Flyby News Home - Flyby News Archives - Casinni NoFlyby - Flyby Links

Flyby  News

"News Fit to Transmit in the Post Cassini Flyby Era"




Eco $ Abyss * 1959 * Impeach * DeathPen


18 December 2007

"The only security of all is in a free press.
The force of public opinion cannot be resisted
when permitted freely to be expressed.
The agitation it produces must be submitted to.
It is necessary, to keep the waters pure."

- - Thomas Jefferson

to Lafayette, 1823. ME 15:491

1) Staring into the Abyss ~ Banking System Collapsing
- - The Planned Collapse of America
- - Morgan Stanley Issues Full US Recession Alert
- - Iran drops US dollar
- - Threat-Theft on George Bush Sr. in World Reports
2) Fascism Raises Its Ugly Head & What To Do
- - Naomi Wolf: What is Probably in the Missing Tapes
- - Italians Block Construction of U.S. Base
- - Senate Bill 1959 to Criminalize Thoughts, Blogs, Books, Free Speech
- - Obama Runs from Questions on free speech & Nuclear Waste
- - Stop Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain
- - [Some]American Jews on War and Peace
-- Leonard Peltier: A POW of America's Energy Wars
- - Impeachment Hearings Newspapers Some Dems
- - Bill Moyers interviews Keith Olbermann
3) Torture Coming To Its Dying End
- - ABC News Interview With an Executioner
- - New Jersey Abolishes Death Penalty
- - Jehan Abdur-Raheem – A Muslim in Isolation Row
- - Free Leonard Peltier, Lori Berenson, Richard Sitcha

“The Government must suspend a set of key banking regulations
at the heart of the current financial crisis or risk seeing the economy spiral
towards a future that could make 1929 look like a walk in the park".

- - Peter Spencer

One of Britain's leading economists ,
Published Saturday, 16 December 2007

Editor’s Notes:

There are quite some jitters taking place with all the corruption, and baseless banking systems ready to explode as the environment gets trashed, and sustainability looks like a pipe dream. In 5 more winter solstices it comes to an end and beginning of an ancient Mayan 25,800-year calendar cycle. Yet, in the moment the future is born, and time for taking some positive actions is of an essence. Please note the letter from Jehan, since 2005 he has been in isolation, declared ‘an influential Muslim.” Influential, alright, as a decent human being coming from an inner place of love, not hate or fear.

The Boston Tea Party 9/11 Convention was a great success. I will update FlybyNews.com after recorded presentations are posted. The event was moderated by Ray McGovern, and included presentations by Stephen Jones and Kevin Ryan (co-editors of Journalof911studies.com), Richard Gage, AIA Architect, founder of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, Dr Bob Bowman, Donna Marsh O'Conner, Joel S. Hirshhorn, Ph.D., Barbara Honegger, Kevin Barrett, Justin A. Martell and Michael Jackman (9/11 Student Scholars). Jim Hogue as Ethan Allen, and more. The 9/11 truth community is slowly reaching mainstream status by focusing on the strongest evidence, challenging most anyone with a reasonable and open mind, showing how truth and science are our best allies for justice and freedom.

Added to item two, which initially included a Bill Moyers interview with Keith Olbermann, are Bill Moyers Journal reports on "Christians United for Israel", whose leader, Pastor John Hagee, advocated for a preemptive strike against Iran. You can either Watch Video or link to the Transcript! But also check the following for a Moyers' interview with Ronald J. Sider and MJ Rosenberg. This makes the case for ethical Jewish and Evangelical Christian perspectives on peace in the the Middle East. The real concern is with the extremists in most any religion (or ideology), and the silence, apathy, and brainwashing of the majority. Please keep reaching out to make a difference, and for a harmonious solstice for all our relations.

9/11 * Family Members * First Responders * Experts * Speak Out
November 3, 2007 - West Hartford, CT
Media and Video Postings Here!


<><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Grassroots Actions ~ Resources
911Truth.org
<><><><><><><><><><><><><>

MUSIC BENEFITS & 9/11 TRUTH
Featuring
John Heartson
Also
John Coster and Mary Serreze
at
Evolution Cafe
Thursday, December 20, 2007; 7:00 to 9:00 pm
&
Friday, December 21, 2007; 8:00 pm to midnight
{with additional performers TBA}
at
The Pushkin
to benefit
Valley 9/11 Truth and Flyby News
{Prior to December 21 music, join us at
Lupinwood for a Solstice Sharing Potluck
}



1) Staring into the Abyss ~ Banking System Collapsing

- - The Planned Collapse of America
- - Morgan Stanley Issues Full US Recession Alert
- - Iran drops US dollar
- - Threat-Theft on George Bush Sr. in World Reports

Staring into the Abyss
The Collapse Of The Modern Day Banking System

By Mike Whitney

“In past financial crises... the Fed has been able to wave its magic wand and make market turmoil disappear. But this time the magic isn’t working. Why not? Because the problem with the markets isn’t just a lack of liquidity — there’s also a fundamental problem of solvency.” Paul Krugman

12/17/07 "ICH" -- -- -Stocks fell sharply last week on news of accelerating inflation which will limit the Federal Reserves ability to continue cutting interest rates. On Tuesday the Dow Jones Industrials tumbled 294 points following the Fed's announcement of a quarter point cut to the Fed Funds rate. On Friday, the Dow dipped another 178 points when government figures showed consumer prices had risen 0.8% last month after a 0.3% gain in October. The stock market is now lurching downward into a “primary bear market”. There has been a steady deterioration in retail sales, commercial real estate, and the transports. The financial industry is going through a major retrenchment losing more than 25% in aggregate capitalization since July. The real estate market is collapsing. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced on Friday that he will declare a "fiscal emergency" in January and ask for more power to deal with the $14 billion budget shortfall from the meltdown in subprime lending. Economists are beginning to publicly acknowledge what many market analysts have suspected for months; the nation's economy is going into a tailspin which will inevitably end in a hard landing.

Morgan Stanley's Asia Chairman, Stephen Roach, made this observation in a New York Times op-ed on Sunday:

“This recession will be deeper than the shallow contraction earlier in this decade. The dot-com-led downturn was set off by a collapse in business capital spending, which at its peak in 2000 accounted for only 13 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. The current recession is all about the coming capitulation of the American consumer — whose spending now accounts for a record 72 percent of G.D.P.”

Most people have no idea how grave the present situation is or the disaster the country will face if trillions of dollars of over-leveraged bonds and equities begin to unwind. There's a widespread belief that the stewards of the system—Bernanke and Paulson—can somehow steer the economy through this “rough patch” into calm waters. But they cannot, and the presumption shows a basic misunderstanding of how markets work. The Fed has no magical powers and will it allow itself to be crushed by standing in the path of a market-avalanche. As foreclosures and bankruptcies increase; stocks will crash and the fed will step aside to safety. That much is certain.

In the last few weeks, Bernanke and Paulson have tried a number of strategies that have failed miserably. Paulson concocted a plan to help the major investment banks consolidate and repackage their nonperforming mortgage-backed junk into a “Super SIV” to give them another chance to unload their bad investments on the public. The plan was nothing more than a public relations ploy which has already been abandoned by most of the key participants. Paulson's involvement is a real black eye for the Dept of the Treasury. It makes it look like he's willing to dupe investors as long as it helps his well-heeled Wall Street buddies.

Paulson also put together an “industry friendly” rate freeze that is supposed to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure. But the plan falls well short of providing any meaningful aid to the estimated 3.5 million homeowners who are facing the prospect of defaulting on their loans if they don't get government assistance. Recent estimates by industry experts say that Paulson's plan will only help a meager 140,000 mortgage holders, leaving millions of others to fend for themselves. Paulson has proved over and over that he is just not up to the task of confronting an economic challenge of this magnitude head-on.

Fed chief Bernanke hasn't done much better than Paulson. His three-quarter point cut to the Fed's Funds rate hasn't lowered interest rates on mortgages, stimulated greater home sales, stabilized the stock market or helped banks deal with their massive debt-load. It's been a flop from start to finish. All its done is weaken the dollar and trigger a wave of inflation. In fact, government figures now show energy prices are rising at a whopping 18.1% annually. Bernanke is apparently following Lenin's injunction that “The best way to destroy the Capitalist System is to debauch the currency.”

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve initiated a “coordinated effort” with the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the and the Swiss National Bank to address the “elevated pressures in short-term funding of the markets.” The Fed issued a statement that “it will make up to $24 billion available to the European Central Bank (ECB) and Swiss National Bank to increase the supply of dollars in Europe.” (Bloomberg) The Fed will also add as much as $40 billion, via auctions, to increase cash in the U.S. Bernanke is trying to loosen the knot that has tightened Libor rates in England and reduced lending between banks. The slowdown is hobbling growth and could send the world into a recessionary spiral. Bernanke's “master plan” is little more than a cash giveaway to sinking banks. It has no chance of succeeding. The Fed is offering $.85 on the dollar for mortgage-backed securities (MBSs) and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) that sold last week in the E*Trade liquidation for $.27 on the dollar. At the same time, the Fed has promised to keep the identities of the banks that are borrowing these emergency funds secret from the public. Thus, accountability and transparency have been both been shattered by one shortsighted action. The Fed is conducting its business like a bookie.

Unfortunately, the Fed bailout has achieved nothing. Libor rates---which are presently at seven-year highs---have not come down at all. This is causing growing concern among the leaders of the Central Banks around the world, but there's really nothing they can do about it. The banks are hoarding cash to meet their capital requirements. They are trying to compensate for the loss of value to their (mortgage-backed) assets by increasing their reserves. At the same time, the system is clogged with trillions of dollars of bad paper which has brought lending to a grinding halt. The massive injections of liquidity from the Fed have done nothing to improve lending or lower interbank rates. It's been a complete flop. Bernanke has lost control of the system. The market is driving interest rates now. If the situation persists, the stock market will crash.

STARING INTO THE ABYSS

One of Britain's leading economists, Peter Spencer, issued a warning on Saturday:

“The Government must suspend a set of key banking regulations at the heart of the current financial crisis or risk seeing the economy spiral towards a future that could make 1929 look like a walk in the park".

Spencer is right. The banks don't have the money to loan to businesses or consumers because they're desperately trying to raise more cash to meet their capital requirements on assets that continue to be downgraded. (The Fed may pay $.85 on the dollar, but investors are unwilling to pay anything at all.)Spencer correctly assumes that the reason the banks have stopped lending is not because they “distrust” other banks, but because they are capital-strapped from all their “off balance” sheets shenanigans. If the Basel regulations aren't modified, money markets will remain frozen, GDP will shrink, and there'll be a wave of bank closings.

Spencer said:

"The Bank is staring into the abyss. The Financial Services Authority must go round and check that all banks are solvent, and then it should cut the Basel capital requirement level from 8pc to about 6pc.” (“Call to Relax Basel Banking Rules, UK Telegraph)

Spencer confirms what we already knew; the banks are seriously under-capitalized and will come under growing pressure as hundreds of billions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities (MBSs) and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) continue to lose value and have to be propped up with additional capital. The banks simply don't have the resources and there's going to be a day of reckoning.

Pimco's Bill Gross put it like this:

“What we are witnessing is essentially the breakdown of our modern day banking system.” Gross is right, but he only covers a small portion of the problem.

Economist Ludwig von Mises is more succinct in his analysis:

“There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought on by credit expansion. The question is only whether the crisis should come sooner as a result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved.”

This is truly mind-boggling.

The banks have been creating trillions of dollars of credit (by originating mortgage-backed securities, collateralized debt obligations and asset-backed commercial paper) without maintaining the proportional capital reserves to back them up. That explains why the banks were so eager to provide mortgages to millions of loan applicants who had no documentation, no income, no collateral and a bad credit history. They believed their was no risk, because they were making enormous profits without tying up any of their capital. It was, quite literally, money for nothing.

Now, unfortunately, the mechanism for generating new loans (and fees) has broken down. The main sources of bank revenue have either been seriously curtailed or dried up entirely.

As the downgrades on CDOs and MBSs continue to accelerate, there'll likely be a frantic “flight to cash” by investors, just like the recent surge into US Treasuries. This will be followed by a series of spectacular bank and non-bank defaults. The trillions of dollars of “virtual capital” that was miraculously created through securitzation when the market was buoyed-along by optimism; will vanish in a flash when the market is driven by fear. In fact, the equity bubble has already been punctured and the process is well underway.

For complete article, see:
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18913.htm

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

- - The Planned Collapse of America
by Peter Chamberlin

We are seeing the planned collapse of America, coming down the road we are on. What are we going to do to get our nation off that highway to hell?

For article, see:
www.mortyscabin.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1900

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

- - Morgan Stanley Issues Full US Recession Alert
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor
Last Updated: 12:53am GMT 15/12/2007
The Telegraph (Britain)

www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/12/11/cnusa111.xml

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

-- Iran drops US dollar

RIA Novosti Saturday, 8 December 2007

TEHRAN, December 8 — Iran has stopped selling its oil for US dollars, the Iranian ISNA news agency said on Saturday, citing the country's oil minister.

"In line with a policy of selling crude oil in currencies other than the US dollar, the sale of our country's oil in US dollars has been completely eliminated," ISNA reported Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari as saying.

He also said "the dollar is no longer a reliable currency."

Iran is the world's fourth-largest crude oil producer.

At a November summit of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries heads of state, Iran proposed that oil sales be carried for a variety of currencies, excluding dollars, but was not supported by any other members except Venezuela.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had previously called the US currency a "worthless piece of paper."

2007 has seen a significant fall in the value of the U.S dollar against other major world currencies.

Truncated, for complete article, see:
http://en.rian.ru/world/20071208/91488137.html

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

- - Threat-Theft on George Bush Sr. in World Reports

'BUSH SR. WILL BE SHOT DEAD IF CAUGHT STEALING AGAIN'
For archives, see: WorldReports.org/news



2) Fascism Raises Its Ugly Head & What To Do

- - Naomi Wolf: What is Probably in the Missing Tapes
- - Italians Block Construction of U.S. Base
- - Senate Bill 1959 to Criminalize Thoughts, Blogs, Books, Free Speech
- - Obama Runs from Questions on free speech & Nuclear Waste
- - Stop Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain
- - [Some]American Jews on War and Peace
-- Leonard Peltier: A POW of America's Energy Wars
- - Impeachment Hearings Newspapers Some Dems
- - Bill Moyers interviews Keith Olbermann

- - Naomi Wolf: What is Probably in the Missing Tapes
Following post and comment posted at 911truth.org
Saturday, December 15 2007 -
Naomi Wolf Condemns Torture-Tapes Crimes

Naomi Wolf in her blog of Dec. 13 brings a necessary note of outrage to the unfolding story of the torture tapes. Let us not forget, as we examine the affair around the CIA's claim to have destroyed video records of prisoner interrogations, that U.S. government officials have already admitted or directly and publicly confessed to a series of crimes: torture, lying to a government investigation, obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence. Wolf argues for adding murder as a charge. There is no rationale left for not convening an immediate, independent investigation by special prosecutor.

Wolf: "What we are likely to see if the tapes... are ever recovered is that the "confessions" of the prisoners upon which the White House has built its entire case for subverting the Constitution and suspending civil liberties in this country [were] obtained through methods such as electrocution, beating to the point of organ failure, hanging prisoners from the wrists from a ceiling, suffocation, and threats against family members... if we could witness the drama of manufacturing by torture the many violently coerced "confessions" upon which the whole house of cards of this White House and its hyped "war on terror" rests, it would likely cause us to reopen every investigation, including the most serious ones (remember, even the 9/11 committee did not receive copies of the tapes)."

Elsewhere, for further speculation on what the CIA may be hiding, a discussion thread at Democratic Underground by poster leveymg makes the case that "Abu Zubaydah was a key Al-Qaeda figure in the CIA's Chechnya operation, which involved several of the 9/11 hijackers. He was in a position to know about the relationship of the 9/11 Hamburg cell with the CIA."

Meanwhile, we recommend the full text of Naomi Wolf's article, after the jump...

— Ed.

For article, What is Probably in the Missing Tapes
By Naomi Wolf (December 13, 2007)
See: www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20071214165538365

-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

VIDEO: Naomi Wolf's lecture on 10 steps to fascism
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjALf12PAWc

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

- - Italians Block Construction of U.S. Base
http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/29388
By David Swanson

[EXCERPT]

The people of the northern Italian city of Vicenza, with help from activists around Italy, the rest of Europe, and even in the United States, are continuing to block the proposed construction of a new U.S. military base on their soil. When a company laid underground fiber-optic cables at the site of the proposed base, activists fill a junction box with cement. When another company tried to begin the work of removing World War II era U.S. bombs from the site, activists camped out in the cold for three days and nights while allies in Florence and a small town near Naples conducted simultaneous protests in front of the company's offices. The company backed off and has suspended the work. And a small town outside Vicenza has now refused to allow the United States to construct a residential village for troops.

A lot more information on the anti-base struggle in Vicenza can be found at afterdowningstreet.org/vicenza

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

- - Senate Bill 1959 to Criminalize Thoughts, Blogs, Books, Free Speech

Senate Bill 1959 to Criminalize Thoughts, Blogs,
Books and Free Speech Across America

The end of Free Speech in America has arrived at our doorstep. It's a new law called the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, and it is worded in a clever way that could allow the U.S. government to arrest and incarcerate any individual who speaks out against the Bush Administration, the war on Iraq, the Department of Homeland Security or any government agency (including the FDA). The law has already passed the House on a traitorous vote of 405 to 6, and it is now being considered in the Senate where a vote is imminent. All over the internet, intelligent people who care about freedom are speaking out against this extremely dangerous law: Philip Giraldi at the Huffington Post, Declan McCullagh at CNET's News.com, Kathryn Smith at OpEdNews.com, and of course Alex Jones at PrisonPlanet.com.

This bill is the beginning of the end of Free Speech in America. If it passes, all the information sources you know and trust could be shut down and their authors imprisoned. NewsTarget could be taken offline and I could be arrested as a "terrorist." Jeff Rense at www.Rense.com could be labeled a "terrorist" and arrested. Byron Richards, Len Horowitz, Paul Craig Roberts, Greg Palast, Ron Paul and even Al Gore could all be arrested, silenced and incarcerated. This is not an exaggeration. It is a literal reading of the law, which you can check yourself here: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc110/h1955_rfs.xml

The bill states:

‘...ideologically based violence’ means the use, planned use, or threatened use of force or violence by a group or individual to promote the group or individual’s political, religious, or social beliefs...

Note that this means the "planned use of force to promote a political or social belief" would be considered an act of terrorism. This all hinges on the definition of "force," of course. Based on the loose use of logic in Washington these days, and the slippery interpretation of the meaning of words, "force" could mean:

• A grassroots campaign to barrage Congress with faxes
• A non-violent street protest
• A letter-writing campaign that deluges the Senate with too much mail
• A sit-in protest that blocks access to a business or organization
• A grassroots e-mail campaign that overloads the e-mail servers of any government department or agency

You get the idea. "Force" could be defined as practically anything. And since the "planned use of force" would be considered a criminal act of terrorism, anyone who simply thinks about a grassroots action campaign would be engaged in terrorist acts.

If you stopped someone on the street and handed them a Bible, for example, this could be considered an act of terrorism ("...use of force to promote the individual's religious beliefs...")

If you sent a barrage of angry letters to Washington about global warming and the destruction of the environment by the U.S. military, this could also be considered an act of terrorism ("...to promote the individual's political beliefs...")

If you believe in same-sex marriage and you wrote a letter threatening a sit-in protest in front of your state's capitol building, this could also be considered an act of terrorism, even if you never carried it out! ("...planned use of force to promote a social belief...")

The United States is on the fast track to fascism, and the Congress is working right alongside this nation's traitorous leaders to criminalize any thoughts, words or speeches that disagree with current government policies regarding war, terrorism, domestic surveillance and civil liberties. Simply speaking out against the war on Iraq could soon be labeled a crime. Merely thinking thoughts against the war on Iraq could be considered a criminal act.

Must-see video: Naomi Wolf's lecture on 10 steps to fascism
There's a video lecture you simply MUST watch. It's by Naomi Wolf, author of The End of America. She covers this topic with great elegance and a deep understanding of history. See her video on YouTube at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjALf12PAWc

In her lecture and book, Naomi reveals the ten steps to fascist, then reveals how the United States of America is pursuing all ten! This S.1959 legislation, the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, represents one of the ten steps to achieve a fascist state!

It is designed to squash all opposition to the State's ongoing march towards blatant fascism, where secret police and secret prisons dominate the law enforcement landscape, stripping U.S. citizens of all civil liberties and Constitutional protections.

Thoughtcrimes are about to become a reality in the United States of America, and Congress is pushing this through as quickly as possible so that each individual member of Congress can claim that he or she is "against terrorism." But this bill doesn't merely target terrorism: It targets anyone who speaks or even thinks thoughts against the U.S. federal government.

With this bill, the U.S. government is officially labeling the People of the United States as criminals. It is drawing a line in the sand and stating that from now on, it's the Government vs. the People.

If we don't stop this bill from becoming law, we are lost as a nation.

There is no turning back from tyranny once the government turns its own citizens into criminals, enforcing only the thoughts, ideas, words and speeches that it approves or tolerates. Everything is at stake here!

Take action now, or lose your freedoms forever
If you live in the U.S., it is urgent that you call your senators right now and voice your strong opposition against this extremely dangerous law.

Here are the phone numbers for the U.S. Senate switchboard:

1-877-851-6437
1-800-833-6354
1-888-355-3588
1-866-220-0044
1-866-808-0065
1-877-762-8762
1-866-340-9281
1-800-862-5530

How to do this:

1) Make sure you know the names of your Senators.
2) Call the U.S. Senate switchboard using one of the numbers above.
3) Ask to speak to the offices of your Senators.
4) Tell them you are strongly opposed to S. 1959, the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act
5) Ask for their fax number.
6) Follow up your phone call with a written, signed letter that you fax to your Senators.

Stopping this bill from becoming law is the single most important thing all Americans can do right now. If this becomes law, all free speech about health freedom, the crimes of the FDA, the crimes of the Bush Administration, America's role in global warming and any other topics could all be criminalized. YOU could be labeled a terrorist, kidnapped by government thugs, taken from your home, thrown in a secret prison, denied access to legal representation, denied due process and essentially "disappeared" into a system of such corruption and evil that it now begins to blatantly mirror Nazi Germany.

Think it couldn't happen here? It's happening right now! This is exactly how it happened in Nazi Germany. First, burn the Reichstag and blame it on the "enemy." Pass new police state laws. Disarm the people. Spread fear. Erect secret prisons and secret police. Call anyone who disagrees with you a "traitor." Control the mainstream media. Sound familiar? This is all happening right now in the United States of Amerika, and if we don't work to stop it, this nation will rapidly devolve into a fascist police state where no one is truly free.

We are but a few small steps away from it right now. All it would take is one dirty bomb in a major U.S. city. Bush would declare Martial Law and take over the National Guard. Troops on the streets. Anyone who writes a blog against the government would be arrested. Authors of "alternative" books would be kidnapped and have their books burned on the street. It could all happen at the stroke of a pen. The infrastructure for tyranny is in place right now, just waiting to be invoked.

Our best weapons: Non-violent protest and speaking the truth.
Truncated, for complete article and linked resources, see:
www.newstarget.com/022308.html

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

- - Obama Runs from Questions on free speech & Nuclear Waste

GNEP (spent fuel dumping & reprocessing) & lack of freedom of speech...
Received via SAGE mailing list

Dear Friends,

Obama...GNEP (spent fuel dumping & reprocessing) & lack of freedom of speech...

We wanted to let you know how the Obama campaign treats people concerned
about his position on GNEP and nuclear issues...


At the big Obama-Oprah rally here in Columbia, South Carolina on Sunday, a few of us decided to hold up signs at the entrance to the venue (university football stadium) against Obama¹s support of research into GNEP. You may have noticed at the Democratic debate two weeks ago in Las Vegas that he said he supported nuclear power and that Argonne lab in Illinois was conducting promising research on how to manage nuclear waste (uh, GNEP that is). If GNEP goes forward, South Carolina (Savannah River Site & the old Barnwell reprocessing plant) is perhaps the main site being considered to receive the nation¹s spent nuclear fuel.


When we arrived at the stadium entrance with a few posterboard signs the Obama people were all over us, trying to kick us off the property. They said we could go to the ³free speech² area that was several blocks away. Hm...sure sounds like a tactic of a certain president who could care less about free speech. We didn¹t leave and they got the police to come, who forced us off the property and to the sidewalk across the street (where people entering the stadium could still see us). The stadium, they said, was rented by the Obama campaign and it was not a public area any more. Hunh?! One of us returned to the stadium property with a sign and a police officer pursued her and shoved her in the back, making sure to be out of camera range.

So, we wanted to let you know about these tactics of the Obama campaign to stifle free speech. Is the campaign really about the change it claims? The reaction was shocking and unanticipated by us. If anyone has heard of his campaign applying this tactic at others sites please let us know. And, if anyone has heard him say more about GNEP and reprocessing please pass it on. And, how much money is he taking from the nuclear industry (while claiming to take no money from special interests)?? And Oprah, is she also pro-GNEP and anti-free speech? Say it ain't so!

Regards,
Tom Clements
Leslie Minerd
Elaine Cooper
(now headed to the Obama office to talk about this.,
if you don't hear from us again send a search team...)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Re: [Sage] FW: the way obama works.

"The Obama campaign, as of late March 2007, has accepted $159,800 from executives
and employees of Exelon, the nation's largest nuclear power plant operator."
More at: www.counterpunch.org/stclair07042007.html

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

- - Stop Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain

Comments by the Western Shoshone National Council
on the United States Department of Energy
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement
for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of
Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level
Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain

Please let your voices be heard!

Fax questions &/or comments to: (800) 967-0739
Call in to: (800) 967-3477
Questions and comments may also be posted on the
Radioactive Waste Management website: www.ocrwm.doe.gov
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Submit written comments on or before Jan. 10, 2008.
Talking points, Yucca Mtn. for Dummies and contact
info are available at: www.h-o-m-e.org/Yucca/index.htm.

[For more information-resources, see prior issue at Flyby News]

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

- - [Some] American Jews on War and Peace

American Jews on War and Peace:
What Do the Polls Tell Us and Not Tell Us?
By James Petras

With the American Pro-Israel Power Configuration leading the way to savaging the National Intelligence Estimate study, released in December 2007, on the absence of an Iranian nuclear weapons program, progressive Jewish opinion is silent or complicit. Worse still, progressive liberal and radical Jewish peace activists have acted as gate-keepers in the anti-war movement - prohibiting any criticism of Israel and labeling individuals or citizen activists critical of the pro-war Zionist lobby as 'anti-Semites'

For the complete article: www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18908.htm

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

-- Leonard Peltier: A POW of America's Energy Wars
By Chris Groden

Should we humans somehow survive our "Atomic Age", and the cumulative effects of planetary pollution, it may be that future historians will look back on this era as the time of the Energy Wars, in the late Colonial period, (hopefully). A time when human population increases, combined with social injustice and inequalities, spawned a series of military conflicts over control of the Earth's dwindling hydrocarbon and nuclear fuel sources.

These, along with other resources, had been designated by our government as "strategic materials", vital to National Security. In the early 1970s, Indian Reservations in the western United States became, once again, targets of the US Government, acting on behalf of corporate interests, in a deliberate plan to acquire and exploit the energy resources of their lands. The Government, using the Justice Department and especially the FBI's illegal and unconstitutional "Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO)" went into action.

Starting in 1973 with the 71-day siege at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, site of the 1890 massacre of Big Foot's band of over 200 Sioux by the US Army's 7th Cavalry, they employed the same tactics they had developed and deployed against the Black Panthers, the Young Lords, and Anti-War/Draft groups in the sixties and beyond. These included murder, arson, assault, drive-by shootings, and false arrest and prosecution. On the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, the FBI armed and colluded with tribal police GOON (Guardians Of the Oglala Nation) Squads and non-Indian vigilantes in a 3-year reign of terror ('73-'76), that included a shootout on the Jumping Bull Ranch on June 26th, 1975 between FBI Agents and members of the American Indian Movement (a traditionalist self-defense group).

That engagement took the lives of one Indian and two Agents, although the Indian's death was never investigated. After eighteen of the nineteen AIM defenders involved were acquitted on grounds of justifiable self-defense, the Justice Department falsified affidavits to illegally extradite from Canada the only remaining AIM defender, Leonard Peltier, and in an admittedly, deeply flawed prosecution, held in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, promoted by the FBI and cooperating law enforcement agencies, scapegoated him into 2 consecutive life terms for the murders of their agents.
So, now, over three decades and two energy wars later, despite numerous appeals and parole hearings, and the outcry of millions worldwide against his unjust imprisonment, Leonard Peltier is still doing hard time in a federal pen.

An important part of addressing the problems we have caused by the way we have dealt with our energy needs to date, beyond a technological fix to further enrich our corporate masters, should be an effort to correct past injustices committed in the name of combined Corporate and Government greed and malfeasance (the definition of fascism according to Benito Mussolini).

We can begin by freeing Leonard Peltier, and by listening, finally, to the message of his people, of living in balance, with respect for our Mother Earth. Let's all be lead by our love, for the life of the land. Free Leonard Peltier!

= = = = = = = = = = = = == = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

- - Impeachment Hearings Newspapers Some Dems

Spurned by major newspapers, Dem Congressman
takes 'impeach Cheney' appeal to Web
Nick Juliano
Published by The Raw Story, Friday December 14, 2007


Spurned By Major Papers On Impeachment, Congressman Gets 54,000 Signatures In 1 Day

As the House Judiciary Committee has refused to take any action on proposals to begin impeachment hearings on Vice President Dick Cheney, three of that panel's members tried to take their case to influential op-ed pages of the nation's largest newspapers. Since the Constitution isn't a "brand" that advertises with them they apparently decided to skip the whole discussion.

The Congressional committee members were turned down by every one -- including the New York Times, Washington Post and Miami Herald -- so now one of the lawmakers has taken his campaign to the Internet.

Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) on Friday launched a new Web site, WexlerWantsHearings.com to advance his call to impeach Cheney. In a single day more than 50,000 Americans signed on lending strength to the evidence that there is a media blackout concerning impeachment. The site hosts an op-ed article rejected by the nation's major newspapers and outlines the case for impeaching Cheney.

"The truth is the mainstream media have no interest in this issue," Wexler said Friday.

"They have bought into the notion that impeachment hearings are outside the bounds of what the congress ought to be doing," the six-term Congressman elaborated during a conference call Friday.

The House Judiciary Committee has before it a resolution introduced by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) calling for Cheney's impeachment and accusing the vice president of a raft of high crimes, including manipulating intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war, obstructing federal investigations and conspiring to expose the identity of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame. Curiously Treason, probably the strongest potential charge has not been included so far although there is evidence for that charge as well.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said impeachment in strictly off the table, and the Judiciary Committee seems unlikely to move forward with any hearings. Wexler encouraged impeachment supporters to sign a petition on his new site to allay the notions of Democratic leaders that impeachment supporters are little more than "a fringe, marginal group of people."

Wexler said the House has the constitutional obligation to begin impeachment hearings to investigate malfeasance within the Bush administration, and he blamed the lack of enthusiasm thus far on the "bad taste" left by the GOP's last impeachment crusade.

More than 50,000 people responded in just one day to Rep. Wexler's call for people to sign his on-line petition supporting an immediate start to hearings on Rep. Dennis Kucinich's Cheney Impeachment bill.

As of Sunday morning, 54,000 people had signed the petition at WexlerWantsHearings.com calling for action now. And names are being added at a rate of one every one or two seconds!

Sources include Raw Story and an OpEd by Dave Lindorff

read the rest at:
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Spurned_by_major_newspapers_Dem_Congressman_1214.html

www.opednews.com/articles/genera_dave_lin_071216_we_did_it_21_50_2c000_si.htm

http://news.google.com/nwshp?tab=wn&ncl=1124945664&hl=en

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Raw Story Editors note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said Wexler's op-ed was censored by newspapers; newspapers to which he and other lawmakers submitted the column simply declined to publish it

Source URL: http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Spurned_by_major_newspapers_Dem_Congressman_1214.html

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

- - Bill Moyers interviews Keith Olbermann
www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/12142007/watch.html

Bill Moyers Journal reports on "Christians United for Israel", whose leader, Pastor John Hagee,
advocated for a preemptive strike against Iran. You can either Watch Video or link to the Transcript!

Also, check the following for a Moyers' interview with Ronald J. Sider and MJ Rosenberg.
This makes the case for ethical Jewish and Evangelical Christian perspectives on peace
in the the Middle East. The real concern is with the extremists in most any religion
(or ideology), and the silence, apathy, and brainwashing of the majority.



3) Torture Coming To Its Dying End

- - ABC News Interview With an Executioner
- - New Jersey Abolishes Death Penalty
- - Jehan Abdur-Raheem – A Muslim in Isolation Row
- - Free Leonard Peltier, Lori Berenson, Richard Sitcha

- - Interview With an Executioner
"Taking a Life is Not a Pleasant Thing to Do,'' He Tells ABC News
By JIM AVILA, MARY HARRIS and CHRIS FRANCESCANI

Dec. 17, 2007 —

Jerry Givens spent 17 years as a professional killer. From 1982 to 1999, he killed 62 people.

He was never punished. His work was paid for by the Commonwealth of Virginia.

As the state's chief executioner, Givens pushed the buttons that administered lethal doses of electricity to the condemned. He could even choose how many volts to administer. And he is the first to admit that it was largely guesswork.

"If he was a small guy, I didn't give that much. You try not to cook the body, you know. I hate to sound gross,'' he told ABC News in a rare interview.

Only a handful of executioners in America have ever spoken publicly about their experiences, and fewer, if any, have revealed the emotional toll the job can take on a person or the mind-set of the person behind the proverbial mask.

Givens told ABC News that his experiences in the death chamber have caused him to change course and oppose the death penalty.

Givens defies the stereotype of the cold-souled executioner. A deeply religious layman, Givens claimed he prayed with many of the condemned men he was about to execute, a bold gesture at odds with the grim, emotionless solemnity with which executions are often portrayed in the movies.

He said he'd suggest to a condemned man that this was a last chance to repent and seek forgiveness from God. And he said he'd join the men in prayer. No one's tomorrow is guaranteed, he said.

"This could be my last chance too.''

Capital Punishment in the Spotlight

The emotionally charged, ongoing debate in the United States over capital punishment has reached a near fever pitch in recent days.

On Monday New Jersey's governor signed a bill banning capital punishment in the state. In a momentous and much-anticipated showdown, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next term on whether lethal injection constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.


The U.S. has executed 1,099 people since the U.S. Supreme Court reauthorized the death penalty in 1976, according to The Associated Press. In 1999, 98 people were executed, the most since 1976; last year 53 people were executed, the lowest since 1996.

Is There a Doctor in the House?

Givens said he trained with a Texas execution team that showed him how to administer the deadly cocktail of drugs used in lethal injection executions. Still, he has no formal medical training.

Corrections officials in the 36 states where the death penalty is legal have long faced the vexing challenge of having executions administered, or at the very least overseen, by trained medical professionals. But the Hippocratic oath ("first, do no harm") ethically prohibits medical professionals from participating in executions. The American Medical Association recommends that doctors not participate in executions.

In 2006, lawyers for the state of Missouri told a federal judge that they simply could not meet his demand that a certified anesthesiologist oversee state executions.

State attorneys reportedly told the judge that authorities in Missouri had sent certified letters to 298 qualified anesthesiologists who lived anywhere near the state's death chamber. They were turned down by every single one, according to a report in The New York Times.

Many states have abandoned guidelines requiring medical professionals to perform executions, because there are simply not enough doctors or nurses willing to perform the job. And in states like Virginia, as Givens told ABC News, training for such a consequential job is thin at best.

ABC News showed Givens the American Veterinary Medical Association's guidelines for the lethal injection of pets, which states that the drug used to euthanize an animal can be so potentially painful that "it is utmost importance that personnel performing this technique are trained and knowledgeable in anesthetic techniques, and are competent in assessing anesthetic depth appropriate for administration of potassium chloride intravenously."

Asked whether it concerned him that the nation seems to take more care in the execution of pets than it does in humans, Givens said, simply, "yeah."

"It's wild."

Givens himself said he had no medical education. "Well,'' he said as an afterthought, "first aid."

"I Was Just Performing a Job"


"You're the American people,'' he said, growing momentarily animated. "You sentenced a guy to be executed. You give him a trial, then you send him to me to be put to death.

"Then later on you [say] that this guy was innocent. You didn't put him to death. I did.

"I performed the execution. So you might suffer a little. I'm going to suffer a lot, because I performed the job."

"If the jury, if you let the [jury] foreman be the executioner, than I think they'd give a second thought about execution,'' he said. "If you let the judge be the executioner, I think he would give a second thought about sending somebody to be executed."

For the complete transcript and video:
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=4015348&page=1

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

- - New Jersey Abolishes Death Penalty

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine.

NPR.org, December 17, 2007 · With the stroke of the pen, New Jersey became the first state Monday in more than four decades to abolish the death penalty.

Gov. Jon Corzine signed into law a measure that abolishes capital punishment, replacing the death sentence with life in prison without parole.

"This is a day of progress for us and for the millions of people across our nation and around the globe who reject the death penalty as a moral or practical response to the grievous, even heinous, crime of murder," Corzine said.

The bill, approved last week by the state's Assembly and Senate, spares eight men currently on death row. On Sunday, Corzine signed orders commuting their sentences to life.

New Jersey reinstated the death penalty in 1982, six years after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed states to resume executions. It hasn't executed anyone since 1963.

Iowa and West Virginia were the last states to eliminate the death penalty, in 1965, according to the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

New Jersey's invalidation of capital punishment is viewed as a historic victory by death penalty opponents across the world. Rome is planning to shine golden light on its Colosseum – once the arena for deadly gladiator combat and executions — in solidarity with New Jersey's decision.

The bill passed the Legislature largely along party lines, with controlling Democrats supporting repeal and minority Republicans opposed. Republicans had sought to retain the death penalty for those who murder law enforcement officials, rape and murder children, and commit terrorism.

"It's simply a specious argument to say that, somehow, after six millennia of recorded history, the punishment no longer fits the crime," said Assemblyman Joseph Malone, a Republican.

The U.S. has executed 1,099 people since the Supreme Court reauthorized the death penalty in 1976. In 1999, 98 people were executed, the most since 1976; last year 53 people were executed, the lowest since 1996.

From NPR reports and The Associated Press
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17314934&ft=1&f=1014

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

- - Jehan Abdur-Raheem – A Muslim in Isolation Row

FN – ed.
The following are excerpts from a letter I recently received from
Jehan Abdur-Raheem, dated December 8th, 2007

“I don’t know the key to success,
but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”

-- Bill Cosby

Peace Brother Jonathan,

I received your L-O-N-G letter (smile)..
Thanks for making the time to share so much of your ‘self’ with me.

[EXCERPT]

I’m glad to know that you remember my telling you why I’ve been held in Solitary for the last two years. I broke no rules, but the prison staff says I am an “influential Muslim” who is a threat to this facility because a confidential informant told them I started strikes; ordered ’hits’ on other prisoners, etc. As long as they claim a “confidential informant” told them this, they don’t have to prove any of it, stating they can’t do anything that will expose or jeopardize the informant. . . . None of it is true. It’s some more post 9-11 crap that every STATE and governmental agency can now get away with, ‘Ala’ Guantanamo Bay.

Every 60 days they must review my case. I’m enclosing copies of the last 2 reviews for you so you can see what I mean. These copies are for you to keep and use in anyway you’d like… by the way, you asked if you could write to anyone in an effort to help. Why not write to the Commissioner and tell him how ridiculous this all sounds? If I’m such a threat to Elmira, why do they keep refusing to simply transfer me to another facility? I broke no rules, and in 32 years of incarceration have no record of rioting, escapes, staff assaults, drugs or weapons, etc. --

I trust your ability to articulate all of this in a way that will let the department know that the public is aware of such abuses heaped on Muslim prisoners. If they would run a place like Abu Ghraib with impunity, they’d do it in America too, unless the public refuses to accept it. What’s next? Water-boarding us too? The DOCS Commissioner’s information is as follows:

Commissioner Fischer
The NYS Department of Correctional Services
The Harriman State Campus
#1220 Washington Avenue
Albany, New York – 12226

Send me a copy of whatever you decide to send; I’ve been in solitary since 12-5-05 without any formal disciplinary sanctions or charges against me.

Enough for now… In closing, let me say again how nice I was to read about you having the chance to spend your mother’s birthday with her. I’m still recovering emotionally from the loss of my own mother. Because I’ve been in the BOX I didn’t even hear her voice for over two years. Don’t waste even a single moment of life without appreciating your mother in some way. Mothers impact our lives more than any other single human - Never miss an opportunity to show her your love. Soon enough is too late.

Your brother!

Jehan Abdur-Raheem
77A1180
P.O. Box 500; Elmira Correctional Facility
Elmira, NY 14902-0500

Ed. Note- Thanks to any who may consider writing in support, too.

For more on Jehan and this topic=> A Nation Behind Bars: the buried talents of a population.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

- - Free Leonard Peltier, Lori Berenson, Richard Sitcha

The following is posted at FlybyNews.com

Free Leonard Peltier -- "Amnesty International considers Leonard Peltier to be a political prisoner whose avenues of redress have long been exhausted....Amnesty International recognizes that a retrial is no longer a feasible option and believes that Leonard Peltier should be immediately and unconditionally released." Documents show that although the prosecution and government pointed the finger at Peltier for shooting FBI agents at close range during the trial in 1976, for three years the prosecution withheld critical ballistic test results proving that the fatal bullets could not have come from the gun tied to Leonard Peltier. This trial also denied evidence of self defense. The U.S. Prosecutor, during subsequent oral arguments, stated: "we can't prove who shot those agents". The Eighth Circuit found that "There is a possibility that the jury would have acquitted Leonard Peltier had the records and data improperly withheld from the defense been available to him in order to better exploit and reinforce the inconsistencies casting strong doubts upon the government's case." Yet, a new trial was denied. Judge Heaney, who authored the denial now supports Mr. Peltier's release, stating that the FBI used improper tactics to gain Mr. Peltier's conviction. A good way to learn about Leonard Peltier is to read his book: Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance. For excerpts, see the following link, under article by Louise Erdich: Time for Human Rights on Native Ground. For more resources: Free Leonard Peltier!

Free Lori Berenson -- On November 30, 1995, Lori was pulled off of a public bus in Lima, Perú. Like thousands of Peruvians, she was detained by the anti-terrorist police, tried for treason by a hooded military tribunal under draconian anti-terrorism laws and condemned to life in prison. On the 10th anniversary of her arrest, Lori releases a commentary. Lori Berenson is a US citizen currently being held as a political prisoner in Cajamarca, Perú. After serving more than a five years in harsh Peruvian jails high in the Andes, her conviction for treason against Perú and her life sentence were overturned. In June 2001 she was cleared of terrorism-related charges but convicted of collaboration, and sentenced to twenty years in prison in a trial that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights claims completely violated her rights. To learn more, to write to Lori, and help her defense, visit: FreeLori.org

Free Richard Sitcha -- In April 2001, Richard Sitcha fled Cameroon after being imprisoned and tortured by the government’s security forces due to his involvement with the political protests against the Bepanda Nine killings. Fearing for his life, Richard applied for political asylum as soon as he arrived in the United States. The United States government granted Richard asylum in January 2003. Life was looking up for Richard—he could now realize his dreams of going back to school and bringing his wife and two children to the US. On September 18, 2003, however, the US government revoked Richard’s asylum and arrested him in the courtroom. He has been in jail, without charge, ever since that date! For more information, visit - FreeRichard.com. Also, in FN archives, see: Dennis J. Kucinich and the Sitcha Connection; also an article by Richard Sitcha, My Way of the Cross; and updates of March , May, August, 2006, and April, 2007 from the Sitcha Defense Committee. Plus, in item 3, a May 2007 letter from Sitcha to Mark.


The views expressed herein are the writers' own and not necessarily those of Flyby News.
A "Fair Use Policy" that describes FNs' use of copyrighted material is at FlybyNews.com.
Feedback for story suggestions and networking Flyby News is appreciated.
You can write to the editor by email: -- flyby (at) flybynews.com --

Flyby News is nonviolent in focus, and has supported critical campaigns
for a healthy environment, human rights, justice, and peace,
since the launching of NASA's Cassini space probe in 1997.

=====News Fit to Transmit in the Post Cassini Flyby Era====>

= = = = = = www.FlybyNews.com = = = = =



Email address: