Man arrested/convicted for complaining to gov't

Could this have happened 15 years ago in full view of the media? A citizen arrested and convicted for writing too many letters to his representative complaining of a menace to the community?

Anyone who saw the Shawshank Redemption and admired Andy Dufreyne for tirelessly writing letters to the governor requesting a better library for the prison - and got action...get your mind right...because this is now deemed 'harassing' the government.

Man arrested and convicted
for complaining about government

Sunday, June 14th, 2009
Source
Marshall Pappert waged a passionate, perhaps slightly obsessive, campaign of protest letter writing to Bridgeville, Pa. politicians and city officials to express his opposition to concrete plant. The city has responded, by arresting him, for criminally harassing the government.

View Video

ABC News Pittsburg reports: A Bridgeville man who was arrested and convicted after making repeated complaints to his local government took his appeal to one of Pennsylvania’s highest courts on Tuesday.Team 4 investigative reporter Jim Parsons, who originally broke the story, was in Superior Court for the arguments. At issue: How many letters to borough officials does it take to constitute a crime?

Marshall Pappert freely admits that when you add up all of the letters he has written to government officials — and include the copies of those letters he has sent to other public officials — the number of letters is about 350.While waiting for his case to be called, Pappert made no apologies for his letter-writing campaign to Bridgeville Borough.

“I did what any citizen should do when you see something that’s unhealthy to the community,” Pappert said.Pappert lives across Union Street from a Bridgeville concrete plant. The dust, the noise, the idling diesel trucks all combined to cause him to complain to the borough.

He wrote letter after letter — hundreds of them — and he left voice mail messages for the borough manager.In one message, Pappert said, “I’m asking you as a Bridgeville resident of 56 years to resign and get off of your position. Do the right thing.”

Instead, Pappert got arrested on a harassment charge and was convicted.At Tuesday’s appeal hearing, Assistant District Attorney Peggy Ivory told the court that Pappert “clearly crossed the line to a course of conduct designed to harass” the borough manager. Ivory declined an interview with Team 4 on Tuesday.

”We really maintain that this is about the First Amendment and that public officials just have to tolerate it,” said Bruce Boni, an attorney from the American Civil Liberties Union who’s representing Pappert.Bridgeville Councilman Pat DeBlasio said he doesn’t just tolerate Pappert’s actions, he embraces them.”We go to Memorial Day and stand there and listen to ‘Taps’ and honor the people who died. Well, they didn’t die so we could have five different choices of breakfast cereal. They sacrificed their lives so that you have the right to complain when you see something wrong,” DeBlasio said.

”If you can’t talk and do what I did to your government, what can you do? What are they going to do next to you?” Pappert said.A decision on whether to overturn Pappert’s criminal conviction is not expected until sometime in the summer.

Team 4 also learned on Tuesday that Ed Bogats — who arrested Pappert — submitted his resignation as Bridgeville police chief last month.The borough council unanimously accepted Bogats’ resignation. DeBlasio said Bogats cited medical reasons.Bogats did not return Team 4’s call to his home on Tuesday.

Thanks to Jonathan Turley
Phil Leggiere
http://mondoglobo.wftk.org/blog/qa/

No more guns in the US for the people - HR 2159

The article and video below this commentary,
document the bills now in the US Congress to disarm the American public.

I don't like guns. I wish noone, including the government had any. And though I fall on the far left side of the political spectrum, these days I often find myself in agreement with some of the positions of the far right: these are confusing times where - Nothing's right, and nothing's left. Yet I do not believe in violence, except as a last, very very last, resort. The People could bring Big Government and Corporatism to its knees begging within one week with the methods of Ghandi. If only people would unite! If I belong to any 'ist' or 'ism' as an adherent, I would have to call myself a Constitutionalist. Only the people can ratify a constitution.


Loss of Constitutional rights, some say, is a slippery slope; and in some aspects, this is true. But the reality today, is this: AMERICANS HAVE NO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS ANYMORE. The Patriot Act superseded all of them long ago - while America was shopping with mortgage refi money and raising angry fists to bomb them thar evil terrorists in Iraq. Yes they were all gone years ago....but US citizens are just realising this. Americans are in the valley below the slippery slope now.

Sadly, this is not just a US phenomenon. It is happening all over the world. The critical difference is that Europe is on fire with protests and America yawns hoping the bedtime story has a 'happily ever after' ending. While Europeans are fighting the changes they see eroding their human rights in the streets - they are still doing it from 'panic-virus'; hopefully, this will mutate into the realisation that 'together we are stronger', and many countries will unite within Europe to voice their concerns about the EU superstructure growing every moment.

Ironically, the EU machinery itself (as well as the US machinery) provides the very (international) democractic mechanism by which the People can control the Bureaucracy. It is being used now by the Irish in the NO to Lisbon campaign. It will not become our strength until EU citizens pressure their MPs for unification with other national populist movements.

Guns are not the issue here. Evaporation of civil rights which are replaced by an international surveillance and control system of every person's activities is a far more toxic pandemic. The right to bear arms is a Constitutional one in the US, the purpose of which was to ensure that government could never oppress the People with tyranny. However, now, anyone who opposes tyranny is a 'terrorist': even if the tyranny IS the government itself. And you don't have to own a gun....words on a blog such as this can very well designate one as a 'person of interest' nullifying all Consitutional rights by authority of the Patriot Act.

The government now possesses the appropriate “watch lists” and has designated specific categories of Americans as domestic terrorists. If H.R. 2159 becomes law the Obama administration and the Justice Department will go after opponents to their far-reaching plan to disarm the nation and deliver it defenseless into the clutches of bankers and corporatists determined to reduce a once proud constitutional republic to the status of a fuedalist backwater. (Article below)

Whether one is far left, far right or center, this enforceable law described below will be what rules daily life for all. I await the day when Americans wake up and realise that people on the other side of the pond are not the enemy; but, fight for the same right to a decent life that all people from all nations want (this is THE purpose of government, no corporate/banking profitability).

I posted the story of Alistair Lundeby last week here. This is an example of how the Patriot Act defines a 'terrorist'. Yes, this can happen to you your family anytime - it only takes a call from a cranky neighbour or ex-lover reporting you for 'suspicious' activities or associations. Or perhaps you visited some dodgy websites while doing a search online. Hard to believe, isn't it? That the US (and Great Britain) now have the same state mechanisms as Stalin and Hitler. But a fascist but any name stinks as much.

Update on domestic terrorist labels

House Bill Aims to Strip “Rightwing Extremists”
of Second Amendment Right

05-11-2009
By Kurt Nimmo
Source
A sinister bill working its way through the House may eventually serve as a companion piece to the Department of Homeland Security’s “Rightwing Extremist” report that labels veterans and advocates of the Second Amendment as dangerous terrorists — H.R. 2159, The Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2009, sponsored by Rep. Peter King of New York.


The bill would “increase public safety by permitting the Attorney General to deny the transfer of a firearm or the issuance of firearms or explosives licenses to a known or suspected dangerous terrorist.”

On April 29, with little fanfare or corporate media coverage, H.R. 2159 was introduced and referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. The bill would “increase public safety by permitting the Attorney General to deny the transfer of a firearm or the issuance of firearms or explosives licenses to a known or suspected dangerous terrorist.” The entire bill can be read on the Govtrack website.

A similar bill was introduced in the Senate in 2007 but did not make it out of committee.

As noted above, the DHS has compiled a long list of folks the government considers terrorists. The bill, if enacted, would allow the attorney general, a documented gun-grabber, to deny millions of Americans due process. “[Rep. King] would deny citizens their civil liberties based on no due process,” Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America, tells WorldNetDaily.

Pratt worries that the new bill will be used in conjunction with the DHS “Rightwing Extremism” report. “By those standards, I’m one of [DHS Secretary] Janet Napolitano’s terrorists,” Pratt continues. “This bill would enable the attorney general to put all of the people who voted against Obama on no-gun lists, because according to the DHS, they’re all potential terrorists. Actually, we could rename this bill the Janet Napolitano Frenzied Fantasy Implementation Act of 2009.”



On May 1, 2009, Infowars reported on the existence of another DHS document, the “Domestic Extremism Lexicon.” It adds more suspected terrorists to the government’s list, including people working in the alternative media, anarchists, pro-life activists, skinheads, lone terrorists, members of the militia movement, “decentralized” terrorists, and others.

The DHS reports were distributed to “federal, state, local, and tribal counterterrorism and law enforcement officials so they may effectively deter, prevent, preempt, or respond to terrorist attacks against the United States.”

Earlier this week, a man was stopped in Louisiana and detained by police for the crime of displaying a “Don’t tread one me” bumper sticker on his car. A background check was conducted to determine whether he was a member of an “extremist” group, according to The American Vision website. “Don’t tread on me” was originally displayed on a flag designed by general and statesman Christopher Gadsden during the Revolutionary War. It is depicted as a terrorist symbol in the DHS “Rightwing Extremist” report.


House Bill Aims to Strip Rightwing Extremists of Second Amendment Right


Stephen Halbrook, Independent Institute Research Fellow and author of the book The Founders’ Second Amendment, testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in opposition to Attorney General nominee Eric Holder.


During Holder’s shoo-in confirmation hearings earlier this year, Stephen Halbrook, Second Amendment attorney, detailed Holder’s vehement opposition to the right to bear arms. Holder’s role in the Waco massacre and Ruby Ridge were expected to be brought up during the hearings but were not.

Shortly after 9/11, Holder penned a Washington Post op-ed entitled “Keeping Guns Away From Terrorists.” In the article, the future Attorney General argues that a new law should give “the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms a record of every firearm sale.” He also states that prospective gun buyers should be checked against the secret “watch lists” compiled by various government entities. In order to make his point, Holder makes the ludicrous hypothesis that Osama bin Laden would be able to purchase an unregistered firearm at a gun show in America.

The government now possesses the appropriate “watch lists” and has designated specific categories of Americans as domestic terrorists. If H.R. 2159 becomes law the Obama administration and the Justice Department will go after opponents to their far-reaching plan to disarm the nation and deliver it defenseless into the clutches of bankers and corporatists determined to reduce a once proud constitutional republic to the status of a fuedalist backwater.

Things I read May 5, 2009

Some days, I read so many interesting articles, I can't decide what to blog. So, a potpourri seems like the perfect solution. Hope you find something that interests you.


Goodbye bloggers, it was a nice run

Curious as to what was cut out of the liberty smashing HR 1913, what is being called the "Hate Crimes Act?"

A little portion that helped keep Freedom of Speech protections in place.... Wonder why that was removed before passage?

Reading the list of sponsors makes one think you've entered a Bar Mitzvah.

Another curious part of this piece of crap is the number, 1913. 1913 is the year that the ADL and the Federal Reserve were created. We're getting this rubbed right into our faces and don't even realize what is going on.

Here's what was cut out of this act before it was voted on, the bold portion. Sure are concerned about Free Speech, aren't they?

Text of H.R.1913 as Reported in House Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009....read more here.


The U.S. Economy: The Musical (Video)


UN pushing Israel toward legal proceedings
Gaza under Israeli fire during the 22-day war.

Tue, 05 May 2009
In pursuit of the case of Israeli war crimes, the United Nations moves to report to the Security Council that UN facilities in Gaza had been targeted willfully.

After the United Nations Works and Relief Agency (UNRWA) compound became the target of GPS-guided Israeli mortars on January 15, the UN set up a commission to bring Israeli human rights violations in Gaza out into the open.

The commission -- led by the former British secretary-general of human rights group Amnesty International, Ian Martin -- assembled a report on Israeli actions in Gaza for submission to the Security Council.

"Israel deliberately fired at UN institutions even though it knew it was forbidden", read the report...read more.

More Americans taking drugs for mental illness

Tue May 5, 2009 8:24am EDT
By Julie Steenhuysen
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Many more Americans have been using prescription drugs to treat mental illness since 1996, in part because of expanded insurance coverage and greater familiarity with the drugs among primary care doctors, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

They said 73 percent more adults and 50 percent more children are using drugs to treat mental illness than in 1996.

Among adults over 65, use of so-called psychotropic drugs -- which include antidepressants, antipsychotics and Alzheimer's medicines -- doubled between 1996 and 2006...read more.


UN demands Israel compensation for strikes in Gaza

By JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer
(05-05) 15:03 PDT UNITED NATIONS, (AP)
A U.N. investigation on Tuesday accused Israel of spreading false statements about its attacks on United Nations schools and other facilities during the Gaza military campaign — including one reported to have killed more than 40 people — and formally demanded compensation.

The investigation ordered by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon found conclusively that Israeli weaponry — some containing white phosphorus — was "the indisputed cause" of attacks on several schools, a health clinic and the world body's Gaza headquarters...read more.


Illinois State Police Seize and Keep Desirable Cars for Personal Use

The Newspaper
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Illinois State Police troopers seized a high-performance muscle car and set it aside for the personal use of an influential police official. The Associated Press reported that a suspected drunk driver in a 2006 Dodge Charger was pulled over in January 2007. The troopers used a state seizure law to confiscate the vehicle.

Once the paperwork was complete, the 425-horsepower vehicle — which had an as-new base price of $38,000 — was handed over for the personal use of Ron Cooley, 56, the Executive Director of the Illinois State Police Merit Board. Taxpayers also pick up the fuel tab for gas-guzzling 6.1 liter V-8 as he drives to and from work each day and on various business trips...read more.

Mobile phone spying

By the time an item hits the market where it can be consumed, it has most usually been well studied (if not actually created) by folks paid a lot of money to evaluate its use for government and war.

DARPA and other agencies are well funded and thorough in applying technological innovations for the various purposes of government. Got a mobile phone? Think you are safe from the spying eyes of DHS, NSA, MI5, MI6, MOSSAD, CIA or other well funded spying agencies?

The video here will make you throw your mobile into the next river. No kidding!!!

Because this video cannot be embedded here (we don't know why) one must access the Youtube url to view it. Take a look at the other videos on this technology while you are at it.

Not funny headlines - April 16, 2009

You won't find the following headlines on Fox News. But don't miss them. In-depth articles on India, global currency, and a video on 911 puppetmasters follow the headlines.

Secretive U.S. Prison Units Used to House Muslim,
Animal Rights and Environmental Activists

4-15-2009
Will Potter
The government is using secretive prison facilities on U.S. soil, called Communication Management Units, to house inmates accused of being tied to “terrorism” groups. They overwhelmingly include Muslim inmates, along with at least two animal rights and environmental activists.

Little information is available about the secretive facilities and the prisoners housed there. However, through interviews with attorneys, family members, and a current prisoner, it is clear that these units have been created not for violent and dangerous “terrorists,” but for political cases that the government would like to keep out of the public spotlight and out of the press. Read more...

US economy goes back to 1955 as deflation returns

4-15-2009
The US economy has begun to deflate for the first time in more than half a century as a slump in demand pushes energy and food costs lower.

The consumer price index fell at an annual rate of 0.4% in March, the first decline since August 1955, figures from the US labour department showed today. It was bigger than the 0.1% drop expected by economists.

Compared with the previous month, consumer prices dipped by 0.1%.

The decline was mainly caused by lower energy costs, which offset a surge in tobacco prices, the biggest since 1998. If energy and food costs are excluded, the annual inflation rate stands at 1.8%.

Energy costs fell by 3% on the month and gasoline prices were down 4%. Food and housing costs both edged down by 0.1%.

"It reinforces the deflationary fears that the Fed has been voicing," said George Davis, currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets.

A 2.4% fall in hotel room rates and a 0.2% decline in clothing prices reflected the weakness of consumer demand. But David Buik at BGC Partners pointed out that with "oil prices now stable at close to $50 a barrel, there is no near-term prospect of a further substantial decline in energy prices". He does not think that the latest figures signal the beginnings of widespread deflation this year.

Certainly, inflation is no longer an issue. Read more here.

Napolitano stands by 'extremism' report

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said she was briefed before the release of a controversial intelligence assessment and that she stands by the report sent to law enforcement that lists veterans as a terrorist risk to the U.S. and defines "rightwing extremism" as including groups opposed to abortion and immigration.

The outcry resulted in a demand from the head of the American Legion to meet with Ms. Napolitano, a request the DHS chief said she would honor next week when she returns to Washington from her current tour of the U.S.-Mexican border.

"The document on right-wing extremism sent last week by this department´s Office of Intelligence and Analysis is one in an ongoing series of assessments to provide situational awareness to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies on the phenomenon and trends of violent radicalization in the United States," Ms. Napolitano said in a statement. Read more here.

1,500 farmers commit mass suicide in India

Source
Over 1,500 farmers in an Indian state committed suicide after being driven to debt by crop failure, it was reported today.

The agricultural state of Chattisgarh was hit by falling water levels.

"The water level has gone down below 250 feet here. It used to be at 40 feet a few years ago," Shatrughan Sahu, a villager in one of the districts, told Down To Earth magazine

"Most of the farmers here are indebted and only God can save the ones who do not have a bore well."

Mr Sahu lives in a district that recorded 206 farmer suicides last year. Police records for the district add that many deaths occur due to debt and economic distress.

In another village nearby, Beturam Sahu, who owned two acres of land was among those who committed suicide. His crop is yet to be harvested, but his son Lakhnu left to take up a job as a manual labourer.

His family must repay a debt of £400 and the crop this year is poor.

"The crop is so bad this year that we will not even be able to save any seeds," said Lakhnu's friend Santosh. "There were no rains at all."

"That's why Lakhnu left even before harvesting the crop. There is nothing left to harvest in his land this time. He is worried how he will repay these loans."


India

Indians vote in marathon election
Tens of millions of people go to the polls despite the threat of violence in some states.


Video: India's urban-rural divide

Where crime and politics combine

Who will shape India's future?

Pictures: India goes to the polls

911

VIDEO: SHADOWPLAY: 9/11 PUPPETMASTERS.
9/11 was an Inside Job
Interviews with Charlie Sheen, Connie Fogal, Michel Chossudovsky, John McMurtry, Andreas von Buelow, Barrie Zwicker among others.

NWO

The Financial New World Order: Towards a Global Currency and World Government
Following the 2009 G20 summit, plans were announced for implementing the creation of a new global currency to replace the US dollar’s role as the world reserve currency.

China's Proposal for a New World Currency

Internet BLACKOUT - Cybersecurity Act of 2009

I keep chatting with people on the net about what we can do to affect some resistance to the Orwellian new society being ushered in under our noses. So many say, 'Use the net to spread the word'. Well that is what this blog is about.

Query: what can we do without the net? That may be the question we ultimately face because 'these ARE the good ole days' on the net. Internet surveillance and control by government is advancing at an alarming rate; indeed, the net is too powerful a tool to be left in the hands of people. For example, a law concerned with copyright infringement is being considered in the Senate which allows access to all electronic devices, S92A Copyright Blackout - Video.

Now there is another bill in Congress to shut down the internet in times when the president deems a 'national' emergency is present. Never heard of these laws? Well they will surely become law before the end of the year, as so many other curtailing civil liberties which have been passed right under the noses of masses of panicking herds of citizens worldwide. This is not just an American problem: there is clearly a global synchronicity to this plan to shut down the internet for the use of people.

So....Query: what can we do without the net? Well at least have a laugh.

Federal Authority Over the Internet?

The Cybersecurity Act of 2009

by Jennifer Granick
April 10th, 2009
Source
There's a new bill working its way through Congress that is cause for some alarm: the Cybersecurity Act of 2009 (PDF summary here), introduced by Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME). The bill as it exists now risks giving the federal government unprecedented power over the Internet without necessarily improving security in the ways that matter most. It should be opposed or radically amended.

Essentially, the Act would federalize critical infrastructure security. Since many of our critical infrastructure systems (banks, telecommunications, energy) are in the hands of the private sector, the bill would create a major shift of power away from users and companies to the federal government. This is a potentially dangerous approach that favors the dramatic over the sober response.

One proposed provision gives the President unfettered authority to shut down Internet traffic in an emergency and disconnect critical infrastructure systems on national security grounds goes too far. Certainly there are times when a network owner must block harmful traffic, but the bill gives no guidance on when or how the President could responsibly pull the kill switch on privately-owned and operated networks.

Furthermore, the bill contains a particularly dangerous provision that could cripple privacy and security in one fell swoop:

The Secretary of Commerce— shall have access to all relevant data concerning (critical infrastructure) networks without regard to any provision of law, regulation, rule, or policy restricting such access…

In other words, the bill would give the Commerce Department absolute, non-emergency access to “all relevant data” without any privacy safeguards like standards or judicial review. The broad scope of this provision could eviscerate statutory protections for private information, such as the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Privacy Protection Act, or financial privacy regulations. Even worse, it isn’t clear whether this provision would require systems to be designed to enable access, essentially a back door for the Secretary of Commerce that would also establish a primrose path for any bad guy to merrily skip down as well. If the drafters meant to create a clearinghouse for system vulnerability information along the lines of a US/CERT mailing list, that could be useful, but that’s not what the bill’s current language does.

A privacy threat still in the cocoon is the provision mandating a study of the feasibility of an identity management and authentication program with just a nod to “appropriate civil liberties and privacy protections.” There’s reason to fear that this type of study is just a precursor to proposals to limit online anonymity. But anonymity isn’t inherently a security problem. What’s “secure” depends on the goals of the system. Do you need authentication, accountability, confidentiality, data integrity? Each goal suggests a different security architecture, some totally compatible with anonymity, privacy and civil liberties. In other words, no one “identity management and authentication program” is appropriate for all internet uses.

Whether the bill is amended or rejected, the question remains what kind of actions would help cybersecurity, and what role the federal government has to play. As security expert Bruce Schneier has pointed out, the true causes of government cyber-insecurity are rather mundane:

GAO reports indicate that government problems include insufficient access controls, a lack of encryption where necessary, poor network management, failure to install patches, inadequate audit procedures, and incomplete or ineffective information security programs.

The Cybersecurity Act is an example of the kind of dramatic proposal that doesn't address the real problems of security, and can actually make matters worse by weakening existing privacy safeguards – as opposed to simpler, practical measures that create real security by encouraging better computer hygiene. We’ll be watching this bill carefully to ensure that it doesn’t pass in its present form.

MORE?
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Bloggers: 1 step from censorship?