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Tiger Found Shot to Death in Dallas on Christmas Day
Jan 1, 2008

 just took action to stop people from breeding tigers as pets and thought you might want to do the same.  You can even send a YouTube video message about it there!

Click on this URL to take action now
http://capwiz.com/bigcatrescue/utr/2/?a=10730941&i=1234&c=

If your email program does not recognize the URL as a link,
copy the entire URL and paste it into your Web browser.
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Posted: Jan 1, 2008 11:35pm
"The fuel for a fire is in place".
Jan 18, 2007
Global Research Feature Article




Iran: Pieces in Place for Escalation
"The fuel for a fire is in place".

by Colonel Sam Gardiner

Global Research, January 16, 2007
The Left Coaster - 2007-01-14

Editorial Note

The following text by Colonel Sam Gardiner (USAF, Retired) confirms our worst fears. The US is in an advanced state of readiness to wage war on Iran.

To reverse the tide requires a massive campaign of networking and outreach to inform people across the land, nationally and internationally, in neighborhoods, workplaces, parishes, schools, universities, municipalities, on the dangers of a US sponsored war, which contemplates the use of nuclear weapons. The message should be loud and clear:  It is not Iran which is a threat to global security but the United States of America and Israel.  Even without the use of nukes, the proposed aerial bombardments could result in escalation, ultimately leading us into a broader war in the Middle East.  

Debate and discussion must also take place within the Military and Intelligence community, particularly with regard to the use of tactical nuclear weapons, within the corridors of the US Congress, in municipalities and at all levels of government. Ultimately, the legitimacy of the political and military actors in high office must be challenged.

The corporate media also bears a heavy responsibility for the cover-up of US sponsored war crimes. It must also be forcefully challenged for its biased coverage of the Middle East war. 

What is needed is to break the conspiracy of silence, expose the media lies and distortions, confront the criminal nature of the US Administration and of those governments which support it, its war agenda as well as its so-called "Homeland Security agenda" which has already defined the contours of a police State.

The World is at the crossroads of the most serious crisis in modern history. The US  has embarked on a military adventure, "a long war", which threatens the future of humanity.  It is essential to bring the US war project to the forefront of political debate, particularly in North America and Western Europe. Political and military leaders who are opposed to the war must take a firm stance, from within their respective institutions. Citizens must take a stance individually and collectively against war.


Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, 16 January 2006


I do not accept the notion that the first casualty of war is truth. (Col. Sam Gardiner)

 




The pieces are moving.  They’ll be in place by the end of February.  The United States will be able to escalate military operations against Iran.

     The second carrier strike group leaves the U.S. west coast on Tuesday.  It will be joined by naval mine clearing assets from both the United States and the UK.  Patriot missile defense systems have also been ordered to deploy to the Gulf.

     Maybe as a guard against North Korea seeing operations focused on Iran as a chance to be aggressive, a squadron of F-117 stealth fighters has just been deployed to Korea.

     This has to be called escalation.  We have to remind ourselves, just as Iran is supporting groups inside Iraq, the United States is supporting groups inside Iran.  Just as Iran has special operations troops operating inside Iraq, we’ve read the United States has special operations troops operating inside Iran.

     Just as Iran is supporting Hamas, two weeks ago we found out the United States is supporting arms for Abbas.  Just as Iran and Syria are supporting Hezbollah in Lebanon we’re now learning the White House has approved a finding to allow the CIA to support opposition groups inside Lebanon.  Just as Iran is supporting Syria, we’ve learned recently that the United States is going to fund Syrian opposition groups.

     We learned this week the President authorized an attack on the Iranian liaison office in Irbil. 

     The White House keeps saying there are no plans to attack Iran.  Obviously, the facts suggest otherwise.  Equally as clear, the Iranians will read what the Administrations is doing not what it is saying.

     It is possible the White House strategy is just implementing a strategy to put pressure on Iran on a number of fronts, and this will never amount to anything.  On the other hand, if the White House is on a path to strike Iran, we’ll see a few more steps unfold.

     First, we know there is a National Security Council staff-led group whose mission is to create outrage in the world against Iran.  Just like before Gulf II, this media group will begin to release stories to sell a strike against Iran.  Watch for the outrage stuff.

     The Patriot missiles going to the GCC states are only part of the missile defense assets.  I would expect to see the deployment of some of the European-based missile defense assets to Israel, just as they were before Gulf II.

     I would expect deployment of additional USAF fighters into the bases in Iraq, maybe some into Afghanistan.

     I think we will read about the deployment of some of the newly arriving Army brigades going into Iraq being deployed to the border with Iran.  Their mission will be to guard against any Iranian movements into Iraq.

     As one of the last steps before a strike, we’ll see USAF tankers moved to unusual places, like Bulgaria.  These will be used to refuel the US-based B-2 bombers on their strike missions into Iran.  When that happens, we’ll only be days away from a strike.

     The White House could be telling the truth.  Maybe there are no plans to take Iran to the next level. The fuel for a fire is in place, however.  All we need is a spark.  The danger is that we have created conditions that could lead to a Greater Middle East War.  

[emphasis added by Global Research]



Sam Gardiner is a Retired Air Force Colonel. He is an expert in military strategy. He has taught at the National War College. He has also taught at the Air War College, the Naval War College and as  visiting scholar at the Swedish Defense College. His  Truth In These Podia (pdf) explains the propaganda methods used by the Pentagon to "sell the war".

See also the following 2005 Global Research review article on Sam Gardiner's analysis of the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Influence:  America's Ministry of Propaganda Exposed, Downing Street Memo is but the Tip of the Iceberg, by Gar Smith
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Posted: Jan 18, 2007 10:26am
The Fed's Role in the Housing Crash of '07
Jan 13, 2007
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article16104.htm
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Posted: Jan 13, 2007 9:29pm
America (vs) Israel in The End Times
Oct 29, 2006

Dr Angel K.

America (vs) Israel in The End Times -
 
Israel is the major topic of the Bible. The word "Israel" occurs 2,565 times in 2,293 verses. More than enough prophecies have already been fulfilled in Israel's unique history to prove that "the God of Israel"  (203 times) is the true God.

In Zechariah 12:2-3, He declares:

"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it."

This is an amazing prophecy not only that Jerusalem, which was then in ruins, would become a burden to the whole world, but that all of Israel's neighbors would be united against her. They have fought one another in the past. Yet today, for the first time in history, "all the people round about her" are united by Islam to destroy Israel.

Sad, isn't it?

For more than 50 years, Israel's neighbors have launched surprise attacks against her and she has proved too strong militarily, even though they outnumber her forty to one.


God said, "I [will] make...Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood…and they shall devour all the people round about…" (Zech 12:6).

Soundly defeated every time, her Muslim neighbors feign a desire for peace, hoping to deceive and ultimately destroy her— a strategy established by Muhammad.

The real battle is not between Arabs and Jews, but between Allah and Jesus. There is no question of the outcome, but it will be costly for both sides: Israel will be severely punished for rebellion, and her enemies will be destroyed.

Exactly as foretold, Jerusalem is a burden to all people of the world. More than 60,000 individual votes have been cast in the UN against Israel. This tiny nation with one 1,000th of the world's population has occupied one-third of the United Nations' time— for all intent and purpose-a burden indeed!

At least according to them.

Skeptics accuse Christians of trying to fit current events to the Bible, claiming that no one recognized such prophecies until Israel was formed in 1948.
On the contrary, for centuries most evangelical Christians have preached from the Bible the return of the Jews to their own land.
Even John Owen, a leading Calvinist, wrote in the 17th century: "The Jews shall be gathered...into their homeland."
 
This was also the opinion of the poet John Milton, of John Bunyan, Roger Williams, Oliver Cromwell, and many others.

Martin Luther wrote: "If the Jews are Abraham's descendants…[they should be] back in their own land [with] a state of their own. But…[they are] scattered and despised." 

But today the Jews are back in their own land after 2,500 years of being scattered worldwide, speaking Hebrew just as King David did 3,000 years ago. No other people have returned to reestablish their own nation and language after being cast out of their land for such a period of time.

Some prophecies applicable only to our day are frightening, foretelling God's judgment.

The language is often graphic:

"If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies...my sword shall devour flesh…" (Dt 32:41,42).

"For, behold, the LORD will come…to render his anger with fury...by his sword..." (Is 66:15,16).

"And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other…they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried...." (Jer 25:33)

The question is often asked as to whether the United States (or Canada, Australia, et) is in Bible prophecy.

Of course!

Scripture declares that every nation in the world will join together to invade Israel in the last days and be destroyed in the battle of Armageddon: "I will gather all nations [surely all includes America] against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken….Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations…" (Zech 12:9; 14:2-4).

But wouldn't the United States be spared for being Israel's friend? In fact, the U.S. State Department has often been against Israel.

This was true in the Yom Kippur War. In a sneak attack (October 1973), 80,000 Egyptians overwhelmed 500 Israeli defenders along the Suez and 1,400 Syrian tanks swept down the Golan with only one Israeli tank in service to oppose them. Israel was taken by surprise. Most of her armed forces were on holiday. The initial success of the attackers so electrified the Arab world that nine other Arab states rushed to get in on the slaughter.

Historian David A. Rausch writes: "Jordan's King Hussein sent two of his best armored brigades to Syria. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait financially underwrote the huge cost while sending thousands of troops to fight the Israelis. Kuwait lent her British-made Lightning jets to Egypt. Libya's Muammar Qaddafi turned over forty French-made Mirage III fighters and 100 tanks. Iraqi MiG fighter jets as well as tank and infantry divisions fought on the Golan Heights, while a squadron of Iraqi Hunter jets were utilized by Egypt. Arabs predicted the extermination of the Jewish state and the 'liberation' of Palestine...." 

The Soviet Union blocked any UN attempt at a cease-fire and refortified the Arab forces with armaments and supplies by sea and air. It was the closest Israel ever came to being defeated. But when the war ended, the Israeli tank columns were on the outskirts of Damascus and Cairo and could have taken those cities had they not turned back. Tragically, Israel suffered about 3,000 dead— which would be comparable to the U.S. losing 150,000.

Except for a series of miracles from God, Israel would not have survived.

Where was her friend, the United States then? Dozens of notices were sent to the Nixon White House by America's National Security Administration (NSA) that an Arab Pearl Harbor was about to be launched against Israel. Nixon sat on them. Kissinger hid at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York the day of the attack and waited another three days before convening the UN Security Council. Declining to rush desperately needed military supplies to Israel, the White House said it had to be careful not to upset the Arabs and cause an oil crisis.

Oh really? And is there more?

Yes! Yes indeed- Six years earlier, on June 8, 1967, the fourth morning of the "Six-day War," the USS Liberty, an electronics eavesdropping vessel, arrived off the Sinai coast and began to suck in every Israeli military communication, relaying it all to the British Secret Service's giant computer installation on Cyprus. From there, complete maps of every Israeli military move were transmitted in advance to the Arab armed forces. With that help, the Arabs might have been able to use their overwhelming numerical superiority to turn the tide of the war. Israel had no choice except to sink the Liberty. Of course the media screamed about this "cold-blooded attack." No one believed Israel's public excuse that the Liberty had been mistaken for a hostile Egyptian ship— and neither the U.S. nor Israel has publicly told the truth.

Yes, the United States, too, will attack Israel and will be punished at Armageddon in The End Times.

God declares plainly that He will bring all nations against Israel to destroy them:

"In the latter days...I will bring thee against my land…my fury shall come up in my face…there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel…the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things [on] the earth, and all the men [on] the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence…[all nations] shall know that I am the Lord. (Ezk 38:16-23)

This is terrifying language!

What causes this "great shaking" of the entire planet and every living creature upon it? God is personally coming to earth as He did at Mount Sinai when He gave the Law— and He is going to take vengeance upon the enemies of Israel!

There are two specific reasons for God's judgment:

"I will also gather all nations ...into the valley of Jehoshaphat [between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, where God miraculously destroyed invading nations without Israel lifting a finger (2 Chr 21:10-25)], and will plead with [punish] them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have  scattered among the nations, and parted my land" (Joel 3:2).

Of course, all nations have participated in persecuting and scattering the Jews from country to country for 2,500 years.

The second reason for God's judgment falling on all nations, however, is something that has only occurred within our generation: "they have&helliparted [divided] my land."

Israel has been overrun by invaders many times— but never did any conqueror divide the land. The victor does not share its spoils with others. Since World War I, however, all nations have joined to divide the land of Israel.

The 1917 Balfour Declaration, the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, and the 1922 Declaration of Principles by the League of Nations all recognized that the land that had become known as "Palestine" (since the Romans renamed Israel in A.D. 135) belonged to the Jews. It was set aside to become the national homeland of the Jewish people "internationally guaranteed, and…formally recognized to rest upon ancient historic connection." Of course, history ties Israel to all of "Palestine."

Britain was given the mandate to see that the Jews were safely settled there. The discovery of huge reservoirs of oil under Arab lands caused Britain to keep Jewish immigrants out and let in tens of thousands of Arabs.

Just when millions of Jews desperately needed a haven to which they could flee from Nazi Germany, Britain's 1939 White Paper limited Jewish immigrants to 10,000 per year for a maximum of five years, plus an additional 25,000 "refugees" during that period— then the door to Palestine would be shut entirely to the Jews.

Since the Nazis had marked for extinction 11 million Jews in Europe, the quota of 25,000 defied God and conscience.

A year earlier, President Roosevelt had gathered delegates from 32 countries in Evian, France, to discuss the worsening plight of the Jews. Roosevelt made it clear that the United States would do nothing. Britain said there was no room in Palestine and it was not to be discussed. Professing their great sympathy for Europe's Jews that everyone knew were to be exterminated, the nations offered various excuses why they could do nothing to intervene.

Hitler shrewdly declared, "We...are ready to put all these criminals at the disposal of these countries...even on luxury ships."
When the conference ended with the Jews completely abandoned, Hitler mocked the participants: "It was recently regarded as wholly incomprehensible why Germany did not wish to preserve in its population...the Jews…[yet these] countries seem in no way anxious to [receive them] now that the opportunity offers."

The entire world was Hitler's partner in destroying the Jews! Sickening!

In 1944, Hitler offered to sell to the allies 500,000 Hungarian Jews for $2 each— and no one would take them! England said there was "no room" in Palestine for them! In 1943, Britain and America had agreed to say and do nothing about the Holocaust, fearful that if pressed, Hitler would dump the Jews on his critics. The Allies steadfastly refused the repeated urgent appeals from Jewish organizations to bomb the rail lines going in and out of the extermination camps.

Make No Mistake About It: God will judge all nations!

After the war, a trickle of emaciated survivors of Hitler's death machines sought to reach "Palestine" in half-sinking ships. Some who got within sight of the land God had given to them as an everlasting inheritance (1 Chr 16:15-18) were driven back by the British navy and put into internment camps on Cyprus. Many who did manage to find shelter within what would become the new Jewish State of Israel were rounded up by the British and removed to those camps. Britain created Jordan out of most of the Promised Land. The demise of the British Empire, upon which "the sun never sank," can be counted from the time Britain betrayed the Jews— one more fulfillment of the prophecy, "I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee…" (Gn 12:3).

When the UN finally voted to partition Palestine on November 29, 1947 (UN Res. 181), God's "chosen people" received about 13 percent of the land that had once belonged to them!

Thus Joel's prophecy was fulfilled that all nations would join to divide Israel.

The only part of that prophecy remaining to be fulfilled is the judgment on the nations for having "parted" God's land: "The land shall not be sold [partitioned] for ever; for the land is mine" (Lev 25:23).

God's anger is growing hotter against the nations of this world for robbing Israel of what He gave to her. Yet in continued defiance of God, every peace proposal that the West has imposed upon Israel has involved further dividing of God's land.

On her part, Israel has been willing to give away more and more land in exchange for promises of "peace" from the PLO in spite of the fact that its charter calls for the destruction of Israel and that its maps and those of the entire Arab world do not even acknowledge Israel's existence. The fact that Israel has been forced to do so by the West is no excuse.

For this she will be punished severely in what is called "the time of Jacob's trouble" (Jer 30:7).


Yes, God will deliver her (Israel), but only after two-thirds of all Jews on earth have been killed (Zec 13:8,9).

There is no more appropriate place and way to destroy the nations that have abused Israel than when they, in the spirit of Satan, come to effect once and for all what Hitler called the "final solution to the Jewish problem."

Believers are to meet together to encourage and exhort one another from Scripture, "so much the more, as ye see the day [of judgment] approaching" (Heb 10:25).

 Fulfilled prophecies are heralding That Day in as never before.

Do as God has Commanded us to do: Pray For Israel!
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Posted: Oct 29, 2006 5:34pm
What the Hell is Going on in Colorado?
Aug 20, 2006
Disregard for Humanity . . . and Common Sense

or

What the Hell is Going on in Colorado?

by Bobbi Bartsch Curtis

I must begin this story with a few facts.  Most importantly, this is a true account.  Nothing has been made up or embellished in an attempt to get your attention or to make a point clear.  The outcome of this story is not yet known.  Names have been changed to protect the innocent; in particular, the child who is not quite two years old at the time of this writing (August 13, 2006).  However, the location is factual – I would not want someone to mistake the real locale for another.  Some assumptions have been made, but they are duly noted.

A few years ago, a young man and a young woman fell in love.  They set up housekeeping together and began to plan their future.  The young woman, we’ll call her Laura, became pregnant.  That was when the beatings became serious, probably causing the miscarriage.  We might assume that the young man, we’ll call him Richard, had become comfortable beating on his wife, and the beatings continued.  On different occasions he broke her thumb, broke one of her ribs, chased her down the street in the snow to beat her while she was wearing nothing but a shirt, and threw her in a bathtub and choked her until she quit breathing.  Apparently, when he realized that she was not breathing, it scared him; and he let go of her throat.  Air was then able to reenter her lungs.  She survived.

Over the first couple of years of their relationship, Richard told Laura much about his family’s history.  He would reminisce about the times that he was walking home from school and found his mother trading sex for drugs in the ditch by the side of their house . . . with one of his friends or older siblings of his school buddies.  He told her that, since he was the oldest, he was left to raise his younger siblings since his mother was, in all senses of the phrase, a crack whore.  This started when he was five years old.  He and his siblings had been removed from his mother’s care by the Department of Human Services, beginning when he was 12 years old.  The charges against his mother, we’ll call her Janice, included abuse and neglect.  He had several domestic violence charges against him, some filed by members of his own family including his mother, sister and others.  Laura felt that he had been driven beyond human tolerance by his mother and that Janice had been getting what she deserved.  Laura felt sorry for him and hoped that their relationship would be strong and loving enough to help him restore himself.  Not so.

Richard’s brother, Joseph, moved in with Laura and Richard when his mother threw him out of the house (again) for whatever reason.  Since having a job was not one of Richard’s strong points, Laura supported the three of them.  Again, she heard more of the horror stories of living with Janice.  Laura became close with one of Richard’s cousins, Theresa, who was also vocal about Janice’s unreasonable behavior, including the time Janice had called the Department of Human Services on Theresa for feeding her children a popular variety of frozen dinners designed for children.  During a visit to Janice’s house, Laura was stunned to find out that the local police of Fountain, Colorado, were on a first name basis with all members of the household, and they were curious about whether or not her husband had ever decided to finish high school.

Richard spent some time in jail for DUI’s, domestic violence and other charges.  Laura worked, paid his bail and kept the household “together”.

She became pregnant again.  The beatings continued, and Laura continued to hope that her love would save him.  She’d somehow forgotten about herself.  As was usual, Richard had lost another job by the time the baby was born.  Laura went back to work a week after the birth.  She was working two jobs to make ends meet, and Richard stayed home with their son, Ramon.  When the baby was two and a half months old, Richard went on one of his regular benders, came home in the middle of the night and began beating Laura, as was his habit.  Ramon had been wakened at about 2 AM on several occasions to listen to his mother’s screams as his father took out his pent up aggressions.  However, on this one evening in particular, Ramon had not been asleep when his father came home, and Richard wailed on Laura as she was holding Ramon.  She implored Richard to let her at least put the baby down before he continued.  This was met with more abuse.  When he beat her to the point that she lost consciousness and woke up in the hospital Laura realized that her son was also in danger.  She pressed charges and got a restraining order.  When Ramon was four months old, they moved and hid from Richard. 

So that we all understand, Laura did not have a pristine past.  She was on probation for check fraud and was doing her best to meet all the requirements of her probation, which was shortly coming to an end, having realized, especially after the birth of her son, that she needed to be the provider of all her child’s needs.  She had been making every effort to turn her life around, mostly for her son.

Seven months later, she was picked up on another check fraud charge – not one that she committed.  It seems that a year ago (when she was about seven months pregnant) a girl not matching her description had attempted to pass a stolen check at a retail store.  The clerk had photocopied the woman’s ID and had quite a bit of information concerning the woman, including her foot size since she’d been attempting to purchase shoes.  Laura spent a month and a half in jail while her cousin watched her son.  Due to lack of funds, she was not able to make bail.  She was in jail for her son’s first birthday.  Being away from her son was breaking her heart, so she plea-bargained to a lesser charge and took a new, extended probation in order to go home.  When she was going through the release procedure, the officer handling the paperwork asked her about her alias.  She told him that she didn’t have one, that she’d never gone by the name Tracy and got out of there as quickly as they’d let her.  She started looking for a new job since she’d lost the one she’d had while sitting in jail and again attempted to put her life back together. 

In the meantime, her divorce proceedings were moving along and the court had ordered visitation for her almost ex-husband.  Against her better judgment, she took her son to his apartment for his three-day visitation.  Richard called Laura on the second day of his visitation and asked if he could keep his son until Christmas since she had had the boy on Thanksgiving.  He wanted to spend holiday time with his son and his family.  This would turn the three days into just short of two weeks, but Laura didn’t want to be one of those mothers who refuses to allow her child to know his other parent.  She agreed, hesitantly.  On December 17th, around midnight, Richard decided to go out drinking with his girlfriend and left the 14-month-old Ramon home with a sleeping roommate who had no idea that he was in charge of the child.  The Colorado Springs Police picked up Richard at 5 AM on a DUI charge and put him in jail.  He told the police that he needed to call his mother to go pick up his son.  At some point (while he was still drunk, mind you) he told the police that he had no idea where his son’s mother was and hadn’t seen her in months. 

It does not appear that anyone was particularly concerned that no one was taking care of the infant while his father was out drinking and joy riding.  Janice was notified and picked up the child from the roommate who, now that he was awake, found that the baby had been roaming the house for quite some time, pulling things down and making a general mess.  A few days later, Laura attempted to call Richard’s house and left a message.  After leaving a few more messages, she began to worry.  She finally got Richard’s roommate on the phone and found out that Richard was in jail and that Janice had picked up Ramon.  She went to Janice’s house and found that she’d moved.  No one around there knew where she’d gone.  Laura spent several evenings driving around and calling relatives looking for some clue as to Janice’s – and her son’s – whereabouts.  She filed a missing persons report with the police and continued to try to find her son.

A few weeks later, Laura was contacted by DHS (Department of Human Services).  She had been reported as an absent parent and custody of the child had been turned over to his paternal grandmother – the woman whose children had been removed from her home ten years before.  Laura was told that she needed to meet certain conditions, and her son would be returned to her.  A caseworker came to her home, conditions were met but nothing happened.  Laura began calling DHS to get in touch with the caseworker.  She left messages, but no one returned her calls.  Soon, she found that the caseworker who had contacted and visited her had left DHS.  She started to leave messages with the former caseworker’s supervisor.  Again her calls were not returned.

Remember that Laura was on probation.  The database for DHS and the Probation Department are shared.  There should have been little reason for DHS NOT to be able to locate Laura immediately.  As a further note, Laura’s real name is a little unusual.  If it is typed into PeopleFinder.com one could have acquired her exact address and phone number for the cost of $9.95 even without the help of the El Paso County database.  Laura went to her Probation Officer, who had been made aware by Laura of the situation from the outset and had records of speaking with both the former caseworker and with the DHS Investigator, and asked for help locating her son’s case in order to allow her to contact the current caseworker and find out why her son had not yet been returned to her.  Although one would think that this would be a simple procedure based on the shared database, difficulties arose since Grandma didn’t seem to know the boy’s real name.  In the DHS case files Ramon’s name shows as Raymond.  Laura was lucky to have a probation officer who didn’t give up until she found the case in the computer system.

Laura contacted the new caseworker and found that she was required to take random drug tests twice a week, be tested for alcohol consumption, take drug and alcohol classes, attend several therapies and various classes for numerous mental conditions and must have a battery of psychological exams before she would be allowed to see her son.  Her son was taken by his paternal grandmother in mid-December, and Laura would not be allowed to see him again until June; and, then, only under the supervision of DHS staff at a visitation center. 

It came to light by about this time that the file of the actual perpetrator of the check theft had become mixed with Laura’s file.  She got a copy of the mixed file and requested that the incorrect information be removed.  She was told that since Tracy was in jail at the time, there was nothing she could do and nothing that the police would do.  It was this mixed file that had caused all the additional drug and alcohol classes and additional therapies that were being required of her.  Laura acquired a copy of the discovery on the case.  It shows that Laura’s picture had been shown to the clerk in the store and was not identified as the perpetrator, Tracy.  Her picture was also shown to the manager of the apartment where Tracy lived.  The manager stated that she looked something like Tracy’s sister but that she wasn’t Tracy.  Keep in mind that there was a copy of Tracy’s driver’s license on file.  They look nothing alike.  Their ages are different.  There heights and weights are different (and Laura was very pregnant when the crime was committed) and their shoe sizes are different.  However, since these two women had the same last name and Laura sort of looked like the SISTER of the perpetrator, Laura was arrested, jailed and tried for a crime she didn’t commit and now owes $5000 in restitution and her probation was extended three years – AND she has someone else’s long list of arrests and convictions on her record.  What is going on in the state of Colorado?

The reality of this scenario is that it doesn’t get any better.  The attorney assigned to Laura by the court in the DHS case is not a member of the Bar, and his specialty according to his phone listing is traffic violations.  He doesn’t show up to scheduled meetings with DHS nor does he show up at court.  When Laura asked him to subpoena the records that her Probation Officer had concerning the contact she’d had with the first caseworker, he refused.  Records show only the lies that were told by Richard and his mother, none of which were ever substantiated.  Records also show that the first caseworker was not able to contact Laura, although the investigator’s report is clearly in the file as well and shows that Laura had been located, and the Probation Officer’s records corroborate the contacts that the first caseworker and investigator had with Laura and her Probation Officer.  DHS’s own file contradicts itself. 

An example of one of the allegations made against the mother was that the child had scoliosis and that early neglect caused it.  Scoliosis is genetic (the child’s maternal great-grandmother has scoliosis), the cause is unknown and there is no form of prevention.  It would appear that Janice was not aware of these facts when she lied about the condition.  She did take Ramon to a doctor who verified that he did not have scoliosis.  Either way, there has been no evidence that suggests any form of neglect, except during the child’s stay with Janice . . . and remember what happened to her children.  By the way, the child has acute asthma and Janice and her friends and other relatives sit in the same room with the child and smoke.

In order to be a foster parent, one must pass a background check.  DHS has not to anyone’s knowledge performed a background check on Janice, although DHS’s own records show a case in connection with Richard’s name from 1996 – ten years ago when he was 12.  It shows that he was a child in the case and that the case involved both neglect and abuse.  Exactly who did DHS think the parents were in that case?  Ramon was forced to live with this woman for seven months, from the time he was 14 months old until he was 21 months old, and Janice has been paid as a foster parent by the state of Colorado.  During a meeting among DHS workers, the Guardian ad Litem, the father, the mother, the paternal grandmother, the maternal grandmother (by phone) and the child’s uncle (the same man that lived with Richard and Laura and whom she supported for a time because his mother kicked him out), among others, Janice and Richard cooked their own geese by allowing some truths to slip out.  At that time, the child was placed with the sister of Janice’s new husband.  Does anyone else see the inequity here?

When the maternal grandmother (Barbara), who lives out of state, requested phone contact with her grandson, the request was denied until she passed a background check.  She agreed, in writing, to the background check.  That check has never been run, but the question must arise as to why a check is necessary for her to be able to talk to the boy on the phone.  However, DHS has still not run a background check on the woman with whom they allowed the boy to stay for seven months.  Barbara’s background is clean. 

This is just the tip of this iceberg.  Laura would appreciate your comments, thoughts or suggestions.  Please email them to bobbi@scpeinc.org for forwarding.      


Be well and question everything.     
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Posted: Aug 20, 2006 12:26pm
Stephen Kaus: Judges Not Needed in New Bush Law Enforcement Concept
May 15, 2006
Stephen Kaus Mon May 15, 12:36 PM ET

The Washington Post-ABC News instant poll, which showed that a stunning 63% thought the mining of everyone's phone calls was an acceptable way to investigate terrorism, appears to have been an aberration. A USA Today/Gallup poll out today shows disapproval by a 51% to 43% margin.


Newsweek reports that its poll shows "53 percent of Americans think the NSA's surveillance program "goes too far in invading people's privacy," while 41 percent see it as a necessary tool to combat terrorism." The magazine further reports that Americans do not believe President Bush's assertions that the privacy of Americans is "fiercely protected," and that "we're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans." 57 percent think the Bush Administration has "overstepped its bounds" and has "gone too far in expanding presidential power." 38 percent think the Administration's actions are "appropriate."

The new polls are consistent with other polls over the past few months showing unease with the "big brother" stories that have daylighted recently. The coast is clear for the Democrats in congress to make their articulate move. Why do I feel that Danys Baez is striding in to "protect" another Dodger lead?*

What should be scary to most Americans is not the collection of all this information per se, but the complete lack of a check on what is collected and how it is to be used. People are inured to their personal information being collected and used, for example for marketing purposes. Every time I run Spybot-Search and Destroy, it finds a dozen data mining cookies that tell someone where I have been on the web. If the First Neighborhood mortgage company can get my contacts from Doubleclick, why not Uncle Sam. Oh wait, I forgot this one.

The problem is the complete lack of any oversight of what the federal government is doing and the apparent lack of any restrictions on what information it can gather and what it can do with it. The administration says there are limits, but the Administration is not credible. Bush said Americans' privacy is "fiercely protected," and that "we're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," two things that we know are not true just from the USA Today story on Thursday, assuming we know what the meaning of the word "mining" is.

This sort of problem is solved thousands of times a day through the use of judges to approve what law enforcement wants to do. Even with this step, many questionable searches occur, because the judges are too lenient with the police or because the police lie in their warrant applications, and there are exceptions like hot pursuit or searches incident to arrests, but by and large, it is a system that has stood us in good stead for two and a quarter centuries.

The common denominator of all of the Bush search plans is the refusal to involve a judge. We need a debate on how far searches should go, given the technological possibilities and the nature of the present danger. Frankly, I do not know enough to be as certain of my view as some others are. But, there can be no debate on whether these activities should be conducted without judicial supervision. Additionally, if this is a program justified by the need to locate terrorists, if it is to continue, its use obviously should be limited to that end, something that I have not heard anyone in authority say.

Of course, judges have been eliminated from the trial and sentencing portions of other Bush Administration law enforcement programs, so why am I not suprised?

We have heard a lot of excuses for not involving the FISA court in the wiretap program, chiefly not enough time and too much paperwork. It is hard to figure out why judges should not be involved in the newly revealed data mining operation, except for this Administration's position that it can do any thing it wants, regardless of the law or our Constitutional tradition.

And by the way, I do mean "newly revealed." One of the right-wing tactics has been to dismiss the data-mining story as "old news," apparently because that canard worked so well to throw everyone off the scent of Bush's AWOL service record. But the stories that first reported this connivance by the phone companies were not authoritative, they were tentative and indicated that there would be a congressional investigation. I remember reading them and getting the feeling that the reporters had been told about the mining program, by sources in which they did not have 100% faith, so they were waiting for better information. Plus now it's in the USA Today, instead of that left wing rag, the New York Times. How Red State can you get.

* four blown saves in a row!
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Posted: May 15, 2006 7:47pm
SC Johnson Voluntarily Recovering Two Lots of Raid® Flying Insect Killer in Aerosol Cans
May 6, 2006

SC Johnson News
SC Johnson Voluntarily Recovering Two Lots of Raid® Flying Insect Killer in Aerosol Cans

185,000 cans to be replaced due to unacceptable performance

SCJ Consumer Hotline:
(800) 294-3632

SCJ Media Contacts:
Kelly M. Semrau
(262)260-2102
Therese Van Ryne
(262)260-3709
(262)260-2440

RACINE, WI (October 24, 2003) – S. C. Johnson and Son, Inc. announced today that it is voluntarily recovering 185,000 cans of its aerosol Raid® Flying Insect Killer (EPA Reg. No. 4822-513), manufactured in two lots in August of this year. ../cm_images/Raid-FIK-01.jpg The cans in question were shipped to stores throughout the U.S. All of the cans were manufactured on August 13 and 14, 2003, and were distributed thereafter.

This voluntary recovery is due to the unacceptable performance of the product, which does not meet SC Johnson's high manufacturing standards. The company discovered the situation internally and then immediately moved to recover the product in question.  There have been no reports of injury or damage to property.

Tests show that the aerosol cans may not spray an appropriately fine mist of insecticide and therefore could have a reduction in effectiveness.  In addition, the company believes that some cans in question could leak over time. Consumers whose product is recovered will be provided a full value coupon redeemable for a free replacement can of Raid® Flying Insect Killer.

"SC Johnson stands behind the quality of our products," said Kelly M. Semrau, company spokesperson.  "As soon as we discovered the unacceptable performance of these isolated lots, we took immediate steps to replace them with the effective product consumers have come to expect from us."

The aerosol cans of Raid® Flying Insect Killer are marked with lot number 225 or 226 on the bottom of the can. Consumers can find the lot numbers stamped in black on the bottom of the can (see photos below).

SC Johnson strongly encourages all consumers who purchased Raid® Flying Insect Killer aerosol cans marked with lot number 225 or 226 to call 1-800-294-3632 to receive instructions for appropriate disposal and a coupon for a full value replacement.

All other lot numbers of Raid® Flying Insect Killer and other Raid® products are not involved in this recovery and consumers should continue to use those products according to label instructions.

../cm_images/raid-FIK-08c1(1).jpg






























../cm_images/OFF-FIK-089d.jpg


 
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Posted: May 6, 2006 7:18pm
Sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" in English? Who's Bush kidding?
May 3, 2006

The Irrational Anthem

Sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" in English? Who's Bush kidding?

By Jacob Weisberg
Posted Wednesday, May 3, 2006, at 3:33 PM ET

Illustration by Mark Alan Stamaty. Click image to expand.
While answering questions in the Rose Garden last week, President Bush was asked about the Spanish-language version of the national anthem that's been playing on the radio in connection with the nationwide pro-immigration demonstrations. "People who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English and they ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English," the president declared.

Ask aspiring Americans to barbecue a hamburger, explain the rules of baseball, or name all the Senate subcommittees, and they will learn. Ask them to walk a straight line while reciting the Constitution backwards, and they might master it. But if you're going to require immigrants to sing our national anthem, you might as well spare them the torment and just ship them back home right now. If struggling Latino workers learned to sing " The Star Spangled Banner" in English, they'd be the only ones who could sing it at all.

"The Star-Spangled Banner," which Congress designated as our official national anthem in 1931, presents unusual challenges for even the most nativist of native speakers. The first is mastering the lyrics penned by the lawyer-poet, and I hope better lawyer than poet, Francis Scott Key. Key wrote the verses in 1814 after witnessing the failed British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore during the war of 1812 and set his words—four verses' worth—to the tune of a familiar English drinking song.

 

Key's first verse, it is true, is etched onto most American minds by countless baseball games, where it concludes with subtle local variations: "… or the la-and of the freeeeeee, and the home of the BRAVES!" But even that familiar verse presents a daunting test of verbal comprehension. What is a rampart and how does it stream? Only on close reading, unlikely to occur with a hotdog in one hand and a baseball glove in the other, can one discern that the first word of the line is "o'er," not "or," and thus that it is the stripes of the flag that are gallantly streaming above the American fortifications.

Stop 50 people on the street of any American city, and you would be shocked to find one who could begin the second verse:

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

The excellent Wikipedia entry on the subject cites the Isaac Asimov story "No Refuge Could Save," in which a Nazi spy is unmasked because he can recite the song's full lyrics—including the story's title phrase: No refuge could save the hireling and slave/ From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave. No real American would know those lines. The song's archaic language, employing such terms as "host" (for enemy force), "hireling" (for mercenary), "doth," and " 'tis," seems less suited to what John F. Kennedy called a Nation of Immigrants than to a nation of fusty Victorians.

Should Pablo and Pilar succeed in mastering the lyrics of the first verse, the music is almost certain to defeat them. By convention, the anthem is played in the key of B-flat major, which is too high for most untrained voices, especially when they reach the notes that correspond to the words "rocket's RED GLARE" and "la-and of the FREEEEE." These oft-screeched passages provoked the song's nickname, "The Star-Strangled Banner." To get through the verse also requires an extraordinary vocal range. You may be able to hum and muddle your way through in the company of 50,000 Yankees fans, a thundering organ, and a coloratura soprano on loan from the Met. But try it in the shower and you'll see what I mean.

There are a number of unofficial and alternative national anthems that would present less of a challenge to Latino immigrants rallying around " Nuestro Himno," a cloying, Latin-pop interpretation of "The Star-Spangled Banner" (and no improvement, incidentally, on the patriotically minded Spanish translation " La Bandera De Las Estrellas," scored by Walter Damrosch and published in 1919). The perennial top candidates are the 1913 version of " America the Beautiful," which was written by a Wellesley English professor named Katharine Lee Bates; Irving Berlin's 1938 version of " God Bless America," which became patriotic theme music in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001; and Woody Guthrie's " This Land Is Your Land," which was written in 1940 as a kind of hobo's answer to "God Bless America."

Each of these aspiring anthems has its partisans. (See Slate's dialogue on the subject .) I think any of them would be an improvement, but my vote goes to "This Land Is Your Land," which most schoolchildren sing with enthusiasm and understanding by the age of 6. A classic American folk song, it movingly evokes the country's physical grandeur while conveying national ideals of freedom and equality. True, Woody Guthrie was a bit of a Communist, but Francis Scott Key was a slave owner, for goodness' sake.

Of course, I don't expect Congress to modernize the national anthem any more than I expect it to get rid of other anachronistic fixtures of American life—the Electoral College, the copper penny, or Donald Rumsfeld. "The Star Spangled Banner" is one of those outdated institutions that survive for reasons of habit, sentiment, and sheer inertia. I doubt that the president himself can sing it. Please don't make the pizza delivery guy try.


Related in Slate
Where can you hear "Nuestro Himno"? It will most likely be played by these guys . Becoming an American isn't as easy as learning to love apple pie and baseball; it's actually pretty tough . Irving Berlin may have written "God Bless America," but he was way too prudish to have penned "You're the Top." If Tim Noah had his druthers, the Electoral College would go the way of the 8-track; Emily Yoffe explained why this anachronistic fixture of American life is here to stay. Click here to read why a penny is not just for your thoughts. 


Jacob Weisberg is editor of Slate and co-author, with Robert E. Rubin, of In an Uncertain World.

Illustration by Mark Alan Stamaty.
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Posted: May 3, 2006 10:46pm
Nationwide Child Abuse Ring Revealed In Free Discovery Channel Documentary
May 1, 2006
To subscribe to or unsubscribe from this list (one email every few days) or to reply to this message, see end of email

This message is available online at http://www.WantToKnow.info/060501conspiracyofsilence

Dear friends,

"Conspiracy of Silence" is a powerful, disturbing documentary revealing a nationwide child abuse and pedophilia ring that leads to the highest levels of government. Featuring intrepid investigator John DeCamp, a highly decorated Vietnam war veteran and 16-year Nebraska state senator, "Conspiracy of Silence" reveals how rogue elements at all levels of government have been involved in systematic child abuse and pedophilia to feed the base desires of key politicians.

Based on DeCamp's riveting book, The Franklin Cover-up, "Conspiracy of Silence" begins with the shut-down of Nebraska's Franklin Community Federal Credit Union after a raid by federal agencies in November 1988 revealed that $40 million was missing. When the Nebraska legislature launched a probe into the affair, what initially looked like a financial swindle soon exploded into a startling tale of drugs, money laundering, and a nationwide child abuse ring. Nineteen months later, the legislative committee's chief investigator died suddenly and violently, like more than a dozen other people linked to the Franklin case.

So why have you never heard of the Franklin cover-up? Originally scheduled to air in May of 1994 on the Discovery Channel, "Conspiracy of Silence" was yanked at the last minute due to formidable pressure applied by top politicians. Some very powerful people did not want you to watch this documentary. Thanks to the wonderful power of the Internet, three different links below take you to this eye-opening documentary. Other links provide detailed information about the case, reliable media coverage, and places to order DeCamp's revealing book, The Franklin Cover-up.

Beware that you may find yourself becoming angry or upset while watching "Conspiracy of Silence." Many people do. However, I invite you to consider that each of us, myself included, has at times in our life acted out of selfish motives when it comes to sexuality and ended up hurting others in one way or another. Let us take this information not only as a call to stop this kind of abuse at the nationwide level, but also as a call to examine our own sexual relationships and make a commitment to deep honesty and integrity in our own lives around this most sensitive issue. Thanks for caring, and may we all work together to build a brighter future for ourselves and for our world.

With best wishes,
Fred Burks for the WantToKnow.info Team
Former language interpreter for Presidents Bush and Clinton


"Conspiracy of Silence" (55 minutes) is available for free viewing at the three links below:

http://www.franklincase.org/silence.htm - best quality of these three (free Windows Media Player required)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=359924937663867563 - "Conspiracy of Silence" on Google Video
http://www.propagandamatrix.com/141003conspiracyofsilence.html - see note below

Note: The final link above includes a copy of the front page of the Washington Times with a top headline and story published on the Franklin case. Scroll down and click on the images to read the full story. DeCamp's commentary on "Conspiracy of Silence" and more can be found below the newspaper articles there.

Dozens of media articles on the Franklin case which led to "Conspiracy of Silence:"
http://www.franklincase.org/articles.htm

For an excellent website filled with information about the Franklin case:
http://www.franklincase.org

To order John DeCamp's excellent book, The Franklin Cover-up:

http://www.franklincase.org/franklinbook.htm - $16.95 (includes shipping and handling)
http://www.amazon.com - Used copies only available on amazon.com


Final Note: Remember that with your help, we can and will build a brighter future for us all. And for some deeply inspiring stories to provide balance to all of this: http://www.WantToKnow.info/coverupnews#inspiration


See our archive of cover-up news articles at http://www.WantToKnow.info/coverupnews


Your donations, however large or small, help greatly to support this important work.
To make a donation by credit card, check, or money order: http://www.WantToKnow.info/donationswtk

Explore these empowering websites coordinated by the PEERS network:
http://www.momentoflove.org - Every person in the world has a heart
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Posted: May 1, 2006 10:27pm

 
 
 
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