The security personnel at the doors to the Verizon Wireless Theater would not allow me to bring in a camera to the Yo La Tengo / My Morning Jacket show, so I don't have any concert photos or video unfortunately. It struck me that cell phones can capture photos and video, and are allowed, while cameras are not allowed so I argued a little with the security people.
Lewis Seiler, Dan Hamburg
San Francisco Chronicle
Monday, February 4, 2008
"The power of the Executive to cast a man into prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgment of his peers, is in the highest degree odious and is the foundation of all totalitarian government whether Nazi or Communist."
- Winston Churchill, Nov. 21, 1943
Since 9/11, and seemingly without the notice of most Americans, the federal government has assumed the authority to institute martial law, arrest a wide swath of dissidents (citizen and noncitizen alike), and detain people without legal or constitutional recourse in the event of "an emergency influx of immigrants in the U.S., or to support the rapid development of new programs."
Beginning in 1999, the government has entered into a series of single-bid contracts with Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) to build detention camps at undisclosed locations within the United States. The government has also contracted with several companies to build thousands of railcars, some reportedly equipped with shackles, ostensibly to transport detainees.
According to diplomat and author Peter Dale Scott, the KBR contract is part of a Homeland Security plan titled ENDGAME, which sets as its goal the removal of "all removable aliens" and "potential terrorists."
Fraud-busters such as Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, have complained about these contracts, saying that more taxpayer dollars should not go to taxpayer-gouging Halliburton. But the real question is: What kind of "new programs" require the construction and refurbishment of detention facilities in nearly every state of the union with the capacity to house perhaps millions of people?
Sect. 1042 of the 2007 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), "Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies," gives the executive the power to invoke martial law. For the first time in more than a century, the president is now authorized to use the military in response to "a natural disaster, a disease outbreak, a terrorist attack or any other condition in which the President determines that domestic violence has occurred to the extent that state officials cannot maintain public order."
The Military Commissions Act of 2006, rammed through Congress just before the 2006 midterm elections, allows for the indefinite imprisonment of anyone who donates money to a charity that turns up on a list of "terrorist" organizations, or who speaks out against the government's policies. The law calls for secret trials for citizens and noncitizens alike.
Also in 2007, the White House quietly issued National Security Presidential Directive 51 (NSPD-51), to ensure "continuity of government" in the event of what the document vaguely calls a "catastrophic emergency." Should the president determine that such an emergency has occurred, he and he alone is empowered to do whatever he deems necessary to ensure "continuity of government." This could include everything from canceling elections to suspending the Constitution to launching a nuclear attack. Congress has yet to hold a single hearing on NSPD-51.
U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, D-Venice (Los Angeles County) has come up with a new way to expand the domestic "war on terror." Her Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 (HR1955), which passed the House by the lopsided vote of 404-6, would set up a commission to "examine and report upon the facts and causes" of so-called violent radicalism and extremist ideology, then make legislative recommendations on combatting it.
According to commentary in the Baltimore Sun, Rep. Harman and her colleagues from both sides of the aisle believe the country faces a native brand of terrorism, and needs a commission with sweeping investigative power to combat it.
A clue as to where Harman's commission might be aiming is the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, a law that labels those who "engage in sit-ins, civil disobedience, trespass, or any other crime in the name of animal rights" as terrorists. Other groups in the crosshairs could be anti-abortion protesters, anti-tax agitators, immigration activists, environmentalists, peace demonstrators, Second Amendment rights supporters ... the list goes on and on. According to author Naomi Wolf, the National Counterterrorism Center holds the names of roughly 775,000 "terror suspects" with the number increasing by 20,000 per month.
What could the government be contemplating that leads it to make contingency plans to detain without recourse millions of its own citizens?
The Constitution does not allow the executive to have unchecked power under any circumstances. The people must not allow the president to use the war on terrorism to rule by fear instead of by law.
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
Monday, February 18th, 2008
American icon Willie Nelson says he supports efforts to impeach President Bush and "throw the bastards out," adding that the administration will do anything to stay in power, including staging an event to cancel the election.
In his second appearance this month, Nelson told The Alex Jones Show today that he supported Dennis Kucinich's attempt to impeach Bush, adding, "If you break the law you have to pay for it one way or another and if these guys haven't broke the law nobody has."
"The deck's been stacked and we need to figure out a way to get a new fresh deck in there in the deal and I don't know how else to do it except throw the bastards out," said Nelson.
But the award winning star of stage and screen was quick to clarify that he didn't see the Democrats as any kind of viable alternative.
"We went through a couple of elections now and we didn't do anything, we thought we did but come to find out that the voting machines are crooked, everything's stacked against us, the politicians that we vote for won't stay and fight and they won't count the votes."
Nelson agreed that an elite cherry picked presidents and leaders to do their bidding against the interests of the people.
"They find them and they groom them and they put them in office and tell them exactly what to do and you give the speeches will small words and big letters and let them go," said Nelson.
"I really believe that George Bush believes he's right, he believes what he's saying and that makes it even more pathetic because to have someone that wrong think they're right and have him be the leader of our country - that's a scary thought," he added.
The star also re-iterated a warning made during his last appearance on the show, that the Bush administration could potentially stage an event to postpone or cancel the presidential election.
"It could be anything and anything will work because they have everyone scared to death, I just think there are people out there who will do anything to stay in power, anything to keep what they have, they've already proven they'll do anything to keep it," he said.
Reacting to the big response his last appearance on The Alex Jones Show generated, Nelson said "I think it would take courage not to say something, I usually say what I think and it's harder for me to shut up."
"I don't have the ability to remain quiet when all this stuff is going on all around us," he added.
Nelson clarified his previous comments about Building 7 after the news media attempted to skew his words and claim he said that no planes hit the WTC on 9/11. Nelson made it clear he was talking about WTC 7, which imploded symmetrically within seven seconds on the late afternoon of 9/11 despite the fact that it was only hit by minimal debris from the falling towers and not a commercial airliner.
"I was talking about the third building that nothing hit and yet it fell as if it was hit the same way, all three buildings fell the same way, but the third building wasn't hit by anything," said the country music star.
Nelson's contention that the twin towers were deliberately imploded received media attention after his first appearance on the radio show two weeks ago.
BBC | February 18, 2008
Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed were murdered, Dodi's father Mohamed Al Fayed has told the inquest into their deaths in a car crash in Paris in 1997.
Harrods owner Mr. Al Fayed claimed former prime minister Tony Blair, MI5, MI6 and the British ambassador to France were all part of the conspiracy.
And he said Princess Diana "knew Prince Philip and Prince Charles were trying to get rid of her."
He also said Diana had told him she was pregnant, and the couple were engaged.
"I am the only person they told," he said.
'Crocodile wife'
Asked by Ian Burnett QC, counsel to the inquest, if he stood by his claim that Diana and Dodi were "murdered by the British security services on the orders of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh," Mr Al Fayed replied: "Yes."
He also pinpointed alleged security forces in the ambulance crew, the then British Ambassador to France Sir Michael Jay and the princess's brother-in-law Sir Robert Fellowes as all being involved in the plot.
And he said Prince Charles was complicit, hoping to make way so he could marry his "crocodile wife" Camilla Parker Bowles.
The Harrods boss also raised concerns about a note written by Diana's divorce lawyer, Lord Mishcon, after an October 1995 meeting. It outlined her fears there was a plot to kill her in a car crash.
The police agreed to hand it to the coroner only after Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, produced a note from the princess making similar allegations in the Daily Mirror in October 2003. By that time, Sir John Stevens led the Met.
Mr. Al Fayed said this delay confirmed his "belief that my son and Princess Diana were murdered."
In his evidence, Mr. Al Fayed branded Prince Philip a "Nazi" and a "racist" and said: "It's time to send him back to Germany from where he comes."
"You want to know his original name - it ends with Frankenstein," he added.
Wooden box
Mr. Al Fayed read out a statement detailing his main concerns about the crash, and the points he felt the inquest should address.
Diana had told him she kept a wooden box and if anything happened to her, the contents should be made public, he said. But it had not been kept safe by Diana's butler Paul Burrell, or her sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale.
He also said blood samples apparently taken from driver Henri Paul - who was also killed in the crash - did not belong to the Frenchman.
Mr. Al Fayed felt the murder was likely to have been carried out by photographer James Andanson, who has since died, on the orders of the security services.
Tape investigation
During his evidence, Mr. Al Fayed held up a copy of Monday's Sun newspaper, which claims Paul Burrell said he had not told the whole truth to the inquest.
He said of Mr Burrell: "He's been sitting here in the witness box talking about baloney things. It's important to bring him back."
Lord Justice Scott Baker later told the court: "This is something that's certainly being investigated."
The coroner said he had called for the Sun's tape and would want to know the circumstances under which it was obtained.
Richard Horwell QC for the Metropolitan Police Commissioner put it to Mr. Al Fayed that he had denied Diana "dignity in death" by raising the question of her pregnancy.
The barrister added that "witness after witness" had been asked about her method of contraception and her menstrual cycle, "and the evidence shows she could not have been pregnant."
Mr Al Fayed replied: "All the witnesses who have been saying this are part of the cover-up and have been told what to say."
The Harrods owner broke down when asked about the moment he was told Dodi was dead.
He said someone from security told him, but when asked if he remembered a call from Ritz hotel president Frank Klein, he answered: "It's difficult. I'd like to know why you are asking me things like that."
Mr Klein has told the inquest he telephoned Mr. Al Fayed to break the news and he replied: "This is not an accident."
Al-Fayed Calls Royal Family "Draculas"
Reuters | Tuesday, 19 February 2008
Harrods owner Mohamed al-Fayed has called the royals "this Dracula family" and accused them of wanting to get rid of Princess Diana at the inquest into the princess' and Dodi al-Fayed's death in a Paris road accident in 1997.
Al-Fayed, who alleges that Diana and his son Dodi were killed by British security service on the orders of the royal family, said: "Princess Diana told me she had proof her life was in danger."
In an emotional appearance at the inquest, al-Fayed accused Prince Philip of being a "Nazi" and a "racist."
"You want to know his original name -- it ends with Frankenstein," al-Fayed told the court.
"It is time to send him back to Germany," he added.
He said of Diana: "She suffered for 20 years from this Dracula family."
Al-Fayed, launching a string of allegations in court against the establishment, also said of Prince Charles: "He participated and I'm sure he knew what was going to happen."
He said this was "because he would like to get on and marry his Camilla and that is what happened. They cleared the decks. They finished her. They murdered her.
"It was slaughter, not murder," he told the court.
Al-Fayed said Diana had told him that "she knew Philip and Prince Charles wanted to get rid of her."
He went on: "Diana told me on the telephone she was pregnant. I am the only person they told. They told me they were engaged and would announce their engagement on Monday morning (three days after the crash)."
Diana, 36, Dodi, 42, and driver Henri Paul, a Fayed employee, were killed when their Mercedes limousine crashed in a road tunnel as they sped away from the Ritz Hotel in Paris with paparazzi photographers in hot pursuit.
French and British police investigations both concluded the deaths were tragic accidents caused by their speeding chauffeur who was found to be drunk. Both police probes rejected al-Fayed's conspiracy theories.
But al-Fayed insisted that French and British security and intelligence services had colluded in the killing of his son and Diana, and in a subsequent cover-up.
"French intelligence helped the British intelligence to execute their murder," he said.
