Will it Matter Who Holds the Power After November 7th?

Here we are seven days from the Mid-Term elections. I was really wondering, with everything that this administration has done to grab total control of the country, would it matter? Read on.>>>

Don’t get me wrong, I will vote, and I will continue right up until 8:00pm November 7 to push for our candidates. It is a must to at least see what change we can make. I am just thinking aloud I guess, but did you ever wonder why all the laws were passed and put into place over the last six and a half years. Of course, there were many laws passed, but there are those that are special, with a purpose. They tell us that they are to keep us safe from the terrorist, but there are too many freedoms on the line for us say, “Well, you know your right, go ahead and do anything you want.” That‘s why I am worried about some that were passed, and the Signing Statements used by George W. Bush

You have the Big One that they put into place, The Patriot Act. Then you have the next little piece of legislation, known as The Patriot Act II, passed on the same day that Saddam Hussein was pulled from that spider hole. Then there are the revisions to the Act. Others signed were HR 418, Intelligence Reform 2004, The Military Commissions Act, and many more. Now you have to realize that inside these laws are different sections, which do different things.

Section 1076 of H.R.5122, (also known as John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007) makes it easier for the President to declare martial law, stripping state governors of part of their authority over state National Guard units in domestic emergencies. Here again the definition of domestic emergencies, like all the key definitions in all bills passed lately by the republican lead legislature, are very broad and can be interpreted in many ways. (Terms like, Enemy Combatant, and Terrorist, just to name two.)
Source

“Section 1076 of the massive Authorization Act, which grants the Pentagon another $500-plus-billion for its ill-advised adventures, is entitled, ‘Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies,’” explains Morales. “Section 333, ‘Major public emergencies; interference with State and Federal law’ states that ‘the President may employ the armed forces, including the National Guard in Federal service, to restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States when, as a result of a natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or other condition in any State or possession of the United States, the President determines that domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable of (’refuse’ or ‘fail’ in) maintaining public order, ‘in order to suppress, in any State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy.’”
For the current President, “enforcement of the laws to restore public order” means to commandeer guardsmen from any state, over the objections of local governmental, military and local police entities; ship them off to another state; conscript them in a law enforcement mode; and set them loose against “disorderly” citizenry—protesters, possibly, or those who object to forced vaccinations and quarantines in the event of a bio-terror event.
The law also facilitates militarized police round-ups and detention of protesters, so called “illegal aliens,” “potential terrorists” and other “undesirables” for detention in facilities already contracted for and under construction by Halliburton. That’s right. Under the cover of a trumped-up “immigration emergency” and the frenzied militarization of the southern border, detention camps are being constructed right under our noses, camps designed for anyone who resists the foreign and domestic agenda of the Bush administration.

So as you can see with all of the little laws made by the legislature and the Military Commission Act 2006 (Loss of Habeas Corpus), The John Warner Defense Act of 2007, (Weakening of Posse Comitatus) and the contracts to KBR (Halliburton) you have to wonder if it will matter, and what this administration has in store for, “We The People”?
ABA
Ps. Please remember to vote on Nov. 7th it may be the only chance we have to hold Bush in check.(Now there’s a slogan for the Democrats.)

Give Section 1076 The F.I.N.G.E.R.

Now with the upcoming Mid-Term Elections, a little virtually unknown piece of legislature that was passed and gives the (P)Resident the power to take power over the State militias, (The National Guard), has gained some recognition, with a Newly formed group of patriots, the project is called ”FINGER”. The legislation they want repealed is Section 1076

FINGER is an acronym for, Federalist, Independence, National Guard, Emergency, Response.
Below I have Barrowed a section from Major Danby’s diary.

Federalist
Federalist means one who favors “federalism”: the principle that some government activities belong to the federal government, while others belong to the states. The classic example of an activity assigned to the states is “policing.” We as a nation have always wanted our policing to be done at the state and local level. We have not wanted a national police force that ultimately was under the control of a single person. A national police force opens the door to tyranny.
Independence
Independence means that a state Governor, not the President, should have the final say in how and when to deploy a state’s National Guard troops. This principle was already watered down in Perpich v. Department of Defense, a unanimous 1990 Supreme Court decision that said that a Governor cannot veto use of National Guard troops in an overseas commitment. Whatever you think about that, it’s very different from the Governor not having the final say about the domestic deployment of troops for the purpose of law enforcement.
National Guard
The National Guard is the military force of each state and territory -the “Governor’s muscle.” The Governor can call up the National Guard for purposes such as disaster relief or emergency law enforcement. The President can call up a state National Guard to supplement regular troops in a foreign war. The President’s power to call up the National Guard for domestic use - to enforce federal law through what is called “martial law” - is restricted by the Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C. § 1385). The exceptions to this law -when the President can call up National Guard troops for domestic use, are found in the Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C. §§ 331 -335).
Emergency Response
Emergency Response refers to the conditions under which the National Guard can be deployed. Congress has expanded the exceptions to the Posse Comitatus Act to where the President can deploy National Guard troops domestically, for federal law enforcement, for pretty much any emergency he thinks is appropriate. Now, because Congress passed Section 1076, “The President may employ the armed forces, including the National Guard in Federal service, to … (B) suppress, in a State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy if such insurrection, violation, combination, or conspiracy results in a condition [that] … (2) opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws.” You could drive a tank through this new exception to the Posse Comitatus Act!
Put them together, and FINGER says to the President:
Keep your fingers off the Governor’s control over the National Guard and restore the Posse Comitatus Act to its former state! Repeal Section 1076!

Now here is what Section 1076 does,

Section 522 (House section 511) extends from 270 days to 365 days
the period for which the Selected Reserve and Individual Ready Reserve may be involuntarily called to active duty.

* Section 1076 (Senate section 1042):

o Amends the “Insurrection Act” (i.e., Chapter 15 of title 10, U.S. Code) by:

§ Changing the title of chapter 15 of title 10, U.S. Code) from “Insurrection” to “Enforcement of the Laws to Restore Public Order”;

§ Changing the title of section 333 of chapter 15 from “Interference with State and Federal Law” to “Major Public Emergencies; Interference with State and Federal Law”;

§ Clarifying the President’s authority, under section 33 of chapter 15, to use the armed forces, including the National Guard in Federal service, without a request from a State governor, to restore order and enforce Federal laws in cases where, as a result of a terrorist attack, epidemic, or natural disaster, public order has broken down; and

§ Including those who are obstructing the laws to the existing requirement for the President to issue a proclamation ordering insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their abodes within a limited time.

o Amends Chapter 152 of title 10, U.S. Code, to authorize, with certain limitations, the President, in any situation he determines to exercise the authority provided in section 333 of chapter 15, to direct the Secretary of Defense to provide supplies, services, and equipment (e.g., food, water, utilities, transportation, search and rescue, medical care, and other assistance necessary to save lives and property) to persons affected by the incident.

o Amends section 12304 of title 10, U.S. Code, eliminating the limitation imposed on the President’s authority to involuntarily call to active duty members of the reserve components to perform law enforcement and other duties in response to serious natural or man-made disasters, accidents, or catastrophes to only those incidents involving terrorist or weapons of mass destruction threats or attacks.

What the legislature did with its vagueness in this section, is open the door for a president to take the National Gaurd from one state to another, to quash a demostration, not know ahything but the oders they were given. this can be done even with the objection of the Governors. This has the possibility of another, Tienanmen Square, or to bring it closer to home, A Kent State.

A Newly Added section to the Posse Comitatus is Sec. 831, which has to do with Nuclear Materials. The section I have posted below is the supposed purpose of the adding of this section, but it like almost all laws and revisions written under this administration are, wide open and left to the discretion of the President at the time.

Purpose. - The purpose of this title [enacting section 2332c
of this title, amending this section and sections 175, 177, 178,
and 2332a of this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes
under section 262 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, and
section 1522 of Title 50, War and National Defense] is to provide
Federal law enforcement agencies with the necessary means and the
maximum authority permissible under the Constitution to combat the
threat of nuclear contamination and proliferation that may result
from the illegal possession and use of radioactive materials.”

After reading section 176, a suspicious minded man would have to ask, what are we the people being setup for by our own government?

ABA
Ps. Do yourself a favor, read the section 1076, and the Posse Comitatus Act, then ask yourself, why did they give him this power?

Mail-In Votes not as Secure as Once Thought.

Yesterday I opened my Black Box Voting newsletter to find, that one thing that was being done by voters thinking that it was a secure way to make our vote count, isn‘t that full proof. Read on>>>

Write-in votes were found not to be a sure way to get your vote counted. Write-in votes are counted by voting machines, some of the voting machines had the checks, and balances turned off.

Mail-in ballots are counted by voting machines. In some locations, they are actually entered into touch-screens! In most locations, they are counted by optical scan machines, and some of these (Diebold) have crucial checks and balances disabled.

The article list a number of steps that could go wrong with mail in votes, in the process of being counted. They used King County in Washington state as an example of Ballots requiring more than one stamp and the ballot may not make it to the elections office.

In an election last year in King County Washington, voters were surprised to learn that they needed to affix two stamps, not one, to their absentee ballot envelope. This year Black Box Voting has seen anecdotal evidence that ballots in Florida and California require two stamps, not one, and this is not always clear to the voter.

They give a couple of remedies, but the one I like is demanding that your district use Business Reply Mail, this mail can be tracked, and this I fill will help secure your vote.

Next they bring up a problem that could take place here in Pennsylvania this mid-term election, Incorrect Ballot Inserts. As I was looking over the VotesPa site, I came upon this:

IMPORTANT ALERT TO ABSENTEE VOTERS REGARDING
THE NOVEMBER 7, 2006 GENERAL ELECTION BALLOT
Absentee ballots or special write-in absentee ballots that were delivered or mailed to
you by your county board of elections on or before September 26, 2006, may contain the
name of Carl J. Romanelli as a Green Party candidate for the office of United States
Senator. Please be advised that Mr. Romanelli’s name was removed from the ballot
by order of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania on September 26, 2006, and
affirmed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on October 4, 2006.
Please note, however, that absentee ballots containing Mr. Romanelli's name are valid and will be counted if they are returned in the lawful manner, as directed by
your county board of elections. Any votes cast for Mr. Romanelli would be counted
as write-in votes cast for that candidate.

Now one of the things that are wrong with the method they used by putting this up on their website is, not everyone has a computer. I know at least 50 people in my small community that do not have computers. This should be mailed out to all registered votes, especially the Independents.

other issues discussed are: Ballot Printer Accountability, Chain of Custody, Was Your Signature Accepted, and Voting Machine Issues?

Absentee ballots are usually run through an optical scan voting machine. These machines have in the past, produced tapes that give the results. These voting machine results tapes can then be compared with the central tabulator. Diebold, at least, has disabled this results tape in its absentee counting machines, so that the ONLY results are the data held in the GEMS central tabulator machine -- a system so hackable that we once taught a chimpanzee to alter its audit log; this is the system I taught presidential candidate Howard Dean to manipulate.

One of the problems with the system as it is, also is explained:

The absentee votes are at particular risk in the GEMS central tabulator, for the following reason: Many absentee votes are counted after Election Day. By this time, you know exactly how many votes are needed to win. The simplest way to manipulate the tabulator to tweak absentee votes for a particular candidate is this: - Each candidate is assigned a number in the GEMS system - By flipping the number, you effectively flip the vote.

So if you are voting by mail or have already mailed your ballot in, this is a must read letter. It can be found at,Black Box Voting
Know your Voter Rights!

ABA

2-4-1 Friday. Now Who's Living in La-La land & Bones

2-4-1 Friday: Now who is Living in La-La Land & The Bones Know.

Living in their own little version of Shangri-La, the Republican leaders are at it again, which this time I hope is a good thing. Read on.>>>

Article

Yesterday Bill Frist, told republican incumbents not to sweat the Iraq war.

"The challenge is to get Americans to focus on pocketbook issues, and not on the Iraq and terror issue," Frist said in an interview with the Concord Monitor on Tuesday.

Frist’s plan is something that could possibly work in favor of the Democrats, and here’s why.

When an average Joe gets home from work, he goes over and hits the remote control, usually to catch the local news. He is interested in the weather, and sports reports. {Not in that order but, that’s the way they are set to air on most channels.} As he is getting situated in his favorite chair, the business report is on, and they are tossing phrases around like, record highs, and up so many points above yesterday, and it sounds pretty good. But to Joe, what they are saying the market is doing conflicts with what is going on in his life.

You see Joe has a second mortgage to pay, Because his daughter was in the hospital for a month last year with a kidney infection, and it nearly broke him and his wife. Then there is the personal loan that he took out to pay for the new roof and gutters put on last spring. Then there‘s Joes truck, you know the one, it‘s one more missed payment away from being repossessed. Now the creditors are ringing the phone off the wall because the credit cards got maxed out, because little Joe got sick last year and Joe has no health insurance, and it was the only way that he could think of to pay for it.

Now while Joe is waiting on the sports, a campaign commercial comes on and it is Rick Santorum telling him that under his watch the economy is doing great, and he helped get more jobs created. Joe now is about to toss a glass through the screen, but that would be another expense.

As Joe settles back in his chair, a segment comes on with the Resident-Evil saying that we are winning the war in Iraq. But that’s strange in an earlier story Joe was told that last month was the deadliest month in Iraq. Looking bewildered, Joe wonders which is it? The one thing Joe knows for sure it that, they just buried his buddy’s kid that joined the reserves four years ago. He was 3 months from getting out when he was called back.

People like Joe don’t care about the Mark Folly scandal. Yea it makes for some good jokes like the one Joe heard on the jobsite. “Why was Mark Folly at Wal-Mart? Because he heard boys pants are half off.” So I say, go ahead and let the republicans talk about the economy and how good it is, because people like Joe know where it is really at.


ABA

The Bones Know
Bones

Ok, now whether you buy the governments story on 9-11-2001, or not, you have to ask why in the hell would they not take the time to check every inch of the crime site. I mean it is five years later and they turn up. Are the utility companies so good that they did not have to get in those manholes for 5 years? I really doubt it. Read on.>>>

The bones and fragments that were fond, are said to be in next to perfect condition, for DNA matching.

Adams: "However they got there, it was certainly right at the time of the event, so they've been protected for five years and haven't been subjected to weather. ... That's the most exiting thing about this - the remains are going to be good to work with and we're getting large pieces, so the best thing that could happen would be that we potentially get some new identifications out of it."

Now this is all fine and good, but there is so much more to be answered. Like how did they get there? The biggest question that should be at the front of the line is, “Why was the administration so fast to wrap up the search?” Then when that is answered let’s ask, “Why was it that they were in such a hurry to remove the wreckage from a crime scene?” If we get answers to those questions, then let’s ask, “Why didn’t the administration pay attention to all the warnings from other countries, and the big one, Why did G.W. ignore the memo Condi gave him Entitled, “Bin Laden intent on attacking the U.S.”?

So why aren’t we asking these questions? It has been Sixty-One months and sixteen days since 9-11-2001, so why don’t we know why this administration ignored the many warnings that they got. The one thing we do know, if you have been following the track record of the Resident, the blame is somewhere else.

ABA

I am Still Applauding Keith Olbermann.

Oh my God, I just finished watching Keith Olbermann’s “Special Moment” from Last night, and I am still applauding him. It is a piece of video that I will have to wake the town up to see. I will run from house to house if I have to, just to get the word out. (It is 6:30 am here.) Read on.>>>

When I woke up I did what I normally do, I clicked on the computer and check out the blogs. Then I saw it, Olbermann is in Dangerous Waters. He Needs Our Email Blitz… by; BigDog04 I had to check it out, as luck would have it, I missed the show last night. You can watch the video at his Blog, The Political Dog Fight

Here it is almost an hour after I watched the video, and I am still applauding him. Was it yesterday that I read that Keith may have set the bar so high that even he won’t be able to hit it again. Well that person was wrong; he met and cleared the bar by 20 feet. See Olbermann has one thing that makes it easy for him, an unbridled passion for speaking the blatant truth. Oh yea, and an openly corrupt administration. As long as this administration Plays the Role, of acting as if they are above the law, Keith will have plenty of material to work with.

As I get settled in and start reading, I here this voice coming from the TV that is sending shock waves through my head, here it’s Sean Hannity being interviewed by Diane Sawyer on GMA. The topic is, the campaign ads that are aired by the republicans.

The first thing brought up is the Michael J. Fox commercial on stem cell research. As we new he would, Hannity defended his good friend. Although it was in a backhanded way. As you may or may not know, Old Limp-Balls was scolded by his own fans for his comments on the commercial, and by those that saw Rush wiggling about on the Ditto Cam. He said that Fox was over acting and stopped taking his meds to shake that bad on camera. Well if anyone is an expert “On Medication”, it would be old Dope Fiend, El’Rushbo, besides Fox said in his book that he had quit taking his Meds. Won‘t it be great when people suffering from Parkinson's disease won‘t need medication to control the tremors?

Next, Diane ask him about ads being run against Harold Ford, Tenn. (D) that paint him as a playboy, and a man about town. The ad clearly uses a beautiful white woman to make the impression that the black men are going to take your white woman. (Sorry if that sounds racist, but that is why they shot it that way.)I cannot find the ad, but if anyone has it, or knows where to get it please post it. Anyway, Hannity said that it wasn’t that bad. Then Diane reminded him the Corker ask that the ad be pulled. I am sorry but I had to leave after that, partly out of disgust and that I had to take my daughter to school.

As we know the Republicans are masters at running and creating “Smear Ads”, and hell they even have great imaginations. How long now have they been telling us that, “everything is going fine in Iraq, and that the economy is doing great? Well the economy one might be true, if you are a multi-millionaire, or corporation. In addition, they keep boasting that they have created millions of jobs, even though it is below Clinton’s average, only in the third year of his Presidency. The thing is that the jobs created are low-end jobs that are being filled by immigrants. Although, wasn’t the republicans that kept reminding us in 2004, “that the president doesn’t create the job, it the corporations.” Yea, I bet G.W.‘s buddy Venetia Fox is thankful.

So when I am out, canvassing the towns in Western Pennsylvania, and I run into people that I have a hard time getting through to, I tell them. It is simple. “If you want more of the same, (living in fear, tax breaks for the millionaires, our kids being shipped off to be killed, for the lies of this administration, and total loss of your rights, vote Republican. On the other hand if you want, a chance for a hope, (the hope of stopping the killing of our troops in a war that should have never been, a hope that we will see affordable health care, and a hope that the economy will be good for even the little guy, then you have to vote Democrat!) It is that simple.”

ABA

Falcon Camp and COPLAN 8022, October Surprise?

Today I would like to cover a few things, none of which touches on the midterm elections. Therefore, if you are looking for diaries on those, there are plenty here to choose.

Maybe I am lost, but on October 10 2006 Falcon Camp was shelled and a large number of U.S. troops were killed and injured. Yet we are not hearing about it. Or did I just miss it? Read on. >>>

Acording to a number of news sources on the web, none of them what is considered mainstream, are all over this story. From reading the Global Research website I learn that there are conflicting reports on the number of casualties, or even the number of people stationed at the base. The numbers run from 100 to 5,000. As you read down that page on Global Research you can see that there are many conflicting reports, one Arab station even say that they think a Tactical Nuke exploded in the fire.

On October 11, 2006, a Tactical Nuclear Device appears to have exploded when fire broke out in an ammunition dump at Camp Falcon inside Iraq. Video from live nightly newscast in Baghdad caught the detonation - miles away - with it's characteristic ENORMOUS blinding white flash, a rising core of fire then a small mushroom cloud!" 5.21 min. If this link is not available, please see: Jihad Unspun

I still don’t really know what happen at Camp Falcon, and doubt that we will really get the whole story from our government, and the so-called Mainstream media, but I will keep looking. A friend of mine brought up that maybe this is what will be used as an excuse to start the Air-Campaign on Iran. He said that the government might blame this on the Iranians and use it as excuse. He might be right, but only time will tell. Which leads me in to the next part of this diary.

CONPLAN 8022.
(Developed be the administration, and scares the crap out of me.)

CONPLAN 8022, is a strategic plan that was developed by the Bush 43 administration to halt civilized societies, with the use of nuclear weapons. (Does this scare the shit out of anybody else?

A few days ago I was reading a WaPo Blog piece by William M. Arkin, entitled “The Truth Behind Military Inaction in North Korea , and at the time I just glanced through it, because, frankly it was chaos around here. Last night I was rereading it because of the shit I was finding on the net about the COPLAN 8022, and everything started to come together, like a bad nightmare.

On December 22, 2002, a plan began to be pieced together that would allow the U.S. to be able to strike anywhere in the world in just minutes. Put in charge of this plan was, Adm. James O. Ellis Jr., commander of U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM). On June 24 2003, The Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld signed of on the concept of COPLAN 8022.

The Plan was finished in November of 2003, and on June 30, 2004, The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff signed the Global Strike “Alert Order”, putting the military on notice that they needed to be ready to carry out a strike on the president’s whim. (Worried yet?) Ok, read this:

The Pentagon and the Joint Chiefs of Staff has amplified the global strike concept in an arsenal of classified papers and directives: the Strategic Planning Guidance for fiscal years 06-11, Contingency Planning Guidance, a new Nuclear Weapons Employment Policy, a Strategic Deterrence joint operating concept, a Global Strike Joint Integrating Concept, a Global Strike Functional Solutions Analysis, a Global Strike Functional Area Analysis, Global Strike Support Documents, a Deterrence Effectiveness Assessment.

In the following statement by retired General Sam Gardiner, sends shivers down my spine every time I read it.

Col. Sam Gardiner, a retired U.S. Air Force officer who has been running "war games" which lay out the Cheney-Bush Administration's military strategy, rang the alarm bell in March, at an international conference in Berlin, where he stated that the decision had already been made to go to war. Since then, Colonel Gardiner's analyses have appeared in several locations, including EIR. Recently, he authored a lengthy report issued by The Century Foundation, which laid bare the fraud of the "Summer diplomacy" conducted by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

EIR

While researching this I found this article that reviews a resolution put forward by Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, that demands that all documentation that the White House has on Iran be turned over to the Congress. Kucinich Resolution On the same page is a nicely worded invitation for the Resident to share his documents with the congress, by Maryland (R) Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest.

Like I said before this is all starting to come together like a bad series of dreams. I don’t know, maybe I am becoming paranoid and the way things are happening are just a series of bad coincidences.
1. The Patriot Act.
2. COPLAN 8022
3. 3 revisions to The Patriot Act
4. HR.-418, 1070, and the Intelligence Reform Bill 2004
5. The battle to resign the Patriot Act.
6. Courts finding in Bush’s favor on NSSA domestic wiretapping.
7. The Congress gift of torture and canceling of Habeas Corpus, with the Military Commissions Act of 2006.
8. What’s Next????????


ABA
Ps. If I missed anything “please” let me know.

“Daddy Should Ought Not Said That.”

I could not believe my ears yesterday when ask George W. Bush about a statement that his daddy made earlier this week. Read on.>>>

Yesterday on ABC’s “This Week” With George Stephanopoulos during his interview with George W. Bush, Stephanopoulos brought the statement that the elder bush made earlier in the week, when he said, he hates to think what life will be like for his son if the Democrats win control of Congress in the Nov. 7 election. WaPo

"He shouldn't be speculating like this, because -- he should have called me ahead of time and I'd tell him they're not going to [win]," a smiling Bush said

It makes you wonder does the Resident know something that we don’t, or is he just over enthusiastic? With all of the doubt over Electronic Voting, and the use of proprietary voting machines, and programs maybe there is something to worry about.

The elder Bush was also quoted as saying :

"I would hate to think . . . what my son's life would be like" if their Republican Party lost its majorities.
Though the elder Bush has said his job is to stay on the sidelines, that did not stop him from raising a warning about the prospects for a Democratic takeover of Congress.
Asked whether he had thought about the possibility, the president told ABC: "Not really. . . . I'm a person that believes we'll continue to control the House and the Senate."

I know many of the people are saying that the election will not be stolen, and that they are tired of hearing about it, and I know the reason why. It’s because they are afraid that people will come to the conclusion then why vote. Well I have already hit that one, but will vote anyway hoping that we have done enough to hold voter fraud in check. Also in hope that the change of power will actually make a difference. After seeing Barney Franks on Bill Maher Friday night. (Let me reword that.) On Real Time with Bill Maher, I saw a passion from Franks that I haven’t seen in any one on the left, other than Senator Russ Feingold. It does give me hope. But will this kind of passion beat a Diebold machine, or any other proprietary E-Machine?

ABA

Habeas Corpus takes a Holiday

Well it has started, the courts have been told they do not have the jurisdiction to hear habeas corpus cases. The Bush administration is quick to use the powers that the legislature gave last week. Read on>>>

With hundreds of habeas corpus petitions waiting to be heard from Guantanamo Bay prison, the administration has told the courts they no longer have the power to hear theses cases.

In a notice dated Wednesday, the Justice Department listed 196 pending habeas cases, some of which cover groups of detainees. The new Military Commissions Act (MCA), it said, provides that "no court, justice, or judge" can consider those petitions or other actions related to treatment or imprisonment filed by anyone designated as an enemy combatant, now or in the future.

Yesterday I wrote back to the Washington Observer-Reporter, after reading a letter to the editor, that was entitled, “Could a Letter Writer Disappear?, but the letter itself wasn’t the problem it was the responses that were posted to the letter. The people just don’t get it. Most seem to think that it is just for detainees, (enemy combatants). They don’t know that they themselves are potential enemies of the State. So in my letter I try to straighten that out for them.

As I pointed out yesterday the two biggest freedom destroying laws are the Patriot Act,(and all its revisions.) and HR 6166,(Military Commissions Act of 2006 .) The latter of the 2 actually gives an unprecedented power to the administration that is suppose to be working for us. I think we need to hope beyond all hopes that the Power in the Congress and Senate is transferred to the Left and we can begin to restore the America I once new. If nothing changes at least we will know for sure that both parties are one in the same.

A week or two back, Gonzalez threatened the courts not to mess with any of the administrations calls on the laws. The reason I bring this up is that the law is already being challenged.

The new law already has been challenged as unconstitutional by lawyers representing the petitioners. The issue of detainee rights is likely to reach the Supreme Court for a third time.

Habeas corpus, a Latin term meaning "you have the body," is one of the oldest principles of English and American law. It requires the government to show a legal basis for holding a prisoner.

In the last two years, The Supreme Court heard two cases in which they ruled in favor of the detainees. These cases seemed to have pointed out that the government was wrong in the way they were using the law. But as the legislature always seem to do for the administration, changed the laws to suite the wants of the administration. The one thing that was done with this act was that the interpretation of a key definition was left up to the administration, Enemy Combatant.

The administration wasted no time, or as my daughter says, “They didn’t let any grass grow under their feet.”

Immediately after Bush signed the act into law Tuesday, the Justice Department sent a letter to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit asserting the new authorities and informing the court that it no longer had jurisdiction over a combined habeas case that had been under consideration since 2004. The U.S. District Court cases, which had been stayed pending the appeals court decision, were similarly invalid, the administration informed that court on Wednesday.

I am uncertain what can be done to reverse the “Military Commissions Act of 2006”, but it needs to done now, before it is used against, Bloggers, Protesters, and anyone that speaks out against the administration. Those who know the constitution know that to suspend habeas corpus is to violate the constitution. A very important clause in the Section dealing with Habeas Corpus, is one that should make the people of this country quake in their boots. “The right to challenge detention "shall not be suspended" except in cases of "rebellion or invasion."

So, with that in mind does anyone that speaks out against the policies of this our any future administration run the risk of being jailed for their actions? Will we see what Adams did when he suspended Habeas Corpus, and jail those News paper people, and others including members of Congress, and the Senate, who spoke out against him and his policies? I guess only time will tell, and I hope time proves me wrong.


ABA
Ps. The next time someone tells you, Abraham Lincoln suspended Habeas Corpus, remind them he had a rebellion on his hands. This little skirmish called “The Civil War”.

[Note] As of this morning the Observer-Reporter had not changed its on line pages. Although the letter I mentioned was taken down. I will have to call my friends at the paper.

What is the Loss of Habeas Corpus?

The following is a letter I wrote in response to this letter in the Washington Observer / Reporter

This is in response to some of the responses to the Letter Entitled “Could a letter writer be made to disappear?” Let me start by saying those who have not read, HR 6166 should do so. The definition of an Enemy Combatant is so wide open that any one can be tagged an enemy combatant. Now that’s cleared up, let me explain what the loss of Habeas Corpus will mean to us.

Loosely translated Habeas Corpus means. “Show the body.” In other words show me the evidence you have against me. Habeas Corpus is a very important right of the accused. With out Habeas Corpus, you can be held with out a hearing indefinitely. From what I read in the Detainee Bill, if you receive a trial, it is more than likely not going to be fair.

An example: If you protest against the government, you can be labeled an enemy combatant, and held without trial. If you retain a lawyer, the law is written so loosely the lawyer that is representing you can be charged as an enemy combatant. Also as an enemy combatant, you do not have the right to trial by a jury of your peers. You will receive a military trial.

You might be saying to yourself well I would not protest the war, or against this government. Then I would ask if you have children, or grandchildren between 18 and 26? Eventually there will no choice, but to reinstate a draft. When that day comes, are you going to stand idly by and watch them forced into a war for the lies and sins of this administration? I highly doubt it.

One thing we as a people need to realize is, since the midnight signing of the Patriot Act, our rights and liberties have begun to disappear. The Patriot Act uses a broad definition of the word terrorist; anyone can be deemed a terrorist under the act.
The Patriot Act also weakens the powers of the Judiciary. With the signing of such laws as the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004, and five revisions of the Patriot Act, the Judiciary has lost power to question actions of this administration. Thus breaking the very checks and balances that the government was based upon. These laws as heinous as they are, they pale in comparison to what has just be signed into law in HR 6166. Because this administration and future administrations now have an unprecedented power over those that they were, suppose to serve.

I ask those of you who are reading this “Are you willing to give up your rights and freedoms for a “false sense of security“? If you answered yes, as Ben Franklin said, you deserve neither.
So in answer to the author of “Could a letter writer be made to disappear?” My answer to you is yes!

Space the Final Tool of Control for The U.S.?

Here’s a little something that I am torn on, The right for anyone, not just The United States to own space. One I am not real sure how close we are to being able to control space but I am sure that there is a conspiracy out there on the subject.

I am not so naive as to think that we don’t have some control over the last frontier. Just how much, I don’t know. In the introduction the opening comment reads this way; WaPo

"Freedom of action in space is as important to the United States as air power and sea power," the policy.

It is pretty much believed that to control space is to control the globe, and to control the globe is to control space. The United States has dominance over the air and oceans, and is working on world dominance, and as of today the extent of their wantonness to control the outer regions of the stratosphere became known:

National Security Council spokesman Frederick Jones said in written comments that an update was needed to "reflect the fact that space has become an even more important component of U.S. economic, national and homeland security." The military has become increasingly dependent on satellite communication and navigation, as have providers of cell-phones, personal navigation devices and even ATMs.

I highlighted the words in that quote to show the use of certain words by this administration to invoke a certain amount of fear in everything they say. This is done to keep the public in a state of fright so that they are more than likely to not question what is being fed to them. The only words missing from that statement is the word terrorism, but I am sure that is only because it did not come directly from the administrations henchmen.

As we know the Bush administration speaks in a code of sorts. What they say they want, and what will happen are totally two different things. With all that has happen with this administration is it any wonder that the Global community doesn’t trust the United States, and may never trust us again.

The administration said the policy revisions are not a prelude to introducing weapons systems into Earth orbit. "This policy is not about developing or deploying weapons in space. Period," said a senior administration official who was not authorized to speak on the record.

So when another country reads is statement they see this:[The administration said the policy revisions are a prelude to introducing weapons systems into Earth orbit. "This policy is about developing and deploying weapons in space. Period," said a senior administration official who was not authorized to speak on the record.]

This revision like so many other thing this administration does was snuck through. On Friday, October 9th at 5:30 Pm (Before Columbus Day), and no public announcement was made. Although the following statements bring back memories of the National Surveillance days;

The official also said the administration has briefed members of Congress as well as a number of governments, including Russia, on the new policy.

Could this have been what J.F.K. had in mind when he was thinking of the role the United States would play in the discoveries of the New Frontier?

On September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy gave a speech at Rice University that sparked the imagination of every man, woman and child, that ever wondered about the great vastness of space. He laid down a challenge to reach further than any man had gone. He challenged the United States to go to the Moon and then, beyond. He stated that we explore space not because it is easy but because it is difficult, and that the U.S. should "do it right and do it first before this decade is out,"

And as they have done so many times before, this administration has taken a dream, of hope and turned it into a vile plan of destruction. Using a falsehood of fear, to strive for total control.

ABA

“The House Wins Again,” [Will online gambling be forced to fold a winning hand?]

Friday George W Bush singed into law a Bill that would make it nearly impossible to gamble online, (The Port Security Bill.) Read on.>>>

Riding on a Bill that senate Majority Leader Bill Frist new would be singed by Bush, The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, was singed into law Friday. The Bill would make it illegal to place or pay off bets with checks or electronic money transfers of any kind.

A pastime enjoyed by 23-million Americans was deemed to have, "ill effects on society," by the Bills sponsor, Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte (R-Va.). Goodlatte says, he opposes all gambling, but opposes internet gambling the most.

There was a prohibition placed on the country at one point in history that brought about an era of lawlessness. Will this law bring about those same effects? Annie Duke seems to think so.

WaPo

We're going to have Prohibition, and what happened then?" said champion poker player Annie Duke, a former University of Pennsylvania doctoral candidate who began playing professionally in 1994. "We had people running around with tommy guns and drinking moonshine because they weren't given a safe product."

The Poker Players Alliance, a lobbying group that opposes the new law, said it would ask Congress to exempt poker from the statute. The group considers poker a game of skill, not chance.

What are the differences between online poker and the casinos that are going up all around the country? Here in Pennsylvania the licenses have just started being issued to companies to open casinos. West Virginia has had slots for a couple of years now. Some would say that is regulatory problems. Not Mr. Goodlatte.

Goodlatte said he would press to update the Wire Act to conclusively extend its authority to the Internet. That part of his bill was dropped in the Senate.
"All the problems that manifest themselves with gambling, even in heavily regulated states, are even worse on the Internet," Goodlatte said yesterday. "There are family problems, bankruptcy problems, gambling addiction, gambling by minors, using gambling to launder money for criminal and terrorist organizations and organized crime. It does not help our society."

Looking at Mr. Goodlatte’s last statement, the Right has done it again. Anything that they don’t want or want is attached to, terrorism. So in a way, I guess they attached it to the right Bill.

This seems to be the classic case in the country, that was founded on the majority rule, a small minority is making the laws to govern the many. To spell it out for you, smell the hand of the Religious Right in this.

"We've proven in history that trying to protect the minority and punish the majority never works," Duke said. "The fact is, there is a certain percentage of people who have addictive personalities [and gamble online]. Are you going to pass a law outlawing online shopping? Or day trading?"

My Take!

Annie Duke is right, especially her point about day trading. Isn’t D.T. an even bigger game of chance, in which you place even larger wages? You have people that think they can handle the Market and end up losing everything. I know friends that have run their selves into debt Online and Home Network shopping. Maybe, our government should go after that industry. The Lottery is an even bigger game of chance, why not shut that down I have heard stories of people going with out because they over play the Power Ball. Then there is alcohol, I am willing to bet that more home are broken because of Firewater, than online gambling.

I personally agree that Poker is a game of skill, which takes time to master. I am a poker player that has taken the time to learn the correct way to play the game of Texas Hold’em, but I never wager real money online. I do go to the sites that offer free rooms like, MansionPoker.net, PartyPoker.com, and PokerStars.com. These sites and others give you a chance to make the big tournaments, and a shot at the big money, “Free!”

I am not so blind that I don’t know there are those that feel that they will hit the big one on the next hand or in the next game, but the are a small minority. We don’t need the government telling us what to do in our free time. We work hard for our money, and should be free to do with it the things that make our lives happy.

ABA
Ps. For those of you that say screw this it doesn’t affect me, well you are wrong. This is just another chip of your freedom gone.

“I Refuse to Become a (Kos Fascist)!”

The following is going to be the final diary I post on Daily Kos. I have fallen out of agreement with what the site has become in its philosophy. It has taken on the resemblance of the beast we are fighting. A diary that I posted, did not get me ban, but it was removed from the site, with out any questions ask. “The Disciples of Kos” disagreed with my take on multiple topics I discussed in the diary. I know this was the reason because of the comments made in the comment section. I was told by a “disciple’ that it would be troll rated and pulled. Anymore such diaries “Would result in a ban from the site.”
As has the government, Daily Kos has taken on a fascist amour with its power. I am asking anyone that reads Daily Kos, to boycott the site and its advertisers. I ask this because, “Fascisms in the name of liberalism is still fascism.”
ABA



Why I am leaving Daily Kos.

In my three years at Daily Kos, I have been witness to many things; from the great building of a community that has come together for the cause of bringing back a Government from the grasp of near fascism, to making or breaking politician’s career. I have seen a lot of changes, some for the good of the site, and some not so good. Daily Kos has grown from a dream of righting the wrongs in the government, to making that difference.

Daily Kos was the unknown kid on the block, and now it is the voice of a new generation of political bloggers. People from all walks of life come here to share ideas or, just to get something off their chest. I usually did the latter. However, in my time here, I dared to think out side the realm and those who claim to be disciples of the Kos promptly slapped me down. A group, who are so arrogant and wrapped up in their belief in their own self-worth that the will not even understand that this is about them

I am leaving because of what the Kos community has become, that in which it is fighting. I have seen friends censored for thoughts that come close to crossing the line of the community’s structured box. I have also seen vicious gang attacks on those who have thought beyond the government’s way of thinking on certain subjects. Certain members of the community have taken the stance of “You are with us, or you are with the Neo-Cons.” They leave no grey areas, and I did not signup to follow that philosophy.

You must question every move of your government ,even if you feel it is in the good of the people. There is room for compromise on all topics, it is only the degree of compromise that varies, but ideas should always be heard. Yet in a community that I thought was a liberal community, an open thought community there seems to be only one way, and that is the Kos way. I am not totally unsympathetic to the reasoning to the guidelines of the community, I understand you must try to keep those out that would try and destroy the community, but to censor thought to your precise way of thinking is wrong. I am for totally free speech, with the understanding, it is an “individuals” choice to not listen to what I am saying, not that of a self appointed leadership.