Yesterday, between 9.45 and 10am, thieves broke into my apartment and stole a number of valuable items, including everybody’s laptop (5 in total) and some jewellery. My laptop was among those taken. I had no insurance. On top of this, I lost all my photos, videos, poetry, and original music I have recorded (the thieves stole my backup hard drives too). Obviously I’m very angry and upset about the creative and sentimental loss more than anything.

The police are investigating the crime, and we are taking steps to ensure this doesn’t happen again.. re-fitting locks, updating/getting insurance etc.

No-one was home, so no-one was hurt, and that is a blessing. We are all in a state of shock at the moment, and while we are appreciating loving texts and emails from friends and family, we are asking these be kept to one or two, just so we don’t get barraged with love.

The best thing anyone can do now is pray. Pray that myself and the rest of the flatmates find peace in this situation, and don’t allow feelings of anger or fear to fester. Pray that the police do their job well and find the thieves and our belongings. Pray the thieves realise the error of their ways and turn themselves in, or at least hand in the items to the police, however unlikely that is.

Also, without downplaying the wrongness of the thieves’ actions, we must remember that crimes like this are so often the result of a society where groups of people have been hurt, marginalised and ignored. Let us all pray, hope for, and work towards a society where thievery and crime is no longer necessary, or consciously possible.

I am reminded of this quote:

“To bless the people who have oppressed our spirits, emotionally deprived us, or in other ways handicapped us, is the most extraordinary work any of us will ever do.” – Elizabeth O’Connor

Practically, I am accepting offers of beer and confectionery  =)
But in seriousness, PLEASE forward me all photos you might have of Asher, or me. I have lost all these.Another useful thing people can do is keep an eye out for computers/laptops that I can use in the meantime until I buy a new one (a long way off), or keep. I am involved in a number of volunteer community initiatives in my spare time that require a computer, and I don’t like sitting in my office till 10pm typing away

Love to you all

Will (and his flatmates)

By: Christopher-Peter: Maingot

How strange it is; that other, World Wide Web-sites, other than governmental, receive more complaints from a growing number of people every day, having had some form of an adverse reaction, from the swine flu shot. Some of which would no doubt, be considered a “severe adverse reaction” (SAR).

Of an even stranger occurrence: H1N1/Swine Flu…Virus pandemic reporting has all but dropped off the radar screen, coincidentally if you will…especially since the alarming turn of events with the pandemic vaccine on November 20, 2009 in Manitoba, Canada…reporting by mainstream media (MSM) services, now resemble drought conditions.

It’s slowly and, perhaps intentionally, becoming more an more curiously evident, that many of these current, and perhaps past, other “SAR” events, may also have been attributed to H1N1 pandemic vaccines.

During the same periods in time, and of a more serious nature…human beings also died…we’re still not sure exactly how many. But the deaths were shortly thereafter…having received a swine flu vaccine. And, our public health authorities seem to view this tragedy, simply as unconfirmed or, “coincidental” situations.

Baring the recent lack, of local and regional H1N1 news coverage, since the 20^th of this month, CANADA’S media services appear to have stumbled even further, perhaps from the sublime and, into the ridiculous. MSM has virtually displayed total nonchalance regarding any reports of a mutant 2009 Swine/Spanish flu, type virus…existing for some time now, in the Ukraine and, presently in Norway as well.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said the mutation does not appear to spread, and the public health significance of the finding, is unclear.

The agency also said; “although further investigation is under way, no evidence currently suggests that these mutations are leading to an unusual increase in the number of H1N1 infections, or, a greater number of severe or fatal cases.”

Although the World Health Organization claimed there were no significant changes of the genetic sequences from the Ukraine, none of the Ukraine’s situation updates excluded receptor binding domain changes.

It most certainly did become more apparent; there was clear evidence of an association of D225G with the fatal cases.

Herein perhaps lies the love hate relation with the World Health Organization.

According to a November 21, 2009 report by Recombinomics, reference is made to a receptor binding domain change “D225G” (the same receptor binding domain-RBD…found in the virus that caused the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak) having also been cited as position 222 in some reports, using H1 numbering.

This concern was based on published data on gene sequences from samples coming  from 1918 patients. As with the 1918 Spanish Influenza, the same changes occurred; the H1N1 virus usually had a D at position 225, but some of the later isolates had D225G…paralleling the data from the 2009 swine H1N1 isolates.

“Between the extremes of panic and complacency, lies the solid ground of vigilance.” Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO)

Spanish Flu?

Speculation exists; whether or not the Spanish flu was the earliest attempt at biological weapons…it caused an extremely high death rate with symptoms that included bleeding in the lungs.

In 1948 – Heinrich Mueller, the former head of the Gestapo, told his CIA interrogator; the most devastating plague in human history was man-made.

As with all infectious disease, not all infections are fatal. If the initial dose is low, and or the hosts’ mount and effective early defense, the clinical course may be mild. This has been seen with virtually all influenza infections…including the H5N1 (BIRD FLU) outbreak in Egypt.

Information provided without prejudice, malice aforethought, ill will, vexation, or frivolity.

Gerald became a friend of mine through unfortunate circumstances. He was the victim of torture at the hands of an Assistant Superintendent of Police and a group of policemen attached to the Wattala police station.

Further misfortune was to follow. The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, presided over by late Justice Mark Fernando, granted him all the relief that he claimed by holding against all police officers and awarding a recorded sum as compensation in a fundamental rights case.

It was only at this stage that Attorney General’s department thought of launching a criminal investigation against the police officers, which finally led to the filing of an indictment under the Convention Against Torture Act.

A short while later, a week ahead of giving evidence before the High Court of Negombo, he was shot dead while travelling to work at the harbour.

One of the accused police officers in the torture case, together with an accomplice, has been charged with the murder. Other accused officers have been made witnesses. His wife attributed the death to delayed investigation.

Does one murder case matter in the sea of murders washing across Sri Lanka? Rationally, it is impossible to say that it does not matter; however, if we are honest with ourselves then we must conclude that in reality it no longer matters.

I am trained as a lawyer. I recall that in my first year of training I and other students spent many weeks studying the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code by concentrating mainly on the offence of murder. Take away murder from the statute books and there would hardly be any point in studying the criminal law.

No one has removed murder from the statute books. It is there as before. But it has lost its significance. With it, the criminal law has also lost significance.

If the criminal law still had some significance then Gerald’s case would be highly publicized and treated as extremely strange, as a blot on the system.

That is because the police officer most responsible for his death, the ASP who gave the order for his arrest without having any evidence, has never been held to account or even questioned.

The ASP was fishing for evidence of a triple murder for which he had been assigned six officers. After ten days he had not come up with any leads. He went after Gerald because of mistaken identity.

To find Gerald, the police took his wife into custody with a child. They forced her to telephone her husband and have him come for her. They arrested him on arrival and took him to Wattala police station, where they hung him from a beam and beat him with iron and wooden polls, hoping that he may divulge something.

At this stage, the police got a telephone call, which seemed to communicate that they had got the wrong man. They took him down and kept him till next morning, when they released him with full knowledge of the ASP. The family took him to hospital, where he entered a coma, only to recover after 14 days.

If the criminal law had any significance in Sri Lanka then it would be remarkable that throughout the criminal inquiry into this incident, no one questioned the ASP. Apart from the actual perpetrators of the torture, this ASP knew more than anyone about the events. He should have been made an accused in the case, as the CAT Act is broad enough to have accommodated him.

However, it is not in our legal culture to bring officers above the rank of OIC to be questioned, let alone indicted. As a result, this case has dragged on farcically over the last five years, to the present day. There are many other cases like it that similarly have been reduced to absurdity.

So long as higher ranking of state officers cannot be brought to justice for murder and serious crime, realistically, one more murder is nothing; neither is the Penal Code or the criminal law of which it is a part anything of significance.

Source: Anniversary of Gerald Perera’s murder: The ASP who was never prosecuted

Yesterday I was watching news and heard that a doctor here who was involved in a sex scandal with an actress just got his license taken away from him. This doctor got all the blame for the sex video that came out showing very “mature” contents (so I was told). I never saw the entire contents of the video only clips in youtube where the doctor is dancing like in a gay bar or something, and the actress is also dancing like in strippers’ club. Anyway, the Medical Association of the Philippines suspended this particular doctor’s license because of this scandal. I don’t know on what grounds in particular they’ve given to execute their decision, but I really think it’s unfair no matter how much I try to see it in every angle of the issue. It’s not as if the doctor intended to show the video to the public. Besides, the doctor is not the only guilty party, but why did he get that much punishment while the actress was totally absolved?  People should keep in mind that she won’t be in that sex video if she wasn’t there doing something in the first place. She’s not a little girl. She wasn’t tricked into it.  She knew what she was doing when she went to that doctor’s place, why did she become a victim all of a sudden? How is she a victim? Is it because of the video? As I said already, she won’t be in the video if she’s not in his place doing something she’s not supposed to do in the first place. I don’t understand why people treat that doctor like a common rapist who deserves a death sentence. Also, one issue that people seemed to have overlooked is the issue that this actress slept with this said doctor who was committed to her female doctor friend. In short, this actress cheated with her friend’s boyfriend. The actress can cry in mortification or embarrassment all she wants, but didn’t the doctor suffer the same? The doctor had his share of embarrassment and mortification as well, why don’t people try to see his side? This is not to say that this actress should get all the blame, but that she also participated in the act, so she’s not an innocent victim. I am not being harsh in judging that actress’ character. I’m just trying to make sense of the decision of taking away that doctor’s license, that’s all. Ruining somebody else’s life is overreacting in my opinion. I can’t dismiss the thought that maybe the Medical Association of the Philippines felt pressured in taking away that particular doctor’s license because a senator/actor proposed it, putting the idea into the masses’ mind.  I know many people will get mad at me if they happen to see this post, but hey, if we really want real justice, we should try seeing both sides of the story, right?

I have always been in favor of having something above my head. That’s why I don’t understand convertibles; not only is there nothing above your head but also your air conditioner doesn’t really work because natural air keeps blowing in your face. I like my air to come from gas powered engines or a hookers breath.

Celebrities also love roofs, that’s why many of them sell roofs in their spare time. Roofs do so much for us I can totally understand their love of roofs. Roofs cover us and if you think children in China are roofs then roofs are also responsible for most forms of toy production. Celebrities love to stand and be seen and when they stand on a roof more people get to see them and notice how they too have human skin. Roofs are also in many famous movie scenes such as…um…the titanic? Whatever, roofs make famous people more famous and that’s why celebrities try and own as many roofs as possible. It’s a simple algebraic equation; people are only as valuable as the number of roofs they stand on and the amount of money they put in their bank account.

Another great thing about roofs is that roof rhymes with doof, and not very many things rhyme with doof. Celebrities like words that rhyme with doof, I have never been able to figure out why but it has something to do with makeup and not making sense during television interviews.

I also love roofs because if you have one then I know not to make fun of you for being homeless. I am very good at making fun of homeless people; I am so good at making fun of homeless people that they often are unable to think of a witty reply and that has nothing to do with the fact that they don’t have lips.

So I also like roofs famous celebrities, come find me and we’ll pee off of some of our favorite roofs onto the shoulders of homeless families

As I stumbled my way toward the microphone to address the hundreds of Karen students who had gathered in this seemingly unlikely place– a refugee camp bible college in the middle of a war zone on the Thai/Burma border– I struggled to sort out my thoughts in the brief moment that occurred between my approach to the podium and the opening of my mouth, which was accentuated by the amplification of that initial breath that everyone takes before they speak.

Here I was: an American, educated, privileged Christian, coming to share the “rich insights of my faith” with an oppressed people, a people who had already taught me so much as they faced their daily circumstances– situations that are unimaginably horrific to most of us– with a hope and determination that baffled my coddled Western sensibilities.  What could I really offer?  Did I really believe that the gospel was good news, even in this context of violence and despair?

Today in class, I presented this video (produced by the Free Burma Rangers) to my students, and it reminded me (painfully) of what happened after our team had finished some brief sharing with the beautiful students in this bible college.  They gave each of us unique, hand-crafted shoulder bags- a gesture of kindness and generosity that also had a more deeply symbolic meaning.

“Remember… as you carry these bags,” they said, “you share in carrying the burdens of our people on your shoulders.  Please tell our story to others, and help voice our concerns to other Americans so that the world will know of these ongoing tragedies and injustices in Burma.”

As the service wrapped up and I listened to their beautiful singing– many voices joined together in confidence that God could hear them– the image of their faces and the sound of their voices was burned indelibly into the core of my conscience.  And I’m ashamed to admit that nowadays, though it’s an encouraging memory in many ways, it is also a haunting one because it reminds me that I have not seen that bag in a while, nor have I carried it with the integrity and consistency that I had once hoped.

I’ve moved on to other things; an academic career, parenthood, and all the other usual complications of life.  I do make the occasional effort to tell the story of the Karen people, but if I’m honest with myself, it’s a story that doesn’t really get much of my attention.  In fact, I more often than not feel like I’m exploiting their story for my own purposes- a nice anecdote for class or a theological footnote for my research.  And for now, maybe that’s the best I can make of it.

But I must never forget.  To truly remember is not to domesticate their story for my own collection of global adventures, nor is it a compartmentalized sentimentality for an experience that once was.  Instead, remembering the Karen is about the making present of their stories in all of its tangible human pain (and joy).  Authentic compassion cannot come from memory if there is no genuine cultivation of their presence in my life.  Memory without real presence is just nostalgia, and may lead to charity at best.  But the day that I’m satisfied with charity is the day I’ve lost my soul, a day that I hope will never come.

As we approach Thanksgiving, I am so inexpressibly grateful for the life that I have.  But I am also saddened that most the world– the world of the Karen and other oppressed peoples around this planet– cannot always share in this same kind of gratitude.  Ironically, the Karen are a far more thankful people than most Westerners I know.  Perhaps their joy, and not their suffering, should be the starting point of my memory of them.

“The Justice Project” edited by Brian McLaren, Elisa Padilla, and Ashley Bunting Seeber is one of the best books I’ve read this year and definitely one of the best books on justice that I’ve ever read. Over the past few years it seems there has been a resurgence of “Justice-talk.” People are getting excited again about what it means to love one’s neighbor and how to act accordingly, especially in the face of injustice. Reading this collaboration of concise articles was an eye-opening experience as each author penned a different, yet “cohesive-to-the-whole” picture of what justice might look like in our world today if we would only get creative. “The Justice Project,” as an introduction to justice issues, may very well be “the voice of one many crying out in the wilderness”: “Justice is here. Join us.”

Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements  Ministry of Justice – National Offender Management Service

NOMS – National Offender Management Service

National Probabtion Service

HMP Prison Service

Click on the titles above to access the sites

Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) support the assessment and management of the most serious sexual and violent offenders.

The aim of MAPPA is to ensure that a risk management plan drawn up for the most serious offenders benefits from the information, skills and resources provided by the individual agencies being co-ordinated through MAPPA.

MAPPA were introduced in 2001 and bring together the Police, Probation and Prison Services into what is known as the MAPPA Responsible Authority.

Other agencies are under a duty to co-operate with the Responsible Authority, including social care, health, housing and education services.

Each MAPPA area produces an annual report which details performance, statistics, future developments and MAPPA team contact details. 

Mental Health – One Size Fits All

When one Googles ‘mental health,’ one discovers site after site of services, the majority of which require institutionalization and medication. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) states many nations have only a “one size fits all” drug and institutionalization approach to mental health, many of which have no provisions to return the 24 million [current] individuals caught up in such a system back to societies they came from. (1)

At a time when the USA government is gearing up to centralize mental health care, WHO is recommending that such centralization of mental health care be terminated around the nations of the world and instead be placed under local primary care, evidence based, whole patient treatment practices. WHO is also calling for the “establishment of a national body to monitor and protect the human rights of people with mental disorders, and ‘promote adoption and implementation of national mental health legislation in accordance with international human-rights instruments’.” (2)

The so called stigma of mental health is not coming solely from cultural and racial taboos. (3)

It is being created by practitioners of the mental health field at a despicable rate. (4)

IMPORTANT FACTS

1. Ten percent of all psychiatrists admit to sexually abusing their patients.
2. According to a 2001 report, one out of every 20 clients who had been sexually abused by their therapist was a minor.
3. Psychiatry and psychology have the dubious distinction of having more than 25 statutes specifically designed to address the increasing number of sex crimes committed by its members.
4. Psychiatrists and psychologists are over-represented in the healthcare industry for convictions for fraud, sexual abuses and other crimes.

One study conducted into how such professional digressions from adherence to standards of practice could occur reported the justifications included:

1.Colleagues putting the interests of professionals before patients
2. Consultants being ‘all powerful’
3. A lack of clarity on what (in the sphere of sexual relations) are the boundaries that define professional misconduct or criminal behaviour
4. Poorly developed and understood processes for dealing with rumour, unsubstantiated or withdrawn allegations. (5)

Often the very case workers that the current USA Mental Health Care Bill is pushing to increase in numbers abuse their clients in the name of “one size fits all.”

Tuesday’s Story – Against Psychiatry, is a two part youtube report about what one teen experienced at the hands of Mental Health Case Managers. The main crux of the story reports on the insistence of established agencies for the teen to take medications or else receive no assistance at all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC3VtaSZePE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiRq_xlE_fU&feature=related (6)

Even when teens are interested in cooperating with established mental health treatment protocols, they may find themselves sexually exploited. (7)

Current Malpractice Laws are specific about what the mental health professionals cannot do, even if mental health professionals aren’t “clear about it.”

1..Failure to Diagnose Patient
2. Failure to Treat Patient Properly
3.Medication Misdiagnosis
4. Physical or Mental/Emotional Abuse
5. Breach of Privacy
6. Sexual Relations with Patient
7. False Imprisonment (8)

In fact in the area of General and Forensic Psychiatry the list of offenses are expanded to include:

1. Failure to obtain information
2. Failure to appropriately diagnose
3. Failure to treat
4. Negligent use of psycho-pharmacologic agents or of psychotherapy
5. Negligent failure to prevent patients from harming themselves or others
6. Failure to assess risk of suicide or of violent behavior in a psychiatric patient
7. Sexual misconduct
8. Failure to obtain informed consent
9. Violations of civil rights; false imprisonment/restraints and seclusion
10. Breach of confidentiality
11. Abandonment
12. Negligence in supervision, etc
13. Assault and battery
14. Wrongful death. (9) (10)

The web site of Solomon and Relihan, 1951 West Camelback Road, Suite 110, Phoenix, AZ 85015-3470, has an article on how to recognize if abuse is happening to you or a loved one:

Physical and Emotional Pain

Swollen genital area
Bruising/bleeding around private region
Irritability
Detachment
Shame
Guilt
Fear
Suicidal
Depression (11)

“But wait a minute!” we can hear the Senators poised to pass the Health Care Bill before the Senate call out. “We are going to pass the mandatory mental health screening act to screen out every 3 year old would be criminal type, (12) every post-partum baby killer, every teen and early adult school shooter, every drug and ETOH (ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid; related to alcohol and drug abuse) abusing baby boomer, every suicidal teen, soldier and geriatric, and every malpracticing psychiatric professional.”

Well, it turns out the “one size fits all” mandatory mental health screening act is not the panacea envisioned. Instead it is a civil liberties nightmare in the making. Some of the articles go so far as to describe the “one sized fits all” mandatory mental health screening as corporate manufacturing of mental illness, with pharmo/psychiatric poised to reap billions of dollars from the “one sized fits all” national institutionalization and forced medication of a projected one in every four of us. In fact, the Senators will be voting on the bill any day now. (13) (14) (15) (16) (17)

(1) Schizophrenia Around the World
By Mary Medland
http://szmagazine.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.109

(2) Globalization and Health
Local suffering and the global discourse of mental health and human rights: An ethnographic study of responses to mental illness in rural Ghana
http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/content/5/1/13

(3) Racial profiling
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC58540/

(4) Eroding Justice
Psychiatry’s Corruption of Law
Report and recommendations on
psychiatry subverting the courts
and corrective services
http://www.mental-health-abuse.org/erodingJustice10.html

(5) Psychiatric Bulletin, Opinion & debate – Kerr/Haslam Inquiry into sexual abuse of patients by psychiatrists, Peter Kennedy, Vice-President
Royal College of Psychiatrists, e-mail: peter@kennedy89.freeserve.co.uk
http://pb.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/30/6/204

(6) Tuesday’s Story – Against Psychiatry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC3VtaSZePE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiRq_xlE_fU&feature=related

(7) Mental health policies on reporting child sexual abuse and physician-patient sexual relationships
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2645011/

(8) Psychiatric Malpractice
Bad Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
http://www.medicalmalpractice.com/psychiatric-malpractice.cfm

(9) PSYCHIATRIC MALPRACTICE, STANDARDS OF CARE…
http://www.forensic-psychiatrist.com/psychiatric_malpractice.html

(10) Psychiatric Malpractice
http://www.personal-injury-info.net/psychiatric-malpractice.htm

(11) Surviving the Unthinkable
http://www.solomonrelihan.com/CM/Articles/Surviving-the-Unthinkable.asp

(12) 3 year olds and criminal behavior
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091116/hl_nm/us_criminal_behavior

(13) Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons Volume 11 Number 3 Fall 2006
http://www.jpands.org/vol11no3/lehrman.pdf

(14)Teen screen
A Front Group for the Psycho-Pharmaceutical Industrial Complex
http://www.psychsearch.net/teenscreen.html

(15) The Dangers of Mental Health Screening
Nathaniel S. Lehrman, M.D.
Former Clinical Director, Kingsboro Psychiatric Center, Brooklyn NY
10 Nob Hill Gate, Roslyn NY 11576; nslmd@verizon.net
Presented by invitation at the Annual Meeting of
The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons
Arlington, VA, September 23, 2005 4587 words
http://psychrights.org/Issues/Screening/LehrmanDangersofScreening.pdf

(16) Whistleblower Allen Jones/Mental health screening of kids
August 31, 2009
Psychiatric Observer – Exposing bad Psychiatry
http://badpsych.com/2009/08/31/whistleblower-allen-jonesmental-health-screening-of-kids/

(17) Rutherford Institute
Parental Rights
http://www.rutherford.org/Issues/ParentsRights.asp

I have just returned from three weeks’ holiday in Japan, hence the inactiveness of this blog.

The visit was mainly rest and relaxation, but I put aside one day to kick off research that for a book about international justice that I plan to write.

I spent a day interviewing people in Tokyo about the war crimes trials that took place shortly after the second world war.

One interview in particular stands out for the raw emotion that I felt whilst conducting it.

The interview was with the grandson of one of those who were indicted for war crimes after the second world war. Not only that, but this particular indictee, as foreign minister, had signed the declaration that authorised the attack on Pearl Harbour which ultimately brought the US into the war.

I had studied all of this in history, of course, but that was text book stuff. This really brought history home, with surprising force. Here was a real person who suffered through these real events, and it took me away from the dusty tombs of A-level history to a world of real people and real feelings.

“For my parents, the Tokyo trials were a matter of life and death,” this interviewee said – since most of the indictees were getting the gallows.

When his grandfather was sentenced to imprisonment instead, his mother got up and said, “we won”.

Besides this fabulously illuminating interview, what came across during my time in Tokyo was how politically-motivated the trials had been.

Few seemed to deny that they were simply “victor’s justice”, with no suggestion that the other side should also be held to account for their crimes.

Moreover, the Tokyo trials were very much shaped by the politics of the time. One university professor said it was very important to look at what the trials (heavily backed by the US) sought to achieve – and that was speedy demilitarisation of Japan. This explains why the emperor, who should have at least been questioned even if he was never indicted, was never touched.

The concept of international justice seems to have changed little, then.

The whole raison d’etre of the ICC is to bring lasting peace to regions afflicted by war, and to put an end to human rights abuses.

Which means that politics necessarily goes hand-in-hand with justice, undermining the purist’s view that the ICC should just be about justice.

That was never the idea, and it can’t work.

The UN’s Security Council (political) makes the referral to the ICC (judicial), and it is then up to the ICC to start an investigation (or not, as the case may be). The two bodies are theoretically separate, but one could argue that they shouldn’t be. There should at least be some formal recognition of the ICC’s political intent.

Look at the mess left by trying to indict Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on a purely judicial basis. Now had one said, yes, we should indict Bashir, but there may be reasons for not indicting him, things may have worked somewhat smoother.

Advent Wreath image by jennmonsta Photobucket

RESOURCES FOR ADVENT 2009

Prepared by the Catholic Justice & Peace Commission of Brisbane

These resources are intended to help parishes to continue a focus on the messages of this year’s Social Justice Sunday Statement, And You Will Be My Witnesses: Young People and Justice. Each week, the resources will deal, in some way, with issues and themes addressed by the Statement.

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

This week’s resources will deal with the injustices faced by people with disability.  The International Day of People with Disability will be marked on 3 December which is in the First Week of Advent. The Brisbane Archdiocese will launch a new statement on people with disability during the week.  Please note that the last sentence of the sample editorial suggests that parishioners who cannot access the internet resource mentioned should seek help from the parish office.  You may wish to modify this to provide a more specific local or other contact.

Sample Newsletter Editorial

SHUT OUT: The Experience of People with Disabilities and their Families in Australia

Many of the large institutions that housed generations of people with disabilities—out of sight and out of mind—are now closed. Australians with disabilities are now largely free to live in the community. Once shut in, many people with disabilities now find themselves shut out. People with disabilities may be present in our community, but too few are actually part of it. Many live desperate and lonely lives of exclusion and isolation. The institutions that once housed them may be closed, but the inequity remains. Where once they were physically segregated, many Australians with disabilities now find themselves socially, culturally and politically isolated. They are ignored, invisible and silent. They struggle to be noticed, they struggle to be seen, they struggle to have their voices heard.

These are among the first words of Shut Out, a report based on a consultation with Australian people with disabilities and their carers.  It was released in August this year and was prepared to support the Commonwealth and State Governments’ development of a national disability strategy.

If you are a person with a disability or know people with disability, you may already be aware of the daily struggle they face.  If you do not, reading the report will provide you with many harrowing stories of their desperate, frustrating and difficult lives.

Shut Out gave people with disability a voice so that their frustrations could be heard.  They said in the clearest possible terms that they cannot participate fully in the community because of discrimination and exclusion.  People in wheelchairs are often unable to access public facilities like playgrounds, restaurants and cinemas.  Children with disabilities can find themselves excluded from local kindergartens and schools.  Well-qualified and competent candidates for jobs are rejected because of their disability.  People with mobility aids find difficulty using public transport.  People with a variety of disabilities cannot get the equipment and technology they need to do the things that everyone else takes for granted.  Others cannot get the support they need to help them get out of bed in the morning.

Every young person should be able to dream of a wonderful, fulfilling life, but put yourself, for a moment, in the shoes of a young person who is deaf or blind or in a wheelchair or who has an intellectual disability.  What sort of chance would you have to live a rewarding life in our community today?  What dreams could you dream for the life ahead of you?  The experience of the many people with disability who made submissions to this consultation makes it clear that your life is likely to be a constant struggle.  You would face discrimination and exclusion regularly.  You would find it hard to live in your own home and to get around.  You would face many barriers in getting a good education and regular, rewarding employment.  You would experience significant social isolation.

Some people with disability are living rich and rewarding lives, but even they will tell you that they have had to struggle against difficult odds for this to happen.  It simply shouldn’t be this way!

We believe that every human being is created in the image and likeness of God and that this entitles everyone to be treated with dignity and respect.  There is no respect where there is discrimination, exclusion and social isolation.  There is no dignity where access to education, employment and cultural pursuits is limited.

Change begins with us.  Becoming more aware of the experiences of people with disability is a good start.  Where it is possible, providing support and opportunities for them to participate in the life of the community is worthwhile.  Hearing their stories and seeing their needs opens our eyes to the discrimination and injustice they face.  When we have listened to people with disability and accompanied them in their daily struggle, we can begin to see the changes in community attitudes and practices and Government policies which are needed in order to give them the dignity which is their God-given right.

You can read Shut Out online. If you cannot access this report, please contact the parish office for help.

Homily and Reflection Suggestions

The justice which God wants is not the cold and exacting justice of a court of law.  God’s justice is infused with the warmth of abundant love.  God’s justice, as we saw in the life and ministry of Jesus, the just shoot (First Reading), reaches out in love to those who are excluded and discriminated against by society and brings them in from the shadows and lifts the burdens which have been placed on them by the law and society.

Paul implores the Thessalonian community to practise the same love which Jesus showed – “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all…” (Second Reading).

Jesus also urges his disciples to “Be vigilant!”, He told them: “Do not allow your hearts to become drowsy…” (Gospel).  Our hearts’ capacity to reach out in love to each other and to all cannot be diminished by the worries of the day or the attitudes of others.

Being prepared for the days that are coming and being vigilant means loving tenderly and living justly with God as our constant companion and guide.

During this First Week in Advent, we will mark the International Day of People with Disability (3 December).  The experience of many people with disability is one of discrimination, exclusion, lack of opportunity and social isolation.  The experience of many people with disability was heard through a consultation which took place earlier this year and the results were presented in a report called Shut Out.  It will inform the development of a national disability strategy being developed by the Commonwealth and State Governments.

The report tells us about people with disability missing out on opportunities for education, not getting jobs and losing them because of their disability, experiencing great difficulty using public transport, not being able to access many public facilities like playgrounds and restaurants and not getting the support they need to live ordinary lives.  For many of them, life is an immense struggle full of frustration and desperation.

Because many people with disability are deprived of opportunities for education and work, many live in poverty.  Vision Australia, for example, found in a recent survey that 63% of people with visual impairment are either unemployed or under-employed.

The International Day of People with Disability draws our attention to the stories of hardship experienced by so many people who are in wheelchairs, intellectually disabled, blind, deaf or with other disabilities.  And it should also remind us of God’s call for us to reach out in love and with justice to people with disability.

As the People of God, what can we do to make these stories heard?  How can we develop relationships with people with disability and their families and carers?  How can we change attitudes and practices and policies so that the burden carried by so many people with disability is lifted from them?

Love enables us to reach out; love enables us to see the suffering and hear the pain and frustration; love enables us to give support and act differently; and love gives us the courage to speak out and act so that justice comes to those who are shut out by social attitudes, practices and policies.  Love is the answer which Jesus teaches us and love is what we must constantly hold in our hearts for all those who are burdened, like people with disability if we are to welcome him fully into our lives.

Intercessory Prayer

We pray for people with disability,

That their experiences of discrimination, exclusion and social isolation may be clearly heard and acted on by the Church, the community and Governments.

God of justice, hear us.

Some Suggestions for Action

• Contact Faith & Life to find out more about the Archdiocesan Disability Network
• Find out how Centrecare supports people with disability
• Explore involvement with groups like L’Arche Brisbane or the Little Kings Movement
• Find out how you can support local and national organisations who are advocating for the rights of people with disability

Some Useful Web Resources

Shut Out: The Experiences of People with Disabilities and Their Families in Australia

People with Disability Australia Inc

Australian Association for Families of Children with Disability

International Day of People with Disability

L’Arche Australia

The accident involving Senator James Rhoades, Mr. Senavitis and Yamila Yafar was on October 17, 2008 at around 6:30pm which was a Friday evening on SR 209 a heavily traveled 2 lane roadway with a small bridge in front of the Beachwood Inn, a bar and grill. 

In the Fern Ridge State Police Crash Report signed and sworn to by Trooper Officer Jason Beers is states for all three units involved “Trailing Units NONE”.   Yet one of the witnesses they have who claimes to be able to see whose tires crossed the yellow lines and whose did not was two car behind Senator James Rhoades. 

There are also several other witnesses whom spoke up about is and quickly changed to they don’t want to get involved, this is what subpoenaes are for. 

In news articles they state that the Chef of the Beechwood Inn heard the crash, told the owner there was a serious accident out front and them along with the parton in the Beechwood Inn were stuck there while rescue and removal was done and that they saw and watched what was going on.   They are all ovbious witnesses to the resting spot of the vehicles and where the truck was moved to for rescue of Mrs. Edith Rhoades to the double yellow lines.

Although the Crash Reports states no trailing units they have a witness traveling northbound 2 cars behind Senator James Rhoades.  

Those who  know this stretch of roadway know how busy it is and on a Friday at 6:30 pm in the evening there obviously were alot of vehicles trailing behind all Units being witness to the accident itself and the final resting spot of the vehicles before they were moved. 

I know if this happened to you, you would want people to come forward.  It seems people these days just don’t want to get involved but for truth and justice should in any case no matter how big or small, how little you think the information you have is, it all helps in the end. 

Stand together and don’t let others hang for something they shouldn’t.  GOD BLESS ALL

The Business Insider, September 30, 2009

U.S. Income Inequality Is Frightening–And Much Worse Than We Thought

Posted using ShareThis

The newest economic inequality numbers, which ran counter to the expectations of almost all experts, are frightening.

The Associated Press released an article titled, US income gap widens as poor take hit in recession. The opening paragraph of the article, based on recent census data, reads:

The recession has hit middle-income and poor families hardest, widening the economic gap between the richest and poorest Americans as rippling job layoffs ravaged household budgets.

The article, which then discussed the Census statistics that led to this conclusion, failed to mention that the Census Bureau considered the differences between 2007 and 2008, with regard to economic inequality,statistically insignificant.

But, whether the Census Data shows a meaningful increase, or not. is irrelevant. The Census Data reports that, contrary to the almost universal expectations of economists, economic inequality most likely did not decrease in 2008. Experts had anticipated that the declines in income of the rich would lead to a reversal in this groups ever–widening share of our national income. Instead, the Census reported that the 2008 income losses by the top 10% of Americans were offset by larger losses among middle class and poorer Americans.

MIT economist Simon Johnston appears to have been one notable exception to this expectation of a shrinking income gap.

Let’s review what we know about the measurement of income inequality before discussing the disturbing implications of this newest government report.

About two weeks ago, I critiqued a Sept 10, 2009 front page story in the Wall Street Journal titled, Income Gap Shrinks in Slump at the Expense of the Wealthy. My critique had three central points:

First, economists have, with few exceptions, agreed that Census Data is inappropriate for measuring income inequality because it consistently understates the income of the wealthiest families. To protect the privacy of reporting individuals, the Census “top-codes” income, which means that no one is ever recorded as making more than about $1.1 million in a single year. So, oil traders, hedge fund executives and anyone else at the super-high end of the income strata who might earn $100, $50 or $5 million in a single year, always earn $1.1 million or less in this Census Data. In addition, the Census Data does not include capital gains income, which is typically a large source of income for the wealthiest Americans.

Two economists, Professors Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty, developed a method for measuring income inequality using IRS data, which avoided the problems inherent in using Census Data. This data was recently updated in response to the IRS release of 2007 information, and found that: Economic inequality in 2006 was, by some measures at the highest levels, ever found in the data available for the past 95 years. In 2007, these same measure showed a further jump further bringing America to it it’s highest levels of economic inequality in recorded history.

As a consequence of Census top-coding and the lack of capital gains data, the Saez-Piketty methodology has consistently shown that the Census substantially understates the extent of economic inequality in the nation. This means that, there is a real possibility that the the new Census Data understated the extent to which income inequality grew in 2008, and that the relative losses of the wealthiest families, versus less fortunate Americans, will be more than statistically insignificant.

It is possible that losses in reported capital income by the wealthiest Americans, if captured by the Saez-Piketty methodology, will be larger than the the incomes above $1.1 million that were not reported and offset the Census findings, leading as economists anticipated to a decline in the share of income going to the rich. However, I view this as unlikely. In considering this possibility, its important to remember that the IRS works on reported income gains, not gains which were never captured as taxable income. For income reporting purposes, the question is not whether the market value of capital assets declined but whether they were sold at an actual loss from their purchase price.

We will not know the answer to this question until July or August 2010, but in weighing the available evidence my working hypothesis is that as demonstrated by this new Census Report, income inequality did not decrease from 2008 to 2007.

Second, the original Journal article expressed a strong expectation that, as a result of the Great Recession, the ongoing growth of income inequality would decline substantially through 201o. My critique indicated that this was “far from clear.” The conventional economic wisdom, based on historical data, is that income inequality decreases, at least temporarily, as the richest Americans lose income faster than less-well-off Americans during a downturn. In contrast, this new data suggests that the dangerous cycle toward increasing income at the top of America has become even more self-reinforcing than previously recognized. We are now at the point where the pure market forces, which many economists told us would eliminate this issue, are no longer effective.

Third, the Journal article implied that the decrease in economic inequality it incorrectly predicted might be the start of a long-term trend. Instead, I demonstrated that, even if income inequality did decline in 2008 and 2009, it would almost certainly be “temporary.” The historical evidence shows that economic inequality frequently declines in a downturn, in the absence of strong government action, but that it will almost inevitably rebound and continue its march forward.

Now, let’s return to our main point:

Early next week, my new book It Could Happen Here will be released by HarperCollins. The book is an in-depth look , based on a historical analysis, of the implications of our historically high levels of economic inequality for the nation’s ultimate, long-term political stability. As economic inequality grows, nations invariably become increasingly politically unstable: Should we complacently believe that America will be different?

A central conclusion of the book is that once economic inequality reaches a self-reinforcing cycle it is halted only by inevitably controversial, hard-fought, bitterly opposed government action. Senator Jim Webb encapsulated this idea, when he wrote in his book, A Time to Fight: Reclaiming A Fair and Just America:

“No aristocracy in history has decided to give up any portion of its power willingly.”

In 1928, economic inequality was near today’s levels. Franklin Roosevelt succeeded in reversing the trend toward the continuing concentration of wealth, but it was a turbulent battle. In 1936, while campaigning for his second term and speaking at Madison Square Garden, FDR told the crowd:

“Never before in all our history have these forces [Organized Money] been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me and I welcome their hatred.

I should like to have it said of my first Administration that in it the forces of selfishness and of lust for power met their match. I should like to have it said, wait a minute, I should like to have it said of my second Administration that in it these forces met their master.”

In FDR’s era and in our own, money brings power: both explicitly and implicitly, in hundreds of different ways, both large and small. Today, the wealthiest Americans, together with a number of financial and corporate interests that act on their behalf, protect their ever-increasing influence through activities that include, among others, lobbying, supplying expertise to the councils of government, casual conversation at dinner parties, the potential for jobs after government service, the power to run media advertisements that influence public opinion. Indeed, MIT economist Simon Johnston, writing in The Atlantic asserted that the U.S. is now run by an oligarchy:

The great wealth that the financial sector created and concentrated [ from 1983 to 2007] gave bankers enormous political weight–a weight not seen in the U.S. since the era of J.P. Morgan (the man) … Of course, the U.S. is unique. And just as we have the world’s most advanced economy, military, and technology, we also have its most advanced oligarchy.

The new inequality data suggests that the potential problems for the nation associated with the concentration of wealth and power are even more severe than previously recognized. Two weeks ago, Iwrote that “Once income concentration becomes a reinforcing cycle of the kind we are witnessing, it is never stopped by pure market forces.” This mechanism is now in full swing. The market forces associated with the Great Recession, which many economist had expected to stem the growing, corrosive gap between the rich and the poor, appear to have become ineffective.

The great strength of American democracy has always been its capacity for self-correction. However, Robert Dahl, the eminent political scientist, recognized that political power fueled by wealth may ultimately neutralize this central aspect of our democracy. In his 2006 book, On Political Equality, Dahl wrote:

As numerous studies have shown, inequalities in income and wealth are likely to produce other inequalities..

The unequal accumulation of political resources points to an ominous possibility: political inequalities may be ratcheted up, so to speak, to a level from which they cannot be ratcheted down. The cumulative advantages in power, influence, and authority of the more privileged strata may become so great that even if less privileged Americans compose a majority of citizens they are simply unable, and perhaps even unwilling, to make the effort it would require to overcome the forces of inequality arrayed against them.

In the chapter following this quote, Dahl notes “that we should not assume this future is inevitable.” He’s right. But, was clearly concerned. Three years late, we should be even more concerned.

Many current Executive Branch initiatives deserve our support and praise: However, nothing proposed to date will effectively halt growing economic inequality, and its corrosive impact on our economy and the long-term future of the nation. (In a future post, I will explicitly discuss the proposed regulatory reform of the financial sector.)

My analysis in It Could Happen Here concludes that without a vibrant middle class, the the American democracy as we know it, is not sustainable. Before the Great Recession, the middle class was in far worse shape than was generally acknowledged. In an economy with a record number of job seekers for every available job, the potential for nearly one-half of all home mortgages to be underwater, and increasing foreclosures, the collapse of the middle class will accelerate. With each job loss and each foreclosure, another family becomes a member of the former middle class.

America has never been a society sharply divided between have’s and have not’s. Unfortunately, this new data says to me we continue to head in that direction. Economists assumed that the Great Recession would be a circuit breaker that would halt this advance, at least temporarily. It did not.

With no new legislation, it appears we are potentially on course for 13 million foreclosures, almost one in every four mortgages in the nation, from the end of 2008 through 2014. Do we really believe that we can turn such huge numbers of Americans out of their homes with no consequences for the health of our system of governance? Could our democracy survive a transformation into a nation composed principally of a privileged upper class and an underclass which struggles from paycheck to paycheck and lacks basic economic security?

We will only stop the growth of economic inequality if the President and the Congress are ready to fight in the style of Franklin Roosevelt. FDR was a divider not a conciliator. Before World War II, he fought an all-out war at home. Today, “There’s class warfare, all right,” as Warren Buffett said, “but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”

I fervently hoped that we have not passed the point of no return, described by Professor Dahl. The recent news shows we are one step further on this road. If we continue down it, our nation may be on the path to becoming a House divided against itself, which ultimately cannot stand.

It seems that Pakistan Feudal Party (also known as PPP) government in full swing

to confront independent media using all their internal resources and their external

links to put curbs on genuine journalism and news analysis.

It reminds us of Musharraf’s emergency days when similar was done to stop the voices against their mistakes and crimes.

Recent victim of this PPP government’s feudal martial law is “Meray Mutabiq” of Dr. Shahid Masood which has been banned by the Dubai government to go on air from Dubai.

Recently government, agencies, government sponsored media and journalists have started a massive campaign against independent media and the elements and methods used were pretty much same as of Musharraf times even the allegations are similar like being paid by opposition or serving the foreign agenda (We all know our governments have been serving the foreign agenda not the independent media).

We condemn this action of Pakistan and UAE governments and show our full solidarity with independent media.

We expect the genuine journalists and analysts to continue their role which they have played against dictatorship, against emergency,against innocent killings and illegal abductions, against imperialist takeover of our country ,against NRO and corruption and the role to restore the independent judiciary of Pakistan.

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Geo’s program ‘Meray Mutabiq’ banned from Dubai

Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=92070

KARACHI: A ban has been imposed on airing of Geo News’ program ‘Meray Mutabiq’ from Dubai.

According to sources, the high government officials of Pakistan exerting pressure on the Dubai government had the airing of the program stopped.

Geo’s administration has said that this step of the government is tantamount to targeting the freedom of expression.

It may be mentioned here that the senior analyst Dr. Shahid Masood was the anchor of ‘Meray Mutabiq’.

It’s been about three weeks since my last real post. Busy body. It’s been about four days since I got to see all my hours of hard work come in fruition in the form of the Freedom and Fashion show. Post busy body. However, I’ve got to say that the fashion show against human and sex trafficking and the exploitation of women, as well as other important social justice causes–the fashion show was a huge success. I think we got the message across to people in a clear, yet creative way.

One of my friends wondered why we use fashion as the medium as the fashion industry tends to exploit women. Isn’t it ironic? Well, dear friend, isn’t that the point? We want to reclaim the fashion industry, to bring into light the injustices it has done to women, and more importantly, to change the way we perceive fashion. Think of it–fashion CAN be fair-trade, and it CAN go to a good cause, and it CAN still be fashionable. Social justice is in, and apathy is out. When we forget that–perhaps that’s when we forget our identities as compassionate human beings.

UCLA’s Ackerman Grand Ballroom was packed. Every seat was filled, and after walking the VIPs and donors to their seats, I had to stand back a bit, look at the catwalk, and stood amazed that the day had finally come. Once everyone got to their seats, the hosts introduced rapper Jason Medeiros, where he performed two songs. One of the songs, “Constance,” is based on the true story of a Filipina girl who was sold into the sex trade industry. Then, the fashion show started. As soon as the song started playing, my heart skipped a bit. This is it! This is it! I remember thinking to myself. To make a long story short, I’ll let the pictures and video speak for itself. The pictures were taken by my friend, Kenny Gulley, during dress rehearsal (although it’s not everything featured on the actual fashion show) while the footage of the fashion show was taken by Freedom and Fashion crew and is streamed on Livestream.

If you are interested about social justice issues, check out Freedom and Fashion.

Check out some of the clothes featured on the fashion show (or at least on the photos below), by such clothing lines as Definicion Clothing, LiNk (Liberty in North Korea), Lalesso, Tagbag.

Lalesso Clothing

Lalesso Clothing

LiNK Clothing

LiNK Clothing

LiNk Clothing

Freedom and Fashion Line

Freedom and Fashion Line

Definicion Clothing

Commissioner of Police Henry Greene: “Indeed one would empathise with the family of the driver of the mini-bus at his demise, but all Guyanese must be gravely concerned at this wanton destruction of lives by another reckless driver and supported more or less by a drunken truck driver who when tested by breath analysis scored 242 microgrammes above the legal limit (alcohol).”

 

Ontario stands firm on street racing law Toronto Star  A judge overturned the stunt-driving conviction of Jane Raham, 62, of Oakville who accelerated past a truck to get out of its blind spot. A second Ontario judge has ruled that the province’s stunt driving legislation is unconstitutional, but provincial police say they will continue to lay charges under the so-called street racing law.A street-racing charge automatically leads to a conviction, which can carry a minimum fine of $2,000, an immediate driver suspension and vehicle impoundment, as well as a maximum jail sentence of six months.Justice Peter West, a provincial court judge in Newmarket, found that an accused driver’s Charter rights are “clearly infringed” by the potential jail time because the law doesn’t permit the person to put forward a defence. More than 15,000 drivers have been charged under the stunt driving laws since they were introduced in 2007, Ont. street-racing law constitutional, says AG CTV.ca

Judge tosses stunt-driving charge as unconstitutional National Post

EVEN COPS DO NOT THINK SPEEDING IS A SERIOUS CRIME…

Feb. 10 2009 4:35:51 PM  The Canadian Press  TORONTO — It appears no one is exempt from Ontario’s street racing law — including the police. A provincial police officer in an unmarked vehicle was stopped on Highway 403 on Jan. 31 for driving 65 km/h over the limit. Det.-Const. Heidi Fischer was charged after an investigation determined she was “not within the lawful execution of her duties at the time.” Because she was charged with exceeding the speed limit by more than 50 km/h, her driver’s licence was suspended for seven days — and her police vehicle was also impounded for a week..

ALL THESE HARSHER POLICE DEMANDS ARE MAKING CANADA  A  POLICE STATE

It is not the rapists, drunk drivers that mostly  fill the courts calendars, docks it is mostly the revenue generating traffic tickets.. if the government wants to get tough on crime, as it purports, it should go after the real criminals. Drunk, impaired drivers too.  After all speeding is not the major cause of vehicular accidents, what you did not know that yet? and the police Chief himself did not tell you? What is then the cause of major car accidents? Drunk driving, road rage, impaired driving, distracted while driving…. and what the revenue generating traffic division has not gone after all this mostly instead yet too? and why Not? The Cops becoming judge and jury, now taking the law into their own hands  even when they still say “ In most cases, our cops are the best to judge if stunt driving is really stunt driving. Or, is it simply speeding. If that is the case, they should charge accordingly or face more legal challenges.” And them the cops still being continually soft on drunk drivers is cause too many cops do  drink alcohol now too?  http://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/speeding-is-not-the-major-cause-of-car-accidents-still/

http://picasaweb.google.com/anonconformer/Thenonconformer# OR http://www.mininova.org/tor/3176107

And do see  also the other posts here about bad cops, alcohol and speeding.. 

http://postedat.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/the-unfortunate-facts-of-life/

http://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2008/06/15/bullies-free-speech/

http://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2009/09/02/drink-alcohol-and-die/

http://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2009/01/02/alcohol/

http://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2009/03/19/third-police-vehicle-impounded-under-hypocrtical-speeding-legislation/

http://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2009/02/08/drunk-driving-arrests-jump/

http://postedat.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/a-blatant-tax-on-the-motorist-speed-cameras/

http://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2008/09/16/call-it-what-you-want-but-it-is-not-about-safety/

http://thenonconformer.multiply.com/journal/item/1/No_cop_is_above_the_law

http://postedat.wordpress.com/2008/12/26/paradoxically-despite-all-the-dangers-warnings/

http://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2009/09/19/pretentious-incompetent-in-real-life/

http://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/speeding-is-not-the-major-cause-of-car-accidents-still/

Hasan ‘has no sensation’ below chest

One of the few things that made me rethink my support of death penalty.

Right. There are some things we knew, that we were called “conspiracy theorists” about, that have now been hacked and proven.

Like, for example, that Teddy Kennedy had worked to block at least one judicial appointment so that it would be filled by “the rightleft type” of Judge. There was a screen left open that caught someone’s attention, the file was accessed, the file got released.

We knew the glowbull worming bullshit was. Somebody hacked the CRU, the files were released, we have the proof. That should put paid to the Crap and Slave, but there’s no guaranteeing that. The government doesn’t seem to care to listen to its constituency any longer. Even though we have the proof, we may still need to install some real fear to get that shit straight. It may end up being the trigger, I am pretty sure it could be, but not 100%.

The Hellcare bill.We know it’s bad juju. The CBO has said it’s bad juju. The Congress still wants to ram it down our throats, despite the immense hue and cry. Even CHURCHES have called for participation in “civil disobedience” if that shit passes.

We knew the G20 was all about the destruction of our national sovereignty to the OWG, and we found the speech from the EU pointing out that very thing. And that ObaMao was going there to do just that.

We know that ObaMao hates America, and there is something DREADFULLY wrong in his background. Why the fuck else would he have spent somewhere in the neighborhood of  2 MILLION DOLLARS hiding his background? When articles from over 5 years ago, from a Kenyan newspaper, suddenly disappear from the archives when they’re discovered and posted on the net. When the script of a TV show about alien visitors hits too close to home, and all of a sudden the producer, director, and writer are fired and the show goes on hiatus until the spring after 4 shows. You know the show will be radically different when it comes back, the propaganda ministry will see to that.

Somebody, somewhere has the files. Undoubtedly, more than one of those somebodies. Why do you think the “wall of separation” between the law/intelligence agencies came back up the instant this pos was in the Whitehouse and could control it. One or more of the alphabet agencies has the dirt. Somebody, somewhere has the proof.

And that somebody, somewhere has SWORN THAT SAME OATH TO SUPPORT AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION AGAINST ALL ENEMIES FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC that many of us have. But they are, for some reason, not exposing this truth because of some conflicting oath of secrecy or some shit.

Which one is more important, hmm? Which one? I’d really love to know why we don’t have PATRIOTS defending our nation. “300,000,000 people and we can’t find 545 patriots to run it”. On which side of the line will they stand when America decides ENOUGH? These are the people who can stop the coming hellstorm. These are the people who could release the facts and prevent what is surely coming. These are the people that could monitor the coming elections (should we actually have them) to prevent false signals from the voting machines, catch more people voting than there are registered, ad infinitum.

Alright, they’ve sworn some bullshit “oath of secrecy” that they, for some reason, believe is more important than their OATH to the Constitution, to this very nation.

Wouldn’t it be lovely if, somehow, a firewall was weak? If, somehow, some “hacker” got that/those file(s) so they hit the air/news/net waves? If, somehow, the alphabet agencies got hacked for that/those particular files and we could SAVE THIS NATION? If we could stop the bloodshed that is sure to come if this shit isn’t stopped before it goes ANY further?

The next war to save this country isn’t going to be fought in some bullshit third world country, it is going to be right here. Somebody, somewhere, please remove the mirrors and blow away the smoke. Get the moving crew and turn on the fan. There may be a large number of people who’ve grown fat, lazy, and dependent. But there are more who have not. There are far more who are being pushed to the very edge by the destruction of our founding beliefs, who are on that very edge of taking it back or dying trying.

Somebody, somewhere has the files.

This is really amazing no fair trial, no justice, baseless allegations on an innocent mother of 3 children two of which are still missing (if alive) and still they call their selves civilized fighting a so-called war against terror. The imperialists are real terrorists and hypocrites ruling the world with their power,brutal killings,economic exploitation and lies.

They Zionists/Neo-Cons don’t consider others as human beings , they are real fascists and modern face of Nazism.

Can Aafia get the share of civilization and system of justice she deserves? Is there any conscience left in our government which is busy in licking feet of their imperialist masters? Is there any Kerry-Lugar bill for Aafia? Is there any humanity left for an innocent lady who has suffered a lot for being a muslim women who loves her religion?

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Source: http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/21-Nov-2009/Dr-Aafia-to-boycott-trial

Dr Aafia to boycott trial

The Nation
NEW YORK – While a defiant Aafia Siddiqui declared that she would boycott her trial in January, a federal judge Thursday rejected her lawyers’ plea that she could not be tried in the United States as they pointed out that the Pakistani neuroscientist’s alleged crime took place outside the country. Ms Siddiqui, who was brought to New York in August 2008 from Afghanistan where prosecutors say she allegedly fired at US interrogators. No American was hit but she was shot in the abdomen and was charged with attempted murder and assault.
In a pre-trial hearing on Thursday, her lawyers, led by Charles Swift, argued that Dr Siddiqui could only be tried on terrorism charges in the US, and not on murder charges. In this regard, he quoted various international regulations.
But US District Judge Richard Berman ruled out the motion, saying that the US courts have jurisdiction if American citizens were subjected to attacks abroad, citing some precedents.
But Ms Siddiqui, who is languishing in a maximum security jail, interrupted her lawyers in US District Court in Manhattan to announce that she did not plan to participate in her trial, scheduled for Jan 19.
“I am boycotting this trial,” she declared. “I am innocent of all the charges and I can prove it, but I will not do it in this court.”
Since the very beginning, Ms Siddiqui has said that she has no confidence in the American judicial system or the lawyers appointed for her by the court – even those retained by the government of Pakistan – and that she wants to make peace and knows how to do it.
She has vigorously protested against what she called humiliating strip searches before she is brought to the court.
Judge Berman said that her trial would proceed after her lawyers and prosecutors visit Afghanistan to interview eyewitnesses to finalise their case.
Lawyers for Ms Siddiqui tried to convince the court that she was mentally incompetent to stand trial, citing in part her refusal to cooperate with lawyers and the reports of a psychologist who said she suffers from delusional disorder and depression.
Judge Berman rejected that argument after prosecutors pointed to psychological reports that concluded she was faking mental illness.
Berman on Thursday rejected defence arguments aimed at tossing out charges against Ms Siddiqui that carry a potential minimum prison sentence of 30 years and a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Before he ruled on the request, Dr Siddiqui said visits by her lawyers were “torture for me” and it was a waste of money for lawyers to go to Afghanistan to interview witnesses because she was not participating in the trial.
“I’m not dealing with them anymore,” Dr Siddiqui said of her lawyers. “They’re just people coming to my door and talking, talking, talking.”
During a break, Dr Siddiqui was led out of the courtroom by US marshals when she would not stop talking loudly. “Take me out,” she said. “I’m not coming back.”
She was not present when the judge made his decision.

This is not the end; this is just the beginning. May we continue building up the Body of Christ in a way that honors the God we serve and follow as well as our brothers and sisters:

• Eugene Cho: “reconciliation and unity need to be steadfast and intentional pursuits.”
• Ed Gilbreath: “This is a wonderful start, but it will not be easy.”
• Soong-Chan Rah: “There is one less expression of a stereotype and cultural insensitivity out there that you will have to deal with. There are many others, but at least there is one less.”
• Ken Fong: “I believe it is paramount that a book about that topic should not in any way, shape, or form exclude female Christian leaders from the conversation.”
• Helen Lee: “we can never really know what another person ’s life experience is or has been. That, however, does not mean that we shouldn’t strive to understand.”
• A joint letter to Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite, the authors, and Zondervan: “May this be just the beginning of all our continued efforts to deepen our understanding of and appreciation for the diversity of God’s people.”
]]> http://alsturgeon.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/a-little-help-please/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:12:04 +0000 alsturgeon http://alsturgeon.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/a-little-help-please/

Let me say up front that I haven’t the time to read the 4,700 word document, nor much time to engage in a discussion of it either (which is why I need a little help here). But I’ve noticed in the news that 150 religious leaders have published “The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience.” A quick skim of an article about it reveals that it urges Christians to engage in acts of civil disobedience in regard to issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.

Alright, first of all, let me say that I’m a big fan of civil disobedience in general and that it’s not something Christians have been very proficient at over the years. In fact, the best civil disobedience stories out there are times when they were used against Christian opposition (think Gandhi, think King).

But someone will have to help me out here. What are these leaders urging Christians to do? I’m guessing that they already assume anyone that might listen to them would not run out and have an abortion or marry someone of like gender. So how are they urging their listeners to non-violently disobey abortion and same-sex marriage laws?

Again, don’t know that I’ll have much chance to respond. But any help in understanding this will give me one less thing to scratch my head about right now – and with finals approaching, I already have more than enough.

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