Too Soon ...Aaron Swartz

I can't say I was on the forefront of Aaron Swartz' connection to internet freedom.  I do know, NOW, what he was.

Can you say, "government bullying" that results in "death by suicide?"

There is really no other explanation.  And just to say, this is not the only time our government's prosecution techniques resulted in a premature death by suicide. 

At 14, Mr. Swartz helped create RSS, the nearly ubiquitous tool that allows users to subscribe to online information. He later became an Internet folk hero, pushing to make many Web files free and open to the public. But in July 2011, he was indicted on federal charges of gaining illegal access to JSTOR, a subscription-only service for distributing scientific and literary journals, and downloading 4.8 million articles and documents, nearly the entire library.

Charges in the case, including wire fraud and computer fraud, were pending at the time of Mr. Swartz’s death, carrying potential penalties of up to 35 years in prison and $1 million in fines. 

Vintage Paul Ryan - Smack Down On 71 Year Old For Speaking Truth To His Lies

This video has been making the rounds lately, and I believe it was about a year ago. Notice how disgustingly smug Paul Ryan is as he cracks a joke at the expense of the elderly gentleman.



This is a 71 year old man who has paid into Social Security and unemployment insurance all his working life (well, so he says ... but let's just assume it to be a fact or else he would not have taken the stand he did) and his complaint is about the "new age" politicians that keep wanting to cut/gut his Social Security and end unemployment as we know it. The constant drumbeat of the right wingers in re-labeling these services as "welfare" and "hand-outs" when they are, in fact, money taken out of working people's pay checks and put away for that rainy day, makes me sick to my stomach. And ironically, there are actually stupid people out there that believe this rhetoric ... until, of course, it comes to THEIR Social Security and unemployment benefits. In fact, it is even more ironic that many of our old farts in Congress actually get their Social Security and other government benefits (like health care), but continuously refuse to give up theirs while they say the rest of the American population MUST give up theirs. Bull shit.

And notice how the police or security guards treat the old man for just saying what he wants to say, and you can hear them yelling at him to "get on the ground." For god's sake, what is wrong with our country that a 71 year old man is not allowed to voice his opinion and has to be taken away in handcuffs, no less?

Is Chalk Really A Weapon Requiring Riot Police?

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times / July 13, 2012)

So, apparently chalk drawing on the street is now a matter of terrorist security such that the LAPD had to come out in full riot gear during the monthly L.A. Artwalk.

Occupy L.A. activists and their supporters accused Los Angeles police of overreacting Thursday to chalk protesters during downtown's monthly ArtWalk, which set the stage for the violent run-in that resulted in 17 arrests.

Cheryl Aichele, 34, an informal leader of Occupy L.A., said police were aggressive early and made their first arrest shortly after 7 p.m. "within 10 minutes of getting where we wanted to be."

"Police were pushing us -- I got pushed into a garbage can -- then we were being pushed into the street," Aichele said. "They would do all these intimidation tactics -- all before 9. They would come in and snatch somebody and pull them away. Or they'd push us. Or yell at us."

One of the guys she saw got arrested "was just walking by, took some chalk and drew a heart and wrote 'police' in it."

"We were being peaceful," she said. "In our meeting beforehand, we said our goals were: Have fun. Stay safe. Speak out. Stand up. Reach out. Make friends. Chalk."

Peter White of the Los Angeles Community Action Network said he was present at 5th and Spring streets as a legal observer and believed the heavy police presence played a role in the conflict.

"I firmly believe it was an over-saturation of the police earlier in the evening, the sort of aggressive behavior earlier, that bled into things that happened later in the night," White said. On Thursday night, people began amassing and drawing and writing with chalk at 6th and Spring streets.

"Oh My God, Not The Secret Service, Damn It"

Uh, where were you when there was outrage over the Bush era criminal activities?

President Barack Obama, speaking for the first time about allegations that Secret Service agents hired prostitutes, said Sunday that "of course I'll be angry" if those accusations are proven true by an investigation.

Obama said the agents represent the United States and are supposed to conduct themselves with the highest levels of dignity anywhere in the world. "Obviously, what's been reported doesn't match up to those standards," Obama said in a news conference wrapping his appearance at a Latin America summit.

Ah, the faux outrage!

Florida's New Prison Bill Goes Down In Flames

A massive expansion of private prisons in Florida collapsed in the Senate Tuesday as nine Republicans joined a dozen Democrats in handing a setback to Senate leaders and a victory to state workers.

As a result, the state will not undertake what would have been the single greatest expansion of prison privatization in U.S. history, affecting 27 prisons and work camps in 18 counties and displacing more than 3,500 correctional officers.

Thank Goodness! This was pushed by the Governor and touted as the "new" way to go regarding imprisoning so called criminals. Except in Florida, the privatization was predicated on the expected "new" criminals that would be coming from the illegal immigrant crackdown. They were counting the money hand over fist. Glad to see that this "plan" died a quick death.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/14/2642075/bill-to-privatize-prisons-dies.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy

Anyone Contact You Lately To Discuss Your Prescription Buying Habits?

I once got a telephone call from a "survey" company that concerned my "prescription" drug purchases. Now, I really only have two prescriptions, one for my blood pressure, and one for relief of stress. But, I was rather surprised that this company knew my information, what drugs I took and where I purchased them from. I was aghast that my personal medical history was out there for others to pick at.

Seems I am not alone (subscription required for full reading):

The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a Vermont law that barred the sale of doctors' prescription data to drug companies, ruling the law interfered with the pharmaceutical industry's First Amendment right to market its products.

Data companies such as IMS Health Inc. gather information from pharmacies about which medicines doctors are prescribing and ...

Another Assissination Attempt By Obama Administration Misses Mark, Yawns At Collateral Damage

" ... one policy where Obama has gone further than Bush/Cheney in terms of unfettered executive authority and radical war powers is the attempt to target American citizens for assassination without a whiff of due process. As The New York Times put it last April:

It is extremely rare, if not unprecedented, for an American to be approved for targeted killing, officials said. A former senior legal official in the administration of George W. Bush said he did not know of any American who was approved for targeted killing under the former president. . . .

That Obama was compiling a hit list of American citizens was first revealed in January of last year when The Washington Post's Dana Priest mentioned in passing at the end of a long article that at least four American citizens had been approved for assassinations; several months later, the Obama administration anonymously confirmed to both the NYT and the Post that American-born, U.S. citizen Anwar al-Awlaki was one of the Americans on the hit list.

Yesterday, riding a wave of adulation and military-reverence, the Obama administration tried to end the life of this American citizen -- never charged with, let alone convicted of, any crime -- with a drone strike in Yemen, but missed and killed two other people instead:

A missile strike from an American military drone in a remote region of Yemen on Thursday was aimed at killing Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical American-born cleric believed to be hiding in the country, American officials said Friday.

The attack does not appear to have killed Mr. Awlaki, the officials said, but may have killed operatives of Al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen.

The other people killed "may have" been Al Qaeda operatives. Or they "may not have" been. Who cares?

Glenn Greenwald puts up a compelling argument against President Obama's singularly unique disregard for the Fifth Amendment (and he being a "constitutional scholar," at that) and his "shoot to kill" orders of American citizens abroad without having been charged with any crime, without having been arrested for any crime, and without the right to American due process.

But the notion that the President has the power to order American citizens assassinated without an iota of due process -- far from any battlefield, not during combat -- is an idea so utterly foreign to me, so far beyond the bounds of what is reasonable, that it's hard to convey in words or treat with civility.

I, too, find it hard to convey in words that are civil how horribly wrong this is and why it is just one of many reasons (but a primary one) I do not support the man in the White House. I like him even less than I did Bush, and that really says something.

Read the entire piece here, and feel free to comment.