by Michael Collins
Thursday, 01 October 2009 10:15
A new world order is emerging at the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh with a decision by the group to become the premier coordinating body on economic issues. Radio Free Europe, Sep. 26, 2009
The world's most exclusive public club, the G-20, met last week in Pittsburgh for "the opportunity to take stock of the progress made and discuss further actions to assure a sound recovery from the global economic and financial crisis." The G-20 consists of finance ministers and senior banking officials from the world's 20 largest economies. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner were there for the United States. But the real action comes from the gathering's function as an informal summit for attending heads of state.
The Pittsburgh Summit focused on changing the regulations governing the world's financial institutions and processes In addition to rewriting the rule book, the "new world order" announced that the G-20 is now the "premier coordinating body on economic issues" which will benefit the wealthiest interests in each member country.
But it was more than just about making the banks behave. In cooperation with U.S. and foreign law enforcement agencies, Pittsburgh police and unidentified law enforcement agents unveiled some new programs for citizens. These had nothing to do with much needed jobs and health care, barely mentioned at the meeting. Rather, the G-20 premiered the "sonic cannon," a device designed to cause serious pain from ultra shrill sonic waves beamed at those exercising their rights of freedom of speech and assembly.
Law enforcement used the more traditional techniques like the citizen "grab and snatch." This maneuver has four rapid stages: unidentified law enforcement officials show up in an unmarked car; grab a random citizen; shove him into a car against his will; and drive off, all without a word of explanation.
The "snatch and grab" (left, video). The "sonic cannon" (right, video) was deployed and emitted these exact words: "Pittsburgh Chief Police: This is an unlawful assembly. I order all those assembled to immediately disburse. You must leave the immediate vicinity. If you remain in this immediate vicinity, you will be in violation of the Pennsylvania crimes code,
no matter what your purpose is."
There were no criticisms of police actions from the G-20 leaders, many of whom preside over nominally democratic states. That's probably because there were no questions from the press.
The power salon has been functioning since 1975 when a smaller, even more exclusive group met at the request of the then President of France, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. The G-8 leaders convened to manage the economic and social impact of rapidly rising oil prices. One year later, prices dipped briefly then nearly tripled after the Iranian Revolution.
Over the years, the world's financial leaders met periodically, building the franchise, until the Pittsburgh Summit at which the new magic number of 20 nations was announced, the G-20.
At an April G-20 meeting in London the focus was on "Stability, Growth, Jobs." A look at the four working groups from that meeting shows two focused on international finance and two on international financial organizations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
The ongoing economic struggle of billions of people didn't deter key G-20 figure Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke from announcing that the worldwide recession is "very likely over." Of course, there's a qualifier. It will be a jobless recovery which raises the question, just exactly who will be recovering?
The Epitome of Failure
An objective judgment on the promises of the London G-20 meeting, growth and jobs, shows a complete failure by the group. The world's economy continues to slide into oblivion with no remaining bright spots except for Wall Street bankers and others who caused the crisis. The largest U.S. and European financial groups have cash and credit guarantees of a potential $23.7 trillion (annotation) to preserve their market positions and executive perks. These guarantees were enabled by the actions of some of the very same leaders attending the Pittsburgh conference. It's a tight circle.
One sixth of the world population suffers from hunger largely due to unemployment, high food prices, and the high cost of borrowing due to the current financial crisis. Unemployment is increasing around the world complicated by a largely unmentioned structural jobs shortage. A report from the International Labor Organization shows that unemployment has grown to 190 million worldwide with an estimated 50 million more to join them in 2009. Rates of "working poverty" are expected to hit 1.3 billion people worldwide.
Even if the job market improves, the struggle to buy basic necessities will continue to pose a challenge for the vast majority of citizens. In the United States, for example, there has been no real increase in per capita income for the past nine years and few net new non government jobs.
The people who brought the world to this state of decline and struggle are still in charge. They're fixing the very problems they created.
What's their solution?
Change the way banks are regulated.
Sowing the Wind
The U.S. can no longer finance the military presence overseas without major debt. Foreign wars are simply not affordable. The banking system is in critical condition, unable to recover except on a superficial level. The neglect of domestic concerns in the United States and the ongoing drain of wealth from the middle, working and lower class have virtually eliminated taxation and the treasury as a viable source of real funds.
Undeterred, the United States government has begun yet another war it cannot afford in Afghanistan before even beginning to end the occupation of Iraq. At the same time, the government has issued trillions of dollars in cash and credit for a banking sector with many banks technically broke.
The rest of the world continues to struggle despite optimistic talk at the summit. Japan remains in a recession after nearly two decades and has just begun a faltering recovery. In Germany, there are fears of deflation. China may have exhausted credit and protectionist fixes in an attempt to avoid a major slump. Spain's unemployment figure will reach 20% soon.
More to the point of globalization, there are 1.3 billion "working poor" (p. 39) earning $2.00 (two dollars) a day concentrated in South, East, and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Does the G-20 recovery plan include these subsistence workers? When is it their turn to "recover?"
What's the response by the world's leaders? Regulatory reform of banking and finance will save us. If we only have better banking rules, they argue, we will somehow be able to generate enough dollars to keep the key enterprises going - financial and military dominance - while something may come along to help with concerns like jobs, health, and increased income.
Here's what they're really saying: it's time to fix a new set of rules that allow the game to continue in some form that will protect accumulated wealth and maintain those in power.
While the leaders and their finance ministers workout the latest scheme to produce a balance sheet that won't generate laughter and derision, they must ponder the finite limitations of their economies. Unlike the exuberance of the 1950's with the assumption of limitless energy in the form of oil, there's an awareness that the fuel underlying the entire scheme is increasingly more difficult and expensive to extract. Concerns about diminishing returns from exploration and extraction are mixed with notions that there may be an end to the affordability of oil given the voracious appetite of two of the new G-20 members, China and India.
But the leaders can sit in repose at their elegantly catered conference dinners with the comfort that although they may not be the managers of a perpetual scheme of "growth" for their incredibly wealthy patrons, they will certainly transition to the role managing the chaos caused by their efforts. Their street level operatives unveil new technologies and techniques at each G-20 conference to discourage those who seek to disagree by public assembly and free speech. When the G-20 is in town, basic political rights here and overseas are suspended. It's time for the beat down.
The heavy handed, technically brutish suppression of public protest are a form of instructive theater that engenders a feeling of helplessness for many who might otherwise be motivated to resist. This in turn perpetuates order and protection for the G-20's ongoing acts of greed and incompetence inflicted upon the vast majority of citizens in the nations they represent. If they quiet the voice of the people long enough, the leaders may even begin to think that the voices never existed in the first place. They can ignore what they've forgotten, the will of those they govern.
http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/11789-the-g-20-announces-a-qnew-world-orderq.html
Friday, October 2, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
AP ENTERPRISE: Montana jail deal raises questions
AP ENTERPRISE: Questions emerge about company promising to bring inmates to small Montana town
MATTHEW BROWN
AP News
Sep 12, 2009 16:17 EST
The Two Rivers Detention Center was promoted as the largest economic development project in decades in the small town of Hardin when the jail was built two years ago. But it has been vacant ever since.
City officials have searched from Vermont to Alaska for inmate contracts to fill the jail, only to be turned down at every turn and see the bonds that financed its construction fall into default. They even floated the idea of housing prisoners from Guantanamo Bay at the jail.
So when Hardin officials announced this week that they had signed a deal with a California company to fill the empty jail, it was naturally a cause for celebration. Town officials talked about throwing a party to mark the occasion, their dreams of economic salvation a step closer to being realized.
But questions are emerging over the legitimacy of the company, American Police Force.
Government contract databases show no record of the company. Security industry representatives and federal officials said they had never heard of it. On its Web site, the company lists as its headquarters a building in Washington near the White House that holds "virtual offices." A spokeswoman for the building said American Police Force never completed its application to use the address.
And it's unclear where the company will get the inmates for the jail. Montana says it's not sending inmates to the jail, and neither are federal officials in the state.
An attorney for American Police Force, Maziar Mafi, describes the Santa Ana, Calif., company as a fledgling spin-off of a major security firm founded in 1984. But Mafi declined to name the parent firm or provide details on how the company will finance its jail operations.
"It will gradually be more clear as things go along," said Mafi, a personal injury and medical malpractice lawyer in Santa Ana who was only hired by American Police Force a month ago. "The nature of this entity is private security and for security purposes, as well as for the interest of their clientele, that's why they prefer not to be upfront."
On its elaborate Web site and in interviews with company representatives, American Police Force claims to sell assault rifles and other weapons in Afghanistan on behalf of the U.S. military while providing security, investigative work and other services to clients "in all 50 states and most countries."
The company also boasts to have "rapid response units awaiting our orders worldwide" and that it can field a battalion-sized team of special forces soldiers "within 72 hours."
Representatives of American Police Force said the company presently employs at least 16 and as many as 28 people in the United States and 1,600 contractors worldwide.
"APF plays a critical role in helping the U.S. government meet vital homeland security and national defense needs," the company says on its Web site. "Within the last 5 years the United States has been far and away our" number 1 client.
However, an Associated Press search of two comprehensive federal government contractor databases turned up no record of American Police Force.
Representatives of security trade groups said they had never heard of American Police Force, although they added secrecy was prevalent in the industry and it was possible the company had avoided the public limelight.
"They're really invisible," said Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel for the Professional Services Council. The group's members include major security contractors Triple Canopy, DynCorp and Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide.
"Even a single unclassified contract in the last couple of years should show up" in the federal database, Chvotkin added.
Spokesmen for the State Department and Defense Department said they could not immediately find any records of contracts with the company. The city has not released a copy of its agreement with American Police Force. But the deal as announced would be a sweet one for Hardin, a depressed rural town of 3,500 about 45 miles east of Billings.
The company is pledging to fill the 464-bed facility by early next year.
Hardin officials say the first payment on the contract is due Feb. 1 — regardless of whether any prisoners are in place. The city's economic development authority would get enough money to pay off the bondholders and receive $5 per prison a day.
American Police Force also is promising to invest $30 million in new projects for the city, including a military and law enforcement training center with a 250-bed dormitory and an expansion of the jail to 2,000 beds. The company says it will build a homeless shelter, offer free health care for city residents and even deliver meals to the needy.
Where the prisoners would come from is unclear. City officials said California was the most likely possibility, but a spokesman for that state's corrections system said there was no truth to the claim.
Federal prisoners also were mentioned by both American Police Force and the city. U.S. Marshal Dwight MacKay in Billings said he would have been notified if such a plan was pending.
"There's skepticism over whether this is a real thing," MacKay said.
Hardin officials said they were approached by American Police Force about six months ago, soon after the city made international news in its quest to become "America's Gitmo." American Police Force incorporated around the same time.
Albert Peterson, the city's school superintendent and vice president of the authority that built the jail, said the city was "guaranteed" the contract would be upheld.
"There's never a question in my mind after I've done my homework. It's legit," Peterson said of American Police Force. "We believe in each other."
The contract was still being reviewed by the city attorney, he said.
Peterson refused to answer when asked if he knew the name of American Police Force's parent firm. He said news coverage of the city's political tussles with the administration of Gov. Brian Schweitzer had left him suspicious of the press. The administration brought a court challenge over whether Hardin could take out-of-state inmates at the jail.
"If you're looking for the source of the money, you're not going to find it from me," Peterson said.
A member of the Texas consortium that developed the jail, Mike Harling, said he had "every reason to believe they'll be successful."
Mafi, the American Police Force attorney, said his company intends to reverse Hardin's recent problems with the jail and give the town an economic boost.
In Santa Ana, American Police Force occupies a single suite on the second floor of a two-story office building. During a visit to the location Thursday, a reporter for The Associated Press encountered a uniformed man behind a desk who would identify himself only as "Captain Michael."
The man declined to discuss basic details about the company and referred the reporter to the company's Web site. In a subsequent phone interview, he provided his surname but insisted it not be used because of security concerns. The man said he was a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Montenegro with decades of experience in military and law enforcement operations.
The man said his boss is a retired U.S. Army colonel named Richard Culver who is currently overseas. Culver's role with the company could not be immediately verified.
The company claim of a headquarters address is just up the street from the White House.
The K Street building houses "virtual offices," where clients pay to use the prestigious Pennsylvania Avenue address and gain access to onsite conference rooms but have no permanent presence.
"It lets small businesses get started up and have a professional front and not have a lot of a cash to do it," said Ashley Korner with Preferred Offices, which leases the location.
She said American Police Force's application to use the address was pending, but incomplete.
___
Associated Press Writer Amy Taxin contributed to this story from Santa Ana.
___
On the Net:
American Private Police Force: http://www.americanpolicegroup.com
Reports: Mysterious, unregistered security firm policing Montana town
A mysterious, reportedly unregistered and almost entirely unknown private security firm by the name "American Police Force" is causing a stir in a small Montana town for apparently impersonating local police.
According to a local media report, APF representatives were recently seen in the tiny town of Hardin, Montana, driving black SUV's with a peculiar logo and, inexplicably, "City of Hardin Police Department" stamped on the door.
The town instead contracts with the Big Horn County Sheriff's Department for patrols, according to KULR 8 in Billings, Montana.
According to the news agency, APF was never given permission to assume policing duties. Instead, the firm -- which the Associated Press reported to be unregistered in government databases -- gained its contract with the town on the promise of bringing inmates to an unpopulated prison complex.
An image on KULR's Web site shows the insignia on the APF vehicles, which has caused some concern on the Internet as being of conspiratorial origin.
APF's coat of arms, a clearer version of which appeared on the group's Web site (which had been taken down at time of this writing but is viewable here), shows a double-headed eagle with a red shield and white cross borne on its breast.
The coat appears very similar to the insignia attributed to one Prince Aleksandar Karageorgevich, based on RAW STORY's analysis of images hosted by Burke's Peerage & Gentry International Register of Arms. The site notes the coat as hailing from the Royal crown of Serbia.
However, the significance or implied nationality of the insignia's crown could not immediately be identified.
The double-headed eagle itself has been used repeatedly throughout history by many cultures as a symbol of empire, dominance and power.
Hardin, home to about 3,400 people, is in the state’s poorest county. Its unoccupied, 460-bed prison cost $27 million to construct. The town made national headlines earlier this year when local officials pleaded to have Guantanamo Bay inmates sent to the jail.
Montana Democratic Senator Max Baucus and other Republican lawmakers have stood in the way of moving Guantanamo inmates stateside, claiming they would present an increased security risk. The political calculation has led the White House to caution that its promise to close the controversial facility in January may not materialize on schedule.
An Associated Press report on American Police Force, published Sept. 12, 2009, follows.
-- Stephen C. Webster
http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/09/mysterious-unregistered-security-firm-policing-montana-town/
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Louder than bombs: LRAD 'sonic cannon' debuts in U.S
Louder than bombs: LRAD 'sonic cannon' debuts in U.S. at G20 protests
Sam Gustin
Sep 25th 2009 at 2:40PMText SizeAAAFiled under: Technology, Economy
More
Pittsburgh police on Thursday used an audio cannon manufactured by American Technology Corporation (ATCO), a San Diego-based company, to disperse protesters outside the G-20 Summit -- the first time its LRAD series device has been used on civilians in the U.S.
An ATC sales representative confirms to DailyFinance that Pittsburgh police used ATC's Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD). "Yes, we sold one LRAD unit to a government agency -- I don't know which one -- which was used in Pittsburgh," the representative said. American Technology Corp.'s stock was trading up over 15 percent in heavy activity late Friday.
ATC calls itself "a leading innovator of commercial, government, and military directed acoustics product offers" that offers "sound solutions for the commercial, government, and military markets."
Pittsburgh officials said yesterday they believe this to be the first use of a LRAD "sonic cannon" against civilians in U.S. history.
"The police fired a sound cannon that emitted shrill beeps, causing demonstrators to cover their ears and back up," The New York Times reported. For years, similar "non-lethal" products designed by ATC have been used at sea by cruise ships to ward off pirates.
"LRAD creates increased stand off and safety zones, supports resolution of uncertain situations, and potentially prevents the use of deadly force," ATC spokesperson Robert Putnam told DailyFinance. "We believe this is highly preferable to the real instances that happen almost every day around the world where officials use guns and other lethal and non-lethal weapons to disperse protesters."
Still, Putnam acknowledged the potential for physical harm. "If you stand right next to it for several minutes, you could have hearing damage," he said. "But it's your choice." He added that heavy-duty ear-phones can render the weapon less effective.
The company's LRAD series has a variety of featured benefits, including "Longer stand-off distances for increased asset protection, larger coverage with fewer personnel, and determination of intent of groups or individuals from extended distances." The product line can also transmit "bird distress calls to repel targeted birds from crops, buildings, and airports."
"The military version is a 45-pound, dish-shaped device that can direct a high-pitched, piercing tone with a tight beam. Neither the LRAD's operators or others in the immediate area are affected," USA Today reported in 2005.
ATC was founded in 1980 by an inventor named Elwood G. Norris, after he served in the U.S. Air Force as a Nuclear Weapons Specialist, according to the company. Norris currently sits on the board and controls about 13 percent of the company's 50 million outstanding shares.
ATC was recapitalized in 1992, according to its website, which explains that it began engineering sound weaponry in 1996. "In response to the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole, we developed and introduced our revolutionary Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) product and continue to expand our sound reproduction technologies and products to meet the needs of our customers and target markets."
Given yesterday's civilian debut, with no reported casualties, commercial and civilian uses for LRAD also seem possible. Putnam said the company hopes law enforcement agencies everywhere come to realize what an effective crowd control weapon the LRAD can be.
And ATC, while small, is finally finding a rosy financial picture. The company reported record fiscal third quarter revenues of $4.4 million, for the quarter ended June 30: a 60 percent revenue increase over the prior year. In fact, Putnam said the company had only been profitable for the last two quarters.
In a press release accompanying the earnings announcement from early August, ATC president and CEO Tom Brown remarked: "We generated our second consecutive profitable quarter and achieved year-over-year revenue growth through strong LRAD sales to U.S. and foreign naval forces, maritime shipping companies and for bird-..deterrence applications."
"With pirate attacks up 110% in the first six months of this calendar year with 240 incidents reported, compared to 114 incidents for the same period last year, we continue to experience increasing domestic and international maritime security interest and orders for our proprietary LRAD systems," he said.
Now that the law enforcement authorites have begun using the LRAD in U.S. cities, a whole new marketplace for the company may have opened up. Don't be surprised to see a LRAD at an event with large crowds in your town sometime in the future.
Sam Gustin
Sep 25th 2009 at 2:40PMText SizeAAAFiled under: Technology, Economy
More
Pittsburgh police on Thursday used an audio cannon manufactured by American Technology Corporation (ATCO), a San Diego-based company, to disperse protesters outside the G-20 Summit -- the first time its LRAD series device has been used on civilians in the U.S.
An ATC sales representative confirms to DailyFinance that Pittsburgh police used ATC's Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD). "Yes, we sold one LRAD unit to a government agency -- I don't know which one -- which was used in Pittsburgh," the representative said. American Technology Corp.'s stock was trading up over 15 percent in heavy activity late Friday.
ATC calls itself "a leading innovator of commercial, government, and military directed acoustics product offers" that offers "sound solutions for the commercial, government, and military markets."
Pittsburgh officials said yesterday they believe this to be the first use of a LRAD "sonic cannon" against civilians in U.S. history.
"The police fired a sound cannon that emitted shrill beeps, causing demonstrators to cover their ears and back up," The New York Times reported. For years, similar "non-lethal" products designed by ATC have been used at sea by cruise ships to ward off pirates.
"LRAD creates increased stand off and safety zones, supports resolution of uncertain situations, and potentially prevents the use of deadly force," ATC spokesperson Robert Putnam told DailyFinance. "We believe this is highly preferable to the real instances that happen almost every day around the world where officials use guns and other lethal and non-lethal weapons to disperse protesters."
Still, Putnam acknowledged the potential for physical harm. "If you stand right next to it for several minutes, you could have hearing damage," he said. "But it's your choice." He added that heavy-duty ear-phones can render the weapon less effective.
The company's LRAD series has a variety of featured benefits, including "Longer stand-off distances for increased asset protection, larger coverage with fewer personnel, and determination of intent of groups or individuals from extended distances." The product line can also transmit "bird distress calls to repel targeted birds from crops, buildings, and airports."
"The military version is a 45-pound, dish-shaped device that can direct a high-pitched, piercing tone with a tight beam. Neither the LRAD's operators or others in the immediate area are affected," USA Today reported in 2005.
ATC was founded in 1980 by an inventor named Elwood G. Norris, after he served in the U.S. Air Force as a Nuclear Weapons Specialist, according to the company. Norris currently sits on the board and controls about 13 percent of the company's 50 million outstanding shares.
ATC was recapitalized in 1992, according to its website, which explains that it began engineering sound weaponry in 1996. "In response to the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole, we developed and introduced our revolutionary Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) product and continue to expand our sound reproduction technologies and products to meet the needs of our customers and target markets."
Given yesterday's civilian debut, with no reported casualties, commercial and civilian uses for LRAD also seem possible. Putnam said the company hopes law enforcement agencies everywhere come to realize what an effective crowd control weapon the LRAD can be.
And ATC, while small, is finally finding a rosy financial picture. The company reported record fiscal third quarter revenues of $4.4 million, for the quarter ended June 30: a 60 percent revenue increase over the prior year. In fact, Putnam said the company had only been profitable for the last two quarters.
In a press release accompanying the earnings announcement from early August, ATC president and CEO Tom Brown remarked: "We generated our second consecutive profitable quarter and achieved year-over-year revenue growth through strong LRAD sales to U.S. and foreign naval forces, maritime shipping companies and for bird-
"With pirate attacks up 110% in the first six months of this calendar year with 240 incidents reported, compared to 114 incidents for the same period last year, we continue to experience increasing domestic and international maritime security interest and orders for our proprietary LRAD systems," he said.
Now that the law enforcement authorites have begun using the LRAD in U.S. cities, a whole new marketplace for the company may have opened up. Don't be surprised to see a LRAD at an event with large crowds in your town sometime in the future.
G20 Activists: Why Am I Here Today?
Published on Friday, September 25, 2009 by Greenpeace
G20 Activists: Why Am I Here Today?
The banner has come down. Greenpeace activists are safe. And, after two
hours hanging from the West End Bridge, the 80x30-foot banner spoke to
world leaders meeting in Pittsburgh at the G20 summit.
"Why am I here today?" The activists share their story in this inspirational video.
I
get goose bumps every time I watch this video. The line that sticks in
my head each time I watch is, "as Americans we need to do the right
thing, especially when it's hard."
It's not easy to change the
way the world operates. There is no "easy button" to turn off all the
pollution and resource destruction. But, the reality is—burning fossil
fuels for energy is destroying our planet. We need a fundamental switch
to clean, renewable energy in order for future generations to have,
well, a future.
I
realize that's not easy. It will take all of us working together,
building "green" infrastructure. But, I believe that fighting for a
clean healthy future for my son is worth it. I want to be able to look
him in the eyes and tell him I did everything I could to make sure he
could touch a 1,000 year old tree, swim in pollutant-free rivers,
breath fresh air and see glaciers.
I'm not a climber, but I was able to hang my very own Greenpeace banner — on Facebook [2]! There is a really neat new app, try it out.
And, if you haven’t taken action yet, please do [1]. President Obama needs to hear from all of us that we are ready for a strong world climate treaty. Together, we can do great things [1].
© 2009 Greenpeace
Article printed from www.CommonDreams.org
URL to article: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/09/25-5
Activist's 'Necessity' Defense May Get the Boot
by Amy Joi O'Donoghue
Published on Friday, September 25, 2009 by Deseret News (Utah)
A federal judge is expected to hear arguments Friday detailing why environmental activist Timothy DeChristopher should be allowed or prohibited from presenting evidence he acted out of "necessity" when he deliberately bid on and won oil and gas leases he couldn't pay for as part of a protest.
[Tim DeCristopher speaks with members of the news media after he was escorted out of the Bureau of Land Management offices in Salt Lake City on Friday, Dec. 19, 2008 following DeChristoper's bid on several oil and gas leases during a BLM auction. (Steve Griffin/The Salt Lake Tribune)]Tim DeCristopher speaks with members of the news media after he was escorted out of the Bureau of Land Management offices in Salt Lake City on Friday, Dec. 19, 2008 following DeChristoper's bid on several oil and gas leases during a BLM auction. (Steve Griffin/The Salt Lake Tribune)
The December disruption of the Bureau of Land Management auction in Salt Lake City led to an indictment on two criminal charges against DeChristopher - violation of the federal oil and gas leasing reform act and providing a false statement.
DeChristopher, a University of Utah student, has publicly said he felt he had no other choice but to disrupt the auction by bidding on and winning 14 parcels of land for $1.7 million, although he had no intention of paying for them. Citing environmental damage and impact on climate change, DeChristopher opposed offering the parcels up at auction, tying up the parcels to spoil the process.
In briefs filed in advance of Friday's 11 a.m. motion hearing before U.S. District Judge Dee Benson, prosecutors argue that courts have uniformly rejected allowing a necessity defense to come before a jury when criminal prosecution arises out of anti-government protests.
Pointing to a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, the prosecution said such a defense is allowed only when personal danger is at issue and no options for other action are available.
"A bona fide necessity defense is one that would justify a criminal act committed to avert a greater harm, such as a prisoner may escape from a burning prison; a person lost in the woods could steal food from a cabin to survive; a ship could violate an embargo to enter a forbidden port during a violent storm," according to court documents.
The prosecution noted that DeChristopher did not pursue other actions to halt the process, such as filing a formal protest with the BLM, filing a civil suit, contacting elected officials, staging a rally or going to the media to spread his message.
Additionally, another appellate court ruled that "direct" harm to the defendant must be proven, not theoretical or future harm.
In urging the court to allow DeChristopher to raise the necessity defense, his attorneys say the government is pre-emptively forcing him to relinquish a constitutional right to defend himself and is thwarting the jury's role as a "resolver of factual issues" or as the "evaluator of intent."
His attorneys added that by asking them to explain why a necessity defense is appropriate, the prosecution is asking them to give up their defense strategy. Any detailed response should be under seal, they added.
Prosecutors counter that while DeChristopher's motivation may be based on issues important for public debate, they're concerned such a defense will help turn the trial into a "referendum on national environmental policy."
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company
http://www.commondreams.org/print/47501
Published on Friday, September 25, 2009 by Deseret News (Utah)
A federal judge is expected to hear arguments Friday detailing why environmental activist Timothy DeChristopher should be allowed or prohibited from presenting evidence he acted out of "necessity" when he deliberately bid on and won oil and gas leases he couldn't pay for as part of a protest.
[Tim DeCristopher speaks with members of the news media after he was escorted out of the Bureau of Land Management offices in Salt Lake City on Friday, Dec. 19, 2008 following DeChristoper's bid on several oil and gas leases during a BLM auction. (Steve Griffin/The Salt Lake Tribune)]Tim DeCristopher speaks with members of the news media after he was escorted out of the Bureau of Land Management offices in Salt Lake City on Friday, Dec. 19, 2008 following DeChristoper's bid on several oil and gas leases during a BLM auction. (Steve Griffin/The Salt Lake Tribune)
The December disruption of the Bureau of Land Management auction in Salt Lake City led to an indictment on two criminal charges against DeChristopher - violation of the federal oil and gas leasing reform act and providing a false statement.
DeChristopher, a University of Utah student, has publicly said he felt he had no other choice but to disrupt the auction by bidding on and winning 14 parcels of land for $1.7 million, although he had no intention of paying for them. Citing environmental damage and impact on climate change, DeChristopher opposed offering the parcels up at auction, tying up the parcels to spoil the process.
In briefs filed in advance of Friday's 11 a.m. motion hearing before U.S. District Judge Dee Benson, prosecutors argue that courts have uniformly rejected allowing a necessity defense to come before a jury when criminal prosecution arises out of anti-government protests.
Pointing to a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, the prosecution said such a defense is allowed only when personal danger is at issue and no options for other action are available.
"A bona fide necessity defense is one that would justify a criminal act committed to avert a greater harm, such as a prisoner may escape from a burning prison; a person lost in the woods could steal food from a cabin to survive; a ship could violate an embargo to enter a forbidden port during a violent storm," according to court documents.
The prosecution noted that DeChristopher did not pursue other actions to halt the process, such as filing a formal protest with the BLM, filing a civil suit, contacting elected officials, staging a rally or going to the media to spread his message.
Additionally, another appellate court ruled that "direct" harm to the defendant must be proven, not theoretical or future harm.
In urging the court to allow DeChristopher to raise the necessity defense, his attorneys say the government is pre-emptively forcing him to relinquish a constitutional right to defend himself and is thwarting the jury's role as a "resolver of factual issues" or as the "evaluator of intent."
His attorneys added that by asking them to explain why a necessity defense is appropriate, the prosecution is asking them to give up their defense strategy. Any detailed response should be under seal, they added.
Prosecutors counter that while DeChristopher's motivation may be based on issues important for public debate, they're concerned such a defense will help turn the trial into a "referendum on national environmental policy."
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company
http://www.commondreams.org/print/47501
Friday, September 25, 2009
Your Electronic Vote in the 2010 Election Has Just Been Bought
Thursday 24 September 2009
by: Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman | The Free Press
photo
With its purchase of Diebold, Republican-connected ES&S Corporation will control 80 percent of the electronic voting hardware in the US. (Photo: an0nym0n0us / flickr)
Unless US Attorney General Eric Holder intervenes, your electronic vote in 2010 will probably be owned by the Republican-connected ES&S Corporation. With 80% ownership of America's electronic voting machines, ES&S could have the power to shape America's future with a few proprietary keystrokes.
ES&S has just purchased the voting machine division of the Ohio-based Diebold, whose role in fixing the 2004 presidential election for George W. Bush is infamous. (http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2004/03/diebolds-political-machine)
Critics of the merger hope Holder will rescind the purchase on anti-trust grounds.
But only a transparent system totally based on hand-counted paper ballots, with universal automatic voter registration, can get us even remotely close to a reliable vote count in the future.
For even if Holder does void this purchase, ES&S and Diebold will still control four of every five votes cast on touchscreen machines. As the US Supreme Court seems poised to open the floodgates on corporate campaign spending, the only difference could be that those who would buy our elections will have to write two checks instead of one.
And in fact, it's even worse than that. ES&S, Diebold and a tiny handful of sibling Republican voting equipment and computing companies control not only the touchscreen machines, but also the electronic tabulators that count millions of scantron ballots, AND the electronic polling books that decide who gets to vote and who doesn't.
Let's do a quick review:
1) ES&S, Diebold and other companies tied to election hardware and software are owned and operated by a handful of very wealthy conservatives, or right-to-life ideologues, with long-standing direct ties to the Republican Party;
2) As votes will be increasingly cast on optiscans, touchscreens or computer voting machines in the United States in 2010, what scant few so-called paper trail mechanisms that are in place will offer little security against electronic vote theft;
3) The source code on all US touchscreen machines now used for the casting and counting of ballots is proprietary, meaning the companies that own and operate the machines---including ES&S---are not required to share with the public the details of how those machines actually work;
4) Although there are official mechanisms for monitoring and recounts, none carry any real weight in the face of the public's inability to gain control or even access to this electronic source code, whose proprietary standing has been upheld by the courts;
5) With the newly merged ES&S/Diebold now apparently controlling 80% of the national vote through hardware and software, this GOP-connected corporation will have the power to alter virtually every election in the US with a few keystrokes. Unless there is a massive, successful grassroots campaign between now and 2012, the same will hold true for the next US presidential election;
6) Aside from its control of touchscreen machines, the merged Diebold/ES&S also controls a significant percent of the electronic optiscan tabulators used in this country with which voters use pencils to fill in circles indicating their vote. Accounts of fraud, rigging, theft and abuse of these optiscan systems are well-documented and innumerable. Any corporation that prints these ballots and runs the machines designated to count them can control yet another major piece of the US vote count;
7) The merged ES&S/Diebold now also controls the electronic voter registration systems in many counties and states. With that control comes the ability to remove registered voters without significant public accountability. In the 2004 election, nearly 25% of all the registered voters in the Democratic-rich city of Cleveland were purged, including 10,000 voters erased "accidentally" by a Diebold electronic pollbook system. So in addition to controlling the vote counts on touchscreen and optiscan voting machines, the merged Diebold/ES&S and sympathetic hardware and software companies that service computerized voting equipment will control who actually gets to cast a vote in the first place.
Lest we forget: in 2000, long before this ES&S/Diebold purchase was proposed, Choicepoint, a GOP-controlled data management firm, hired by Florida?s Republican Secretary of State Katherine Harris, removed up to 150,000 Florida citizens from voter rolls on the pretense that they were ex-felons. The vast majority of them were not. Computer software "disappeared" 16,000 votes from Al Gore's column at a critical moment on election night, allowing George W. Bush?s first cousin John Ellis, a Fox News analyst, to proclaim him the winner. The election was officially decided by less than 700 votes and a 5-4 Supreme Court vote preventing a full recount. An independent audit later showed Gore was the rightful winner.
In 2004, more than 300,000 Ohio citizens were removed from voter rolls by GOP-controlled county election boards (more than one million have been removed since).
Various dirty tricks prevented still tens of thousands more Ohioans from voting. The vote count was marred by a wide range of official manipulations coordinated by then-Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell. Diebold was a major player in the 2004 Ohio elections, but was joined by numerous other computer voting firms and their technicians in "recounting the vote" which confirmed the Bush "victory," despite exit poll results and other evidence to the contrary. In defiance of a federal court order, 56 of 88 Ohio counties destroyed some or all of their ballots or election records. No one has been prosecuted.
In short, the ES&S purchase of Diebold's voting machine operation is merely the tip of a toxic iceberg. Voiding the merger will do nothing to solve the REAL problem, which is an electronic-based system of voter registration and ballot counting that is potentially controlled by private corporations and contractors whose agenda is to make large profits and protect the system that guarantees them.
Although elections based on universal automatic registration and hand-counted paper ballots are not foolproof, they constitute a start. Stealing an election by stuffing paper ballot boxes at the "retail" level is far more difficult than stealing votes at the "wholesale" level with an electronic flip of a switch.
As it's done in in numerous other countries throughout the world, the only realistic means by which the US can establish a democratic system of ballot casting and counting is to do it the old-fashioned way. With human-scale checks and balances we might even be secure in the knowledge that our elections and vote counts will truly reflect the will of the people. What a concept!
----------
Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman have co-authored four books on election protection, available at http://freepress.org, where this article was first published, and where Bob's FITRAKIS FILES are also available. HARVEY WASSERMAN'S HISTORY OF THE U.S. is at http://harveywasserman.com.
by: Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman | The Free Press
photo
With its purchase of Diebold, Republican-connected ES&S Corporation will control 80 percent of the electronic voting hardware in the US. (Photo: an0nym0n0us / flickr)
Unless US Attorney General Eric Holder intervenes, your electronic vote in 2010 will probably be owned by the Republican-connected ES&S Corporation. With 80% ownership of America's electronic voting machines, ES&S could have the power to shape America's future with a few proprietary keystrokes.
ES&S has just purchased the voting machine division of the Ohio-based Diebold, whose role in fixing the 2004 presidential election for George W. Bush is infamous. (http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2004/03/diebolds-political-machine)
Critics of the merger hope Holder will rescind the purchase on anti-trust grounds.
But only a transparent system totally based on hand-counted paper ballots, with universal automatic voter registration, can get us even remotely close to a reliable vote count in the future.
For even if Holder does void this purchase, ES&S and Diebold will still control four of every five votes cast on touchscreen machines. As the US Supreme Court seems poised to open the floodgates on corporate campaign spending, the only difference could be that those who would buy our elections will have to write two checks instead of one.
And in fact, it's even worse than that. ES&S, Diebold and a tiny handful of sibling Republican voting equipment and computing companies control not only the touchscreen machines, but also the electronic tabulators that count millions of scantron ballots, AND the electronic polling books that decide who gets to vote and who doesn't.
Let's do a quick review:
1) ES&S, Diebold and other companies tied to election hardware and software are owned and operated by a handful of very wealthy conservatives, or right-to-life ideologues, with long-standing direct ties to the Republican Party;
2) As votes will be increasingly cast on optiscans, touchscreens or computer voting machines in the United States in 2010, what scant few so-called paper trail mechanisms that are in place will offer little security against electronic vote theft;
3) The source code on all US touchscreen machines now used for the casting and counting of ballots is proprietary, meaning the companies that own and operate the machines---including ES&S---are not required to share with the public the details of how those machines actually work;
4) Although there are official mechanisms for monitoring and recounts, none carry any real weight in the face of the public's inability to gain control or even access to this electronic source code, whose proprietary standing has been upheld by the courts;
5) With the newly merged ES&S/Diebold now apparently controlling 80% of the national vote through hardware and software, this GOP-connected corporation will have the power to alter virtually every election in the US with a few keystrokes. Unless there is a massive, successful grassroots campaign between now and 2012, the same will hold true for the next US presidential election;
6) Aside from its control of touchscreen machines, the merged Diebold/ES&S also controls a significant percent of the electronic optiscan tabulators used in this country with which voters use pencils to fill in circles indicating their vote. Accounts of fraud, rigging, theft and abuse of these optiscan systems are well-documented and innumerable. Any corporation that prints these ballots and runs the machines designated to count them can control yet another major piece of the US vote count;
7) The merged ES&S/Diebold now also controls the electronic voter registration systems in many counties and states. With that control comes the ability to remove registered voters without significant public accountability. In the 2004 election, nearly 25% of all the registered voters in the Democratic-rich city of Cleveland were purged, including 10,000 voters erased "accidentally" by a Diebold electronic pollbook system. So in addition to controlling the vote counts on touchscreen and optiscan voting machines, the merged Diebold/ES&S and sympathetic hardware and software companies that service computerized voting equipment will control who actually gets to cast a vote in the first place.
Lest we forget: in 2000, long before this ES&S/Diebold purchase was proposed, Choicepoint, a GOP-controlled data management firm, hired by Florida?s Republican Secretary of State Katherine Harris, removed up to 150,000 Florida citizens from voter rolls on the pretense that they were ex-felons. The vast majority of them were not. Computer software "disappeared" 16,000 votes from Al Gore's column at a critical moment on election night, allowing George W. Bush?s first cousin John Ellis, a Fox News analyst, to proclaim him the winner. The election was officially decided by less than 700 votes and a 5-4 Supreme Court vote preventing a full recount. An independent audit later showed Gore was the rightful winner.
In 2004, more than 300,000 Ohio citizens were removed from voter rolls by GOP-controlled county election boards (more than one million have been removed since).
Various dirty tricks prevented still tens of thousands more Ohioans from voting. The vote count was marred by a wide range of official manipulations coordinated by then-Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell. Diebold was a major player in the 2004 Ohio elections, but was joined by numerous other computer voting firms and their technicians in "recounting the vote" which confirmed the Bush "victory," despite exit poll results and other evidence to the contrary. In defiance of a federal court order, 56 of 88 Ohio counties destroyed some or all of their ballots or election records. No one has been prosecuted.
In short, the ES&S purchase of Diebold's voting machine operation is merely the tip of a toxic iceberg. Voiding the merger will do nothing to solve the REAL problem, which is an electronic-based system of voter registration and ballot counting that is potentially controlled by private corporations and contractors whose agenda is to make large profits and protect the system that guarantees them.
Although elections based on universal automatic registration and hand-counted paper ballots are not foolproof, they constitute a start. Stealing an election by stuffing paper ballot boxes at the "retail" level is far more difficult than stealing votes at the "wholesale" level with an electronic flip of a switch.
As it's done in in numerous other countries throughout the world, the only realistic means by which the US can establish a democratic system of ballot casting and counting is to do it the old-fashioned way. With human-scale checks and balances we might even be secure in the knowledge that our elections and vote counts will truly reflect the will of the people. What a concept!
----------
Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman have co-authored four books on election protection, available at http://freepress.org, where this article was first published, and where Bob's FITRAKIS FILES are also available. HARVEY WASSERMAN'S HISTORY OF THE U.S. is at http://harveywasserman.com.
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