The Guerrilla Campaign

Congress votes to immunize lawbreaking telecoms, legalize warrantless eavesdropping Glenn Greenwald Wednesday July 9, 2008 14:11 EDT http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/07/09/fisa_vote/index.html The Democratic-led Congress this afternoon voted to put an end to the NSA spying scandal, as the Senate approved a bill -- approved last week by the House -- to immunize lawbreaking telecoms, terminate all pending lawsuits against them, and vest whole new warrantless eavesdropping powers in the President. The vote in favor of the new FISA bill was 69-28. Barack Obama joined every Senate Republican (and every House Republican other than one) by voting in favor of it, while his now-vanquished primary rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, voted against it. John McCain wasn't present for any of the votes, but shared Obama's support for the bill. The bill will now be sent to an extremely happy George Bush, who already announced that he enthusiastically supports it, and he will sign it into l...

No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the house. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The question before the house is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at the truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of di...

US Raid Sends Message on Iraq "Agreement" Sunday, 29 June 2008 Chris Floyd http://www.chris-floyd.com/content/view/1549/135/ As we know from The Godfather -- that seminal work of American political philosophy which serves as the Bible for policy-making in the Bush Administration -- a horse's head in the bed can be highly effective tool in difficult contract negotiations. Last Friday, Bush went his fictional mentors one better in the "negotiations" over an agreement setting out the public terms of a de facto permanent American occupation of the conquered land: he laid the corpse of a kinsman on the doorstep of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. McClatchy Newspapers reports that U.S. Special Forces launched a deadly raid in al-Maliki's home province -- which has supposedly been returned to the full control of the Iraqi government. Without any warning to Iraqi forces, the American unit stormed the rural town of Janaja at dawn on Friday with 60 troops and i...

In 1977 , John N. Mitchell became the first former U.S. attorney general to go to prison as he began serving a sentence for his role in the Watergate cover-up. (He was released 19 months later.) 1981 Mark David Chapman pleaded guilty to killing rock musician John Lennon. and, in 1970, President Richard Nixon signed a measure lowering the voting age to 18. So, VOTE. It’s your future we’re talking about here. The Real State of Iraq […] As for the Iraqis killed by Americans, like the 24 civilians in Haditha , the survivors are not going to be pro-American any time soon. The US can always find politicians to come out and say nice things on a visit to the Rose Garden. But the people. I don't think the people are saying nice things in Arabic behind our backs. The wars of Iraq-- the Iran-Iraq War, the repressions of the Kurds and the Shiites, the Gulf War, and the American Calamity, may have left behind as many as 3 million widows . Having lost their family's breadwinner, many are d...

So, the lickspittle little johnny, he of the rictus grin, and the ass-kisser charlie, he who wants to be the number two, have decreed that they want more areas opened up for drilling. They were joined in this by the enlightened one, our own king little georgie. This will cause the magical drop in gas prices. They promise. They really mean it this time. Of course, what they won’t tell you is this: Rahall to Big Oil: Use It or Lose It June 12, 2008 CONTACT: Allyson Groff or Blake Androff, 202-226-9019 http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=389&Itemid=1 Washington, D.C. - In an effort to compel oil and gas companies to produce on the 68 million acres of federal lands, both onshore and offshore, that are leased but sitting idle, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall (D-WV) today introduced legislation that gives Big Oil one option - either "use it or lose it." "Big Oil, as many Americans already suspect,...

Well, we’ve been kinda busy here at the guerrilla campaign, you could say. Some folk were pleased, and a whole bunch are still pissed off, or will be soon. What fun. And we’re also starting to layout the site for the presidential campaign ahead. The Supreme Court, by a narrow 5-4 decision, restored habeus corpus. http://supremecourtus.gov/opinions/07pdf/06-1195.pdfd http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/washington/12cnd-gitmo.html Of course, the corrupt scalia, roberts, alito, and the totally inept thomas dissented. Apparently, they still believe that their Lord, the Decider and Enlightened One, the little georgie, should be allowed to strut about some more like a little emperor. Still, it’s a victory in the sordid story of torture, kidnap, rape, and murder, that’s the story and legacy of the bush administration. Oh, hey, did you know that it was a molotov cocktail that got tossed into the Texas governor’s mansion, according to the ATF. A molotov cocktail of all things. http://www.keyetv.c...

by Mary Pitt 5/31/08 When I was a child growing up in Kansas during the Great Depression, toys were few and hard to come by. Almost all of my dolls were made by hand by my mother of leftover fabric scraps from her essential sewing. Others were passed down from neighborhood kids who had outgrown them. Recently, while discussing politics with a dear friend, one particular rag doll popped into my mind. This doll was a unique one, I have no recollection of its origin, and I have never seen another like it. It was made of white fabric with a painted-on face and golden yarn hair, and wore a lovely dress in pale colors that denoted a degree of gentility, with hands folded across the front of the body in a demure position. While I was admiring my new possession, my mother took it from me gently, turned it upside-down, and it became a different doll, with black face and arms, with a kerchief tied about its black hair, dressed more modestly in a long gray dress with a white apron. :"It'...

Stealth growers seed or plant on land that doesn't belong to them. The result? Plants that beautify or yield crops in otherwise neglected or vacant spaces. By Joe Robinson Special to The Times May 29, 2008 http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/scimedemail/la-hm-guerrilla29-2008may29,0,3848418.story BRIMMING with lime-hued succulents and a lush collection of agaves, one shooting spiky leaves 10 feet into the air, it's a head-turning garden smack in the middle of Long Beach's asphalt jungle. But the gardener who designed it doesn't want you to know his last name, since his handiwork isn't exactly legit. It's on a traffic island he commandeered. "The city wasn't doing anything with it, and I had a bunch of extra plants," says Scott, as we tour the garden, cars whooshing by on both sides of Loynes Drive. Scott is a guerrilla gardener, a member of a burgeoning movement of green enthusiasts who plant without approval on land that's not theirs. In London...

Riding in Red Neck City II

- Anti-Chavistas, That Is by Stephen Lendman 5/16/08 Who said crime doesn't pay? Read on. The Washington-based Cato Institute is all about "Individual Liberty, Free Markets, and Peace," or so says its web site. It's been around since 1977 preaching limited government and free market religion with plenty of high-octane corporate funding for backing. It better have it for the award it presented on May 15. It was to a 23 year old fifth year Venezuelan law student at Universidad Catolica Andres Bello. Yon Goicoechea was the fourth recipient of the "Milton Friedman Liberty Prize" in the amount of $500,000. For what? What else. For serving the interests of capital back home and leading anti-Chavista protests. Goicoechea is leader of Venezuela's "pro-democracy student movement" that in Cato's words "prevented Hugo Chavez's regime from seizing broad dictatorial powers in December 2007." The reference is to the narrow defeat of Venezue...

By Sheila Samples 5/16/08 Everybody knows that the dice are loaded. Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed. Everybody knows the war is over. Everybody knows the good guys lost. Everybody knows the fight was fixed. The poor stay poor, the rich get rich. That's how it goes. Everybody knows. - Leonard Cohen The fate of millions was sealed the moment Dick Cheney selected himself as The Destroyer whose charge to keep for the next eight years would be -- as Capitol Hill Blue's Doug Thompson so succinctly described George W. Bush -- a "criminally insane, pill-popping dry drunk." I don't know about that. I've seen some drunks in my time -- even dry ones -- and George Bush appears to be more than a little moist. Bush was the perfect foil for Cheney. The Scalia-driven 2000 election coup catapulted Bush to the top of the political heap. For the first time in his worthless, impotent, cruelly indifferent life, Bush was suddenly important -- the most powerful man o...

by Richard L. Franklin 6/12/08 The issues evaded by the three presidential candidates are huge in number, so I'm presenting one single issue I see as urgently pressing. None of the three candidates has bothered to even mention the endless, ongoing poisoning of America. I live no more than fifty yards from the beautiful Fox River. Unfortunately, paper mills dot its shoreline for many miles. And these factories have been dumping a deadly poison into that beleaguered river for over a century. That poison is dioxin. It is so deadly one dare not swim in the river or eat any fish from that river, but where American eagles unwittingly eat the poisoned dead fish that litter the shores. The poison thusly enters a food chain. Small animals eat the dead fish, and larger animals eat those animals. Waterfowl feed on aquatic vegetation tainted by dioxin and then are eaten by animals and humans alike. And so forth. The river bottoms for miles and miles are covered with megatons of poisoned mud. D...

Ratcheting Up For War on Iran by Stephen Lendman 5/12/08 Led by Dick Cheney, Bush administration neocons want war on Iran. So does the Israeli Lobby, but it doesn't mean they'll get it. Powerful forces in Washington and the Pentagon are opposed and so far have prevailed. Nonetheless, worrisome recent events increase the possibility and must be closely watched. Recall George Bush's January 10, 2007 address to the nation. He announced the 20,000 troop "surge" and more. "Succeeding in Iraq," he said, "also requires defending its territorial integrity and stabilizing the region in the face of extremist challenges. This begins with addressing Iran and Syria. These two regimes are allowing 'terrorists' and 'insurgents' to use their territory to move in and out of Iraq. Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops. We will disrupt (those) attacks....we will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry a...

Supreme Court says states can demand photo ID for voting By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer Mon Apr 28, 6:09 PM ET WASHINGTON - States can require voters to produce photo identification, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, upholding a Republican-inspired law that Democrats say will keep some poor, older and minority voters from casting ballots. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080428/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_voter_id The right to vote is protected in more than the initial allocation of the franchise. Equal protection applies as well to the manner of its exercise. Having once granted the right to vote on equal terms, the State may not, by later arbitrary and disparate treatment, value one person's vote over that of another. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES GEORGE W. BUSH, et al., PETITIONERS v. ALBERT GORE, Jr., et al. ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE FLORIDA SUPREME COURT [December 12, 2000] http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-949.ZPC.html and so, a question. How does Indiana or the ...

by Mary Pitt 5/4/08 In this life there is one immutable truth. It is that there will be change, whether or not we may approve or desire that change. At this time, there is no place where this is more true than in the battle for the presidency of the United States. The people whom we thought we knew now appear to us as something different than we ever expected from their past performances. We hear of concerns about the possibility of a "split" in the Democratic party as the result of the no-holds-barred contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination. If this is true, it is not necessarily the fault of the people involved but may be due to the failure of the American public to recognize how severely bifurcated the party has become as the result of the tension created between the desire to consider the welfare of the working class and the desire to win dominance in the halls of government. As the Democrats continue to jockey for power and privileg...

Last Barriers to War on Iran Come Down Thursday, 01 May 2008 Chris Floyd http://www.chris-floyd.com/content/view/1498/135/ Anyone who thinks the Bush Administration does not intend to attack Iran either has rocks in the head or their head in the sand. The warmongers have raised their cacophonous howling of threat and accusation against Iran to entirely new levels. Every day now, some major Administration figure makes fiery charges that Iran is directly, deliberately killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq: a clear casus belli, if it were true, which it almost certainly is not. (That is, it a clear cause for war in the perverted logic of Establishment discourse, which ignores the fact that U.S. forces have illegally invaded and occupied Iraq, and the fact the Bush Administration itself supports the same violent sectarian Shiite factions that Iran does in Iraq, factions responsible for killing thousands of innocent people. What's more, Bush and his beloved General Petraeus are now directly pay...

by Richard L. Franklin 4/30/08 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' Thomas Jefferson, who was a true son of the Enlightenment, made sure these sacred truths were given a prominent spot in the great Declaration. He placed them first among human rights because they are axiomatic for the building of a true democracy. As you know, an axiom is a self-evident truth that requires no proof or evidence to be accepted as true. Axioms are truths we can embrace without reflection or reasoning. If you had geometry in high school, you will recall having first learned a number of axioms that were givens. You then learned how to prove a variety of assertions that could always be traced back to the axioms. The Enlightenment held that certain assertions are sacred, axiomatic, and meant to be permanently built into the foun...