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Politics
By The People
1 April 2009
A First Amendment

As I've thought over my comments in the last blog I begin to realize that I limited myself in an unfortunate way.  I used the term Umanned Aerial Weapons and I stand behind the need for a moritorium on those, but the term UAW would easily apply to a better umbrella term.  I'd like to ammend the term UAW to mean Unmanned Antipersonnel Weapons.  With this change the previous blog entry stands.

Unmanned weapons needn't be limited to those that fly. Drone tanks and gun platforms, antipersonnel mines, and remotly detonated or timed bombs are just as surely Unmanned Weapons, and we can see that the non computerized versions of these weapons are a toxic violation of international Laws of War.  This is made obvous by the current UN postitions and treaties regarding antipersonnel mines.

It might seem like a romantic notion, but war was more sane when men were forced to stare the man they killed in the eyes and recognize his humanity.  The more removed the attacker is from his target the less human the attacker is.  Subjecting himself to personal risk is the only way a man can ever kill and not become a monster and a danger to society.

 


? Fred Davis. fd4ds5 at 3:08 AM PDT
31 March 2009
Agent Testor(tm)
Mood:  not sure

Testor Models and RC were a great source of fun back in those lazy, shell shocked days of post Vietnam California.  Model rockets, cox fueled model airplanes of a tether and el Supremo the fully functional radio controlled flyer.  Toys are fun and toy companies have been the cutting edge researchers in materials, computer and mechanical science. Doubt it? Check out the XBox (tm) or WII (tm) and remind yourself that the venerable AR-15 and M-16 rifles were made by the same people who brought you Barbie and ken (No! I do NOT mean Auqa).

Mister Obama has inherited the country in worse more fracture condition than any time since the Civil War.  It's pretty obvious that he is aware of this because instead of appealing to civil rights leaders or civil rights presidents as icons for his campaign and administration, he appealed to Abraham Lincoln.  Lincoln has that cache' of the heroic civil rights leader (whether deserved or not) but he also was the decisive, and arbitrary leader of the war effort.

One might argue that Mr. Obama ought to be studying U. S. Grant's administration, because that's the man who had to deal with all the detrius AFTER the country was already fragmented and needed to be put together.  One would further hope that he learns the right lessons and doesn't fall into the same authoritarian pattern of sucessive undeclared was that Grant used to keep himself in the big chair.  But that is one of my famous sidebar issues.

The issue at hand is models.  In 1916 we had a brand new weapon and sanity, as well as sound analyses of the strategic disadvantages,cause the West to declare a moritorium on such weapons.  And Mustard Gas thus became a good thing in that it taught us to ban Chemical and biological weapons even in warfare.

 In 1946 we had a new weapon, and cooler heads lost the argument and it took decades to start limiting nuclear proliferation.  Now 63 years later we are gritting our teeth because someone in the middle east or Asia might show the same callus disregard for reason and science not to mention Human life that Herbert Hooverdemonstrated. (Let's remember that to date we the US have been the only ones moronic or insane enough to deploy fission weapons tactically.)

In Viet Nam we learned how to defoliate and that was just the same old Bio terrorism that was supposed to be done with after WWI.  Napalm? Come on that's nothing more than an aerial assault deathcamp weapon. "Work sets you Free, man!" "Gnarley!"

Now we're apparently winding down a campaign to destroy Religiously motivated offensive geurilla warfare (code named terrorism).  Though new outbreaks may give Obama his excuse for a Grantesque series of undeclared wars.  Let's hope he's ethical enough to resist the urge even if it's the most politically expedient choice.

How does this relate to Matel Machine Guns and RC Airplanes?  Simple we have a new weapon...

Unmanned Aerial Weapons, UAWs (the US likes to call them UAVs, 'V' for Vehicle, to try and sanitize their purpose) are the next step in disassociating a commander and a soldier from the cost in terms of humanity.  But ultimately these will not be used for surveillance, they'll be loaded with bombs, even tactical nukes or bio weapons because some beamish boy wearing stars on his shoulders and splinters in his eyes thinks, "Well Duh! OUR troops aren't exposed so we can do SAFELY!"

A Stealth UAW could easily penitrate 100's of miles into the interior of a western nation anddeploy deuterium warheads, dirty bombs or antipersonnel mines.  All those things the previous administration tried to terrify us with, could become a very real threat.  All it takes is someone building a UAW.  The answer isn't to limit access to computer components, or flying models or any of the other authoritarioan insanity that has come pouring out of washington for the last 60 years. The answer is to stop people thinking of these as weapons platforms NOW before it becomes a world wrecking problem. Like bio Weapons and nukes and oh did I mention mines...?

How do you prevent weaponizing laundry detergent? Don't add it to diesel and spray it over vast acerage and light it up.How do you prevent RC toys from bcoming weapons? Don't develop UAWs with the power to carry a payload, better still don't let the military even purchase umaned vehicles of any sort except maybe bomb disposal robots but that's risky.

Please people let's learn from our past mistakes, join me in a call for a moritorium on Unmanned Aerial Weapons.  They really are the next overpowered uncontrollable doomsday weapon. 


? Fred Davis. fd4ds5 at 6:29 AM PDT
Updated: 31 March 2009 6:40 AM PDT
13 February 2009
Apologia
Mood:  d'oh
Topic: Politics

Some of you, if you actually see this, might wonder why there is over a year between the last two posts. The answer is patience. I'd said what needed to be said, and my voice was not the only one speaking. I left it to the congress to try to clean up the mess the out going lame turkey had left us. But true to form they allowed themselves to get embroiled in yet another of his schemes to destroy this country. His parting blow being the rescue/stimulus package.

It was clear that Obama was not what he pretended, but I seriously had my doubts that the American people who used death threats and extortion to keep Joe Lieberman and a celebrated General Officer like Colin Powell out of the running, would have the will to elect a black man to office.

Really they didn't. Estranged Kenyan father, Indonesian step father, white mother and a childhood spent living abroad -- what connection does this man really have to "the black experience." I don't doubt he is capable, intelligent and motivated. But it's disengenuous for him to pretend a shared identity with the man who was born to black American parents and raised in the racial cook pot Illinois of circa 1970. But that is a topic for another discussion.

I have been waiting for the dust to settle and for the hooplah to die down, while the congress made a show of investigating the Bush Administration. But as usual it's been all show and no go. A No Va like GM. But imagine my dismay to find that some of the most outspoken opponents of Bush's, and honestly the Repulican Party's, illegal wire tapping, torture and attempts to deny the right to privacy (and yes the Supreme Court has upheld The Fourth Amedment as garaunteeing privacy) have turned about and are now proposing a national MEDICAL ID. In place of the miserable Real ID and the E-Verify, which they wisely pummeled with the stimulus package, the Democrats have simply substituted a series of studies that culminate in mandatory participation in medical tracking and the warehousing of your private medical records in a central database, where they can be perused at leisure by the federal government.

Sadly one of the Authors of this bill had the gall to ask, "What's so bad about wanting to save some money." That's like Captain Kramer (Commandant of Belsin) saying, "what's wrong with a little target practice and dog walking." Mister Obey it's how you do it that matters. Saving money by refusing to treat people because some actuarial table says they will die soon is murder. And the people drafting the bill, and yes that means you, are directly responsible for the suffering and death that will inevitably occur. You sir, are no better than and not signifiantly different from Alberto Gonzales. You seem to be a sincre man, and in the past you've clearly sought to promote the House Rules and perform in a manner that is fiscally and ethically upright. But this one bill is enough to outweigh any good you've ever done and unless you lead a movement to overturn the "Medical Information Technology" and "Medical Cost Savings" provisions of this bill you won't ever recover your integrity. But perhaps that doesn't trouble you.

I thought they were the party of change and new direction. This is reactionism to the politics and doctrines of the Tories under George III. Now I know the revolutionary war is not a hot-bed topic for most of us, and the fake-newsies would mock. But then they mocked us about torture in Cuba and about secret prisons and about a host of other issues where the Bush Administration mirrored that of Adolf Hitler. That is, until US Senators appearing as guests on their shows confirmed these issues on National Television. It really does take a slap stick to the temple to make Mr. Stewart really notice what he's mocking, and to make Mr. Colbert really think past his smug Characatures.

Don't mock. THINK! Our mutual future depends on watching washington more closely and actually acting to hinder the agendi of BOTH political parties. I'm not being alarmist, when the president that everyone in the media is so in love with that he can do no wrong, uses that love fest to sneak National ID and government funded Euthenasia Targeted primarily at the aged, through a congress that proudly proclaims its determination to be compassionate and reverse the totolitarian trend in US Government.

So I don't know if I'll be having cause to blog more often. I hope and pray that in the very near future the people will surprise me by waking up and taking back the power they've given into the hands of incompetents and maliscious politicos. If that were to happen then likely this blog -- designed to stir people to take back the reigns of power and change government from rule by the Corporations, for the Subcultural Minority and of the Wealthy Minority; to the fabulous vision that Lincoln espoused on that dolorus day in Gettesberg -- would likely become irrelevant. But it's a very thin hope. In an Era of "strict constructionist" judges, we have a federal circuit court daring to hear a case and go so far as to make a ruling on a properly drafted and legally implemented amendment to a State Constitution. The hope that the people govern themselves and Democracy (rule by the simple majority) is fading far to quickly.


? Fred Davis. fd4ds5 at 5:11 PM PST
Updated: 13 February 2009 6:08 PM PST
The shot ignored round the world.
Mood:  don't ask
Topic: Politics

In his opening salvo President Obama is seeking to eliminate the last remaining one out of the three forms of privacy garaunteed by the fourth amendment of the US Constitution. While republicans and democrats alike grind away at the question of methods and idologies regarding economic stimulus, the real business of the new stimulus package is to remove our last civil right. Our last civil right, because this particular attack on privacy quashes our Right to Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness.

Included in the draconian depths of the stimulus package bills before the two houses are provisions for "studies" to evaluate the feasibility of euthenizing the elderly by preventing medical practicioners from providing health care to those who will likely not have a long life span. Make no mistake. It specifically includes authority for the Department of Health and Human Services to use federal law enforcement and military to enforce these measures.

 Another pernicious attack on the American People is a provision requiring that ALL persons resident in the US be compelled, by any federal means including military and Law enforcement, to submit to being documented in a central MEDICAL datbase by 2014.

Simply put, after testing competing methods and systems on military personnel and medicare/medicaide recipients, and our nation's veterans -- the federal government will construct a central medical database of all persons and you will be compelled to submit. Even persons whose sincere religious faith prevents them from using western Medicine will be compelled. Alternatively, if those persons are aged, they will be compelled to register, only to be promptly denied health care.

Amish, and other traditional cultures will be compelled, potentially at gun point. YOUR representitives are creating this. And Barack Obama is the most vocal spin doctor promoting it. Tom Daschel is the devil who conceived it. If you doubt me, read his book

Those of you who are Republican, your representitives have failed you, because they can't be bothered to deal with the civil rights issue that would have sickened men like Dwight Eisenhower and even Ronald Reagan. All we hear from them is, "look how much money is being spent." But there's no mention of the end of the privacy that was instituted to protect dissent and religious freedom.

This bill will end civil rights in the US, not with a warcry but with a whimper. But you go back to your TV and don't worry your head about it. After all, it's not your responsibility to watch your representatives... Is it?

 Fred


? Fred Davis. fd4ds5 at 9:06 AM PST
Updated: 13 February 2009 6:11 PM PST
20 January 2008
Who Are You?

Real ID is gauranteed to cause the greatest political division in America since the Civil War. The noise in the media every day is Iraq, Pedophilia, and Identity Theft. And then the coverage of the primaries is over and we turn the more of the same. What ever happened to the 4'th amendment anyway? If the the constitution (in article 1) gives the president his power to give orders and make decisions in wartime, then another another article of the very same constitution can take away or limit the power of president.

How is it no-one can see this well enough to impeach, arrest, try and imprison the man? Maybe he could spend his sentence on board a Naval installation to keep him safe... Somewhere tropical with a nice harbor and plenty of sand and blue water. An island in the Caribbean maybe?

Is anyone really in doubt about the need to secure the border? It seems unlikely that anyone who is a naturalized or native born citizen of the US especially in border states, would think that the steady stream of illegal aliens into the territorial US is a positive thing. The exception would be citizens who received their status through the unconstitutional process of Amnesty. Wasn't that another legacy of the Regan Era?

Now, a president has the authority to grant a pardon to persons convicted of a crime in federal court. But a blanket amnesty, prior to trial, and without a signed instrument naming the individual person(s) receiving the pardon has no real value. Because anyone could lie and claim that they were a member of the group legally entitled to that pardon.

For instance if a pardon was issued for illegals entering through Mexico is issued, then an agent of the North Korean army could enter through Mexico and gain a pardon for invasion of the US. (We're officially in a state of Cease Fire not peace with North Korea sense the 1950's and as a result at war 24-7 for longer than most Internet users have lived.) If you limit the pardon to Hispanics then Germanic or Jewish citizens of Southern Mexico, who cross illegally, would be discriminated against on the basis of race. The permutations are endless. And the results always ridiculous and unconstitutional.

Beyond that a the president does NOT have the authority to nationalize new citizens by edict. The naturalization process is pretty well set in stone by law and custom. And frankly, how stupid would it be to grant citizenship to every person entering illegally through Canada or Mexico, nations that both tried to expand their population by granting citizenship without any real screening process in the 1990's.

So some brain child develops the idea of ID cards. We can protect our borders with national IDs? Sounds so simple. It would even help to prevent crime. Put everyone on life lock, nationalize the database and require proof of citizenship when issuing IDs. Preston problem solved and two-birds killed with one stone. We can eliminate ID theft and secure the borders by making it impossible to buy a loaf of bread without an ID. It would starve the illegals into turning themselves in... Plus we can make the border secure the other way so no-one can leave...

Wait a sec that's how the NaZi's controlled the population, Identity and Traveling Papers. But just because a foreign dictator did something doesn't mean our domestic one can't do it too. So is it constitutional? Well let's look at the 4'th amendment. The president claims to be a strict constructionist. Great! By strict construction, where does the limitation of search and seizure in turn get limited or set aside by either War, the act of a foreign government, or of a private agency or corporation. The strict construction limits all searches by any entity whatsoever. And by extension strict construction, the 4'th amendment makes the act of collecting data on buying habits, Bank transactions, inventories, industrial secrets, and credit history (all forms of business papers); medical, dental, and social activities and records, school transcripts (person) and place of residence, private collections, books, jewels, music, etc (all forms of possession) illegal without a warrant.

Simply put credit reporting agencies are, by strict construction engaged in illegal search at best, from some angles they start to look rather like criminal conspiracy and criminal slander. A popular movie features a newspaper editor making up wild accusations without evidence or foundation. His victim complains, “that's slander!” The Editor replies, “I resent that, this is libel! Slander is spoken this is in print.” This is a common misconception, some would like to foster. In fact Libel is Civil action as in a lawsuit. Slander is the act of harming a person, directly or indirectly, socially or financially, by issuance of any untrue statement made in any media including speech.

So every error on a credit report is, at least in California, a criminal act. Criminalizing untrue statements is not violating freedom of speech, because any equally seedy, vial contemptible accusation is perfectly legal if provable. Nor does criminalizing it inhibit your ability to make untrue statements that harm others. It just makes it a violation if the harm occurs, and you then have to pay a price for the harm done, not for speaking in the first place. In the long run, even a tabloid could consider, fines, prison and probation as the cost of doing business.

But in the case of a Credit agency you have a concerted effort to collect and disseminate a narrow spectrum of information for the purpose of limiting a person's ability to do business, get work, acquire loans and mortgages and to open bank accounts. This is arguably conspiracy because the persons collecting the information have done so either without consent or with an extortionary condition that they will not hire, bank or do business with persons who don't give consent to have their private business papers made available electronically for the asking.

The aggregate of those consumers of Credit reports who then share credit information via reporting agencies are the parties to conspiracy, if any of the information is untrue or libel it necessarily makes that conspiracy a criminal one. Further if law enforcement or US domestic governments consume or report that information they become culpable for that conspiracy and for violation of the 4'th amendment.

By warehousing such information for the consumers of that information they become primary agents of the conspiracy. This is why government black-lists such as the no-fly list are criminal and unconstitutional. This is also why “Real ID” is criminal. “Real ID” as introduced by the US gestappo, The Department of Vaterland Security, obligates every state to in turn  require proof of citizenship in order to issue driver's licenses and state ID cards. In turn the patriot act requires that a person show a driver's license or state ID to open a bank account or use a Credit Card. It also requires a passport, driver's license or State ID in order to board a plane even on a domestic flight.

The aggregate and intention of these laws and policies is to force every traveler and every purchaser to prove citizenship in order to make a transaction or travel. This is precisely the draconian, totalitarian activity that I've warned about previously. Why is it wrong to keep illegals from buying or traveling? They will get caught and pulled into INS and it will solve the problem right? How, naïve or even patently disingenuous! Illegal entry into the US is a crime. There are federal laws governing it and were they enforceable by INS would have been perfectly suitable all this time. Enforceability is a matter of manpower and resources, nothing else. Other countries have used anti personnel minefields to draw permanent lines. Illegals are not refugees and not entitled to the same consideration as those seeking political asylum, unless we are willing to define Mexico as a civil rights oppressor and go to war with them.

But in light of the measures other countries have employed how is it we can afford to fund a war in Iraq and not fund a larger border patrol? I'm not suggesting mine fields. I'm saying why is a concrete wall and curtailment of personal privacy for lawful residents a better answer than quadrupling the size of the INS and Coast Guard? Simple answer is the goal is not to prevent illegal entry, but to use illegals as a red herring to hide the real purpose of simply curtailing personal freedom and privacy. The goal was always to make the people unable to defend themselves against the threat of domestic violence from a federal government become corrupted with power.

This is an illegal maneuver from any angle. Not only does it violate the 4'th amendment, it violates the right of the accused against self incrimination, and it violates the most foundational principle of US constitution and common law. Simply put you are innocent until proven guilty. Requirement of proof citizenship in banking and travel. Requirement of Identity in trivial transactions and travel. These violate the most fundamental premise. In essence we ALL and you the reader in particular, have been accused of being 1) a terrorist, 2) a sympathizer giving aid to the enemy and 3) an illegal alien present in the territorial US. And the burden of proof has been placed on you. Prove you are innocent.

Is this the sort of governance that generations of American Marines, Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, and Civil Service have fought and died to defend in two wars with England, two wars with Canada, a War with Mexico, a War with Spain, two wars in Europe, a War in defense of China, a War with Japan, a war in Bosnia and wars against communist insurgents in Korea, Viet Nam and South America? Is this really why people gave their lives? So that Bush could claim the president is entitled to whatever he wants as long as its “in the interest of national security”? Did they die as defenders of a war-like metaphor, using a probable cause like doctrine, in a freedom-lite environment without any restraints or oversight?

The last thing this country needs is a parliament where the president is eliminated and the executive powers are given over to the vice-president/prime minister. But the second amendment clearly intends that congress must be able to restrain and even remove a rogue president, and a vice president who has sought for generations to undermine the democratic nature of the republic and replace it with a neo feudalism, with himself and his corporate America peers as the new Aristocracy. Hail the new world Order and sich Heil!



? Fred Davis. fd4ds5 at 1:20 PM PST
Updated: 13 February 2009 4:10 PM PST

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