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More action on states’ rights from Michigan Rep Paul Opsommer
Press release from MI Rep. Paul Opsommer
OPSOMMER PRAISES SENATE ACTION, CALLS FOR HCR 04 AND SCR 04 TO BE HEARD
June 18, 2009Rep. Paul Opsommer today praised the Senate for officially beginning the discussion on the issue of state sovereignty. The Senate passed both SCR 13 and SR 62 on Tuesday.
“Individual state rights have been slowly eroded in our United States to the point where we have a whole generation that is growing up believing the federal government created the states and not the other way around,” said Opsommer. “But we have now been bullied, manipulated and coerced by the federal government to the point that things have come to a head and state legislatures, especially full-time ones like what we have here in Michigan, have to stand up and push back against this unconstitutional overreach.”
Opsommer pointed out that even before the recession that almost a third of state funds came from the federal government, but that this year Uncle Sam supplanted sales, property taxes and income taxes as the biggest source of revenue for state and local governments. And if you don’t do go along to get along, you don’t get the money.
“The 50 states have somehow become the collective children whose federal parents can take away their allowance and car privileges if they don’t do as their told,” said Opsommer. “That is not how the founding fathers intended things to be.”
Opsommer called for his resolution HCR 04 to be taken up, as well as SCR 04 by Senator Patterson. HCR 04 is a reintroduction of Opsommer’s from last year and focuses on the need for states to demand that the federal government honor its 10th Amendment Rights.
“This isn’t an issue about Republicans or Democrats, this is an issue about federal abuses that have taken place in both parties that are creating a country that is very different than the one our parents and grandparents lived in and fought for,” said Opsommer. “Whether it is No Child Left Behind, REAL ID, federal road funding schemes or the most recent manipulations of the stimulus package, many state legislatures spend most of their time chasing federal dollars and passing laws to keep Washington happy instead of focusing on the state citizens they were elected to serve.”
In addition to HCR 04, Opsommer has also introduced HCR 22, HCR 09, and HCR 06 related to federalism issues.
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State Run News: ABC Turns Programming Over To Government
Corporate news giant imitates Communist China, Soviet Union and North Korea, blocks dissenting voices to promote Obama health care agenda
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Monday, June 16, 2009Completely dispensing with any notion of independence or impartiality, ABC News is set to mimic the likes of Communist China and North Korea by completely turning its news coverage over to the government and excluding any dissenting opinions to promote President Obama’s health care agenda.
The night of Wednesday June 24th will officially herald the open commencement of state run news, imitating similar systems in historical dictatorships such as the Soviet Union, where Pravda was the official propaganda organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party from 1912 to 1991.
In China, the vast majority of news outlets are completely owned and controlled by the Communist Party. Negative viewpoints about government policy are blocked and news developments that could reflect badly on China are ignored and censored. An almost identical system of media also exists in Stalinist North Korea.
Still, at least the Chinese and the North Koreans don’t try to hide the fact that the press is state run, unlike ABC News, owned by the corporate giant Walt Disney Company, which masquerades as an independent news outlet yet in little over a week will completely turn over its news coverage to act as enthusiastic propagandist for the government’s health care “reform” program.
The coverage will be in addition to ABC News’ regular programming, which is already vehemently pushing the government’s agenda on this issue.
“On the night of June 24, the media and government become one, when ABC turns its programming over to President Obama and White House officials to push government run health care — a move that has ignited an ethical firestorm!,” according to the Drudge Report.
“ABCNEWS anchor Charlie Gibson will deliver WORLD NEWS from the Blue Room of the White House.”
“The network plans a primetime special — ‘Prescription for America’ — originating from the East Room, exclude opposing voices on the debate.”
In a complaint to ABC News, Republican National Committee Chief of Staff Ken McKay called the decision “astonishing,” noting that ABC had rejected a request that dissenting voices from all sides of the political spectrum be represented.
ABC News’ announcement that they will openly turn over their news coverage to the government while censoring dissenting opinions goes one step further than the Bush administration, who at least made the effort to keep their fake news scandal a secret until it was exposed in 2005.
Under Bush, the government produced fake news packages and distributed them to local news networks around the country, most of which aired them without question. The fake news packages were also broadcast on a national level by CNN. Reporters and pundits were also paid off by the government to promote specific policies.
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Ron Paul’s “Audit the Fed” bill now has majority support in House of Representatives
A bill to audit the international banking cartel mis-labelled as the “Federal Reserve” has reached 222 sponsors as of the evening of June 11th 2009, which represents a majority of the House of Representatives. Any thorough audit will likely confirm what we already suspect, that untold trillions of our tax dollars, handed over to international banks, have been leveraged to buy out other financial institutions and consolidate wealth, not issued as credit to stimulate the economy as it was intended. One can only guess what other kind of scams, cronyism, payoffs, and pilfering have occurred with our unaccounted-for trillions.
The fact that the Fed, which controls the issuance of currency (and hence inflation) is buying our own treasury bonds should send a shiver up the spine of every person holding dollars.
Ron Paul’s press release:
Audit the Fed Bill Reaches Crucial Benchmark
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Ron Paul’s Federal Reserve Transparency Act, HR 1207, has reached and surpassed the level of 218 cosponsors in the House of Representatives, which means it is now cosponsored by a majority of the members. The 218th cosponsor was Dennis Kucinich (OH-10), and the bill has since received its 222nd cosponsor.“The tremendous grass-roots and bipartisan support in Congress for HR 1207 is an indicator of how mainstream America is fed up with Fed secrecy,” said Congressman Paul. “I look forward to this issue receiving greater public exposure.”Hearings on Federal Reserve transparency are expected within the next month, as part of the Financial Services Committee’s series of hearings on regulatory reform. -
The unequal treatment of two religiously motivated crimes
For two recent crimes, a Muslim, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, is charged with terrorism and murder. In a similar case, a Christian, Scott Roeder, is charged with murder but not terrorism. Yet, there are ample indications that both sought to influence government policy.By Junaid M. Afeef, June 8, 2009
Mirror image?Two men, one Christian and the other Muslim, commit murder just one day apart in the United States. Both appear to have been motivated by their religious beliefs. The Christian murderer is Scott Roeder and his victim is Dr. George Tiller, a physician from Wichita, KS who performed late term abortions. The Muslim murderer is Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad and his victims are Pvt. William Long and Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula who were new U.S. Army recruiters.These two murder cases expose the media’s and our legal system’s bias against Muslims. Both crimes seem to fit the definition of terrorism motivated by religious extremism. The media and the legal system, however, are treating these alleged murderers and their crimes very differently.
The Muslim murder suspect, Mr. Muhammad, is charged with terrorism along with first degree murder. Mr. Muhammad’s faith has been front and center from the very earliest news reports. The American-Muslim community’s almost immediate repudiation of Mr. Muhammad’s murder was and still is largely ignored.
On the other hand, the Christian murder suspect, Mr. Roeder, is not being charged with terrorism. His faith has not been the focus of news reports even though there seems to be ample evidence to suggest that Mr. Roeder espouses extreme, right-wing Christian beliefs. And lastly, the media is giving anti-abortion groups ample opportunity to distance themselves from the murderous actions of one of their own.
Let’s start with the terrorism charges. Domestic terrorism is defined as an act that is dangerous to human life (guns were fired in the direction of the victims – this requirement is met) and which is a violation of the criminal laws of the U.S. or any State (both shootings fulfill this requirement) and which appears to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion or to affect the conduct of a government by, among other things, assassination (an argument for this element can be made in both shootings).
Mr. Muhammad is charged with 15 counts of engaging in a terrorist act. This is in addition to the murder charge. Mr. Roeder is charged with murder but there are no terrorism charges. On the face of both cases there seems to be ample indications that these men committed murder with the objective of intimidating a civilian population or with the intention to influence a government policy.
So, why a terrorism charge in one case but not the other? Both cases are heinous. Both local communities surely want to send the strongest message possible to the public that these crimes will be punished to the greatest extent of the law. And ultimately a judge or jury will decide whether the charges are proven beyond a reasonable doubt so the prosecutor runs little risk by adding the appropriate terrorism charge.
The disparate treatment of these two murder cases began right from the first media reports. Most major newswires and major newspapers focused heavily on Mr. Muhammad’s religion very early on.
The Associated Press reported on Mr. Muhammad’s crime by stating that a “Muslim convert with political and religious motives” shot two uniformed soldiers. The New York Times described Mr. Muhammad as “an American convert to Islam.” CNN reported that Mr. Muhammad is a “Muslim convert”.
Let’s compare the reporting by these same news sources on Mr. Roeder’s murder. The Associated Press is mum on Mr. Roeder’s Christian faith. Ditto for the New York Times and CNN. None of theses same news sources make any mention of Mr. Roeder’s religious affiliation or the obvious role his extremist religious beliefs may have played in the killing of Dr. Tiller.
What exacerbates this obvious bias in reporting is the willingness of the media to offer the anti-abortion groups immediate opportunities to distance themselves from Mr. Roeder’s murder while none of them provided a similar opportunity for the American-Muslim community even as they reported that Mr. Muhammad is a Muslim. Major national and regional American-Muslim organizations issued almost immediate statements condemning Mr. Muhammad’s murderous actions so the excuse cannot be a lack of public condemnation of the murder from the American-Muslim community.
To the American-Muslim community this unequal treatment is at the very least annoying and more likely very troubling. The bad news is that this situation is not going to change in the immediate future.
Not enough Americans know what real Muslims are like. There are up to 7 million Muslims living in America. By contrast there are a few hundred million Christians in America. Suffice to say that Americans feel more familiar with Christian values than they do with Muslim values. They don’t realize just how similar these values are – both faith traditions abhor the killing of innocents and neither faith condones the actions of Mr. Muhammad or Mr. Roeder. Plus, the steady stream of news about Muslim extremists killing others and themselves in suicide missions overseas certainly doesn’t help.
There is only one way for American-Muslims to sway Americans’ opinion of Islam. More Americans need to know what real Muslims are all about. While the media can do its job better by giving a voice to the American-Muslim community, American-Muslims need to take matters into their own hands.
American-Muslims need to become civically engaged. They need to get involved on issues of the common good and not just special interest issues. It has to be at the grassroots level with one on one interactions predicated on substantive work that gives non-Muslim Americans a chance to see firsthand what American-Muslims are all about.
President Obama’s message to the Muslim world, including his numerous nods to American-Muslims was great, but American-Muslims need to do some serious, old school, grassroots relational work of their own.
Junaid M. Afeef, Esq. is the Executive Director of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. He can be reached at Junaid.afeef[at]gmail.com -
China to to Require Web Filtering Software on All PCs
Via: Wall Street Journal:
China plans to require that all personal computers sold in the country as of July 1 be shipped with software that blocks access to certain Web sites, a move that could give government censors unprecedented control over how Chinese users access the Internet.
The government, which has told global PC makers of the requirement but has yet to announce it to the public, says the effort is aimed at protecting young people from “harmful” content. The primary target is pornography, says the main developer of the software, a company that has ties to China’s security ministry and military.
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The Chinese government has a history of censoring a broad range of Web content. The new requirement could force PC manufacturers to choose between refusing a government order in a major market or opening themselves to charges of abetting censorship.
The software needn’t be preinstalled on each new PC — it may instead be shipped on a compact disc — giving users some choice. But if installed, foreign industry officials who have examined the software say, it could transmit personal information, cause PCs to malfunction, and make them more vulnerable to hacking. It also makes it difficult for users to tell what exactly is being blocked, officials say.
A spokeswoman for Hewlett-Packard Co., which has the largest PC market share of any U.S. vendor in China, said the company is “working with the government authorities and evaluating the best way to approach this. Obviously we will focus on delivering the best customer experience while ensuring that we meet necessary regulatory requirements.”
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