WASHINGTON, DC – President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law today. The statute contains a sweeping worldwide indefinite detention provision. While President Obama issued a signing statement saying he had “serious reservations” about the provisions, the statement only applies to how his administration would use the authorities granted by the NDAA, and would not affect how the law is interpreted by subsequent administrations. The White House had threatened to veto an earlier version of the NDAA, but reversed course shortly before Congress voted on the final bill.
“President Obama’s action today is a blight on his legacy because he will forever be known as the president who signed indefinite detention without charge or trial into law,” said Anthony D. Romero, ACLU executive director. “The statute is particularly dangerous because it has no temporal or geographic limitations, and can be used by this and future presidents to militarily detain people captured far from any battlefield. The ACLU will fight worldwide detention authority wherever we can, be it in court, in Congress, or internationally.”
Under the Bush administration, similar claims of worldwide detention authority were used to hold even a U.S. citizen detained on U.S. soil in military custody, and many in Congress now assert that the NDAA should be used in the same way again. The ACLU believes that any military detention of American citizens or others within the United States is unconstitutional and illegal, including under the NDAA. In addition, the breadth of the NDAA’s detention authority violates international law because it is not limited to people captured in the context of an actual armed conflict as required by the laws of war.
“We are incredibly disappointed that President Obama signed this new law even though his administration had already claimed overly broad detention authority in court,” said Romero. “Any hope that the Obama administration would roll back the constitutional excesses of George Bush in the war on terror was extinguished today. Thankfully, we have three branches of government, and the final word belongs to the Supreme Court, which has yet to rule on the scope of detention authority. But Congress and the president also have a role to play in cleaning up the mess they have created because no American citizen or anyone else should live in fear of this or any future president misusing the NDAA’s detention authority.”
The bill also contains provisions making it difficult to transfer suspects out of military detention, which prompted FBI Director Robert Mueller to testify that it could jeopardize criminal investigations. It also restricts the transfers of cleared detainees from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to foreign countries for resettlement or repatriation, making it more difficult to close Guantanamo, as President Obama pledged to do in one of his first acts in office.
I suggested that there should be little (to no) taxes.
You responded:
How does any of this function
without taxation…?
I would like to know your thinking on this…
it doesn’t seem to be working now
and sure doesn’t favor poor to middle class…
but I think this is too long to write?
I respond:
There are a few ways one can look upon it. Here are two of the shorter versions –
1) Evolution
In the beginning there was Adam and Lilith. There were no taxes. For more generations than I can count, the world got along fine without taxes. In fact, humans prospered in the Garden Of Edan without taxation until we evolved into corrupt beings.
2) Exploitation And Corruption
An economic evaluation of taxation reveals a costs and benefits shutout. That is to say, there are no known benefits to taxation. On the other hand, there are at least a trillion costs to taxing (see the National Deficit for a an exhaustive list.) A small sampling includes…
The cost of taxing productive people
The cost of corruption inherent in collecting money
The cost of additional bureaucracy
The cost of removing the efficiency inherent in the competition of the free market place
You may want to think of it this way… every adult in the USA owes about $42,614.99 just for the Iraq War. (And, that is if we pay off the debt today. Oh, yeah. The cost of life and limb is not included.)
Next time, in order to be fair to everyone… maybe we should be required to pay the tax in advance… instead of 1% of the population footing 40% of the bill?
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Philadelphia, PA
by Daniel Brouse
Are there any parallels between the creation of Pennsylvania, the American Revolutionary War and the Occupy Wall Street Movement? Yes. It is quite interesting how the Quakers have been involved in all three movements.
As a Quaker in England, William Penn had been arrested six times for speaking out. In 1681, William requested a charter to start an American Colony for a “Holy Experiment”. In honor of William’s father, the King granted the land known as the Forests of Penn — Pennsylvania.
“William Penn was the first great hero of American liberty. During the late seventeenth century, when Protestants persecuted Catholics, Catholics persecuted Protestants, and both persecuted Quakers and Jews, Penn established an American sanctuary which protected freedom of conscience. Almost everywhere else, colonists stole land from the Indians, but Penn traveled unarmed among the Indians and negotiated peaceful purchases. He insisted that women deserved equal rights with men. He gave Pennsylvania a written constitution which limited the power of government, provided a humane penal code, and guaranteed many fundamental liberties.” — The Quakers’ The Freeman
The Quakers also played an important role in the Revolutionary War.
Among the pro-Revolutionary Friends was a group of 200 Free Quakers, who claimed to be “free of the ecclesiastical tyranny of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting,” the governing body of Pennsylvania Quakerdom. The Free Quakers charged the yearly meeting with abandoning the liberty of conscience – the cornerstone of William Penn’s “Holy Experiment” in government and his motive for resettling Europe’s religiously-persecuted peoples in his American colony – and elevating pacifism, a secondary testimony, as the defining principle of Quakerism and a prerequisite for membership in the Society of Friends.
The Quakers of Plymouth Meeting in old Philadelphia County, now Montgomery County, were careful to abide by the discipline of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and thus tried to avoid any involvement with either army during the Revolutionary War. Their meetinghouse, however, was strategically located along Germantown Pike between Philadelphia and Gen. George Washington’s headquarters at Whitemarsh. During the early winter of 1777, when Washington decided to relocate his forces at Valley Forge, the Plymouth Friends’ meetinghouse served as a hospital and campsite for the Continental Army en route to their winter encampment near the Chester County village. — State Of Pennsylvania Historical Markers
Principles
Occupy Philadelphia has founding principles similar to William Penn’s stand on Freedom Of Speech, and his commitment to non-violence. To date, dozens of Occupy protesters have been arrested for speaking out during peaceful demonstrations.
Location
The Friends Meeting House at 15th and Cherry Streets finds itself in a strategic location for the Occupy Philadelphia movement. Due to the proximity of the the Friends Center to the Occupy encampment at Dilworth Plaza, City Hall, Philadelphia, the Friends furnished facilities to cook 1500 meals per day, provide medical treatment and hold meetings. After the forcible eviction of the non-violent protesters from Dilworth Plaza, the Friends continue to offer their hospitality.
PHILADELPHIA, PA — When the police raided Occupy Philadelphia at Dilworth Plaza surrounding City Hall, it was obvious there had been a change in command. The Philadelphia Police went from being cordial to being aggressive and violent. What was the cause for the change in demeanor?
An eye witness noticed the strong presence of Homeland Security officers. These officers had not been part of the community. They had not developed relationships with any individuals. Instead, Homeland Security brought terror to the streets of Philly. Bicycles and horses were used as weapons injuring many protesters. One of those arrested commented on the use of violence against ladies of smaller stature and other violent targeting practices.
When questioned about Homeland Security timing the raid on Occupy L.A. to the exact minute, Police Commissioner Ramsey chuckled and said, “We’d like to think they followed our lead.”
Many people have asked, “What is the Occupy Movement about? Why do you occupy?” These are no longer the pertinent questions. Now, the most important questions for everyone to ask themselves are, “Do you want the federal government conducting military exercises on their own citizens? Do you want the U.S.A. invading it’s own cities?”
Here’s what I was filming when I was trampled by the Philadelphia Police. Super scary to watch the chaos again. You can see the horses start to get freaked out right before the police charge the crowd of protesters and journalists. ~Vanessa
Experience the terror the Occupy Philly protestors faced when being charged by police horses. Filmed by indy media journalist, Vanessa Maria.
Video of cops on horses charging occupiers, and an interview with Occupy Philly Media reporter after she is injured. #ows #eviction http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU5p2GxPvkI
Kayla talks about getting assaulted by bike cops and the police tactics of violence and intimidation she witnessed during the night of eviction, 11/30.
Police Attacks
Police attacked and arrested a member of our finance team who did absolutely nothing. Protesters remained peaceful. The police were violent. — Occupy Philadelphia on FaceBook
Simultaneous Raids
Occupy Wall Street Camps in Los Angeles, Philadelphia Dismantled in Massive Police Raids
Some 1,000 police officers raided the Occupy Los Angeles encampment in a park outside City Hall over night, arresting scores of people and evicting what has been the largest Occupy camp in the country. Meanwhile Occupy Philadelphia protesters vacated their encampment this morning after more than a thousand police moved in and warned them of mass arrests. We get eyewitness updates on both raids from National Lawyers Guild legal observer Ken Montenegro in Los Angleles and Occupy organizer and activist Jeff Rousset in Philadelphia. “[Philadelphia’s history of free speech and democracy] changed this morning at around 1 am. The city shut down the subways; they barricaded all of city hall, about two blocks in every direction; and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of cops poured in. They forced everybody off the plaza,” Rousset says.
PICTURES
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Ramsey
Wounds Inflicted by Philadelphia Bike Police at Occupy Philadelphia
Over the past month, I have become embedded in the Occupy Philadelphia movement. Originally, I wrote an article entitled “Occupy Wallstreet? Occupy Yourself!” (www.widgette.com; October 7, 2011) From there, I traveled to Wall Street to encounter the protest in person. A few days later, I became actively involved at the Occupy Philly location at City Hall, Philadelphia.
Patty Hearst in a Symbionese Liberation Army publicity photo
When you become embedded in a story, much care must be taken to remain objective. One example would be Patricia Hearst and the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). On February 4, 1974, 19-year-old Patty Hearst was kidnapped by a “urban guerrilla group” known as the Symbionese Liberation Army. The SLA wanted to swap jailed SLA members for Ms. Hearst. The attempt failed. On April 3, 1974, Patty announced she joined the SLA and assumed the name “Tania”. On On April 15, 1974, Patty was photographed carrying an M1 rifle as she robbed a bank in San Francisco. Since this time, she has become a well-known example of a victim of Stockholm Syndrome.
With this in mind, I attempted not to contribute to the gang mentality of the Occupy Movement.
On October 23, 2011, I was witness to the protest and eventual arrests of 15 Occupy Philly members. Deeming the spectacle as unethical behavior by the protesters, I refused to give the event any press coverage. Then, on November 7, 2011, I was covering the protest and arrests of protesters at the Comcast building. Again, feeling the protesters were not acting in the best interest of the movement, I reached out to offer positive press to the Mayor and the Police Department. I contacted the Philadelphia Police Department’s Public Affairs and Media Relations office, as well as, Mayor Nutter’s Press Department. My concerns over a non-confrontational move were voiced along with two requests to ensure a smooth transition. The Mayor’s office asked if I had a dead-line. I responded, “Prior to the expiration of the permit on November 15… or it will be too late.” Both offices promised me call-backs. The phone conversations were followed-up with the following letter:
To whom it may concern:
Pursuant to today’s telephone conversation, thank you for your assistance. As you suggested, I did contact the Mayor’s Press Department.
It is my desire to coordinate press in two ways:
1) Obtain any positive *copy* covering the Philadelphia Police Department and the Mayor’s office. Any statements, press releases or related materials that can be edited and/or redistributed to news organizations would be greatly appreciated. I am looking for any information that will help substantiate that the Philadelphia Police have been doing an excellent job at Occupy Philly, as well as, being civil and cordial.
2) An on-camera appearance by representatives from the Police Department or the Mayor’s Office. Besides praising the Departments on camera, I would like to review the *move plan* offered to Occupy Philly by the Mayor. If we could shoot on-location Thursday or Friday during a picture perfect day, I would like to meet.
Questions include:
* Where can Occupy Philly move? [The area will be filmed.]
* Will there be electric?
* Does Occupy Philly need any permits? Permits to move? Permits to play music? etc.
* Can the move start this weekend?
Thank you. I shall await your advice.
Since that time, I have not heard back from either the Mayor or the Police departments. Instead, Mayor Nutter held a press conference November 13 claiming there has been no communication on behalf of Occupy Philly. Now, the encampment has no alternative but to wait for a confrontation.
Press Conference at Occupy Philly
November 14, 2011
~ 1PM
by Daniel Brouse
CITY HALL, PHILADELPHIA, PA
On November 13, 2011, Philadelphia’s Mayor Nutter held a press conference changing his posture on the Occupy Philadelphia movement. During the show, he reversed his position on the protesters being allowed to obtain a new permit when the current permit expires on the 15th. Following is the response from the Occupy Philly Press Team:
CITY HALL, PHILADELPHIA, PA
November 13, 2011
by Daniel Brouse
The infamous Jesse Jackson visited the Occupy Philly encampment to show his support. In town for the Joe Frazier funeral, Rev. Jackson advocated for a Joe Frazier statue. Saying that Rocky Balboa is a fictitious character, he encouraged a monument be dedicated to a true hero of the working class.
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