Clipmarks | Gun law Clips

Militarizing the "Homeland"

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 23:02:27 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken
clipper's remarks: Current Army doctrine is heavily-weighted towards contingency planning for "civil disturbances."

As with data mining, DHS spy-satellite surveillance, blanket CCTV coverage of American cities, illegal FBI deployment of infiltrators and provocateurs, "mission creep" by the Pentagon into civil affairs are signs that stronger measures to blunt the crisis may be in the offing.

While NORTHCOM insists that JTF-CS, "will not be called upon to help with law enforcement, civil disturbance or crowd control, but will be used to support lead agencies involved in saving lives," as outlined above, citing the DoD's own documents and Executive Branch National Security Presidential Directives, contingency plans for suppressing "civil disturbance" such as the Garden Plot scenario are, like an iron fist inside a velvet glove, already in place and capable at a moment's notice of striking the American people.

Clip Source: www.uruknet.info

Militarizing the "Homeland": NORTHCOM's Joint Task Force-Civil Support

Antifascist Calling reported October 6 that nine months prior to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Donald Rumsfeld signed off on revisions for the Pentagon's secretive Continuity of Operations Program (COOP).

A highly-disturbing report by Christopher Ketchum in the May/June 2008 issue of Radar Magazine, outlined how the top secret Main Core database linked to Continuity of Government contingency planning, "includes dissidents and activists of various stripes, political and tax protesters, lawyers and professors, publishers and journalists, gun owners, illegal aliens, foreign nationals, and a great many other harmless, average people."

exemplary means to "keep the rabble in line"--and under wraps, if necessary.

As the historic economic and political crisis gripping capitalism deepens

one by one, "forward thinking" ruling class factions are openly preparing a "Pinochet option" for the American people.

The U.S. Needs to Open Up to the World

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 11:38:15 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken
clipper's remarks: It's better for everybody to have a stake in society than to have a resentful underclass bent on wrecking things. To many Americans, this sounds like socialism, big government, the nanny state. But so what? The result is: Europe has less gun crime and homicide, less poverty and arguably a higher quality of life than the U.S., which makes a lot of us wonder why America doesn't want some of what we've got.

America as a gated community won't work, because not even the world's sole superpower can build walls high enough to shield itself from the intertwined realities of the 21st century. There's a better form of security: reconnect with the rest of the world, don't shut it out; stop making enemies and start making friends. Perhaps it's asking a lot to expect America to act differently from all the other empires in history, but wasn't that the original idea?

Clip Source: www.time.com

Europeans have always looked at America with a mixture of fascination and puzzlement, and now, increasingly, disbelief. How is it that a country that prides itself on its economic success could have so many very poor people? How is it that a country so insistent on the rule of law should seek to exempt itself from international agreements? And how is it that the world's beacon of democracy can have elections dominated by wealthy special interest groups?

"How can a country that has produced so much cultural and economic wealth act so dumb?"

When Europeans make such criticisms, Americans assume we're envious. "They want what we've got,"

Europeans tend to regard free national health services, unemployment benefits, social housing and so on as pretty good models of human progress. We think it's important — civilized, in fact

This isn't just altruism, but an understanding that having too many losers in society hurts everyone.

Obama on Gun Laws

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 09:35:20 GMT

clipped by: katsteevns

Clip Source: www.infowars.com

Tell the Truth About Obama in Missouri, Go to Jail

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars
September 26, 2008

Obama told ABC he supports the D.C. handgun ban. His campaign told the Chicago Tribune “Obama believes the D.C. handgun law is constitutional.” Obama served on the board of the Joyce Foundation, probably the largest private funder of anti-gun and pro-ban groups and research in the country. In addition, Obama voted for a bill that would “expand the definition of armor piercing ammunition” and “support[ed] banning the sale of ammunition for assault weapons,” including 223 and .308 caliber bullets, the most common rifle ammunition. He supported the Illinois Firearms Owners Identification (FOID) Card, mandatory for residents when they buy any firearm in the state. (For more information on Obama’s assault on the Second Amendment, see Analysis: Fact-Checkers Fall Short in Criticizing NRA’s Anti-Obama Ads.)

[Video]

New Protection Against Domestic Violence in Ohio

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:11:35 GMT

clipped by: nedhamson1
clipper's remarks: Speak out if you are concerned

Clip Source: www.supremecourtofohio.gov

Supreme Court Seeks Public Comment on New Protection Order Warning Forms

The Supreme Court of Ohio will accept public comment until Oct. 22 on proposed judicial firearms notification forms for those who’ve been charged with domestic violence or are subject to a protection order.

House Bill 562, which took effect June 24, requires judges to provide an oral or written notice about the firearm disqualification for misdemeanor domestic violence offenders. Consistent with the Supreme Court’s role of providing standardized domestic violence forms, the Commission on the Rules of Superintendence has drafted proposed language to support judges’ mandate to provide due notice to domestic violence offenders. The protection order warning page has been revised to include new language that clarifies federal law and recommends that offenders contact an attorney to determine if they are weapons disqualified.

Tags: non-violence, domestic abuse, gun control

GOLDMAN SACHS NATIONAL SOCIALISM

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:28:33 GMT

clipped by: klippety
clipper's remarks: This Bail-Out is not reviewable and Committed to Agency Discretion. In the words of Paulson and the Proposal at Hand

Clip Source: www.informationclearinghouse.info

Goldman Sachs Socialism

24/09/08 "The Nation" -- - Wall Street put a gun to the head of the politicians and said, Give us the money--right now--or take the blame for whatever follows. The audacity of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's bailout proposal is reflected in what it refuses to say: no explanations of how the bailout will work, no demands on the bankers in exchange for the public's money. The Treasury's opaque, three-page summary of plan includes this chilling statement:

"Section 8. Review. Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency." In other words, no lawsuits allowed by aggrieved investors or American taxpayers. No complaints later from ignorant pols who didn't know what they voted for. Take it or leave it, suckers.

Factcheck: NRA ads push lies about Obama

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:53:59 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: "Distorts Obama's position on gun control beyond recognition."

Clip Source: www.factcheck.org

A National Rifle Association advertising campaign distorts Obama's position on gun control beyond recognition.

The NRA is circulating printed material and running TV ads making unsubstantiated claims that Obama plans to ban use of firearms for home defense, ban possession and manufacture of handguns, close 90 percent of gun shops and ban hunting ammunition.

Much of what the NRA passes off as Obama's "10 Point Plan to 'Change' the Second Amendment" is actually contrary to what he has said throughout his campaign: that he "respects the constitutional rights of Americans to bear arms" and "will protect the rights of hunters and other law-abiding Americans to purchase, own, transport, and use guns."

The NRA, however, simply dismisses Obama's stated position as "rhetoric" and substitutes its own interpretation

believing something doesn't make it so. And we find the NRA has cherry-picked, twisted and misrepresented Obama's record to come up with a bogus "plan."

Tags: nra, obama, lies

The Tyranny of Paramilitary Police Raids and SWAT Teams

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:36:27 GMT

clipped by: blueridge
clipper's remarks: Great article and podcast from CATO on police extremism (terrorism) that is akin to fascism and contrary to the principles of "proportionate" responses to evidence of crimes, etc. The recent example of a Mayor in Maryland being held at military-style gun point (with his wife and mother-in-law), after they shot his dogs is what sparked this issue more. These "over the top" police tactics must be stopped.

Police increasingly are "swarming", using their paranoid principle of "overwhelming force", which is overwhelmingly irrational, yet is supported by politicians who want to appear "tough on crime", while being ridiculous.

They mention in the short podcast that what you see on TV is not representative of what really happens commonly in these SWAT and other raids.

Clip Source: www.cato.org

Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America

Americans have long maintained that a man’s home is his castle and that he has the right to defend it from unlawful intruders. Unfortunately, that right may be disappearing. Over the last 25 years, America has seen a disturbing militarization of its civilian law enforcement, along with a dramatic and unsettling rise in the use of paramilitary police units (most commonly called Special Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT) for routine police work. The most common use of SWAT teams today is to serve narcotics warrants, usually with forced, unannounced entry into the home.

These increasingly frequent raids, 40,000 per year by one estimate, are needlessly subjecting nonviolent drug offenders, bystanders, and wrongly targeted civilians to the terror of having their homes invaded while they’re sleeping, usually by teams of heavily armed paramilitary units dressed not as police officers but as soldiers.

Clip Source: www.cato.org

Podcast (MP3)

Tags: police state, police powers, constitution, law enforcement, war on drugs, swat, crime

Palin's Lawyer: Monegan Fired for 'Rogue Mentality'

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 06:41:04 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: The filing includes a July 17, 2007, e-mail Palin sent to Monegan in which Palin complains that a proposal to restrict gun sales to people who make death threats would still allow her former brother-in-law, Trooper Mike Wooten, to carry a gun, despite the Palin family allegation that Wooten once threatened to kill the governor's father.

"Amazing," the e-mail says. "And he's still a trooper, and he still carries a gun, and he still tells anyone who will listen that he will 'never work for that b----' (me) because he has such anger and distain towards my family."

The papers add that even if Palin had asked the public safety commissioner to fire a state trooper "based on documented acts of violence and other improper conduct," that wouldn't violate the state Ethics Act "because the public generally shares a common interest in public order and safety."

Monegan's attorney didn't immediately return a call for comment.

September 15th, 2008 06:40 PM

Clip Source: www.adn.com

Walt Monegan lost his job as public safety commissioner because he resisted Gov. Sarah Palin's budget policies and ultimately showed "outright insubordination," say papers the governor's lawyer filed today with the state Personnel Board.

The filing includes a slew of e-mails from top Palin aides, including one from her budget director, Karen Rehfeld, saying she was "stunned and amazed" that Monegan appeared to be working with a state legislator to seek funding for a project Palin had previously vetoed.

It was Monegan's "rogue mentality" on budgeting and other policy issues that got him fired in July, not his alleged refusal to dismiss a state trooper who was involved in a messy divorce with the governor's sister, the filing says.

The papers were filed in support of the governor's request that the Personnel Board drop an ethics complaint Palin herself lodged requesting an investigation into whether she fired Monegan because of the family feud.

Tags: public safety commissioner, job separation for outright insubordination, budgeting, firearm sales, former brother-in-law trooper wooten

Beer for My Horses: Toby Keith's Ode to Lyching

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 07:45:56 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks: During the days when Toby Keith's "Grandpappy" stalked the Jim Crow South, lynching was an institutional method of terror employed against blacks to maintain white supremacy. According to the Tuskegee Institute, between the years 1882 and 1951, 3,437 African-Americans were lynched in the United States, mostly in the heart of Dixie. Felonious assault and rape (read: corrupting "the flower of white womanhood") were the two most frequent justifications for lynch mob actions.

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Well a man come on the 6 o'clock news
said somebody's been shot
somebody's been abused
somebody blew up a building
somebody stole a car
somebody got away
somebody didn't get to far yeah
they didn't get too far

Grandpappy told my pappy back in my day, son
A man had to answer for the wicked that he'd done
Take all the rope in Texas
Find a tall oak tree, round up all of them bad boys
Hang them high in the street
For all the people to see

That Justice is the one thing you should always find
You got to saddle up your boys
You got to draw a hard line
When the gun smoke settles we'll sing a victory tune
And we'll all meet back at the local saloon
And we'll raise up our glasses against evil forces singing
whiskey for my men, beer for my horses

We got too many gangsters doing dirty deeds
too much corruption and crime in the streets
It's time the long arm of the law put a few more in the ground
Send 'em all to their maker and he'll settle 'em down
You can bet he'll set 'em down...

Untrained Informant Killed During Sting

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:04:13 GMT

clipped by: sahara
clipper's remarks: Former FBI agent Brad Garrett, an ABC News consultant, says it made no sense to use an inexperienced person like Rachel for a gun deal.
"You have her make the phone call, you have the bad guys come into the picture and you never have her go to them," said Garrett, a veteran of scores of such undercover deals.
"You arrest them in the park and she's never exposed to the gun or the dope," said Garrett.
In the Hoffman case, police sent her out alone, with only one or two officers trailing her.
The chief concedes she had not received any training as a confidential informant, or CI, before the dangerous mission.
"As far as the training she receives, as far as training for, as a CI, we don't provide training for CIs," Jones told 20/20.

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

No training. A botched drug sting. A dead 23-year-old college graduate.

But authorities in Tallahassee, Fla., have yet to take any action against the police responsible for an undercover operation that led to the death of Rachel Hoffman, a recent graduate of Florida State University.

Police Chief Dennis Jones, interviewed for tonight's 20/20 broadcast, says he does not accept that his department is in any way responsible for the death of the young woman

"Do we feel responsible? We're responsible for the safety of this community," Jones said, labeling Hoffman a "criminal" because she was caught twice with a baggie of marijuana

"People we use as confidential informants are people that are familiar with the drug trade," the police chief said

her friends say she refused to inform on friends who smoked grass

Instead, say the friends, police pushed Hoffman to work undercover against two men considered much bigger in the drug scene, and to try to buy a gun

Clip Source: blog.puppetgov.com

[Video]

Tags: law

Southern U.S. town proud of its mandatory gun law

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:06:32 GMT

clipped by: travislaborde
clipper's remarks: not many Democrats there I bet

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Southern U.S. town proud of its mandatory gun law

The town north of Atlanta had little prominence until it passed a gun ordinance in 1982 that required all heads of a household to own a firearm and ammunition.

The Kennesaw law has endured as the town's population has swelled to about 30,000 from 5,000 in 1982.

"When the law was passed in 1982 there was a substantial drop in crime ... and we have maintained a really low crime rate since then," said police Lt. Craig Graydon. "We are sure it is one of the lowest (crime) towns in the metro area.

"There's been no move to get rid of the law. Why would you?"

Tags: politics

Europe's Love Affair With Barry

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 03:46:57 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: a more "European" (that is, a more social-democratic) America, which at last casts off some of its nastier capitalist habits. An America that is a lot more like us Europeans who have forgone power politics and sovereignty in favor of communitarian politics and integration...

After Inauguration Day, alas, Europe and the world will not face a Dreamworks president, but the leader of a superpower. Whether McCain or Obama, the 44th president will speak more nicely than did W. in his first term. He will also pay more attention to the "decent opinions of mankind." But he will still preside over the world's largest military, economic, and cultural power.

This vast power differential is what Germans and Europeans don't quite fathom in their infatuation with Obama. Their problem was not Mr. Bush, but Mr. Big--America as Behemoth Among the Nations, unwilling to succumb to the dictates of goodness that animate post-heroic, post-imperial, and post-sovereign Europe.

Clip Source: www.babalublog.com

It's like an exorcist fantasy: Once we can send Bush off into the desert, like the scapegoat of the Israelites, we will be able to love America again.

There are two problems buried in this fantasy. One, Barack Obama is possessed of a pliable identity that oscillates between Barry and Barack, between White and Black, between the Harvard Law Review and the Chicago slums, between a leftish voting record in the Senate and a right-of-center message on the stump. He is neither saint nor softie, but the most consummate power politician to come out of Chicago since Richard Daley the Elder. Following classical electoral ritual in the U.S., Obama has been moving steadily to the right, be it on the death penalty, gun control, or Iraq. Europeans haven't quite processed his pilgrimage to the center, and if they have, they seem not to care...

Clip Source: www.babalublog.com

[Video]

Clip Source: www.babalublog.com

This, of course, is Europe's favorite dream: a post-Bush America cut down to size and chastened, a meeker and more modest America

Tags: obama, europe, politician, socialist, harvard law, chicago slums, richard daley

Weighing Parole For Killers

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:27:12 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: I guess we could argue that there should be no parole for killers, and that would be a black and white argument. I'm sure black and white feels pretty damn good to the victim's families.
One thing I would like to say is I think some on CM feel as though clippers must agree 100 percent with the clip or we wouldn't clip the article. Not true, at least in my case and I welcome polite, concise, adult conversation on any clip. Opposing views are always welcome and can lead to meaningful dialog and in the spirit of that, I feel this clip asks the reader to dig deep on the concept of forgiveness in our society. Is that concept worth considering? The answer can be a very complex one with good arguments on both sides.

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

Lawrence spent 24 years in state prison for murdering her lover's wife with a gun and a potato peeler while in a jealous rage. A model inmate, she received a second chance at freedom last summer when a court ordered her released. Since then, she has reunited with family in Los Angeles and tried to re-integrate into society at age 61.

But Lawrence may have to return to prison instead, if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger can convince the California Supreme Court that she remains a threat to public safety. That she has had no problems with the law in a year of freedom is irrelevant, the governor's office said; she should not have been let out.

When should a killer be set free? What are the limits, if any, on the governor's power to decide? Are such factors as an inmate's prison record and age ever more significant than a horrendous crime committed decades ago?

Like I said, we won't need SCOTUS no mo'!

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:26:51 GMT

clipped by: thinkingblue
clipper's remarks: If one more "R" gets on SCOTUS we can all say TOOTLES to civil liberties & HELLO to Fascism. A statement from an everyday Alarmist? No its serious! The court now in lockstep with the "R" ideology which protects the wealthy and gives a nose-thumb at those who need help. The kind of social order they wish to spread across our land, is not democracy. Not with, cruel punishment for those who can't pay their way out of a guilt accusation. Not with, melt down of habeas corpus. Not with, stripping a woman of her right to choose what's best for her body & circumstances. Not with, laws, claiming Voter Id's before one can vote. Not with, reducing punitive damages to large corp. who will become more reckless not having to face large losses to their beloved capital. Not with, dismantling gun-control laws putting all at risk of being murdered by the disgruntled, the disturbed who should never possess lethal weapons. Remember 1 or 2 more "R" justices and you can kiss your, you-know-what bye-bye

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Editorial

A Supreme Court on the Brink

the Supreme Court term that just ended seems muddled:

disturbing, highly conservative rulings

like voting rights and gun control,

important defenses of basic liberties in other areas, including the rights of detainees

Guantánamo

most important decisions came on 5-to-4 votes

reminder that the court is just one justice away from solidifying a far-right majority

that would do great damage to the Constitution and the rights of ordinary

The Supreme Court abandoned its

role in protecting voting rights

the court struck down parts of the District of Columbia’s gun-control law.

Corporations fared especially well in this term

The court reduced the punitive-damages award against Exxon Mobil

most cold-hearted decision, the court endorsed Kentucky’s use of lethal injection to execute prisoners.

In placing these rulings in the larger context of the court after two appointments by President Bush

Roberts

and

Alito

both

members of the conservative movement

One more

would shift

balance

Tags: scotus, supreme, court, justice

The Color of Crime: Race, Crime, and Justice in America Second, Expanded Edition, 2005

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 08:24:01 GMT

clipped by: Charlie Martel 732AD
clipper's remarks: The media does all it can to hide these facts about crime. This certainly hinders law enforcement and diminishes people's good sense when it comes to crime avoidance, thus leading to more crime victims. Scapegoating the higher incarceration rates of blacks and Hispanics on whites also promotes hatred of whites and hate crimes against them.

Clip Source: www.amren.com

The Color of Crime

Race, Crime, and Justice in America
Second, Expanded Edition, 2005

Major Findings:

• Police and the justice system are not biased against minorities.

Crime Rates

• Blacks are seven times more likely than people of other races to commit murder, and eight times more likely to commit robbery.

• When blacks commit crimes of violence, they are nearly three times more likely than non-blacks to use a gun, and more than twice as likely to use a knife.

• Hispanics commit violent crimes at roughly three times the white rate, and Asians commit violent crimes at about one quarter the white rate.

• The single best indicator of violent crime levels in an area is the percentage of the population that is black and Hispanic.

Interracial Crime

• Of the nearly 770,000 violent interracial crimes committed every year involving blacks and whites, blacks commit 85 percent and whites commit 15 percent.

Tags: race, crime, statistics