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YAF's Georgetown Agenda Neoconservatism


YAF's Georgetown Agenda Neoconservatism

SMOM William F. Buckely created YAF pushes "neoconservatism" via 'per curium' vote expelling:

for his 'delusional and delusional and disturbing alliance with the fringe Anti-War movement', being 'out of touch with America’s needs for national security'' 'laying the blaim on America for the unprovoked attacks of Sept. 11th" [and...failure to condemn] the 9/11 "Truther" conspiracy theorists that support him, and [for] repeatedly insist[ing], that the United States not bring justice to those who have murdered thousands of our civilians and soldiers at home and abroad..." [according to YAF Senior National Director Jordan Marks]

Ron Paul, the day he wins a CPAC straw poll for U.S. President, and only weeks after new ecumenical campaign against Iran having nukes- shades of the early 2000s campaign for war on Iraq in the name of stopping 'Weapons of Mass Destruction.

http://www.yaf.com/blog_post/show/57#comment_as:2:null:null

YAF Pack on February 12, 2011, 06:16 PM MEDIA REQUESTS: info@yaf.com
(202) 596-7923

(Washington DC - 2/12/11) The National Board of Young Americans for Freedom (YAF)—America's oldest conservative-libertarian activist group—has, per curium, voted to purge Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) from YAF’s National Advisory Board. YAF's concern with Rep. Paul stems from his delusional and disturbing alliance with the fringe Anti-War movement ...
The idea is to discredit not simply Paul, but rather certain ideas even if not endorsed by Paul but though by a signifient percentage of his supporters.

1- question either war and be labeled 'delusional' 'fringe'
2- question the official 911 story and be labled a conspiricist therists despite the official tales many holes and the very real burning of the reicttag dymanics of surroending liberty for the appearance of safety/justice- defining latters as spending some $3 trillion and kill 300,000 people as revenge for the deaths of 3,000 and destruction of $30 billion.

This is what is commonly known as 'neoconservatism', buiding upon the 'rightwing' rebound following the defeat of the U.S. allied South Vietnam, and subsequently following the end of the old Soviet Union, for increased U.S. military interventionism abroad, not only in areas known for their reserves of petroleam, and, of course, as part of a great religious chessboard, but those as well without massive petroleum reserves.

Polices essentually dictated by that insitutution of higher education located in Washington, D.C. with its quite high percentage of people within the U.S. State Department, Georgetown University, with its School of Foreign Service run by the Jesuit Order.

Recall the push for war against Iraq under the guise of stopping Iraqi 'weapons of mass destruction'.

So what about this:

Christian Leaders Urge US Senate to Take Actions to Prevent Iran's Nuclear Weapons Program
Contact: Dave Mohel, 703-548-1160

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- Christian Leaders for a Nuclear Free Iran, a coalition of religious and civic leaders sent a letter to the U.S. Senate urging members to enact tough sanctions against the Iranian regime that will intensify pressure on its leaders to halt their drive to build nuclear weapons.

A copy of the letter can be found at www.clnfi.org

In light of the meeting this weekend in Turkey during which the Iranian regime refused to seriously engage the six powers about its nuclear program, we urge you to support additional legislative efforts aimed squarely at compelling Iran to abandon its program to develop and deploy nuclear weapons.

The organization lays out a detailed list of actions that must be taken to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. Members fear a nuclear Iran will bring serious harm to the United States and its allies and further destabilize the Middle East.
Signers of the letter to the Senate include: Dr. Pat Robertson, Chairman and Founder of CBN and Regent University, Dr. Richard Land, President of Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Paul F. Crouch, Jr., Chief of Staff, TBN, Gary Bauer, President, American Values, John C. Hagee, Senior Pastor, Cornerstone Church, San Antonio, Texas, Tom McClusky, Sr., Vice President, Family Research Council Action, Stuart Epperson, Chairman of the Board, Salem Communications, Deal Hudson, President, Catholic Advocate, Washington, DC, Dr. Jim Garlow, Chairman, Renewing American Leadership, Dr. James Merritt, Senior Pastor, Cross Pointe Church, William Donohue, President, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, Mark Williamson, Founder and President, Federal Intercessors, Jerry Newcombe, Author and TV Host, Jim Martin, Chairman, 60 Plus Association, Ken Timmerman, President and CEO, Foundation to Democracy in Iran, Micah Clark, Executive Director, American Family Association of Indiana, Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman, Liberty Counsel, Mandi Campbell, Legal Director, Liberty Center for Law and Policy, Jordan Sekulow, Director of International Operations at American Center for Law and Justice, Dr. Robert E. Reccord, President, Total Life Impact Ministries, Richard W. C. Falknor, Chairman, Maryland Center-Right Coalition , Dr. Rusty Hayes, Pastor, First Free Church, Rockford IL, Dr. Mark A. Smith, President, Ohio Christian University, Dr. Barrett Duke, Vice President, Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Al Kresta, President and CEO of Ave Maria Radio, Michael P. Jones, National Chairman, Young Americans for Freedom, Elmer F. Hansen, Jr., Director, Catholic Leadership Conference, William Haygood Shaker, President, RepublicanPac.com, C. Preston Noell, III, President of Tradition, Family, Property, Inc., Dr. Richard G. Lee, President, There's Hope America, Rev. Louis Sheldon, Chairman, Traditional Values Coalition, Michael D. Little, President and Chief Operating Officer, Christian Broadcasting Network, Dr. Jeffrey J. Karls, President of The College of Saint Mary Magdalen, Anthony Verdugo, Founder and Executive Director of Christian Family Coalition, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring, Jonathan Youssef, International Director, Leading the Way, James Robison, President and Founder, Life Outreach International, Penny Nance, CEO, Concerned Women for America

Christian Leaders for a Nuclear-Free Iran, an ad hoc coalition of evangelical, Roman Catholic and other faith leaders who have come together as a united voice that is reaching out to policy makers and opinion leaders calling for urgent action to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. The coalition argues that Iran's nuclear weapons program will destabilize the Middle East, lead to an arms race in a volatile part of the world, and threaten the United States and its allies in Europe.

http://www.clnfi.org/

Conservative Christians Demand Action Against Iranian Nukes
By Mark D. Tooley, February 3, 2011
FrontPage Magazine

A coalition of primarily evangelical leaders, plus some Roman Catholics, is urging assertive U.S. actions against Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Their concerns contrast with the Religious Left, which seems mostly to prefer quiet acquiescence to a nuclear armed Iran.

The conservative Christians, operating as “Christian Leaders for a Nuclear Free Iran,” argue “Iran’s nuclear weapons program will destabilize the Middle East, lead to an arms race in a volatile part of the world, and threaten the United States and its allies in Europe.” These assertions are hardly controversial. Yet for some reason, it is left to conservative religionists to make these arguments. Shouldn’t religionists on the left, ostensibly so concerned about both theocracy and nukes, also be distressed about nuclear-armed Iranian mullahs?

The Left likes to target the end-times theology that purportedly guides some conservative Christians. But Iran’s clerics, and its president, have a very detailed, grisly and publicly expressed end-times scenario that nukes could actually help implement. Shouldn’t resistance to nukes for Iran’s theocracy be religiously broad-based and ecumenical? Instead, it is religious conservatives who are making the reasoned case. They are in some ways reminiscent of responsible religious liberals of the mid 20th century, guided by thinkers like Reinhold Neibuhr, who rigorously espoused deterrence of Nazi and Communist aggression.

“Christian Leaders for a Nuclear Free Iran” recently sent a letter to U.S. Senators that urged expanding the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996, increasing U.S. emphasis on Iran’s enormous human-rights violations, enhancing Voice of America’s Persian News Network’s support for the “pro-freedom movement in Iran,” transferring responsibility for pro-democracy funding in Iran from the State Department to the National Endowment for Democracy, aggressive identifying front companies of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC), and applying pressure on firms paying Iran in advance for oil and gas.

The conservative Christian group cited Iran’s most recent refusal to negotiate over its nuclear program, along with Iran’s persistent denial of access to meaningful inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency. They also cited diplomatic cables from Wikileaks that vividly illustrate the anxiety of Arab governments over a nuclear Iran. Coalition signers include Southern Baptist leader Richard Land, Penny Nance of Concerned Women for America, evangelist James Robison, broadcaster Pat Robertson, mega-church pastor John Hagee, and William Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, among others.

Although not specifically mentioned in their letter, the Christian Leaders for a Nuclear Iran are certainly aware of the Iranian theocracy’s persecution of their nation’s small but vibrant Christian minority, which numbers about 200,000. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) reported early last month that Iran had incarcerated as many as 70 Christians, both evangelical and Armenian, since Christmas. One Iranian official reportedly denounced them as “parasites” and claimed they were British agents.

Concerns about the Iranian mullahs’ persecution of fellow Christian believers do not typically excite distress by the Religious Left in America, much less the strategic threat that a nuclear Iran would pose to all its neighbors, including Iran, and ultimately the U.S. Several years ago, Jim Wallis’ Sojourners, along with the United Methodist lobby office, the Episcopal Church, and the National Council of Churches, organized a “Words Not War with Iran” campaign to forestall any decisive U.S. supported action to prevent Iranian nukes. “Words Not War with Iran” benignly portrayed the situation as a “conflict” between t he U.S. and Iran that potentially could be ameliorated through the mediation of noble pacifist religious groups like themselves. They simplistically portrayed the choices as U.S. initiated war on Iran versus “dialogue” and “direct engagement” with Iran’s supposedly reasonable theocrats. Although they briefly acknowledged that Iranian nuclear weapons would be undesirable, though not necessarily worse than U.S. nukes, they did not articulate nukes in the hands of crazed Shiite theocrats a uniquely disturbing. They did seem to admit that Iran supports terrorism but did not dwell on it as a major concern. And they did not elaborate on 32 years of police state oppression in Iran under the mullahs. Instead, they cited their own friendly visits to Iran as showcases of Iranian goodwill. They also urged supporters to light oil lamps in their homes in solidarity with the cause of peace with Iran.

This “Words Not War with Iran” coalition seems now mostly to be dormant, since the coalition was presumably less perturbed about the possibility of U.S. actions under the Obama Administration. But the coalition’s study materials helpfully remain on Jim Wallis’s Sojourners website. Presumably the coalition will reactivate when and if the current Administration is perceived to become overly bellicose towards the Iranian mullahs and their nuclear aspirations.

So “Christian Leaders for a Nuclear Free Iran” seems to be the only U.S. religious voice now willing to recognize Iran’s grim reality and urge meaningful action, hopefully making war unnecessary. Meanwhile, the Religious Left will remain mostly silent about Iran and its potential nukes until it becomes alarmed about possible U.S. actions.

Read more at continuingcounterreformation.blogspot.com
 

Egypt's Revolution- Continuing The Criminal Agrilcultural Mercantilism... or?


Egypt's Revolution- Continuing The Criminal Agrilcultural Mercantilism- or?

for Rome's Pharmacratic market protectionism for Tobacco & Pharma




Police torture & murder of a citizen -- Khaled Said -- for posting a video of pharmacratic inquisition police corruption, sparks a revoluion that will do just what with the pharmacratic inquisition?

http://www.elshaheeed.co.uk/home-khaled-said-full-story-background-truth-what-happened-torture-in-egypt-by-egyptian-police/

Khaled [Said] has become the symbol for many Egyptians who dream to see their country free of brutality, torture and ill treatment. Many young Egyptians are now fed up with the inhuman treatment they face on a daily basis in streets, police stations and everywhere. Egyptians want to see an end to all violence committed by any Egyptian Policeman. Egyptians are aspiring to the day when Egypt has its freedom and dignity back, the day when the current 30 years long emergency martial law ends and when Egyptians can freely elect their true representatives.

According to Associated Press, Khaled was killed “after he posted a video on the Internet of officers sharing the spoils from a drug bust among themselves”. After Khaled was killed, the Police authorities refused to investigate in Khaled’s death saying that he died because he swallowed a pack of Marijuana. When many Egyptians started to ask questions, the Police issued few statements saying that Khaled was a drug user (as if it is ok to murder and torture to death all drug addicts! [sic- or that use = addiction] – And every one who knew khaled reject these claims completely). Another official statement said that Khaled is an army deserter (which was also proved to be false accusation after wards and his army service report is now published showing that he has fully completed this service). The authorities then refused any further investigation. After pressure mounted, and the European Union representatives in Egypt asked for an impartial investigation, the Egyptian authorities finally decided to question and arrest the two Policemen and they were charged with two counts: “using excessive force”!!! and “unjustified arrest”!! of Khaled Said.. No one was charged with murder!

Now consider this observation:
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2011/feb/07/american_facing_death_penalty_eg#comments_area
All week I was wondering what will happen to cannabis laws in Egypt if protesters are successful in ousting Mubarak. If Egypt is one of the poorest countries on the planet, they could legalize all cannabis products and turn their economy around. Drug tourism and huge fields of hemp. It would be interesting to know if a majority of protesters are for legalization or not.

To that, Rome's Pharmacratic Inquisition as represented by the timeline, as with the instigation of cocaine demonification, including that by the U.S. State Department in deceiving other nations' governments, I would add, what also about the right to film police, which within the U.S. is opposed by the masonic Fraternal Order of Police, and the rights of whistleblowers?

The following case, and how it eventually plays out, could mark further developments in resistence or continued subserviance in Egypt to Rome's Pharmacratic Inquisition.

American Facing Death Penalty in Egypt for Non Psychoactive Hemp Oil
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2011/feb/07/american_facing_death_penalty_eg

Read more at continuingcounterreformation.blogspot.com
 

The boy who 'went to heaven'

Amplify’d from www.dailymercury.com.au

The boy who 'went to heaven'

Mark Furler | 12th February 2011

THE incredible story of Alex Malarkey has not only made the New York Times’ best seller list but has attracted interest from people around the world.

SPORTS FAN: Alex Malarkey with cheerleaders from the St Louis Rams, one of his favourite teams.


“MANY people all over the world would love for this to be their worst day.”


It’s tough advice from your dad to contemplate when your six-year-old has been left paralysed and fighting for life after a car crash you caused.


Incredibly, father of four Kevin Malarkey has not only seen more good come out of the horrific accident that almost cost his son’s life – but if he had his time again, he would not change a thing.


The story of Alex Malarkey, The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven, has not only made the New York Times’ best seller list, but has attracted interest from people around the world, particularly in Australia.


After hearing of his plight on the internet, people as far away as Afghanistan began praying for the little boy who suffered the most severe spinal injury, a broken pelvis and traumatic brain injury.


In layman’s terms, Alex suffered an internal decapitation – his skull became detached from his spinal cord. In medical terms, he should have died.


“The vertebrae were completely detached,” Alex’s doctor, Dr Raymond Onders, writes in the book.


“The tendon sheath around the spinal column was severed near the base of his brain. The injury was so severe and so high on the spinal column, it is simply incredible Alex survived.”


Alex not only survived but became the first child in the world to receive the “Christopher Reeve” surgery, allowing him to breathe without a ventilator.


But the story goes much beyond that.


In the book, Alex, who was in a coma for two months, tells of going to heaven, seeing angels carry his father out of the car wreck, meeting and talking with Jesus, and hearing the most incredible music.


“When I arrived in heaven, I was inside the gate. The gate was really tall, and it was white,” Alex says in his account in the book.


“It was very shiny, and it looked like it had scales like a fish. I was in the inner heaven and everything was brighter and more intense on the inside of the gate. It was perfect.


“Perfect is my favourite word for describing heaven.”


It’s an account which even his father, a well educated man and the son of a clinical research director, struggled to believe at first.


“When he first started talking about it, I thought he had brain damage,” Kevin told the Daily from his Ohio home.


While Kevin has no memory of the accident itself, his son tells of talking to Jesus from above as he watched firemen take his young body out of the car and put him on a flat board.


He describes his dad screaming, “Alex, Alex, Alex,” and then later making a phone call and going over to the helicopter to talk to the man in a blue suit.


In the book, his mother corrects him, saying it was probably an orange suit. But checks later with the helicopter crew reveal the guy was wearing a blue suit.


Alex’s story makes for compelling reading, but the book may never have been written were it not for an Associated Press reporter who urged Kevin to put pen to paper after covering Alex’s surgery story.


Kevin says his son was at first reluctant to be involved in the book because he did not want to be the centre of attention.


And Alex says much of what he saw in heaven, he had been told he could not even tell his father about.


“We probably only know about 10% of what he knows. I think he is very protective about it.”


Of course, there have been plenty who have canned the book, with some accusing Kevin of ‘being a nut job’ or, worse, trying to cash in on his son’s incredible story.


But the book is far from “up in the clouds”.

In it, Kevin, a trained counsellor, details how his own marriage took a hammering through the crisis, how his personal faith was continually tested, and details one incident where he completely lost it with a doctor.


In the years since the 2004 accident, Alex has made remarkable progress. He can now stand in a supportive frame and with the help of a special harness can walk on a treadmill while helpers move his legs.


Alex loves watching sports and cheering for his favourite teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Ohio State Buckeyes.


Asked whether he believes his son will ever walk again, Kevin replies, “Absolutely. Why not?”


Even if never walks again, he says, “I know one thing about Alex. Alex will impact the world for good.”


“Of all of my four kids, I worry the least about Alex.”

Read more at www.dailymercury.com.au
 

Bank of America website exposes customer accounts, data

Amplify’d from jalopnik.com
Bank of America website exposes customer accounts, data








Ray Wert


Bank of America website exposes customer accounts, dataBank of America's account websites are experiencing an unprecedented online security breach and the bank hasn't fully rectified the problem. That's right, your online financial data and full account access may be in the hands of someone else.

I know this has nothing to do with cars, but I thought it was important enough to write up anyway because I'm sure many Jalopnik readers have money with Bank of America.

Bank of America website exposes customer accounts, dataSomeone very close to me called moments ago and told me that when she logged into her Bank of America account earlier this evening she saw, rather than her credit card account, the mortgage and home equity account of someone else. That's right, Bank of America was showing her, instead of her own credit card account, the accounts for a Bank of America account holder in Randolph, NJ. The only similarity between the two? The same last name.

Bank of America website exposes customer accounts, data

Bank of America website exposes customer accounts, dataI've added these sanitized-to-remove-contacts-and-names screen shots as proof. As you can see, full access to this other client's account has been provided by Bank of America's own website. God only knows what's happened to my source's account — or who has access to it. It might be the person who they currently have access to. It might be someone else entirely. That's sort of what's so scary about this.

Bank of America website exposes customer accounts, dataThe person I spoke with immediately called Bank of America, and was told that although they knew of the problem, they didn't they yet know what was causing the problem, and despite having known about it for over a half an hour, they had not shut down online access. One hour later, my source tells me she still has access to the other party's account information.

So, if you have a Bank of America account, make sure to check your accounts — and call the customer service number immediately if you're seeing a problem and urge them to shut down their website immediately.

UPDATE: It appears as though Bank of America, over an hour after discovering the security flaw, has finally shut down online access to at least one affected account. No word on whether they've shut it down for everyone. Is anyone else able to confirm?
UPDATE 2: Other accountholders are telling us in the comments that they've had online access shutdown too.

UPDATE 3: The original source for my story received a call from the CEO's office about the breach. They haven't yet fixed the problem but she was told BofA has shut down access to affected accounts. They declined to say how many were shut down.

UPDATE 4: Bank of America tells us over twitter "Online Banking is up and running, customer information is secure." No further details.

Tips:

Got tips for our editors? Want to dish some dirt on a competitor? Know something about a secret car? Email us at tips@jalopnik.com — even if it's topless-congressman type stories. In fact, especially if it is. (Pardon us, we're just taking a moment to control the involuntary shudders at the thought of topless photos of "Maximum" Bob Lutz)

Read more at jalopnik.com
 

Italian women protest over Berlusconi sex scandal | Reuters

Thousands of Italian women led protests against Silvio Berlusconi today, chanting "Italy is not a brothel" and demanding that the 74-year old sex fiend resign.


Egypt’s Military Dissolves Parliament, Suspends Constitution

Amplify’d from gawker.com
Egypt’s Military Dissolves Parliament, Suspends Constitution








Jeff Neumann


Egypt's Military Dissolves Parliament, Suspends ConstitutionIn its new role as caretaker government, Egypt's military suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament today, and Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq promised that previously scheduled elections will be held in September. Let's just hope that the country's temporary rulers remain temporary. Here's a round up of today's other news out of Egypt.

  • Egyptian police officers protested in Tahrir Square today for higher wages and to tell people that they were just following orders when they shot protesters. If they do get raises, perhaps they could give that extra money back to the 80 million Egyptians who they extorted on a daily basis. [Al Masry Al Youm]
  • Hosni Mubarak's last moments in office read like that of many fallen dictators' — he was delusional, surrounded himself with yes men and took the advice of his criminal son, Gamal. "Insiders said Mubarak's address Thursday night was meant to be his resignation announcement. Instead, he made one last desperate attempt to stay in office after being encouraged to do so by close aides and especially by his family, long the subject of rumors of corruption, abuse of power and extensive wealth." [AP]
  • Did old Hos finally leave the country? He's rumored to have fled to the UAE. [Al Masry Al Youm]
  • And what about the Mubarak family's fortune? Banks in Britain are under pressure to follow Switzerland's lead and the freeze the family's assets, which are rumored to be worth billions of dollars. [NYT]
  • Two statues of Tutankhamun were stolen from the Egyptian Museum on January 28, after "looters climbed a fire escape to the museum roof and lowered themselves on ropes from a glass pane ceiling onto the museum's top floor." [Guardian]
Image via Getty
Read more at gawker.com
 

Google’s Search Result Doping Scandal

Amplify’d from gawker.com
Google’s Search Result Doping Scandal








Adrian Chen


Google's Search Result Doping ScandalThe Times today has a fascinating account of the lengths some companies go to game Google's search algorithm and get their websites listed higher on results. Times reporter David Segal looked into why J.C. Penney was ranked No. 1 in a suspiciously high number of searches. Turns out they, or someone working on their behalf, were paying to have thousands of links to J.C. Penney planted on spammy backwater websites. Google unwittingly took these links as legitimate and J.C. Penney was catapulted to the top of the search ranks, just in time for the 2010 Holiday shopping season.

The J.C. Penney Affair has scandalized some Google watchers and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) freaks. It's playing out like the tech version of a doping scandal: SEO industry insiders reveal that everyone does it; critics blame Google for not doing enough to crack down on cheaters; The Times wonders if J.C. Penney's large Google advertising buy might have helped Google turn a blind eye.

And it feeds into a larger crisis surrounding the usefulness of search. As content farms and the Huffington Post churn out spammy articles like "What Time Does the Superbowl Start" just to attract Google searches, we wonder: Why even Google, if Google is just a dumb competition between Google juicers trying to gin up their results with shady tactics? We'll hang out on Facebook. J.C. Penney's not paying our high school friends to post stories about their bedsheets... yet.

Before any companies succumb to the black hat's siren song, we'd urge you listen to Chuck the SEO Rapper's jam "Page Rank," a heartfelt ode to boosting your Google results fairly:

some people swap links I don't recommend it,

others buy links well I wouldn't spend it,

keyword stuffing is not a good practice,

if you doing that you'll get stuck like a cactus,

do it the right way and be enthusiastic,

and over time your results will be fantastic

See more at gawker.com
 

Idiot Films Himself Driving 140 mph

Amplify’d from gawker.com
Idiot Films Himself Driving 140 mph








Jeff Neumann


Idiot Films Himself Driving 140 mphIf you were filming your badass self driving 140 miles per hour and you got pulled over by police, wouldn't you maybe try to hide the video camera, or at least the tape? Stanislav Bakanov didn't care when he was pulled over for doing 118 mph in Oregon while filming a video to show off on YouTube:

When a sheriff's deputy pulled over Bakanov he said the man was still filming as he walked up to his door and even went so far as to play back what he had recorded up to that point. The sheriff's office said the video contained footage of the speedometer with the needle pegged and then showed the police stop. The driver had fashioned a mount on the windshield to hold the camera while he drove.

Sadly, the video hasn't been released yet.

Read more at gawker.com
 

Government argues 'liberty' doesn't mean 'physical liberty'

Amplify’d from www.wnd.com
POLICE STATE, USA

Government argues 'liberty' doesn't mean 'physical liberty'

Pleading defends authorities' decision to jail defendant for 12 hours in violation of the law



By Bob Unruh




© 2011 WorldNetDaily
















Judges who decided the case include Herschel Franks, center-front; Charles Susano (right-front); and S. Michael Swiney (2nd from right in back)

Attorneys for Bradley County, Tenn., and several of its officials have submitted a brief to the state Supreme Court arguing that the constitutional idea of "liberty" doesn't actually mean "physical liberty."

That's the way a brief filed by Thomas E. LeQuire of Spicer Rudstrom, PLLC, states it anyway:

"Liberty does not mean physical liberty," explains point DII in the pleading that encourages the high court to reject a request from Jeremy Paul Hopkins for a hearing.

WND previously reported that the state appeals court released an opinion in the dispute that scolded sheriff's department officers in Cleveland, Tenn., for breaking state law regarding due process, but at the same time said those actions really don't violate the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of those rights.

Find what's going on behind that row of bailiffs, get "Radicals in Robes: Why Extreme Right-Wing Courts Are Wrong for America".

"We hold the trial court was correct when it held that the Bradley County sheriff's department had violated Tenn. Code Ann. [Paragraph] 40-11-150," said the ruling from Court of Appeals of Tennessee at Knoxville.

"However, violation of the statute did not deprive Mr. Hopkins of his due process rights under the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution."

Hopkins at the time told WND he'd pursue an appeal of the decision to the Tennessee Supreme Court, and possibly up to the U.S. Supreme Court, because of the precedent that appears to give law enforcement a pass on following the law.

"This means the state of Tennessee can jail any law-abiding citizen against their will without violating the U.S. Constitution and without the citizen having recourse," he told WND at the time.

But when he submitted his request to the Supreme Court, the defendants, including the county, Sheriff Tim Gobble, Officer Marshall Hicks, and a number of unidentified officers, responded with the idea that liberty isn't liberty.

"Hopkins' basic argument was and is that the concept of 'liberty' is the right to physical liberty enumerated in the Constitution, and therefore a fundamental right," the county argues. "This position has been repeatedly rejected by the courts."

"While the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments mention the word liberty, 'this does not mean that the 'right to liberty' is a free-floating fundamental substantive Due Proceses right,'" the county argues.

"Justice Scalia's holding that 'the text of the Due Process Clause does not protect individuals against deprivations of liberty simpliciter. It protects them against deprivations of liberty 'without due process of law,'" the county said.

"Prior to the Court of Appeals' ruling in this case, if there had not been a specific finding made that the arrestee is, or is not, a threat to the victim, Bradley County believed ... that it was required to hold the arrestee for the 12-hour period," it continued.

"Since the sheriff's department's policy passes the rational relationship test, there is no violation of the U.S. Constitution and, consequently, Hopkins' Due Process rights were not violated," the county argues.

The filing also claims that, "Negligent understanding of state statute is not a constitutional violation."

"The Court of Appeals ruled that the Bradley County sheriff's department 'obviously misconstrued the meaning of Tenn. Code Ann. Paragraph 40-11-150(h) and held Mr. Hopkinsn for 12 hours. However … this mistake or negligent act is not a violation of Hopkins' due process rights," the county argued.

Hopkins, however, submitted in his brief arguments citing U.S. Supreme Court precedents that "liberty" does, in fact, mean "physical liberty:"

  • "Freedom from bodily restraint has always been at the core of the liberty protected by the Due Process Clause from arbitrary governmental action." Foucha v. Louisiana, 504 U.S. 71, 80, 112 S. Ct. 1780, 1785 (1992).


  • "If the 'liberty' protected by the Due Process Clause means anything, it means freedom from physical restraint." Schall v. Martin, 467 U.S. 253, 289, 104 S. Ct. 2403, 2422 (1984).


  • "In our society liberty is the norm, and detention prior to trial or without trial is the carefully limited exception." United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739, 755, 107 S. Ct. 2095, 2105.


  • "[I]t is the State's affirmative act of restraining the individual's freedom to act on his own behalf—through incarceration, institutionalization, or other similar restraint of personal liberty— which is the 'deprivation of liberty' triggering the protections of the Due Process Clause." DeShaney v. Winnebago County Dept. of Social Services, 489 U.S. 189, 200, 109 S. Ct. 998, 1006 (1989)

"It is a sad and scary day in America when lawyers actually argue that the liberty protected in the Constitution does not mean physical liberty," Hopkins told WND. "The county's position is stunning. Americans should be very concerned with court opinions declaring the Constitution no longer protects persons from being unlawfully jailed.

"In this case, the county not only jailed me without authority and in violation of law, but they also jailed me in the face of a court order specifically instructing them to release me. Even more disconcerting is the fact that the state attorney general, who took an oath to uphold the Constitution and to defend the citizens, has not intervened to stop this outrageous conduct. If physical liberty is not a fundamental right, it is difficult to think of anything that would be," Hopkins said.

Hopkins' situation developed like this, according to the court's documents: Hopkins was involved in a custody fight following a divorce, and he was accused falsely of domestic violence. The count later was expunged, he reported.

But at the time the claim was made, he found out about the arrest warrant, and made arrangements for bond, then turned himself in to law enforcement, expecting to have the proper paperwork processed and to be released.

Instead, sheriff's officers refused to recognize his bond until 12 hours had passed.

"Plaintiff was incarcerated in jail on an arrest warrant that authorized bail of $1,500.00, which defendants failed to honor until the elapse of a 12-hour period," the lower court noted. "The trial judge held the defendants violated the statute ... and that the violation amounted to a constitutional violation entitling the plaintiff to damages."

The appellate opinion said the trial judge was correct that the sheriff's officers broke the state law by holding Hopkins for 12 hours before allowing bond, but it said the illegal confinement didn't amount to a constitutional violation.

Appellate judge Herschel Pickens Franks wrote the opinion and Charles Susano Jr. and D. Michael Swiney joined.

Hopkins explained he reported to the sheriff's office on Dec. 22, 2006, for a warrant dated the day before.

"The warrant provided for his release from jail on a $1,500.00 bond, and he claimed that he was willing and able to post the bond but the sheriff department officers informed him that, because the allegations against him involved domestic violence, the department was required to hold him in custody for 12 hours following his arrest before he would be allowed to post bond and be released," the court's ruling explained.

That, however, was wrong, the ruling said.

"The sheriff's department policy was based on a misreading of the statute and, therefore, inappropriate," the decision said. "The statute provides only that the arrestee 'shall not be released within 12 hours of arrest if the magistrate or other official duly authorized to release the offender finds that the offender is a threat to the alleged victim.'"

No written findings existed in Hopkins' case, the court admitted.

The decision from the lower court confirmed, "The statute was not followed, and findings were not made. Without a finding of a threat to the victim, the offender is to be released. ... Therefore, the policy of the Bradley County sheriff's department violates plaintiff's due process rights when the policy violates the statute."

The appeals court agreed: "The 12-hour holding period ... only applies to an alleged domestic offender who has been found by a magistrate to be a threat ... . Thus, the Bradley County sheriff's department's policy to hold all alleged domestic violence offenders for 12 hours after arrest ... was not in accordance with [state law.]"

But hold on, wrote the appeals court; it's one thing to have a sheriff's office operating with a policy that violates state law, but another to call it a due process violation that creates a liability to the plaintiff.

"The Bradley County sheriff's department obviously misconstrued the meaning of [state law] and held Mr. Hopkins for 12 hours. However ... this mistake or negligent act is not a violation of Hopkins' due process rights," the appellate opinion said.

Hopkins, a licensed attorney who never has been convicted of any wrongdoing, resolved the underlying custody dispute with an agreement for equal custody.



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Man Admits Trying to Hire Hit Man on Facebook

Amplify’d from gawker.com
Man Admits Trying to Hire Hit Man on Facebook








Adrian Chen


Man Admits Trying to Hire Hit Man on Facebook19 year-old Corey Christian Adams raped a girl in West Chester, Pennyslvania while she was blackout drunk. When she called him up and confronted him about it afterwards, he post a Facebook status update asking for help dealing with his victim: "I got 500 on a girls head who wants that bread? Hit me up anyway possible." After police confronted him about the allegations, he wrote another post saying that he "needed this girl knocked off right now."

Adams was convicted of rape and solicitation to commit murder, and will be sentenced to 11 to 22 years in prison under a plea deal. Looks like more people are seeking out hit men on Facebook now that Craigslist's shut down their "murder-for-hire" section. [Philadelphia Inquirer; CNET]

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