Gun Rights, The 2nd Amendment, and the United States | Leveling the playing field in the battle between force over reason

 

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government" ~Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I firmly believe that a policy attack is underway against American's right to bear arms as afforded to them by the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  Although I am not a big fan of guns, I do believe that people should stand up for the right to own them and maintain that right at all cost.      

The text below comes from an email that I received today.  While the email is obviously somewhat dated, the letter is still very relevant:

With PIPA and SOPA grounded, now focus is on ACTA | The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

The freedoms and opportunities afforded to the masses by the technological advances of the Internet have become overly burdensome to the Powers That Be.  In 2012, regulations and restrictions will be put in place to limit those freedoms.  While proposed legislation is currently side-railed in the United States (PIPA and SOPA), there is efforts by International organizations to impose restrictions on a global level.

According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative website:

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a groundbreaking initiative by key trading partners to strengthen the international legal framework for effectively combating global proliferation of commercial-scale counterfeiting and piracy. In addition to calling for strong legal frameworks, the agreement also includes innovative provisions to deepen international cooperation and to promote strong intellectual property rights (IPR) enforcement practices. Together, these provisions will help to support American jobs in innovative and creative industries against intellectual property theft.

In reality, this international agreement is meant to establish an international framework for intellectual property rights.  

According to one anti-ACTA website, StopActa.info:

Since Spring 2008, the European Union, the United States, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Australia as well as a few other countries have been secretly negotiating a trade agreement aimed at enforcing copyright and tackling counterfeited goods (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement). Specifically, leaked documents show that one of the major goal of the treaty is to force signatory countries into implementing anti file-sharing policies under the form of three-strikes schemes and net filtering practices.

For a few years now the ACTA agreement has been under negotiation.  The agreement is being pushed by the G8-countries and some befriended states under secrecy, and its effects will concern us all.

Share this post and alert your friends and neighbors that the fight for Internet freedom has only just begun.  Join the Stop ACTA Facebook page.  Stand up, speak out, and share your knowledge with the world.  Keep the Internet free!

Tanks Galore in Northern California - What Is Going On?

The below video was allegedly filmed today, January 20, 2012, in Northern California, south of Santa Cruz.  It shows hundreds of tanks and other military vehicles being transported by rail.  Is this preparation for some large scale domestic event, or is this merely transport of some of our primary export products?  See for yourself, and as always, do your own research.



  

Voting is an Exercise in Futility

Don't you kid yourself to think that voting is the means for making your voice heard.  Elections can be, and certainly have been, rigged.  Don't be naive.

Farewell, Internet! It was nice knowing ya!!

"As to the evil which results from a censorship, it is impossible to measure it, for it is impossible to tell where it ends." ~Jeremy Bentham

Likely due to action by a broad and bipartisan coalition of Internet users, companies, and organizations, the U.S. House of Representatives has reportedly put the brakes on SOPA, for now.   SOPA would allegedly use Internet censorship to combat overseas copyright infringement. Even President Obama's White House has joined the opposition, although I guarantee that he would, "reluctantly" sign either bill into law if passed, especially in light of Obama's connection to the entertainment industry. 

Despite floundering SOPA support, the Senate is continuing to move forward  with its equally dangerous version of the bill, called PIPA, the Protect-IP Act.  PIPA is the rewrite of last year's controversial Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, which was discussed numerous times on this site.  

As written, PIPA would result in our government importing censorship and surveillance techniques pioneered by countries like China and Iran, and reversing longstanding U.S. policy on Internet freedom.  This would be an outright betrayal to U.S. First Amendment values and would only result in  further damaging our already blemished standing around the world.  In addition, the bill would threaten our job-creating innovators, and undermining Internet security for everyone.  Many sites would be forced to shut down, without being afforded any degree of due process, including this one and many other alternative news and information sites. 

Despite the online and real life protests of these fascist bills, the long list of supporters contain some of the top lobbying powers in the United States and some of the biggest names in industry.  It's evident that these bills were spearheaded by the entertainment industry, and now with the vast array of support, there is no way that the Internet, as we know is, will continue for much longer. 

Today is a day for action across the Internet. Learn about these destructive and offensive bills. Tell your Senator what you think.  Congress needs to hear from you.  Tell your friends.  Email strangers.  Post on Zuckerberg's wall.  Do whatever you can, and make sure you are doing your part in the fight against censorship.  The more mediums that the Powers That Be control, the easier it is for them to manipulate information and dominate the masses.  We've allowed them to take too much from us already.  Let's hold on to our free Internet. 

"Censorship is never over for those who have experienced it. It is a brand on the imagination that affects the individual who has suffered it, forever." ~Noam Chomsky

Beware of Bisphenol A (BPA) Contamination

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an organic compound that exerts detectable hormone-like properties, an estrogen mimic if you will, which leaches from virtually all polycarbonate plastics (plastic containers or the plastic lining of cans). 

First developed in 1891, bisphenol A came into use as a synthetic estrogen in the 1930s. Later, chemists discovered that, combined with phosgene (used during World War I as a toxic gas) and other compounds, BPA yielded the clear, polycarbonate plastic of shatter-resistant headlights, eyeglass lenses, DVDs and baby bottles.

In recent years,  many scientists around the globe have linked BPA to a myriad of health effects in rodents: mammary and prostate cancer, genital defects in males, early onset of puberty in females, obesity, and even behavior problems such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.  Regulatory bodies have determined safety levels for humans, but those safety levels are currently being questioned or under review as a result of new scientific studies.

In a study released by Consumer Reports, canned soup, tuna, juice and green beans have all been found to contain potentially dangerous levels of bisphenol A.  This is just one of hundreds of scientific, peer-reviewed studies that have suggested health risks from exposure to BPA, including increased incidence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, liver disorders, breast cancer and abnormal reproductive organ development, Consumer Reports said.

Don't trust the government to regulate industry for the greater good of human safety.  You must do your own research and review and decide for yourself.  Spread the word. 

Get Your H Outta Your A

Before it's too late!!

First America, Then the World

"Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. Even before there were large numbers of Negroes on our shores, the scar of racial hatred had already disfigured colonial society. From the sixteenth century forward, blood flowed in battles of racial supremacy. We are perhaps the only nation which tried as a matter of national policy to wipe its indigenous population. Moreover, we elevated that tragic experience into a noble crusade. Indeed, even today we have not permitted ourselves to reject or to feel remorse for this shameful episode. Our literature, our films, our drama, our folklore all exalt it." ~Martin Luther King Jr., Why We Can't Wait

ACLU Video: "The Facts About Filming The Police In Public"

Use your cell phones and cameras to record the police whenever possible.  Go to your local city, town, or county council meeting and demand constant surveillance of on duty law enforcement personnel, especially patrol officers.  This is the only way to maintain accountability and have a record of police misconduct.  Surveillance would protect both civilians and police personnel from false accusations of misconduct.  We cannot trust the verbal/written reports of police officers any longer, nor should we have to with the technology out there.