Schoolhouse Rock

Pirates and Emperors




Dysfunction Junction or Modern Day Parenting

Should we overthrow the Canadian Government?

For all his bluster Harper is the leader of an unstable minority government. Killing our soldiers for American lies and allowing war criminals to operate on our sovereign land; What do you think, should we topple the government for this?

Our country, founded on the principles of liberty and independence, is no longer our country, but instead has been hijacked by a group of businessmen and businessmen who play politicians who trample over our civil liberties and sell our independence to the highest bidder, both foreign or domestic. Today, corporations, not the people, write our laws and leave the needs of the nation to waste while money is spent for bombs and bullets and concentration camps. Under the last two administrations, which were stolen wantonly and openly by the hijackers, Americans have seen their retirements funds stolen, the nation's treasure pillaged, their jobs outsourced, their infrustructure dismantled, and their country plunged into a never-ending war crafted by Machiavellian-Neocon minds controlling the White House. Congress, beholden to these interests, have shirked their duties to represent the people and have colluded with the hijackers by passing unconstitutional laws like the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, the John Warren Defense Appropriation Act, and countless others laws that will further erode our liberties and freedoms.

Isn't tax resistance the least we could do in light of all these injustices? When do we start expressing outrage (as well as freedom and bravery) by stopping the blood money spigot which is financing this rogue state? Just when do we decide to pull the plug on this illegal war that we were lied into and that has already killed over a million people? Just when do we stop paying our legislators who are actively working to destroy the U.S. Constitution? Just when do we stop funneling our tax dollars to be used to build concentration camps here in the United States for our own enslavement? Just when do we stop aiding and abetting torture?

At what point do we say enough is enough!?

These are the moral arguments to not pay federal taxes, but, for those of you who are worried that you are breaking the law by not paying the feds, rest assured that the very law itself says that you have no legal obligation to pay if you know that these money will be spent in the commission of a crime.

For instance, if you know that the government is breaking domestic and international law, and we have ample proof that they are, see: "Summary of International and U.S. Law Prohibiting Torture and Other Ill-treatment of Persons in Custody"; "US War Crimes During the Gulf War," by Francis Boyle ; "A Chronology of US War Crimes & Torture, 1975-2005" it is incumbent upon you to resist these crimes by refusing to finance them because, according to U.S. law, if you don't, you will be considered criminal liability and subject to prosecution.

According to our legal system when a person kills someone in the process of committing a crime, his accomplice (who wasn't directly involved in the killing) would be just as guilty as his partner who pulled the trigger. It doesn't matter that the accomplice didn't actually do the killing or that he might have objected to the use of such violence, to the U.S. legal system he is just as liable for murder as his partner and would be charged with 1st or 2nd degree murder.

Here is the definition of an "accomplice" in the legal dictionary:

"One who knowingly, voluntarily, and with common intent unites with the principal offender in the commission of a crime. One who is in some way concerned or associated in commission of crime; partaker of guilt; one who aids or assists, or is an Accessory. One who is guilty of complicity in crime charged, either by being present and aiding or abetting in it, or having advised and encouraged it, though absent from place when it was committed, though mere presence, Acquiescence, or silence, in the absence of a duty to act, is not enough, no matter how reprehensible it may be, to constitute one an accomplice. One is liable as an accomplice to the crime of another if he or she gave assistance or encouragement or failed to perform a legal duty to prevent it with the intent thereby to promote or facilitate commission of the crime."

-- The Legal Dictionary

I don't think it gets anymore explicit than that. The law is unambiguous: If you knowingly give assistance or encouragement or failed to perform a legal duty to prevent the commission of a crime you are liable as an accomplice to that crime. So, when we send Federal taxes off to the state and and we know the money will be used on an illegal war and to pay torturers, and to destroy our Constitution, we are breaking the law and can be held accountable.

Once again, the law is unambiguous, you would be breaking the law by being an accomplice to a crime by paying your federal taxes.

Now, many tax resisters are using various constituional arguments to not pay taxes. Some use the excuse that the 16th Amendment was never ratified, therefore, it is null and void; others say that tax laws only stipulate paying taxes made on certain profits, but not on income derived from labor. There may be some validity to these argument but I believe that we need to take a moral stance similar to what Henry David Thoreau would have advocated in "Civil Disobedience." It's one thing to say that taxes are wrong because it wasn't codified or was misused in a legal document, and another to say that taxes are wrong because they are being used to commit morally reprehensible and illegal acts.

The added bonus to this moral/legal argument is that it is unimpeachable in its logic: One doesn't have to be a tax law/Constitution scholar to argue the "accomplice to a crime" defense.

Please obey the law and refuse to be an accomplice to a crime. Stop paying your federal taxes.

'War by Way of Deception' Teaser

'Dear Disintormed,

Look the "illuminati" didn't create the Niger forgeries (which were used to accuse Iraq of buying nuclear materials). Michael Ledeen did. The new world order didn't oust Plame (the CIA agent).
Lewis Libby did. It you don't Know how to handle real facts and people with real names and faces. Then go play with your cult.'

This is a quote from the movie that I found interesting.




For those of you that want to climb into the rabbit hole and see how far Alice goes follow this Wink.

http://www.rys2sense.com/anti-neocons/viewtopic.php?p=80922#80922

Expanding the War to Iran

The new National Intelligence Estimate has come in and it seems that the Iranians have stopped their development of nuclear weapons thus removing the motivation for a preemptive strike on Iran by the United States.

The White House press are now grilling the George Bush's spokesperson Dana Perino; a new and welcome development. Does this mean that the media are going to stop publishing the lies that come from the White House without doing any analysis? Will the press start to look at things critically now? Perhaps.



These developments may be reason for hope, they may also be cause for greater concern. We need to recognize that there is a strong desire to attack Iran. These new developments do nothing to blunt this desire all they do is impede it. In order to regain the momentum to attack Iran a new false flag attack may be required.

While this sounds like good news, in reality the ante for this round has just been increased.

History repeats itself. Do you see the patterns?

Charles Lindbergh's Speech - September 11, 1941



Charles Linbergh seems hopeful that the US can stay out of World War II. I guess he underestimated the desire to fabricate conditions for war. Below is a quote from the Wikipedia on the McCollum memo Pay special attention to the text in bullet #10.


It is not believed that in the present state of political opinion the United States government is capable of declaring war against Japan without more ado; and it is barely possible that vigorous action on our part might lead the Japanese to modify their attitude. Therefore, the following course of action is suggested:

* A. Make an arrangement with Britain for the use of British bases in the Pacific, particularly Singapore.
* B. Make an arrangement with Holland for the use of base facilities and acquisition of supplies in the Dutch East Indies.
* C. Give all possible aid to the Chinese government of Chiang-Kai-Shek.
* D. Send a division of long range heavy cruisers to the Orient, Philippines, or Singapore.
* E. Send two divisions of submarines to the Orient.
* F. Keep the main strength of the U.S. fleet now in the Pacific in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands.
* G. Insist that the Dutch refuse to grant Japanese demands for undue economic concessions, particularly oil.
* H. Completely embargo all U.S. trade with Japan, in collaboration with a similar embargo imposed by the British Empire.

10. If by these means Japan could be led to commit an overt act of war, so much the better. At all events we must be fully prepared to accept the threat of war.

It has been asserted that the Americans knew about the Pearl Harbor attack in advance. Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) Arthur H. McCollum's memo shows that the Roosevelt Administration took actions to further provoke war with Japan. "If by these means Japan could be led to commit an overt act of war, so much the better."

Some people see war are a useful tool to achieve their political objectives. When faced with a reluctance to engage in war, fabricating conditions conducive to their objectives seems to be an acceptable practice. So how do you feel about being duped into the Global War of Terror?

When I Came Home; Life After Iraq

"When I Came Home" is a documentary which follows the lives and struggles of several homeless veterans who have recently returned home from the war in Iraq.

End these wars. They were started because of a lie; nothing good can come from them.

What's happening in Afghanistan?

The Canadian military will give 24 hours warning to a village – they’ll tell the people we are coming to your village – evacuate – and if you don’t evacuate you risk being killed. So of course people evacuate, the forces come in, they are looking for weapons, explosives, but because it is considered unsafe to go into a building because it might be booby-trapped –they just destroy every building, they destroy the homes, they destroy the farm buildings, they destroy the wells because there might be weapons hidden in the well and than they leave and tell the people they can go back. Then for some reason the Canadian military is shocked when these people become refugees instead of going back and starting all over again to rebuild their homes and their farms. This is considered to be the more humanitarian tactic that the Canadians are doing as opposed to what the Americans have often been doing - which is outright bombing of homes and farms without any warning.

Is this true? Can anyone else confirm this? This statement comes from an article posted here.

Top NATO generals meet in Canada to map Afghanistan strategy

OTTAWA (CP) — NATO's top generals have arrived in Canada for a meeting to map out strategy amid growing strain in the alliance over the increasingly bloody war in Afghanistan.

< snip full article can be found here>

Last week Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Canada's current mission in its current "configuration" will be over in 2009.

Pellerin said that could mean simply pulling out the infantry battle group, but leaving behind support elements such as artillery and logistics.

"The other option which I hear also is that the government would pull out completely from Kandahar," said Pellerin.

"I guess we'll hear more in the throne speech, but pulling out of Kandahar with the excuse that we've taken our casualties, done the heavy-lifting, it's now time for somebody else to me is not a very mature option."

Canada will be pulling out of the Afghanistan mission because new evidence has come to light. While distasteful the Taliban are not responsible for the events of September 11th. America is a liar and has proven that she cannot be trusted. She has fabricated stories to justify the invasion of two nations and starting a Global War of Terror. Canada trusted America and sent troops to Afghanistan to support her in a time of need. Now that we know she lied we are morally obligated to end this engagement. In light of the new evidence that is readily available on the internet Canada should also apologize to the people of Afghanistan; engaging in criminal acts of aggression is not something that the people of Canada or their Government will support.

Tell us what you really think about network news.

Don't hold back, just give it to us straight.

Spin: The Art of Selling War

Would you believe that there is a formula, a script? Follow the magical script and voila! support for a new war.

Jon Stewart on America's history of balancing power in the middle east

Trip Report from Cindy Sheehan, in Amman

"The statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception. - "Chronicle of Young Satan" Mark Twain"

08/20/07 The above quote from Mark Twain is how things have always been throughout the ages and throughout our American experience. These sentiments allowed an entire native population to be virtually wiped out and for black Africans to be enslaved for generations. Who cares if 600,000 Filipinos were wiped out during the Spanish-American War to "liberate" them from Spain, but to really have a coaling station for our Navy, or hundreds of thousands of Japanese slaughtered by the evil h-bomb when those people weren't even white, Christian Americans? Now this slimy rationale is allowing for the decimation of the Iraqi people and we have killed a million during this war to plant permanent bases there as we have permanent military facilities in Japan and the Philippines to this day.

Our small peace delegation that traveled here to Amman, Jordan to meet with refugees and other prominent Iraqis, like physicians and parliamentarians, have been humbled that these oppressed people would turn to us, their oppressors, for help. That they would trust us enough to know that we will help them says a lot about the Iraqi character and just how desperate they are!

Everyone that we have met stabs me in the heart again. We listen to their stories and we apologize on behalf of our country and they all, without fail, look at us with weary smiles filled with resignation of their fate and say: "inshallah" or "If God wills it." I wish I had that simple faith, but I can't believe that any God, except George's God of hatred, destruction, greed, and murder would "will" what is going on here in the Middle East.

I have already written about Bethena whose body and life were torn apart by an American mortar. When we promised to help her, her response was, "Inshallah."

I met a woman at a hospital yesterday who was kidnapped, tortured and held for a three hundred thousand dollar ransom. When I told her we were trying to help get a hospital for Iraqi people, run by Iraqis, here in Amman, she quietly said: "inshallah," through her tears.

We have spent a lot of time with an Iraqi parliamentarian whose 10 cousins were slaughtered after "Hamad" had exposed a secret Shi'a prison that imprisoned, tortured, and killed Sunni. His story is on a documentary called "Death Squads." When I saw the footage of the carnage where his cousins were killed I looked over at him in shock, and you guessed it, he whispered: "inshallah," to me.

Our group had a meeting in a Jordanian hospital that is allowing Iraqi doctors to work and help the refugees. The doctors explained to us how, if they had their own 50-bed hospital, they could treat the Iraqi refugees here in Amman at about 40% of the cost of what the Jordanian hospital charges the refugees. The doctors all had horror stories of family members being killed, raped, dismembered, displaced and terrorized. We listened to them vent and explained to them that we were truly sorry and that's why we are here, to help. "Inshallah."

The most touching meeting at the hospital was by a prominent Iraqi sheikh who had brought another sheikh of an opposite sect to the hospital after he had survived an assassination attempt. The wounded sheikh lie on the hospital bed while the other sheikh stood guard over him. The doctors brought us into the room to dispel the myth of any prior sectarian strife. The Iraqis wanted to assure us that the violence between Iraqis is caused and encouraged by the Americans who want Iraqis fighting each other to create this chaos that allows America to steal their oil and otherwise destroy their country. The sheikh told me that he was sorry about Casey, but he has lost 8 family members and many more dozens of members of his tribe. He encouraged us Americans to rise up against our country and force our government to end the occupation. I told him that we have been trying very hard, but we will try harder. He looked skeptical, because he knows the will of the American public is not to rise up against our government, and he had that same hopeless look on his face that we have encountered repeatedly, but he bit his tongue and said: "Inshallah."

As we were leaving the hospital, one of the doctors grabbed my hand and also told me that he was sorry about Casey. In a quiet voice, he told me that even though it is sad for me to have lost a son that it was so that I could lead America towards peace and use my sorrow to help the people of Iraq, "inshallah." I lost my faith after Casey was killed and it is so profound to witness the faith of the Iraqi people when their country has been decimated for no reason, their national treasures and antiquities destroyed or defiled by barbaric acts, one million people dead, six million people displaced, and so many wounded and ill that can't access medical care. This trip has been so difficult for us as people with hearts, but it has also reminded me how fortunate we are to live in a country that has been almost virtually free from war on our soil for about 150 years, but also so angry that we allow it to happen to other peoples on their land on an almost continuing basis. Also, to think that anything is going to change if a Democrat gets into office is naïve. Bill Clinton is a Democrat who is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis more than George. Throughout US History political parties have interchanged the White House and NOTHING has ever changed. The fascist power elite will always use their puppet in the White House to kill other people for their benefit and profit.

The American military has not been victorious in Iraq and we won't be as long as we are occupying foreign lands. That is a given. If we allow the occupation to continue for a decade, our way of life, as we know it, will die as the Soviet Union did after their decade long farce in Afghanistan. What we are allowing our government to do in the Middle East dishonors and endangers us all. Like the parliamentarian from the city that was totally shattered by the Marines, Falluja, told me: "You Americans are also being held hostage by your government," and he is right.

As the sheikh told me: We must rise up. We must assert our need for peace with justice, not only to save our troops who are in harm's way for Halliburton, et al, but for the dear people of Iraq who never asked for the US to "liberate" them. Our governments don't care about them, or us, so we must care about each other.

www.CindyforCongress.org

The Killer Robots have arrived

It's a mistake to give these machines lethal weapons. If a physical deterrence is required then give them a nonlethal acoustic weapon. By choosing to make these systems lethal people will put far more effort into defeating them.

Since these models use huge amounts of bandwidth (4 real time video feeds per SWORD?) RF jamming will be the first strategy. The nature of the beast is that the weapon will have to get better so the next logical development is to give the weapon platform the ability to operate autonomously. Then we have automated killing machines (a.k.a. Terminators) running around the world.

What is a Hadji?

"It is the battered wrecks of men and women who return from Iraq and speak the halting words we do not want to hear, words that we must listen to and heed to know ourselves. They tell us war is a soulless void. They have seen and tasted how war plunges us to barbarity, perversion, pain and an unchecked orgy of death."

Are you still watching the mass media and their prepackaged view of the war? Are you listening to your veterans?

Willful denial is not a defense. Ignoring the the reality of the situation does not absolve you of your responsibilities. Find out what your soldiers are doing, in your name.

Canada to change the tune of the War in Afghanistan

Change tune on war, PM told

OTTAWA — The Harper government has been told to stop referring to “fighting terrorism” and the Sept. 11 attacks, and to banish the phrase “cut and run” from its vocabulary if it is to persuade a skeptical public that the military mission in Afghanistan is worth pursuing.

A public-opinion report says only 40 per cent of respondents across Canada, and almost none in Quebec, support the deployment. To change the perceptions, it recommends putting the emphasis on “rebuilding,” “enhancing the lives of women and children,” and “peacekeeping.”

ALAN FREEMAN From Friday's Globe and Mail July 13, 2007 at 1:12 AM EDT

---

That is exactly what I want my troops doing. I believe in my troops and I know they want to help people. They should be digging wells, building roads, school houses and focusing their energies on helping people.

We all know that Osama Bin Laden did not bring down the towers on September 11 which means a lie started the war in Afghanistan. Chasing terrorists and hunting people is a continuation of this lie. Our troops are committed to Afghanistan for some time to come but that doesn't mean we have to continue the same failed policies. In World War II our troops were send over the lines at night, with lights shining behind them. The silouettes that they cast made them easy picking for the Germans that night. How many times do you think we had to do that before we turned off the lights?

We must eliminate the secrecy and the Canadian public has a responsibility to ask questions about how the mission is proceeding, on a regular basis. We sent our troops into Somalia with American leadership. America's "brute force first" approach escalates the situation and makes matters worse. As a result of the Somalia Affair we disbanded the Canadian Airborne Regiment and the military suffered for years. So lets not forget that Canadians expect their armed forces to conduct themselves properly while on deployments.

We need to discuss any recommitments of our troops to this conflict in light of the discoveries related to 911. We invaded Afghanistan on trumped up charges without UN approval which may make this an illegal war of agression.

Mr Harper if you want to do something positive; lead a trade mission to Afghanistan and find ways for these people to earn a living on legal trade goods.