From: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com (roc-digest) To: roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: roc-digest V2 #104 Reply-To: roc-digest Sender: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk roc-digest Saturday, April 4 1998 Volume 02 : Number 104 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 07:27:28 -0600 (CST) From: Subject: Japan (fwd) - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 02 Apr 1998 16:49:17 -0800 From: Jack Perrine To: Jack@minerva.com Subject: Japan _____________________________________________ Watch Monday, April 6, for STRATFOR's Global Intelligence Update Quarterly Forecast _____________________________________________ Global Intelligence Update Red Alert April 3, 1998 Sony's Chairman Warns of Impending Collapse of Japanese Economy Norio Ohga, Chairman of Japan's Sony Corporation, warned today that Japan's economy was close to collapse and that Japan's collapse could lead to a worldwide recession. According to Ohga, the Japanese economy was facing its most difficult time ever. He compared Japanese Prime Minister Hashimoto to Herbert Hoover: "What President Hoover was saying then, there are so many similarities with what Prime Minister Hashimoto has been saying recently. Hoover triggered worldwide recession. I just hope remarks by Prime Minister Hashimoto won't trigger worldwide recession". According to Ohga, the central problem facing Japan is deflation, driven by a lack of consumer spending in Japan. Ohga therefore called on the Japanese government to stimulate the economy, increasing consumer spending and stabilizing prices. Ohga has merely stated the obvious. Japan has been stagnant throughout most of the 1990s and its condition is worsening. The Bank of Japan's "business condition diffusion index," which tracks business sentiment has fallen to the worst level since 1994. This understates the problem. The extended malaise of the Japanese economy is wreaking structural damage as time goes on. Both Daiwa and Tokai banks announced cuts in lending to large companies while it was announced that capital spending in general would decline in 1998. As with the United States in the 1970s, the decline in the availability of capital triggered by the banking crisis means an increasingly aging and less efficient industrial plant. As this happens, Japan's exports become less competitive, increasing pressure on the yen. As the yen declines, the willingness of investors to invest in yen denominated paper declines, increasing the capital crisis. The obvious answer is to stimulate the economy, as Ohga suggested. But Japan's financial condition is much worse than the U.S. condition in the early 1980s. Stimulating consumption must come at the expense of the savings rate. A high savings rate at low interest is now and has always been the foundation of the Japanese banking system. The availability of nearly free money to banks that are in dire trouble is the only thing that permits them to continue functioning. Eliminate the constant infusion of savings and the banking system would collapse and with it the inefficient, linked companies who depend on cheap money to maintain their balance sheet. Increasing domestic consumption is the long-run solution, but as the Japanese bureaucrats understand very well, it is not clear how to get there from here. Increased consumption would stimulate the economy, but only after knocking the bottom out of the banking system. Ohga, who heads one of Japan's more successful companies, is not completely sensitive to the precarious condition of most other Japanese companies. This means that Ohga's warning should be taken seriously while his solution cannot be. Ohga's warning is an important turning point in the Japan story, since it represents a dire prediction from a leader of the Japanese business community, someone who cannot be dismissed as merely a sensationalist or alarmist. If Ohga is worried, everyone should be. The problem is that there does not appear to us to be any way out of Japan's dilemma. This is not the first time Japan has faced this dilemma. During the 1920s, a very similar banking crisis took place. The result was a devastating recession and the emergence of political extremism. Until this point, analysts have been focused on the question of whether or not Japan can avoid economic disaster. It has been our position that Japan's economic fate has been sealed ever since the Japanese government decided to follow a strategy that refused to deal with the emerging banking crisis--that is, since around 1992. Now, Sony's leader has come close to the same conclusion, at least in the sense of facing the magnitude of the crisis. From our point of view, the central question is no longer whether the Japanese economy is facing calamity, but rather what the consequence of that calamity is going to be. One aspect of this is its effect on the rest of the world. We are not certain that Japan's decline will have an enormous negative effect outside of Asia. The second aspect is its effect on Japan itself. Since the end of World War II Japan has been a liberal democracy, a system imposed by the United States. If Japan goes into a depression, it will be a very different country than the prosperous and cocky Japan of the 1980s. With that difference will come wrenching political changes. We urge analysts to study the 1920s in order to get a sense of the possible evolution of Japan, should Ohga be correct. ___________________________________________________ To receive free daily Global Intelligence Updates or Computer Security Alerts, sign up on the web at http://www.stratfor.com/mail/, or send your name, organization, position, mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address to alert@stratfor.com ___________________________________________________ STRATFOR Systems, Inc. 3301 Northland Drive, Suite 500 Austin, TX 78731-4939 Phone: 512-454-3626 Fax: 512-454-1614 Internet: http://www.stratfor.com/ Email: info@stratfor.com Jack Perrine | Athena Programming | 626-798-6574 -----------------| 1175 N Altadena Dr | -------------- Jack@Minerva.Com | Pasadena CA 91107 | FAX-309-8620 - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 07:37:18 -0600 (CST) From: Subject: Fratrum: [Fwd: IP: Please Consider] (fwd) - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 2 Apr 1998 20:30:46 -0500 (EST) From: Bill Vance To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Fratrum: [Fwd: IP: Please Consider] (fwd) One of the better historical renditions of an old topic. On Apr 02, JVS wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] Date: Thu, 02 Apr 1998 07:13:30 -0600 To: DISASTER-L@sonic.net, ignition-point@majordomo.pobox.com From: believer@telepath.com Subject: IP: Please Consider Reply-To: believer@telepath.com Dear Listees: Regarding: > Martial-law? Yeah, I guess all those "the government will always take >care of me" types haven't thought of that. The government's immediate >response to y2k will be the implementation of martial-law.... I must address the comments above to provide some clarification for listees before they get all bent out of shape over inaccurate, nonhistorical, undocumented comments. This is lengthy, but I would ask that you take the time to read and understand the documentation of this post. Please consider these matters. They affect us TODAY: Following the Civil War, President Andrew Johnson opposed passage of the Reconstruction Act. He vetoed it, but his veto was overturned. In his "Veto Message of the Reconstruction Act," he explained that martial law was being declared by the provisions of the act and he, to his credit, was opposed to it. Unfortunately, Johnson lost that battle, and the Reconstruction Act placed the nation under martial law rule for the first time in our history. THAT MARTIAL LAW HAS NEVER BEEN REPEALED. Folks who run around worrying about when martial law is going to be declared to "take it all away" don't know what they're talking about. We've been under technical and legal martial law for over a century. Here are Johnson's comments which explain in some detail exactly what the Reconstruction Act was designed to do--and DID do. They are extensive quotes. TAKE THE TIME TO READ THEM, and then I'll show you how this set the stage for Executive Orders and the complete subversion of what we thought was the supreme law of the land: "I have examined the Bill to provide for more efficient government of the rebel states with the care and anxiety which its transcended importance is calculated to awaken. I am unable to give my assent for reasons so grave that I hope a statement of them may have some influence on the minds of the patriotic and enlightened men with whom the decision must ultimately rest. ==> "The Bill places all the people therein named under the absolute domination of military rules, and the Preamble undertakes to give the reason upon which the measure is based, and the ground upon which it is justified. It declares that there exists in those states no legal governments and no adequate protection for life, property, and assets; and asserts the necessity of enforcing peace and good order within their limits. ==> "This is not true, as a matter of fact. The excuse given for the Bill in the Preamble is admitted by the Bill itself not to be real. The military rule, which it establishes, is plainly to be used not for any purpose of order, or the prevention of crime, but solely as a means of coercing the people into the adoption of principles and measures to which it is known that they are opposed, and upon which they have an undeniable right to exercise their own judgment. "I submit to Congress whether this measure is not in its whole character, scope, and object, without precedent and without authority, in palpable conflict with the plainest provisions of the Constitution, and utterly destructive to those great principles of liberty and humanity for which our ancestors on both sides of the Atlantic have shed so much blood and expended so much treasure. "The authority here amounts to absolute despotism. Such a power has not been wielded by any monarch in England for more than 500 years. It reduces the whole population, all persons of every color, sex, and condition, and every stranger, to the most abject and degrading slavery. No master ever had a control so absolute over the slaves as this Bill gives. "This Proposition is perfectly clear that no branch of the federal government, executive, legislative, or judicial, can have any just powers except those which it derives through and exercises under the organic laws of the union. Outside of the Constitution, we have no legal authority more than private citizens, and within it, we have only so much as that instrument gives us. "This broad principle limits all our functions and applies to all subjects. It protects not only the citizens of the states which are within the union, but shields every human being who comes or is brought under our jurisdiction. We have no right to do in one place more than in another that which the Constitution says we shall not do at all. "When an absolute sovereign reduces his rebellious subjects, he may deal with them according to his pleasure because he had that power before. But when a limited monarch puts down an insurrection, he must still govern according to law. "This is a Bill by Congress in time of peace. There is not in any one of the states either war or insurrection. The laws of the states and of the federal governments are all in undisturbed and harmonious operation. Actual war, foreign invasion, domestic insurrection--none of these appear, and none of these, in fact, exist. It is not even recited that any sort of war or insurrection is threatened. ==> "We see that martial law comes in only when actual war closes the courts and deposes civil authority. But this Bill in time of peace makes martial law operate as though we were in actual war, and becomes the cause instead of the consequence of the abrogation of civil authority. ==> "This is sufficiently explicit: peace exists in all the territory to which this Bill applies. It asserts a power in Congress in time of peace to set aside laws of peace and to substitute the laws of war. The purpose, an object of the Bill, the general intent which pervades it from beginning to end, is to change the entire structure and character of the states' governments and to compel them by force to the adoption of organic laws and regulations which they are unwilling to accept if left to themselves." [end of quotes] Now, despite President Johnson's Veto Message, the Reconstruction Act was passed, and martial law fell upon the land. It remains in effect over the citizens of the sovereign states today through the continued use of Executive Orders, under the pretense of national emergencies -- in the same way that the War Powers Act of 1933 was hustled through to approval...national emergency. FURTHER PROOF: Further proof that martial law remained in effect after the Civil War can be found in the "Congressional Globe" (now called the "Congressional Record"). The following are excerpts from the April 20th through 29th, 1870 "Congressional Globe" concerning H.R. 1328 which established the Department of Justice to CONTINUE TO CARRY OUT MARTIAL LAW nearly five years after the end of the Civil War: "The following bureaus shall be established in this department [the Department of Justice]: a Bureau of International Law, a Bureau of Revenue Law, a Bureau of Military and Naval Law, a Bureau of Postal Law, a Bureau of Land Management Law." Congressman Lawrence then said in the record: "This Bill, however, does transfer to the Law Department, or the Department of Justice as it is now called, the cognizance of all subjects of martial law, and the cognizance of all subjects of military and naval law, except that portion of the administration of military justice which relates to military court martial, their proceedings, and the supervision of records. "If a question of martial law is to be determined by the law officers of government, it will now belong to the Attorney General, or to this Department of Justice. It will not belong to the Judge Advocate General of the Army. He will not be called upon for any opinion relating to martial law or military law except as to that portion of the administration of military law which relates to military justice. "In other words, the Judge Advocate General, instead of giving legal opinions to the Secretary of War relating to the status of the states of the union, their right to call upon the government for military protection, or military aid, and other grave Constitutional questions, will be limited. The Judge Advocate General will perform duties administrative in their character and almost exclusively so. "But I will state to the House why, in my judgment, no transfer of the Judge Advocate General or of his duties to the Department of Justice has been proposed in this Bill. If this had been done, the Bill would have encountered the opposition of some of the officers of the Bureau of Military Justice and their friends, and so great is the power of men in office, so difficult is it to abolish an office, that we were compelled in the consideration of this subject to leave officers in this Bureau untouched in their official tenure in order that this Bill might get through Congress. "But so far as the Solicitor and Naval Judge Advocate General is concerned, he is transferred with all his supervisory power over naval court martials and the records and proceedings of such courts, so that to that extent, this Bill accomplishes the great purpose which it has in view of bringing into one department the whole legal service of the government. It is misfortunate that there should be different constructions of the laws of the United States by different law officers of the United States." WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT: These traitors knew they would have encountered opposition from the military with the provisions of H.R. 1328, so they decided to leave the military officers untouched during their tenure, and transfer them to supervisory positions over court martials. This appeased the military leaders, who didn't have the foggiest idea as to what was really going on. Had the traitors fleeced the military of all their powers during their tenure in office, the military would have realized and possibly taken some military action. But as nothing was happening at the hen house, they slept through this entire situation which resulted in an overthrow of the Constitution -- an overthrow under which government pretended to operate in 1933, and under which it continues to pretend to operate today. The traitors were now faced with a very serious problem, namely, what to do with the powers of the Office of the Judge Advocate General when their tenure in office expired. And they solved this dilemma by adding the following amendments, detailed in that same "Congressional Globe": Congressman Jenks: I move to amend Section 3 by inserting the word "naval" before the words "Judge Advocate General". The amendment was agreed to and later Congressman Finkelburg stated: I would suggest the propriety of amending the third section of this Bill by inserting after the words "the Naval Solicitor and Naval Judge Advocate General" the words "who shall hereafter be known as Naval Solicitor". Mr. Jenks: I have no objection to that amendment. This amendment was also agreed to, and the Office of the Judge Advocate General became known as the Naval Solicitor. Thus, when the existing tenure was over, the new office would have a different set of rules and regulations so that the Bill accomplished the great purpose which it had in view of bringing into one department the whole legal service of the government without the power of the Office of the Judge Advocate General getting in their way. ==> This was a necessary step to bring the President into the position of dictator over America. But they had one other problem facing them, namely, DIRECT ACCESS to the Treasury for the Department of Justice without interference. They accomplished this by the following three sections of the Bill: "...The Eighth Section provides that the Attorney General is hereby empowered to make all necessary rules and regulations for the government.... "...The Eleventh Section provides that all monies hereafter drawn out of the Treasury upon requisition of the Attorney General shall be dispersed by such one of the clerks herein provided for the Attorney General as he may designate, and so much of the First Section of the Act, making appropriations, past March 3rd, 1859, as provides that money drawn out of the Treasury upon requisition of the Attorney General shall be dispersed by such dispersing officer as the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby repealed.... "...The Fifteenth Section provides that the supervisory powers now exercised by the Secretary of the Interior over the accounts of the district attorneys, marshals, clerks, and other officers of the courts of the United States, shall be exercised by the Attorney General...." It is important here to remember that under the Trading with the Enemy Act, the District Courts of the United States are: "...hereby given jurisdiction to make and enter all such rules as to notice and otherwise and all such orders and decrees and to issue such process as may be necessary and proper in the premises to enforce the provisions of this Act." It is here that we find out that the district attorneys, marshals, clerks and other officers of the courts are under the Department of Justice. That seems an obvious statement, given the state of the nation today. But the REAL PROBLEM -- given the broad scope of powers granted the District Courts under the Trading with the Enemy Act -- is that the Department of Justice is *NOT* a part of the Judicial Branch of Government! According to Section 101 of Title 5 of the United States Code, the Department of State, the Department of Treasury, the Department of Defense, the DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Energy, the Department of Education, and the Department of the Veteran Affairs are *ALL* under the Executive Branch of Government. All of the above departments are under the Executive Branch--which raises quite a few questions about the balance of powers between the Executive, Judicial, and Legislative branches of government. How can this be? There is no balance of power under a declared state of emergency. And we've been living under a declared state of emergency ever since the Civil War began, and have been living under a declared state of martial law ever since the Reconstruction Act. This overthrow of the Constitution occurred long before the War Powers Act, and if we are going back in history to find our roots of legality -- and if we stop our search when we reach the War Powers Act -- we are NOT going to succeed in this venture. Where is the separation of powers if the Department of Justice is under the Executive branch? Shouldn't it be part of the Judiciary? The answer, of course, is yes; but it's not. Again, just check Section 101 of Title 5 of the United States Code. If only Congress has the power to regulate Commerce, under Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution, why are the Department of Commerce and the Department of Transportation under the Executive branch and not under the Legislative branch? And if only the Congress has the power to coin money, according to the Constitution, why is the Department of Treasury under the Executive branch? The Commerce Department (from Title 5): "...part of the Executive branch of federal government, headed by a Cabinet member, the Secretary of Commerce, which is concerned with promoting domestic and international business and commerce." To further illustrate the take-over by the Executive branch of government via martial law, the following offices, bureaus, divisions, and organizations are under the Department of Justice. And remember, the Department of Justice is under the Executive branch -- NOT under the judicial branch. The Office of Solicitor General The Federal Bureau of Investigation The Drug Enforcement Agency The Bureau of Prisons Immigration and Naturalization United States Marshal Service Office of Justice Program United States Parole Commission United States National Central Bureau The Office of the Pardon Attorney Executive Office of the United States Attorney Criminal Division Civil Division Anti-Trust Division Civil Rights Division Tax Division Environmental and Natural Resource Division Community Relations Services Foreign Claim Settlement Division Executive Office of United States Trustees Executive Office for Immigration Review Justice Management Division Office of Legal Counsel Office of Policy Development Office of Legislative Affairs Office of Public Affairs Office of Liaison Services Office of Intelligence and Policy Review Office of International Affairs Office of the Inspector General Office of Professional Responsibility; and Interpol -- (Note: Interpol is a private corporation, yet it comes under (in this country) the Executive branch of government.) In my opinion: if the matter of the repeal of the Reconstruction Act and the old H.R. 1328 are not addressed, we will remain in a state of declared martial law. But few people do any research anymore, and even fewer read the results of research done by others. It's easier to fear-monger and speculate. Yes, we are already, and have been all our lives, living under declared martial law. So don't fear the declaration of it. Know that it already exists, and do your preparations calmly and with deliberation and planning. It will NOT take a national emergency to declare martial law, but if people get into a panicky state, the implementation of it could easily, at any time and in any place, become a reality at the drop of a hat. Don't fear. Just use common sense and prepare quietly, peacefully, prayerfully. "Say ye not, A confederacy [conspiracy], to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy [conspiracy]; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid." Isaiah 8:12 Have a great day and God bless! Michele ********************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com with the message: subscribe ignition-point email@address or unsubscribe ignition-point email@address ********************************************** [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 09:19:51 -0700 From: Boyd Kneeland Subject: Re: Japan (fwd) " One aspect of this is its effect on the rest of the world. We are not certain that Japan's decline will have an enormous negative effect outside of Asia. The second aspect is its effect on Japan itself." While the potential political effect is an important consideration, I don't buy the notion that Japanese financial trouble could be isolated to Asia. Here in Washington something like 7-10% of our economy is trade with Asia, around half that with Japan. Boeing, our 2nd or 3rd largest employer and a driving force in the national economy has IMHO it's future tied up in options on sales of passenger liners to China. No, if Japan really goes the economic ripples will at least match the political tsunami this could create. All IMHO. Boyd - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Apr 98 11:31:23 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: Re: Japan (fwd) On Apr 3, Boyd Kneeland wrote: >" One aspect of this is its effect on the rest of the world. We are not >certain that Japan's decline will have an enormous negative effect outside >of Asia. The second aspect is its effect on Japan itself." > >While the potential political effect is an important consideration, I don't >buy the notion that Japanese financial trouble could be isolated to Asia. >Here in Washington something like 7-10% of our economy is trade with Asia, >around half that with Japan. Boeing, our 2nd or 3rd largest employer and a >driving force in the national economy has IMHO it's future tied up in >options on sales of passenger liners to China. No, if Japan really goes the >economic ripples will at least match the political tsunami this could >create. All IMHO. Boyd Don't forget that if they go down, they'll be dumping all those US Bonds to try to haul their nuts out of the fire. - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 22:28:50 -0500 (EST) From: Brad Subject: weird government spam (fwd) - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- I didn't get this firsthand, but I think it's genuine. bd - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- The FBI gets into the unsolicited e-mail business By Joe Salkowski StarNet Dispatches Mon Mar 30 00:00:00 MST 1998 Do not delete this message! You, sir or madam, have been selected to receive, absolutely free of charge, sensitive security briefings from the Federal Bureau of Investigation! Don't bother sending us your name, address or credit card number: We've already got that stuff. (unless we sent your file over to the White House by mistake! Ha ha ha!) Just open your e-mail program and there we'll be, warning you of the latest threat to you or your company's professional livelihood. What's that you say? You never asked for this service? Well, as you know, the FBI has never been in the business of waiting 'til we were invited, if you know what I mean. We just went ahead and signed you up anyway, secure in the knowledge that any Good, Honest American would be interested in receiving our briefings! Of course, you're under no obligation to actually read this material. But our legal advisors - including Janet Reno, Attorney General of the United States of America - say it brings good luck. Just last week, a man in Rockville, Maryland, who agreed to receive our briefings hit four out of six numbers in the state lottery! Meanwhile, a woman in Miami who asked to be removed from our list was audited by the IRS. Coincidence? Maybe. Then again, maybe you ought to read our briefings. They'll be arriving any day now. Some of you might think this is a joke. And it is, really. But John Bolding isn't laughing. Bolding runs FirstBase Software, Inc., a small Tucson company that received a curious piece of unsolicited e-mail on Friday, Feb. 27. Under the header of "FBI National Security Division, Washington, D.C," it warned of threats issued against Americans by suspected terrorist Usama Bin Ladin. "Although unclassified, this communication should be handled as sensitive," the message read. "This communication should not be furnished to the media or other agencies outside the corporate security/law enforcement/U.S. Government counter-terrorism community without the permission of the FBI." Apparently, though, it's okay to spam it. Bolding, an anti-spam activist, determined after a little digging that the FBI indeed had sent out that message and others like it to thousands of recipients, including many who never requested them. "I consider this the same as people who are trying to sell me electricity, phone cards and sex sites," Bolding said. "If I didn't ask for it, I shouldn't be getting it." The messages are part of a program the FBI calls Awareness of National Security Issues and Response, or ANSIR. Operating under a 1996 executive order to protect the nation's infrastructure from "collapse and calamity," the agency issues regular briefings to high-tech companies and other U.S. corporations that might be targets of terrorism. "We're protecting the economic interests of this country," said Larry Watson, the supervisory special agent in charge of ANSIR. "The high-tech industry in particular is very vulnerable ... it's not prepared to go head-to-head against foreign intelligence services trained in the arts of espionage." To combat such risks, the FBI has turned to the arts of spam. While most of the 30,000 companies that receive the briefings have requested them, Watson said, the messages also are being sent to a bunch of e-mail addresses pulled from a business directory of high-tech firms. Of course, while a real spammer would use a $200 software program to harvest the addresses, the FBI assigned 56 field officers to the task. None of those officers bothered to check whether the e-mail addresses they pulled from the directories - including some addresses based outside the United States - actually led to people or organizations that might engage in international terrorism. But Watson said it wouldn't matter if they did: the information included in the briefings isn't as sensitive as it sounds. "The bad people already know all this stuff," he said, explaining that the person who writes the bulletins tries to make them sound interesting. "I don't want people to line their canary cage with these notices. If the language is such that someone will read it rather than line their canary cage with it, then so be it." So let me get this straight: The FBI has 57 people working full time to deliver over-hyped bulletins to any company that asks and a bunch that don't? How much is all of this costing us, anyway? "I don't know," Watson said, dodging the question. "We've got 56 field agents and me working on a shoestring." Considering the source, I'm guessing it's a pretty big shoe. Watson assures me that many companies find these bulletins quite valuable. He also is quick to point out that only Bolding and one other person have complained about receiving unsolicited bulletins. I get his point: Bitching about a federal program that has received only two complaints is like whining about a spilled mai tai on the deck of the Titanic. But he isn't counting the people who saw the messages arrive unbidden in their e-mail box and simply deleted them along with the rest of the pyramid schemes and chain letters. Watson also hasn't considered the political cost that comes with being linked to spam, a practice that annoys Net users and imposes millions of dollars in unnecessary costs on Internet service providers. At a time when Congress is debating various ways to shut down spammers, the FBI is suddenly one of the bad guys. "They're not selling anything," Bolding said. "But these messages take as much time and use as much resources and cause just as many ISPs to buy more disks and machines to handle incoming mail as the commercial spam. "And we're wasting tax dollars sending out this stuff in the first place," he continued. "So we're getting hit on both ends." Watson, though, doesn't place much stock in such complaints. "I know people's electrons get ruffled when we get e-mail that's unsolicited," he said. "I feel real sorry for them, but come on. The real point of ANSIR is in that 'R' - the response. Getting that personal touch means a lot in our business." Anybody who really wants a personal touch from the FBI should feel free to ask. As for the rest of us, though, they really ought to keep their hands to themselves. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ANSIR EMAIL - DOMESTIC TERRORISM ADVISORY Message from FBI National Security Division, Awareness of National Security Issues and Response (ANSIR) Program, Washington, D.C. U.S. Government Remains the Target of Antigovernment Groups. Although unclassified, this communication should be handled as law enforcement sensitive. This communication should not be furnished to the media or other agencies outside the corporate security, law enforcement/U.S. Government counterterrorism community without the permission of the FBI. Unauthorized disclosure of FBI communications could jeopardize ongoing FBI investigations. In light of recent events, recipients are reminded that the U.S. Government remains the target of many anti-government groups such as the Aryan Nations. Constant topics of discussion by members of these groups are attacks against federal buildings, post offices, bridges, water supplies, judges, law enforcement officers, African-American and Jewish organizations, and the United Nations. Although the FBI has no information to indicate that any violent attacks against any of these targets are imminent, recipients should remain sensitive to this continuing rhetoric by these antigovernment groups. Should information develop pertaining to this matter contact your local FBI ANSIR Coordinator, field office counterterrorism desk or FBI Headquarters immediately. The FBI's Awareness of National Security Issues and Response (ANSIR) Program is designed to develop a nationwide communication network among corporate security professionals, law enforcement, and others on a variety of matters. The ANSIR Coordinator in the local FBI field office is the point of contact for all National Security concerns and questions from U.S. corporations. ANSIR Email is designed to reach as many as 100,000 recipients and represents the only U.S. Government effort to disseminate unclassified threat and warning information in a timely manner to such a diverse audience. ********************************************************* *Special Agent Alice D. Days *Phoenix ANSIR Coordinator *FBI *201 E. Indianola, Suite 400 *Phoenix, AZ, 85012, Voice : 602-650-3096 *Fax : 602-650-3204, E-mail : adays@leo.gov ********************************************************* - - ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Apr 1998 18:21:34 CST From: 1911a1@gte.net Subject: NRA ramrods unwanted legislation in MO PLEASE READ, FORWARD, CROSS-POST, PRINT OUT, AND SHOW TO YOUR FRIENDS! POST AT GUN STORES, CLUBS AND RANGES! PLACE IN YOUR MAILINGS. SPREAD THE WORD! Note from Brad Alpert: Chris Behanna wrote the following intro and I found that it could not be improved upon. I asked Chris if I could send this document from my email address because I sit on the Board of Directors of the Western Missouri Shooters Alliance and was involved with the decision to unite our Board against NRA's attempt to hijack our years-old effort to get CCW passed in Missouri. In the 7 or so years of our fight, we activists in Missouri have had at least 5 ILA liasions to "help" us in this struggle. Some could work with our legislators, some could not. But until now, we at least felt that we were at least on the same page with our ILA helpers. Missouri gun rights activists have had referendum bills *pulled* by legislators who introduced them in the mistaken thought that this would be a way to get CCW passed here. The fact is that we don't have the funds to fight the inevitable state-funded propaganda campaign that our incumbent Democrat governor would wage against us. And so now, here comes NRA ramming a referendum bill down our throats. We don't want it. We won't tolerate it. We will oppose any effort made on behalf of passage of the bill. Following is the intro Chris wrote and following that, is the letter to the NRA BoD from the Western Missouri Shooters Alliance' Kevin Jamison. Brad Alpert ***** NRA Foolish Referendum Endangers RKBA in Missouri by Chris BeHanna, NRA Life #CPC7725J "Shall-issue" CCW is a hot topic in Missouri at present. For whatever reason, NRA-ILA has decided to utterly ignore the wishes of grassroots groups (and break promises in the process) and acquiesce to a referendum on the topic. A referendum is an infinitely more labor- and money-intensive prospect than a simple bill -- as we all discovered in Washington State last year -- and *EVERY* state grassroots group in Missouri opposes allowing one. In this article, the Western Missouri Shooters Alliance's Kevin Jamison gives you the details of this ILA doublecross. Such doublecrosses are becoming commonplace complaints throughout the nation. In Pennsylvania in 1995, ILA doublecrossed the grassroots with Act 17. In Colorado and Oklahoma in 1996, ILA doublecrossed the grassroots by threatening Vermont Carry supporters in the legislature with F ratings. In Ohio, ILA doublecrossed the grassroots by helping the scuttle the first attempt to pass a "reasonable person" (Vermont Carry) bill. In Georgia this year, ILA doublecrossed the grassroots by pushing a vaguely-worded "safe storage" bill that contained some window-dressing language that said that schools *may* (not "must") use Eddie Eagle in their curricula. ILA then flat-out *LIED* after the bill was defeated and claimed that they had opposed the bill. If you haven't cast your NRA ballot yet, please consider ending ILA's arrogant belief that it knows what's best for you better for than your local grassroots groups. You can do this by voting for the list of candidates attached at the end of this message. Herewith follows the Western Missouri Shooters Alliance' Kevin Jamison's letter to the NRA Board of Directors: - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: March 9, 1998 To: NRA Board of Directors Subject: Referendum on Carrying Concealed Weapons The Institute for Legislative Action has told the Missouri legislature that if they vote for a referendum on concealed carry, it will not be held against them. Given that the governor insists on a referendum, this is tantamount to telling them to do so. The Western Missouri Shooters Alliance objects to the way a referendum has been pressed in Missouri almost as much as the concept of a referendum. The Missouri grassroots gun rights groups, through their umbrella organization, the Missouri Legislative Issues Council, were told that no tactic or bill would be supported if we objected to it. Before ILA gave permission for a referendum, it was informed of the unanimous opposition of the Missouri Legislative Issues Council, representing: the Western Missouri Shooters Alliance, Northwest Missouri Shooters Alliance, Gun Rights for Individuals Now, Second Amendment Coalition of Missouri, ArmsRight, Missouri Women for Civil Liberties, Missouri Sport Shooters Association, U.S. Defensive Firearms Shooters, and numerous individual activists. The ILA promptly gave the legislature permission to do a referendum. The MoLIC organizations have unanimously voted to vigorously oppose any bill with a referendum. We will lobby the legislature to kill such a bill and notify the legislators that support for such a bill will be considered hostile to the interests of Missouri gun owners. The NRA has approximately 90,000 members in Missouri. The MoLIC- affiliated organizations cannot match that in raw numbers. However, our members are the activists. Our members are the people who carry out NRA programs. There has never been a referendum on such a hot button issue. Unlike all other referendums, a CCW referendum seeks to regain lost rights. It is not defensive; it is offensive. Public opposition is consequently greater. Those of us familiar with Missouri elections estimate that it would cost five million dollars to run a referendum, at minimum. The newspapers are against us; the power structure is against us. Police groups (unlike the Washington state defensive referendum) are against us. We do not have the money or the political power to take such a risk. Finally, a referendum was HCI's idea. The first tactic in their playbook, passed to the Chiefs of Police organization, was to demand a referendum. There is a reason for this: they could win, we could lose. There is not just a danger the referendum will be manipulated, there is a certainty. During the Hancock anti-tax referendum, children came home from school with officially-produced propaganda against it. I visited a prison where propaganda against the measure claimed it would shut down the prisons and release the inmates. Government facilities unashamedly produced propaganda (Missouri has no law prohibiting such conduct in nonpartisan elections). Government officials manufactured news conferences and press releases. The measure lost, and lost big. That is one danger; we could lose. The result would be a referendum demand on every attempt at a new CCW system, improvement to existing systems, and any other pro-gun legislation. The other danger is that we could win, but at the cost of conceding that a fundamental right is subject to a popular vote. The very concept will delay pro-gun legislation. Even if we win, it would be at a cost which would bankrupt the movement. For the first time, the Missouri grassroots groups are advising shooters not to send money to the NRA, on the grounds that we will need every penny in the state to fight this unwise proposal. Win, lose, or wait, it is we Missourians who will have to live with the result. We began this fight alone and have carried it on for seven years. We will fight for seven more or seven times seven. Time is on our side. We do not have to throw everything on one roll of the dice. We do not want to pass a bad bill just to say that a bill has been passed. To pass a bill, simply for the sake of passing a bill, is the act of a politician, not someone fighting for our rights. We do not want to make a deal with the prohibitionists, we want to win. It is the duty of NRA and WMSA to fight for our rights, not make deals. We intend to continue the fight for our rights. For the WMSA Board of Directors Kevin Jamison WMSA Press Officer Attorney at Law - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Do you want to put an end to ILA's arrogant mistreatment of the grassroots, and of YOUR GUN RIGHTS? 1. Please VOTE FOR THE FAITHFUL Second Amendment Action candidates: Jerry L. Allen David M. Gross* Robley T. Moore Michael J. Beko* John Guest Larry R. Rankin James A. Church Fred Gustafson Albert C. Ross* William Dominguez Don L. Henry* Frank H. Sawberger Howard J. Fezell* William B. Hunt Thomas L. Seefeldt Daniel B. Fiora* Phillip B. Journey* Kim Stolfer Arnold J. Gaunt Michael S. Kindberg* John H. Trentes Fred Griisser Jeff Knox Glen I. Voorhees Jr.* Wesley H. Grogan Jr.* John C. Krull Those with an asterisk have been deliberately targeted to be PURGED as "extremists." What's "extreme" about demanding your rights? Help NRA help you and support these candidates! 2. Visit their web sites for further information: http://www.2ndamendment.net (contains candidate statements) http://www.mcs.net/~lpyleprn/home.html http://www.nealknox.com/ (contains Heston interviews) U.S. mail point-of-contact: Second Amendment Action, 100 Heathwood Drive, Liberty, S.C. 29657 ------------------------------------------------------ | If guns cause crime, | If you want my | | crime, all of mine are | guns, then you | | defective. | want a war. | |----------------------------------------------------- | Support the Chinese | If Charles Schumer didn't | | Underground! Buy an | exist, it would not be | | SKS and bury it! | necessary to invent him. | ------------------------------------------------------ -*-*-* Visit me at http://home1.gte.net/1911a1 *-*-*- - - ------------------------------ End of roc-digest V2 #104 *************************