretary with a top secret clearance - that the FBI has no record of giving. So why should the Red Chinese have changed their tactics - in controlling the United States Government? By March, 1997, the evidence was mounting of Chinese Communist infiltration into our government. The reported events were isolated and no public or media correlation had been made. Then came John Coleman. John Coleman hosted a popular, morning talk show at KOGO radio in San Diego. When John found out that the Chinese Communist Navy was taking over Long Beach Naval Base, his radio broadcast about the treason at Long Beach, sent rays of light upon this done deal. Suddenly, the deal wasn't quite so "done". The public was outraged and American citizens protested. John Coleman is a true patriot, a good man, a member of the Reform Party and a political activist for good government. He is very well respected. So when he informed members of the California Reform Party about COSCO being the shipping arm of the Chinese Communist Navy and their leasing of Long Beach Naval Base, we listened. Several of us went to work searching Internet to see what we could learn about the China Ocean Shipping Company. What we learned scared the hell out of us and made us angry at the same time. Imagine our reactions on seeing Alexander Haig, Jr, our former Secretary of State, listed as an advisor to the Chinese Communist Navy on a COSCO website. The facts got worse and the stench became awesome. We discovered an incredible history of media releases detailing the overt accomplishments of the Chinese Communists in suborning our government - since Clinton took office. This 13 page compilation of documented facts concerning current Chinese Communist actions was released to the Internet under the name of "Treason at Long Beach". Talk show hosts all over America, picked up the story and told the public about Long Beach, Da Zhong Hua in Victorville CA, and the Panama Canal. Senator Fred Thompson from the Senate's Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Campaign Finance sent a nice thank you, non-boiler plate letter for sending "Treason". And John Coleman was fired. Big Business doesn't like to be told that they are wrong and committing treason, even when they are wrong about investments and they are committing treason. Politicians don't like to be told that they are fools and being manipulated into committing treason, even when they are fools, being manipulated and their actions are treason. But they do have a feeble excuse. Let's return to the activities of our Manchurean President and explore the destructive effect of Big Businesses' "legal" political campaign contributions on our democracy. One of the accomplishments of the first four years of the Clinton Administration was the sending of unequivocal signals to Congress, to American corporations, and to the nations of the world that Communist China was suddenly "Persona Grata". Clinton united with republican congressional leadership and pushed through NAFTA and then GATT. He hailed these international trade treaties as the saviors of American commerce and the American worker. He and Congress then threw away Reagan's proven method of defeating communist regimes and delinked "trade" from individual liberty, religious freedom and our national security. "Free Trade" became the buzz word and suddenly Communist China was fair game for Big Business. Or is it, that America and Big Business became fair game for Communist China and their allies - in and out of Washington? During the next three years, investors poured $30 to $40 Billion a year into Chinese Communist Companies. Big Business made deals that were too good to be true and they did prove false. It is true that companies like Walmart, which buy the goods that communist slave labor produces, and sells those goods to the American consumer - do prosper. It is hard not to prosper when the worker receives 12 cents an hour. A Boeing official is recently reported to have claimed that Boeing is a good influence on China. "They use to shoot inefficient people building the Boeing factories. Now, they just jail them". Investments have slowed down this year, because the overall returns from Red Chinese Companies have been dismal to non-existent. But now, Communist China had Big Business on the hook. And the responsible CEO's have to protect their jobs and play CYA because of their lemming-like business deals in Red China and their souring investments in the soon to be Red Hong Kong. Big Business poured an estimated two billion dollars into the 1996 elections. Members of Congress today are being lobbied "big time" by many of these same Big Businesses to secure the Communist China's Bases and other successes in the US and Panama. The vote for permanent Communist MFN trade status in Congress is due by June. But Communist China and Clinton have already achieved one remarkable success. Their manipulation of Big Business to support Communist China has almost destroyed our political system. If Red China and the Manchurian President succeed, our republic will first become a corporate oligarchy, then ???. Elected political representatives will be commodities, to be bought and sold by the highest bidder. (In spite of your thoughts, we are not quite there, yet.) Our blessed democracy will be destroyed, because the real culprits, the republicans and democrats, in their pursuit of power, have legalized political bribery in the form of corporate campaign contributions. The Reform Party is committed to good government and to our nation. We do not have good government. The question is "Have we lost our nation?" That question will not be decided in Washington. Most of Washington has been bought and paid for. That question will be decided in your heart, in your town, in your city and in your state. Just what do you want for you and your family? Join with us in the Reform Party. Raise your voice with ours and tell that Manchurian President to pack his suitcase, because this is our country! Tell Congress that your liberty is more important than that bag full of corporate dollars. And tell China, that if you want to do business with my nation and my family, come to the front door, the back door is now closed!!! " I have a dream......" Martin Luther King, Jr.