COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Secretary of State John Kerry chided National Security Agency leak source Edward Snowden on Wednesday, telling him he "should man up and come back to the United States." Kerry's comments came as Snowden's extensive interview with NBC's Brian Williams is set to air Wednesday night. Kerry was asked about an excerpt from the interview in which Snowden said he was trained by the U.S. government as a "spy," something that countered the Obama administration's previous assertions he was a low-level analyst.

Sure Asshole - To This:





US 'supermax' prison is condemned internationally for its abusive regime
The Bureau of Prisons boss seems oblivious, as ADX Florence faces a class action lawsuit brought by mentally ill prisoners


theguardian.com, Tuesday 18 September 2012 08.30 EDT


In 1990, John Jay Powers was sentenced to time in prison for robbing a bank. While there, he witnessed the murder of another inmate and began suffering from post-traumatic stress. In 2001, after a brief escape attempt, he was transferred to Administrative Maximum (ADX) Florence, the federal government's only supermax facility, where inmates are housed in conditions of such extreme isolation the prison is known, not so fondly, as the "Alcatraz of the Rockies".
Before entering ADX, Powers had no history or symptoms of mental illness, but since being installed there, he has become deranged and has engaged in numerous acts of self-mutilation, including amputating his testicle and scrotum, biting off his finger and trying to kill himself on several occasions.

To give you an idea of why a previously sane person would lapse into madness at ADX, you need look no further than the circumstances of their confinement. ADX was designed to ensure the total isolation of all its prisoners, who are held in cells about the size of an average toilet. The cells have thick, concrete soundproof walls, a door with bars and a second door made of solid steel. The only possible means of communicating with other humans is to yell into the toilet bowl and hope that someone may hear. The inmates are kept in their cell 24/7 for two days each week. On the other five days, they may get to spend approximately one hour in a similarly-sized cage for what is laughingly referred to as "outdoor" recreation. By its own policy, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) excludes the mentally ill from ADX, but it seems that many prisoners with mental illness end up there because of a deficient screening process – and more still who were sane upon arrival tend not to remain so for long.
Powers is one of 11 prisoners at ADX Florence named in a federal class action lawsuit filed against the BOP on 18 July of this year, alleging mistreatment and abuse of prisoners with mental illness who are frequently misdiagnosed (if diagnosed at all) and then denied proper care. It comes at a time of mounting pressure from the international community, including the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights and the European Court of Justice. Yet the BOP, which would not comment on the pending litigation, has demonstrated by their prior, and subsequent, actions that they are oblivious at best and indifferent at worst to the allegations.
To give an idea of the kind of obliviousness I'm talking about, you need to look no further than a memo with the subject line "Suicide Prevention" that was sent by Charles Samuels, the director of the federal Bureau of Prisons, two days after the lawsuit was filed, to all inmates in the federal system – including those housed in solitary confinement at ADX. In the memo, Samuels, sounding like a concerned social worker, urges prisoners who may be feeling suicidal to try to look on the bright side. Here's an excerpt:
"Incarceration is difficult for many people. Many individuals experience a wide range of emotions – sadness, anxiety, fear, loneliness, anger or shame. At times you may feel hopeless about your future and your thoughts may turn to suicide. If you are unable to think of solutions other than suicide, it is not because solutions do not exist; it is because you are currently unable to see them. Do not lose hope. Solutions can be found, feelings change, unanticipated positive events occur. Look for meaning and purpose in education and treatment programs, faith, work, family, and friends."
Samuels goes on to urge suicidal inmates to avail themselves of the psychologists, counseling services and so on that he seems to think are readily available to them. Now, one could take the memo at face value as a genuine attempt to rally the spirits of prisoners who are feeling out of sorts. But when you consider that the memo was addressed to inmates, many of whom Samuel acknowledges in the final paragraph, "may be reading this message while in a Special Housing Unit or Special Management Unit cell" (all euphemisms for solitary confinement), and that the suicidal feelings prisoners are experiencing are far more likely to be a direct consequence of the fact that they are housed in such isolation units than for existential reasons, it's hard not to be a tad cynical. It's harder still when one learns that Samuels himself seems to have only a hazy notion, at best, as to what kind of counseling services prisoners have access to, if any.
A month before the memo was issued, Samuel testified before a senate subcommittee hearing on solitary confinement, during which he claimed "no negative effect" of isolation on prisoners. And he fluffed his response to a direct question by Senator Durbin regarding the access prisoners at ADX have to psychologists.
"I can give you later, for the record, I mean, an average, but I would say, I mean, because this is being conducted, sir, I mean throughout, you know, the country, various locations and to give a specific amount of time."
There are larger implications of this lawsuit and those that have proceeded it, however: once again, it focuses an embarrassing spotlight on the fact that while the powers-that-be in the US are quick to condemn abuses of prisoners in captivity in other countries, they are apparently unconcerned with the less overt, yet equally damaging, human rights abuses happening in prisons on American soil. Since 2007, the European Court of Human Rights has put a stay on the extradition of six men wanted on terrorism charges because of concerns about the treatment that would be in store for them at ADX.

Finally, under apparent pressure from the US, it agreed to allow the extradition to proceed this past April. But that decision prompted such a backlash from advocacy groups that it is considering an appeal later this month. One can only hope that the international community will remind the US that it needs to hold itself to the same standards to which it holds others.

113 comments:

  1. Secretary of State Kerry should man up and testify fully before the new Benghazi hearings, as should Hillary.

    ReplyDelete
  2. And Iowa is lost for the Democrats -

    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/05/tea_party_establishment_unite_behind_ernst_in_iowa.html

    Iowa certainly has some of the most beautiful farmland I have ever seen.

    Really.....just WOW !

    But if there are any beautiful covered bridges in Madison County we certainly didn't see them from the Interstate. We may take a side trip if we go back that way.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ...in memory of Maya Angelou...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzGXMWN44UU

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwuAntPHGVM

      Delete
  4. “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
    ___Maya Angelou

    ReplyDelete
  5. "Inspector General Confirms Vets Waited 115 Days for Care in PhoenixReport confirms long waiting times for 1,700 veterans there and says the problem is nationwide."

    http://www.nationaljournal.com/defense/inspector-general-confirms-vets-waited-115-days-for-care-in-phoenix-20140528

    I have seen nothing about rates of insanity caused by the betrayal of these veterans. For those who died, I guess that question is irrelevant - their loved ones do not count for purposes of accounting.

    ReplyDelete
  6. IG Report confirms waiting lists at VA hospitals.

    One poor old gal on Fox News said she was still trying to find if "pop was in the box" yet.

    Body temporarily went missing.....

    ReplyDelete
  7. Introducing Tall Tom Cotton -

    http://www.nationalreview.com/article/378535/tall-cotton-john-j-miller

    Great resume.

    ReplyDelete
  8. If Mr. Snowden were foolish enough to "man up" and return to the US, he would never have the opportunity to make his case to the American people. His trial and its record would be sealed. He would spend the remainder of his life pacing one of the isolation cells referenced above.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Maybe Snowden should run for Congress from over seas. He has a 66% approval rating. If he were elected, he could come back and claim immunity while in Congress.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Maybe Kerry should get his arse down to Mexico and come home with that Marine.

    ReplyDelete
  11. We could trade a couple million criminal aliens for the Marine.

    ReplyDelete
  12. O wait, Obama let them all out of jail.....

    ReplyDelete
  13. Obama and Holder were running guns into Mexico.

    We could trade them to the Mexicans for the Marine.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Guru on Ice -

    By Dean Nelson, New Delhi7:39PM BST 28 May 2014

    The family and followers of one of India's wealthiest Hindu spiritual leaders are fighting a legal battle over whether he is dead or simply in a deep state of meditation.

    His Holiness Shri Ashutosh Maharaj, the founder of the Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan religious order with a property estate worth an estimated £100 million, died in January, according to his wife and son.

    However, his disciples at his Ashram have refused to let the family take his body for cremation because they claim he is still alive.
    According to his followers, based in the Punjab city of Jalandhar, he simply went into a deep Samadhi or meditation and they have frozen his body to preserve it for when he wakes from it.

    His body is currently contained in a commercial freezer at their Ashram.

    Related Articles
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    The late – or living – guru, who was in his seventies, established his sect in 1983 to promote "self-awakening to global peace" and to create a world "wherein every individual becomes an embodiment of truth, fraternity and justice through the eternal science of self-realisation".

    Today the group has thousands of followers around the world and owns dozens of large properties throughout India, the United States, South America, Australia, the Middle East and Europe, including its British headquarters in Hayes, Middlesex.
    While he is thought to have died from a heart attack, his devotees believe he has simply drifted into a deeper form of the meditation he promotes as a pathway to self-realisation.

    A statement on the group's website reads: "His Holiness Shri Ashutosh Maharaj ji has been in deep meditative state (Samadhi) since 29th January 2014."

    According to one of his aides, who asked not to be named, "Maharaj has been in deep meditation. He has spent many years meditating in sub-zero temperatures in the Himalayas, there is nothing unusual in it. He will return to life as soon as he feels and we will ensure his body is preserved until then", he said.

    His body is held in a guarded room in a deep freezer on his 100 acre retreat in Nurmahal, Jalandhar, where only a few elders and sect doctors are allowed to enter.

    Although Punjab Police initially confirmed his death, the Punjab High Court later dismissed its status report and local governmental officials said it was a spiritual matter and that the guru's followers cannot be forced to believe he is dead.

    Now his wife and son have filed a court application calling for an investigation into the circumstances of his death and for his body to be released for cremation.

    His son Dilip Jha, 40, claims his late father's followers are refusing to release his body as a means of retaining control of his vast financial empire.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Whatever the truth of the affair, it certainly sounds relaxing.

      http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10860998/Indian-court-asked-to-rule-on-whether-Hindu-guru-dead-or-meditating.html

      Delete
    2. http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/05/how-to-freeze-someone-and-bring-them-back-to-life/371605/

      Delete
  15. Oh- oh....

    Cynics are more likely to develop dementia, a new study suggests.

    Previous studies revealed that cynical distrust, or believing that others are mainly motivated by selfish concerns, increases the risk of health conditions like heart disease.

    However, researchers also believe that cynicism increases the risk of dementia.

    "These results add to the evidence that people's view on life and personality may have an impact on their health," study author Anna-Maija Tolppanen, PhD, of the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio, said in a news release. "Understanding how a personality trait like cynicism affects risk for dementia might provide us with important insights on how to reduce risks for dementia."

    SHARE THIS STORY

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    The latest study involved 1,449 people with an average age of 71. Participants underwent tests for dementia and were asked to fill out questionnaires about their level of cynicism.

    Participants were asked to rate how much they agree with statements like "I think most people would lie to get ahead," "It is safer to trust nobody" and "Most people will use somewhat unfair reasons to gain profit or an advantage rather than lose it."
    Researchers then grouped participants based on low, moderate and high levels of cynical distrust.

    After accounting for other factors like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking, the findings revealed that high levels of cynical distrust triples the risk of dementia.

    Study results revealed that 14 out of 164 people with high levels of cynicism developed dementia compared to nine of the 212 people with low levels of cynicism.

    The findings were published May 28 in the journal Neurology.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Any cynics around the Bar?

    http://www.counselheal.com/articles/9887/20140528/cynicism-triples-dementia.htm

    ReplyDelete
  17. >>>Asked whether bonuses might have driven hospital administrators to manipulate wait time records, Lynch, a high-ranking VA doctor, told Congressmen, "I think that's possible."<<<

    Jesus Christ !!

    http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/28/va-wait-times-veterans-shinseki-inspector-general/9671241/

    The trouble with the VA is they can't fire the incompetent bureaucrats, who often get bonuses for false paperwork, and the doctors probably can't be sued for mal-practice. It isn't a lack of money. I'm pretty sure now my friend Dale was put on one of those wait them out till death lists.

    ReplyDelete
  18. This is a great article -

    >>>Gardiner’s sayings included this one about the economy:

    Mr. Gardner, do you agree with Ben, or do you think that we can stimulate growth through temporary incentives?

    [Long pause]

    Chance the Gardener: As long as the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden.

    President "Bobby": In the garden.

    Chance the Gardener: Yes. In the garden, growth has it seasons. First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again.

    Were Obama’s slogans (Hope and Change; Yes, We Can; We Are The Ones We Have Been Waiting For) any more profound? What did this gibberish even mean? Yet his simple TV-informed phrases were praised for their profundity.

    If “tastes great, less filling” can sell beer, why can’t a presidency be sold that way as well?<<<

    http://www.americanthinker.com/2014/05/the_embeing_thereem_president.html

    Wonderful, wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  19. “The government would have to give up the ghost on seeking the death penalty, the sentence being life in an institution instead of in jail [with the rest of the prison population] without the possibility of parole, ... That's the only guilty plea that would be acceptable.” - Andrew Napolitano

    ReplyDelete
  20. “It's a rough-and-tumble, swaggering electorate who like to see the guilty punished to the max, ...
    I don't know that a plea deal is in the cards. It depends on the political wishes of the prosecutor.”
    - Andrew Napolitano

    ReplyDelete
  21. “The jury found that she is not a danger to anybody else, that she’s so crazy she couldn’t hurt a fly in jail,” - Andrew Napolitano.

    ReplyDelete
  22. As Andrew Napolitano plainly states, it is the jury that is the citizen's first line of defense defense against tyrants.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Andrew Napolitano doesn't even mention tyrants in your quotes, Anon.

      Delete

  23. “We must all hang together or we will surely hang separately.”

    ReplyDelete
  24. "Electricity is a Wonderful Thing."

    Rufus

    ReplyDelete
  25. "Fly fishing is the Prince of Sports"

    bobbo

    ReplyDelete
  26. "Running water is a wonderful thing."

    bobbo

    ReplyDelete
  27. Renewable sources contributed 27% of Germany’s domestic electricity in the first quarter of 2014. In windy Schleswig-Holstein, which obtained 90% of its energy from renewable sources in 2013, residents hope to reach 100% this year. The role played by fossil fuels and the nuclear sectors is shrinking. Contrary to what naysayers have been predicting, Germany’s Energiewende is very much alive and on track.

    Schleswig-Holstein (dark green) – by David Liuzzo, CC by SA 2.0, en Wikipedia
    Schleswig-Holstein (dark green) – by David Liuzzo, CC BY-SA 2.0

    The biggest “winners” in the first quarter were solar power, whose overall production was up 82.5%, and offshore wind, up 33%.

    Natural gas production was down 19.7%, hard coal down 17.4%, and nuclear energy down 4.6%.

    The biggest story is from Schleswig-Holstein, where the addition of 1.1 GW of wind capacity has made it possible to achieve 100% renewable electricity. Robert Habek, the little state’s Minister of Energy, said that will happen if this year’s wind yields are at least average.

    “Over the next 10 years Schleswig-Holstein expects to increase the share of renewable energy sources in the gross electricity consumption to 300%, meeting 8% of the total German . . . . . .

    Facts is facts, Numbers is numbers

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fact talks, bull shit walks.

      Delete
    2. And rufus has the facts, no doubt about that.

      Delete
  28. Boom: Q1 GDP revised downward to -1.0%
    POSTED AT 9:09 AM ON MAY 29, 2014 BY ED MORRISSEY

    Share on Facebook 69 140 SHARES
    For the first time in three years, the American economy contracted over the course of a quarter. In the interim report on GDP, the BEA estimates that the US economy shrunk by a full point in 2014 Q1, a downward revision of the advance estimate of 0.1% growth:

    Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States — decreased at an annual rate of 1.0 percent in the first quarter according to the “second” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter, real GDP increased 2.6 percent.

    The GDP estimate released today is based on more complete source data than were available for the “advance” estimate issued last month. In the advance estimate, real GDP was estimated to have increased 0.1 percent. With this second estimate for the first quarter, the decline in private inventory investment was larger than previously estimated (see “Revisions” on page 3).

    The decrease in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected negative contributions from private inventory investment, exports, nonresidential fixed investment, state and local government spending, and residential fixed investment that were partly offset by a positive contribution from personal consumption expenditures. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.
    Don’t blame federal budget cuts for this contraction, or the weather either. Federal government spending rose 0.7% after dropping 12.8% in Q4, although state government spending fell by 1.8%. Exports fell by 6.0%, a sharp drop in any sense and a remarkable reversal from +9.5% in Q4, and real non-residential fixed investment dropped 1.6%.

    Not all of the news was bad, though. Real personal consumption expenditures (consumer spending) rose 3.1% in Q1, almost the same level as in Q4 (3.3%). The real final sales of domestic product, which are sales to end-user consumers, rose 0.6% — much lower than Q4′s 2.7%, but still positive. However, growth in real gross domestic purchases was entirely flat (0.0%) after a stagnation reading in Q4 of 1.6%.

    http://hotair.com/archives/2014/05/29/boom-q1-gdp-revised-downward-to-1-0/

    ReplyDelete
  29. Judge Napolitano voices his opinion about 1st Amendment and Jury Nullification
    He is a STRONG SUPPORTER of both

    Jury Nullification -
    Judge Napolitano Scolds Florida Judge for Free Speech Violations

    ReplyDelete
  30. In a remarkable affirmation of the US Constitution and the role of the Jury as a bulwark against tyranny ..

    -Anniversary of Jury Nullification in Camden 28 Trial

    63 days after the trial began and nearly two years after their direct action the fate of the Camden 28 would be settled by their jury. On 20 May 1973, concluding an historic trial, the jury who had listened and deliberated over the case for two months declared each and every one of the defendants Not Guilty on every count against them. This jury exercised its right of jury nullification to vacate more than 100 charges en masse in this single trial.

    Subsequent to this abject defeat in court, the government dropped charges against the other defendants who had been severed from this trial. Supreme Court Justice William Brendan would refer to the Camden 28 as “one of the great trials of the 20th century.” Just months after the close of the trial, the U.S. would end its military involvement in Vietnam.

    ReplyDelete

  31. The Supreme Court affirms the importance of JURY NULLIFICATION in the Constitutional system of the United States of America.

    Function of Juries & Jury Nullification-
    -Supreme Court Upholds Prohibition on Double Jeopardy


    ... more good news today for the future of the jury and their power of jury nullification. This morning the United States Supreme Court reaffirmed in no uncertain terms in its ruling in Martinez v. Illinois one of the key elements in our legal system that are the foundation for jurors’ ability to conscientiously acquit through jury nullification: the prohibition against retrying a defendant for a crime of which he has been acquitted, also known as “double jeopardy”.

    ReplyDelete
  32. We're in a 2% (at best) growth economy. It's as simple as that. There is not enough energy coming online for the China to grow 7%, and the U.S. to grow 3% - even if Europe stays slightly negative, or, at best, even.

    As a result, China cheats on our trade agreement, and we whine, file trade grievances, and wait (years.)

    ReplyDelete
  33. Jury Nullification, found to be essential to the security of a free state and the liberty of its people

    Fifth Circuit Re-Affirms Jury Nullification

    United State of America v. Juan Agudin Salazar (.pdf)

    Juan Salazar was charged with multiple drug and gun violations. At trial, the government presented overwhelming evidence of guilt; against the advice of counsel, Salazar decided to testify and confessed to all of the crimes charged. At the trial’s conclusion, believing no factual issue remained for the jury, the district court instructed the jury “to go back and find the Defendant guilty.” Because the Sixth Amendment safeguards even an obviously guilty defendant’s right to have a jury decide guilt or innocence, we vacate the conviction and remand.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Looks like the jury found them not guilty.

    "the jury who had listened and deliberated over the case for two months declared each and every one of the defendants Not Guilty on every count against them"

    Nothing unusual about this. Happens frequently. It's called a trial by jury.

    Jury nullification means a jury goes about making up its own laws, or declares invalid laws that are on the books.

    This is the job of the legislature and not a jury.

    ReplyDelete
  35. rat desperately needs a court order to force him to undergo a mental exam.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No one in their right mind would want to nullify such an order.

      Delete
    2. What rat is really digging around for here is the idea that he himself can be the judge, jury, legislature and executive all wrapped up into one screwed up package, simply because he has been called for jury duty.

      Delete
    3. Ad hominem arguments against a fictional 'strawman' are now Anon's preferred tool.
      Ad hominem arguments are used by people who have run out of real arguments
      (or were unable to understand someone else's opinion in the first place).

      It's so much easier to just attack another person instead of attacking his arguments
      (especially if the other person is right.)


      Nothing sadder than a withered heart

      Delete
  36. Judge Andrew Napolitano on Nullification

    Judge Napolitano speaks on nullification of illegal federal usurpation at the Von Mises Institute. Tom Woods is in the audience. States created the federal government, and gave the federal government certain limited powers. States have a duty to control the federal government’s use of those power.

    Thomas Jefferson said: “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” I add: “The battle for freedom is never won & never lost. It always continues. It is never too late, & never soon enough to defend freedom. No matter how enslaved we are we always have hope. No matter how free we are we are never safe.
    NOTHING EVER LIMITS GOVERNMENT EXCEPT PEOPLE.

    Any generation that fails to defend freedom will lose it.”

    John Perna When the defense of liberty becomes a crime, tyranny is already in force.
    At that point, failure to defend liberty makes slavery at certainty.


    John Perna Watch the rest of the videos on this channel johnperna2 to make this clear. johnperna2 channel: www.youtube.com - See more at: http://freedomuptime.com/2012/09/23/judge-andrew-napolitano-on-nullification/#sthash.rFJ83rN2.dpuf

    ReplyDelete
  37. Jury Nullification Becomes Law In New Hampshire

    “There is nothing novel about the principle and practice of jury nullification, which dictates that citizen juries have the right and authority to rule both on the facts of a case, and the validity of a given law. This is widely recognized in judicial precedents in both American history and in Anglo-Saxon common law dating back to the Magna Carta (or earlier). At the time of the American founding it was well and widely understood that the power of citizen juries–both grand and petit–was plenary, and that their chief function was to force the government to prove its case against a defendant–and the validity of the law in question.”

    Grigg also writes, “The fact that the right to a trial by a jury of one’s peers, which is supposedly sacrosanct, has become all but extinct illustrates the extent to which the U.S. ‘justice’ system has become Sovietized.”


    The Fascist always wants to limit the power of the citizens. It is in their nature

    ReplyDelete
  38. Show where Judge Napolitano says a jury can make or nullify laws.

    Can a jury nullify a law against killing blacks?

    Does the Judge say this?

    Can a jury create a law legalizing the killing of whites?

    If he says that then you are looking at a judge that is out of his mind.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Watch the videos.

      The Fascist always wants to limit the power of the citizens. It is in their nature

      Delete
    2. Show us where he says you should shoot a Judge to preserve liberty.
      Any video, any quote, from anywhere.

      Show us where he says revolution is preferable to jury nullification


      The Fascist always wants to limit the power of the citizens. It is in their nature


      Delete
    3. http://freedomwatch.uservoice.com/forums/16625-freedom-watch-show-ideas/suggestions/171020-jury-nullification

      Freedom Watch with the Judge ...

      that would be Judge Napolitano.

      Delete
  39. Ben Swann-Liberty Is Rising
    November 5, 2013 ·

    Very important... jury nullification is how we ended prohibition. I've posted on this topic before, but it's really the last line of defense for fellow patriots to help one another out. Contrary to whatever instructions you are given by the "system", you have every right to judge both the law, and the person. If the law supports imprisonment for victimless crimes, then it needs to go. Acquit your fellow countrymen/women. If there is no victim, there is no crime. We need to get our freedoms, and country, back. Say no to unjust statutory laws. NULLIFY!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. it's really the last line of defense for fellow patriots

      Delete
  40. "If the jury feels the law is unjust, we recognize the undisputed power of the jury to acquit, even if its verdict is contrary to the law as given by a judge, and contrary to the evidence... If the jury feels that the law under which the defendant is accused is unjust, or that exigent circumstances justified the actions of the accused, or for any reason which appeals to their logic or passion, the jury has the power to acquit, and the courts must abide by that decision." United States v. Moylan, 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, 1969, 417 F.2d at 1006.
    www.fija.org

    JURY RIGHTS
    "The jury has a right to judge both the law as well as the fact in controversy."
    John Jay, 1st Chief Justice

    United States supreme Court, 1789
    "The jury has the right to determine both the law and the facts."
    Samuel Chase, U.S. supreme Court Justice,

    1796, Signer of the unanimous Declaration
    "the jury has the power to bring a verdict in the teeth of both law and fact."
    Oliver Wendell Holmes,

    U.S. supreme Court Justice, 1902
    "The law itself is on trial quite as much as the cause which is to be decided."
    Harlan F. Stone, 12th Chief Justice

    U.S. supreme Court, 1941
    "The pages of history shine on instance of the jury's exercise of its prerogative to disregard instructions of the judge..."
    U.S.vs Dougherty, 473 F 2nd 113, 1139, (1972)
    LAW OF THE LAND
    The general misconception is that any statute passed by legislators bearing the appearance of law constitutes the law of the land. The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and any statute, to be valid, must be in agreement. It is impossible for a law which violates the Constitution to be valid. This is succinctly stated as follows:
    "All laws which are repugnant to the Constitution are null and void. "
    Marbury vs Madison, 5 US (2 Cranch) 137, 174, 176, (1803)
    "Where rights secured by the Constitution are involved, there can be no rule making or legislation which would abrogate them quote;
    Miranda vs Arizona, 384 US 436 p. 491.
    "An unconstitutional act is not law; it confers no right; it imposes no duties; affords no protection; it creates no office; it is in legal contemplation, as inoperative as though it had never been passed."
    Norton vs Shelby County118 US 425 p.442
    "The general rule is that an unconstitutional statute, though having the form and the name of law, in in reality no law, but is wholly void, and ineffective for any purpose; since unconstitutionality dates from the time of its enactment, and not merely from the date of the decision so branding it.
    No one is bound to obey an unconstitutional law and no courts are bound to enforce it."
    16th American Jurisprudence 2d, Section 177
    late 2nd, Section 256

    Anonymous wants us to abandon the Constitution and take up arms against it.

    The Fascist always wants to limit the power of the citizens. It is in their nature

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://freedomwatch.uservoice.com/forums/16625-freedom-watch-show-ideas/suggestions/171020-jury-nullification

      Delete
  41. Some moron here who wants to lead a militia was arguing the other day that the right to keep and bear arms was a collective right, and not an individual right.

    >>>>District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), was a landmark case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held in a 5-4 decision that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution applies to federal enclaves and protects an individual's right to possess a firearm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home. The decision did not address the question of whether the Second Amendment extends beyond federal enclaves to the states,[1] which was addressed later by McDonald v. Chicago (2010). It was the first Supreme Court case to decide whether the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense.[2]

    On June 26, 2008, the Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Heller v. District of Columbia.[3][4] The Supreme Court struck down provisions of the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 as unconstitutional, determined that handguns are "arms" for the purposes of the Second Amendment, found that the Regulations Act was an unconstitutional ban, and struck down the portion of the Regulations Act that requires all firearms including rifles and shotguns be kept "unloaded and disassembled or bound by a trigger lock." "Prior to this decision the Firearms Control Regulation Act of 1975 also restricted residents from owning handguns except for those registered prior to 1975."[5]<<<<

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_v._Heller


    5 to 4, close call


    hooray we can have guns to protect ourselves from marauding militias commanded by rats

    ReplyDelete
  42. Judge Andrew Napolitano:
    ...when you look at the US Constitution, when you look at the history of human freedom, when you accept the American value of the primacy of the individual over the fleeting wishes of the government, ...


    The Fascist always wants to limit the power of the citizens. It is in their nature

    ReplyDelete
  43. "What this country needs is a chicken in every pot and a trillion dollar platinum coin in every savings account."

    President Chauncy

    ReplyDelete
  44. Replies
    1. If the Federal Government gets it power from the States, and the States can 'nullify, where then do the States get their power, but from the People. It follows as night follows day, then, that the People can nullify the State.

      Or Judge Napolitano is "Wrong" about most everything he says.

      That is for the reader to decide, but ...
      Bob has, in past, supported Judge Napolitano and has sung his praises.
      Off key, admittedly, but sung them none the less


      The Fascist always wants to limit the power of the citizens. It is in their nature

      Delete
  45. "The desire to become God, and run a militia, is far from becoming God, or even running a militia."

    President Chauncy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now what the above comment has to do with the US legal system, we leave for the reader to decide.


      The Fascist always wants to limit the power of the citizens. It is in their nature

      Delete
  46. #Bring Back
    Rat-free Blogging

    Hash Tag

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ad hominem arguments against a fictional 'strawman' are now Anon's preferred tool.

      Delete
  47. Ever since I've been using Dr. Sabaueu's Anti-Aging Cream my pores seem so much smaller and are impacted with some kind of banana crap.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Eighty Seven But Look Thirty ThreeThu May 29, 12:40:00 PM EDT

      You need Dr. Milieu's Natural Pore Cleanser, My Dear Twenty Something.

      I'm 87 but look 33, and sweat like a pig.

      Delete
    2. Sharp Shooter Militia LadyThu May 29, 12:45:00 PM EDT

      I use Shooter's Choice Gun Cleaning Fluid on my skin, gals.

      My skin is as smooth as the bore of a new out of the box 20 gauge, and my boy friend loves to sight me in.

      Delete
    3. I use Natural Rat 80/40 Nasal Goo on my skin and I'm a slick whistle.

      Delete
  48. Madonna Without ChildThu May 29, 01:04:00 PM EDT

    For me, girls, it's Chakra One 2nd Day Body Fluid.

    Works faster than jury nullification and lasts longer too..

    ReplyDelete
  49. Jay Carney is taking a beating today but he's hanging in there and the buck never seems to stop with Obama.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The bucks flow right to the banksters at the Federal Reserve.

      Delete
    2. The Federal Government paying interest to private banksters for the money the government allows them to create out of thin air ...

      Delete
    3. It's a scandal. If we had trillion dollar platinum coins we'd all be better off. There is no interest with trillion dollar platinums. Just mint them up and mail them out.

      Delete
    4. Then we'd all be rich, and no more welfare payments.

      Delete
  50. I feel I'm at a transgender tipping point, myself.

    What's your answer to that?

    Trillion dollar platinum coins?

    ReplyDelete
  51. NYC Battling Rat 'Epidemic'...

    'They're taking over, it's madness'.......drudge

    ReplyDelete
  52. Mark Pryor shoots himself in the head -

    Mark Pryor: I don’t think Shinseki should go because … I’m not convinced this problem is big enough yet

    POSTED AT 4:01 PM ON MAY 29, 2014 BY ALLAHPUNDIT


    Via the Standard, I need to correct the record. Yesterday I predicted that Pryor would join the mob of red-state Democrats frantically pushing Shinseki under the bus to protect themselves. I wrongly assumed that leaving 1,700 vets in Phoenix to twist in the wind on a secret wait list — a scheduling problem the IG explicitly said was “systemic” — would qualify as a firing offense, especially considering Shinseki had five years to right this ship. Not to Pryor, apparently. He needs to see more before his conscience is sufficiently troubled to pull the plug.

    I regret the error.

    Seriously, am I reading this wrong?

    Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor says he’s outraged by treatment delays for military veterans — but isn’t ready to call for Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to step down over the issue.

    The two-term lawmaker from Arkansas told reporters Thursday that he wants more information on how widespread the systemic problems that an inspector general’s report revealed about the VA. Pryor said he also wants to know whether similar problems exist at Arkansas’ veterans’ facilities.

    He’s outraged, but … not quite outraged enough to give someone else a shot at reforming this Kafkaesque bureaucracy before other veterans die while waiting for treatment. This is the same guy who accused Tom Cotton of having a sense of political “entitlement” because he served in Iraq. (It’s an amazing show of balls by Pryor, who owes his own Senate seat to his father’s high name recognition in Arkansas, to accuse anyone else of entitlement.) Old CW in Arkansas: Is Mark Pryor too liberal for a red state? New CW in Arkansas: Does Mark Pryor have brain damage?

    The weirdest part of this is that Shinseki is almost certainly headed for removal. Watch, for example, as Jay Carney dances around repeated questions about whether Obama still has confidence in the VA chief. Unless the IG shocks the world by issuing a follow-up report that says problems at the VA aren’t systemic after all, Shinseki’s on borrowed time. Why wouldn’t Pryor want to get out in front of it by abandoning ship now?

    http://hotair.com/archives/2014/05/29/mark-pryor-i-dont-think-shinseki-should-go-because-im-not-convinced-this-problem-is-big-enough-yet/


    Big gift to Tall Tom Cotton

    ReplyDelete
  53. The Effectiveness of the Federal Reserve System

    Inflation Calculator
    If in 1913 you purchased an item for $ 20
    then in 2013 that same item would cost: $ 478.93
    Cumulative rate of inflation: 2294.7%

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

      The U.S. Congress established three key objectives for monetary policy in the Federal Reserve Act: Maximum employment, stable prices, (The first two objectives are sometimes referred to as the Federal Reserve's dual mandate) and moderate long-term interest rates.

      Cumulative rate of inflation since the encactment of the Federal Reserve Act = 2,294.7%
      Stable Prices = FAIL

      Maximum Employment = Forbes.com - the “U-6″ rate, - the nation’s unemployment rate: 14.3%. = FAIL

      Yet some amongst us still do not understand these salient facts.

      You can't fix stupid.

      Delete
    2. While I will not argue with your numbers, I think they oversimplify things. We no longer buy the same things that we did in 1913. How many billions of dollars would my simple computer be worth if we could travel back in time? On the other hand, because of various policies including those of the Fed, one pound of beans, worth a few cents at most both then and now, cost nearly $3.00.

      Yesterday, I saw some slides having to do with the sale of Katherine Hepburn's home. At the time it was constructed in 1913, construction costs were less than $2,500 dollars. It was a large house. The present seller wants about $15 million for the rennovated property, minus two acres that was part of the original estate. Now, all sorts of things have happened in the last century that make a meaningful comparison impossible; however, real estate bubbles must play some part in the "appreciation".

      Delete
    3. Don’t go that far back. Take an iPhone and calculate what a VCR, home video camera, telephone, digital radio encryption center, color television, answering service, super computer and free software including spread sheets, word processors, photoshop, state of the art encyclopedia, research library, graphics center and GPS would have cost 20 years ago.

      Delete
    4. allen, it is a blog, there are a few paragraphs and lines to paint a broad outline of a situation.
      Is it 'correct' in every instance, most likely not.
      Does it illustrate the abject failure o the Federal Reserve System to provide for 'stable prices', definitely so.

      Just the price of gold, which was controlled by the government until the 1970s
      In 1913 an once of gold sold for $18.92 per troy ounce.
      In 2013 that same troy ounce of gold sold for $1204.
      $18.92 times 2,294.7% = $434
      $18.92 times 6300% - $1,191

      Look at the long term price stability of gold, prior to the Federal Reserve Act of 1913
      http://www.nma.org/pdf/gold/his_gold_prices.pdf
      and compare it to the escalation since.

      It is indicative of the failure of the Federal Reserve to fulfill its mandate

      Delete
    5. 1913 is the beginning of the Federal Reserve System and when it must be judged from, jus because it is an abysmal record does not mean we should grade it on a curve.

      Delete
    6. When I brought to my daughter's attention the initial cost of the Hepburn estate, she immediately observed the depreciation of the dollar. Some days, life is sweet. :-)

      Delete
    7. Deuce,

      You make an excellent point. I was doubled with pain when my wife gave me the price of our fully loaded 8mm video camera (obsolete within a few years). For the cost of our new Gateway computer system in the 90s, I could have put in a new bath. And there was the disc fed digital camera, for whch I am still responsible for having the contents of hundreds of discs converted to...heck if I know.

      Delete
  54. http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/22/54-years-of-real-interest-rates/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

    A graph tha illustrates interest rate volitility 1959 through present - spread is 12.5% to to bottom.
    Federal Reserve Act - moderate long-term interest rates - that = FAIL.


    You can't fix stupid.

    ReplyDelete
  55. The truth is that Bob really does not want Rat Free Blogging ...
    What he really wants is

    Fact Free Blogging

    ReplyDelete
  56. Bob wants free trillion dollar platinum coins for all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We need to keep up with inflation.

      Delete
  57. The secret to financial success is to live, not within your means, but below your means.

    ReplyDelete
  58. This means you can save money.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Just-released Civitas Institute (NC) poll: Tillis 39, Hagan 36, Haugh (Lib) 8. Tillis 46-41 w/o 3d party candidate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AR (Ras): Cotton 47, Pryor 43

      Delete
    2. Comedy from Bob-
      39+36+8=83
      46+41=87

      You can't fix stupid

      Delete
    3. You're an idiot Anon.

      Delete
    4. I know I'm an idiot, Anon. Why remind me?

      Delete
    5. Because you can't fix stupid.

      Delete
    6. Then I'll quit reminding you.

      Delete
    7. Doubt that'll happen.

      Delete
  60. After IG Report Confirms VA Horrors, Carney Says There Will Be Accountability "If" Allegations Are True

    Katie Pavlich | May 29, 2014


    Less than 24 hours after a preliminary Veterans Affairs Inspector General report showed that not only was there widespread misconduct and excruciatingly long wait times at hospitals for veterans, but that the problem is worse than first reported, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said President Obama will wait for a broader review before making any further personnel decisions about the VA, specifically when it comes to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki. Shinseki has been asked to resign by Republicans, Democrats and a number of veterans groups, including the American Legion.

    "I'm not going to speculate about personnel [at the VA]," Carney said.

    When asked if the President still had full confidence in Shinseki Carney refused to answer with a yes or no, but reminded reporters the Secretary has been put on probation.

    "The President believes and is confidence Secretary Shinseki has heroically served his country as a solider," Carney said.

    On the issue of accountability, Carney stressed that President Obama is committed to accountability if in fact allegations of misconduct are proven to be true. Again, allegations were proven true yesterday through an Inspector General report

    http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2014/05/29/carney-briefing-n1844960?utm_source=BreakingOnTownhallWidget_4&utm_medium=story&utm_campaign=BreakingOnTownhall

    ReplyDelete
  61. allegations were proven true yesterday through an Inspector General report

    No, in the US Constitutional system allegations are proven in Courts, in front of juries.It is in tyrannies where the defendants are no permitted to face their accusers that 'reports' are taken as factual evidence, without chance for rebuttal, in front of a jury.

    Fascists do not trust juries.

    ReplyDelete
  62. You idiot, Anon, it is not yet a criminal investigation.

    Perhaps it should be and may be some fine day.

    At the present time it is an investigation into the skill and competence with which the VA is being run.

    It is currently political, not criminal, if you know the difference.

    You are an idiot, Anon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anon wants to command a militia.........

      Delete
    2. Then there is no proof, there are only more allegations, made in an Inspector General's report.
      .
      Bob's sloppy language is indicative of sloppy thinking. I assume it is Bob's sloppy thinking, that he has paraphrased the referenced article. If Bob was to ignorant to italicize quotes, then he is stupid

      You can't fix stupid

      Delete
    3. In none of the definitions are allegations sufficient to be 'proof'

      proof
        Use Proof in a sentence
      proof
      [proof] Show IPA
      noun
      1.
      evidence sufficient to establish a thing as true, or to produce belief in its truth.
      2.
      anything serving as such evidence: What proof do you have?
      3.
      the act of testing or making trial of anything; test; trial: to put a thing to the proof.
      4.
      the establishment of the truth of anything; demonstration.
      5.
      Law. (in judicial proceedings) evidence having probative weight.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous is making Ad hominem arguments against a strawman.

      You can't fix stupid

      Delete
    5. Referencing - AnonymousThu May 29, 11:34:00 PM EDT

      Anon wants to command a militia.........


      You can't fix stupid

      Delete
  63. If you want to get a jury involved, you got to get the FBI or some law enforcement agency involved first. And, it's always nice to actually get someone with the proper authority to actually charge somebody with something if you want a jury to decide a criminal charge. These are known as 'legal niceties'.

    This does not refer to nice ties, like around the neck, but to proper procedure in a legal sense.

    The IG's report contains plenty of 'proof', even in the sense you list above, to show that further action is needed, at least of a political kind.

    And, Anon, you have presented proof beyond a reasonable doubt that you are an idiot.

    There is no crime in that, but sometimes Anon you make some feel there should be.


    ReplyDelete
  64. Like when he offered up the crack pot idea of minting up Trillion Dollar Coins to solve the national debt?

    ReplyDelete
  65. Yes, Anon, that is one example.

    There are dozens of others.

    ReplyDelete