MEDIA ROOTS — The shameless political minions of insidious U.S. plutocrats and oligarchs continue to push civil rights down the memory hole.  The latest power grab by Washington elites is H.R. 347, also known as the “Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011.”  Furtively tucked away in this ordinary legislation lies a new tool for the ruling-class to further neutralize popular protest and political dissent. 

The bill effectively outlaws the ability of U.S. citizens to protest near any politician or people who are under Secret Service protection.  This means, for example, the President and Vice President of the United States are now effectively immune to public protest.  The list of people provided with Secret Service protection is long and can arbitrarily grow under their discretion.  H.R. 347 was signed by President Obama on March 8, 2012 and enacted soon thereafter.

This law continues the dismantling of First Amendment rights and largely gives police the prerogative to subjectively arrest any person that “impedes or disrupts the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions.”  Furthermore, this political will to snuff out free speech also enables cops to detain any person who “engages in disorderly or disruptive conduct in, or within such proximity to, any restricted building or grounds….”  In light of upcoming, headline-grabbing events like the NATO Summit in Chicago and the Republican National Convention in Tampa come August, it seems that this legislation has been premeditated and enacted in a very timely manner. 

Adam Miezio

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INFORMATION LIBERATION — Don’t you just love Congress, where almost no bills actually are what they say on the tin? There’s some buzz building online about the “Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011″ (or HR 347), which has been positioned as a simple updating of trespassing laws concerning federal grounds. However, as some are pointing out, hidden in there is quite the Easter egg that effectively outlaws protests near people who are “authorized” to be protected by the Secret Service (mainly the President and Vice President, but it could include a lot more as well). Only three Representatives voted against it, including Rep. Justin Amash who explained his concerns via Facebook: 

“Some government officials may need extraordinary protection to ensure their safety. But criminalizing legitimate First Amendment activity — even if that activity is annoying to those government officials — violates our rights. I voted “no.” It passed 388-3.”

You know all those stories we’ve had about people being arrested for filming police? Quite often those people are charged with disorderly conduct — which often seems to boil down to “that person did something law enforcement doesn’t like.” To then take that and say that anything that constitutes disorderly conduct on the grounds of a building where someone who is protected by the Secret Service is a crime, it appears to be wide open to abuse, and a pretty clear restriction on the free speech rights of anyone wishing to engage in normal and healthy protest of our political process.

On top of that, the punishment can be pretty severe. You can get up to a year in jail for being found guilty of these things, and that jumps up to 10 years if you are carrying a “deadly or dangerous weapon.”

As Amash notes, there are legitimate safety concerns to be aware of, and there are issues with doing something that significantly impedes government regulations. But it’s really not difficult to see how this bill could very, very easily be stretched to be used against those doing standard protesting against significant political figures.

Read more about Chipping Away At The First Amendment.

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FRONT PORCH POLITICS — Just when you think the government can’t possibly violate the First Amendment anymore than they already have, they up and surprise you.

Last week the House of Representatives approved a bill that outlaws protests where some government officials are nearby. Oh, and by the way this applies whether you know the officials are there or not!

They voted 388-3 in favor of HR347. The bill is being referred to as the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act or as we’ll refer to it as it should be called, “The Treasonous Trampling of the First Amendment Rights of American Citizens Under the Constitution Act” (TTFARACCA).

Now hold onto your hats here folks because this bill does not just apply to protests where you are in Washington, DC on a tourist escapade or some such vacation where you wish to engage in peaceful protest as your […] inalienable right. No, no my friends, this bill is written in such a way that [it] gives power to the government to bring charges against any American engaged in political protest anywhere in the country.

Currently, trespassers of the White House can be arrested and prosecuted under a local ordinance and obviously just as with any property such laws can and should be in place. However, to restrict peaceful protests simply because a government official might be within earshot of it is ridiculous. What is the point of protesting if the people you are protesting against don’t hear it?

Read more about Goodbye First Amendment Via New Trespass Bill.

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Photo by Flickr user JBrazito

MEDIA ROOTS — As U.S.A. comes to grips with a severe financial hangover, its economy will adapt to meet the peoples’ needs.  After 30 years of easy credit, subprime mortgages, zero interest loans, and binge spending, the economy has imploded.  The wizards of Wall Street continue casting spells and weaving their magic, as the corporate media rattles on about the wizards’ omnipotence like a rickety player piano. 

Meanwhile, back in the world of reality, some are beginning to realize the necessity of more contemporary ways of doing business.  Decreasing wages, increasing taxes for workers, stifling regulations, and a mortally wounded economy are all forcing people to do business a different way.  If current conditions continue, ‘black markets‘ will emerge, giving local economies an IV to keep them stable.

The global Black Market has already surpassed $1 trillion in sales.  The United States alone already accounts for more than $600 billion, almost three times the nearest competitor- China.  U.S. workers, seeing that the economy for the ‘99%’ is still toxic, are doing an end around to oppressive, financial restraints and austerity imposed by the government and Wall Street.  When times become too financially difficult and unbearable in the face of financial repression (think Prohibition and the War on Drugs) black markets spring up like mushrooms after a morning dew.  The economic intrusions of a government gone haywire include repression of raw milk sales, tracking gold and silver purchases over $600, the IRS considering taxing barter exchanges, and the FDA claiming jurisdiction over personal gardens.  Citizens are creating new economic systems which serve their own interests outside of corporate, monopolistic, centralized markets.

The ‘1%’ fear decentralized markets because money and profits they’ve pillaged will be siphoned away from them and they will be effectively locked out of large monetary streams.  Citizens who desire to create their own system, a system which benefits them, will move more and more to localized markets, increased reliance on localized products, and utilization of informal, non-mainstream business networks.  The status quo will viciously fight back against such developments, as new economic alternatives threaten their carefully orchestrated system of financially slavery they have created.  We must learn to reject this malevolent system and embrace the concept of black markets.  Black markets are simply unsanctioned trade dynamics. 

Black markets can be beneficial to most U.S. workers and advantageous in a number of ways.  For starters, no taxes are paid by the participants, and more goods may become available, which normally aren’t.  In times of economic duress, participation in a black market makes a revolutionary statement.  U.S.A. seems to be undergoing a bout of history repeating itself.  The Boston Tea Party and the Whiskey Rebellion gave U.S.A. the first taste of resistance to economic bullying.  However, we’ve forgotten that lesson for a long time.  After a nasty bout of binge-drinking easy credit and free money, the hangover it’s left us with is bringing us back to our roots.

Adam Miezio

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ALT-MARKET — As Americans, we live in two worlds; the world of mainstream fantasy, and the world of day-to-day reality right outside our front doors.  One disappears the moment we shut off our television.  The other, does not… 

When dealing with the economy, it is the foundation blocks that remain when the proverbial house of cards flutters away in the wind, and these basic roots are what we should be most concerned about.  While much of what we see in terms of economic news is awash in a sticky gray cloud of disinformation and uneducated opinion, there are still certain constants that we can always rely on to give us a sense of our general financial environment.  Two of these constants are supply and demand.  Central banks like the private Federal Reserve may have the ability to flood markets with fiat liquidity to skew indexes and stocks, and our government certainly has the ability to interpret employment numbers in such a way as to paint the rosiest picture possible, but ultimately, these entities cannot artificially manipulate the public into a state of demand when they are, for all intents and purposes, dead broke. 

In contrast, the establishment does have the ability to make specific demands or necessities illegal to possess, and can even attempt to restrict their supply.  Though, in most cases this leads not to the control they seek, but a sudden and sharp loss of regulation through the growth of covert trade.  The people need what the people need, and no government, no matter how titanic, can stop them from getting these commodities when demand is strong enough.

This process of removing necessary or desirable items from a trade environment leads inevitably to counter-prohibition often in the form of strict cash transactions, barter markets, or “black markets” as they are normally derided by those in power.  The problem for economic totalitarians is that the harder they squeeze the masses, the more intricate the rebellion becomes, especially when all they want is to participate in free markets the way our forefathers intended.

Read more about America’s burgeoning black markets.

© 2012 Alt-Market.com

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Photo by flickr user Refracted Moments

 

MEDIA ROOTS — I’m a huge Bill Maher fan.

I say that not as an empty platitude nor as a way to soften the eventual blow.  My dad introduced me to “Real Time with Bill Maher” several years ago and I’ve been hooked ever since.  For awhile, he recorded the show and we watched it together every week.  Eventually, I was able to afford HBO on my own, but we’d still call each other every week to talk about the episode.  As silly as it sounds, I am really grateful to Bill for his show because it gave my dad and I an opportunity to bond. 

In addition to being a huge comedy fan, I’ve also dabbled in stand up for several years.  Bill’s style and attention to politics and religion have always made him one of my favorite comedians.  So naturally, I was really excited when my dad got us tickets to the live taping of his new special, “CrazyStupidPolitics.”

Heading into the show, I thought I knew what to expect.  The crowd would be 99% liberal (or so they think) and Bill would spend his entire set trashing Republicans.  When you think about it, it’s a great formula for success because the Republican presidential candidates make it incredibly easy. “The jokes write themselves,” as the saying goes. 

Being a former card-carrying member of the Democratic Party, I sometimes enjoy reveling in the intellectual wasteland that is Republican ideology.  As expected, so did everyone else in the theatre.  The crowd was loud and energized because Bill gave us the Anti-Republican red meat that we all came to feast on.  In the end, he put on a great show.  He was thoughtful and poignant at times while juvenile and mean at others.  Nevertheless, he was always funny.  After all, it was a comedy show. 

Well…mostly.

After Bill finished his set and received his well-deserved standing ovation, he told us all that he had a surprise.  To be honest, I was hoping he would bring out the opening act (Amy Schumer) and let her go home with whatever audience member could cheer the loudest.  Yes, she has the bone structure of a Cabbage Patch doll but I would still totally take her down.  Instead, Maher took the opportunity to present a whopping $1,000,000 in the form of a giant game show check to President Obama’s Super PAC—Priorities USA Action.

For about ten more minutes, this is still a free country.  If Bill wants to “donate” his money in this way on HIS show then he should be allowed to do so.  The act of donating money to a Presidential candidate is not what concerns me—it was his accompanying message that was so disappointing.  Just before presenting the massive $1,000,000 check, he seriously addressed the crowd to convey his displeasure with Citizens United and the Super PACs it spawned. 

I was hoping Bill would follow those thoughts with a great plan or at the very least, a hilarious solution.  Instead, he took the path of least resistance.  Bill’s over-the-top donation was his way of saying, ‘if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.’  What makes it worse is that Bill’s rationale for donating the money seemed to be due to fear of another Republican in the White House instead of a ringing endorsement of Obama and his policies.  He even went as far urging those of us in the audience as well as those watching at home to donate to Obama’s Super PAC because Obama “doesn’t have this in the bag.”  It’s that exact same type of fear-mongering, for which Bill often chastises Republicans on his show.

For many of you, this might seem like no big deal.  However, I remember a time when Bill Maher was fired from ABC for speaking out against the cowardice of U.S. foreign policy.  I remember a time when Bill Maher was a cynic, who once famously said you should “question everything.”  And I remember when Bill Maher was a patriot, who regularly criticized President Bush for gross violations of our Constitution and civil liberties.  Unfortunately, THAT Bill Maher, either, doesn’t exist anymore or his presence is only predicated on whom is currently sitting in the Oval Office.

As I walked out of the theatre, I realized this was nothing more than an Obama fundraiser, in the heart of Silicon Valley, disguised as a comedy show.

Written by Barrett Rodda for Media Roots

Photo by flickr user David_Shankbone

MEDIA ROOTS — A cabal of banksters, traitorous shysters, thieving technocrats and debt hustlers, continue plying America with more financial soma: more credit cards, more debt, more loans, and more deficits.  The snake oil salesmen of our era engineer the financial impotence of everyone not included in their exclusive, nano clique of psychopathic predators.  They plunder U.S. wealth, like a con man scams a stumbling drunk into a game of three card monte.  To complete the nightmare, the “drunk” American is arrested for gambling, as the fearless con man walks free, having paid to rig the scales of justice long ago.

The U.S. healthcare system is more accurately called “sickcare” and has more in common with a lucrative racket, than with an altruistic sense of universal compassion.  Charlatans try to reanimate the housing market, only to see it fail, while playing off the cadaveric spasm as success.  Meanwhile, the mass media’s black magic practitioners continue to indoctrinate the masses with soft fascism, paving the road to tyranny with dog and pony shows for elections. 

The U.S. pulse of hope still gently pumps.  Young people’s passion and enthusiasm for Republican Ron Paul shows a renewed vigor for democratic ideals.  The emphatic rejection of SOPA and PIPA clearly told the status quo not to infringe upon the only remaining, reliable source of news and information.  Americans sense that our leaders have broken the pact, and threaten them with “or else” as reflected by increased gun sales over recent years.  America has badly veered off course.  Do we have what it takes to avoid running aground? 

Jim Quinn of The Burning Platform provides sound insight regarding the socioeconomic ailments of today’s America.

MR

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The Burning Platform — It is mind boggling the degree to which central planners like Bernanke, Geithner, Obama and Congress will inflict their vision of how the economy and world in general should operate upon the trusting masses. The American people want to believe their leaders are doing what is best for them. They like dwelling in a land of delusion, security and luxury, where government guarantees to protect them from: terrorists; Iranian invasion; saving for retirement; looking out for their own health; educating themselves; and accepting the consequences of living above their means. Their ability to distinguish between truth and propaganda has been thoroughly degraded by years of government proscribed education. We have chosen to become a knowingly ignorant nation of true believers. There is no time for critical thinking while we anticipate our next tweet about the death of drug addicted pop singer. We have been taught to love our servitude.

The fallacy of government protecting you, taking care of you and providing you “free” benefits is so ingrained in the American psyche that it is virtually impossible to voluntarily reverse the trend. The truth that Americans refuse to acknowledge is that nothing is free in this life. We are not entitled to own a home, a free education, free healthcare, or a comfy privileged existence. Everything government provides is taken by force from someone else. Everything government does has a cost. Americans have traded freedom and liberty for the appearance of safety and security.The cost is constant war, getting groped by TSA perverts, surveillance by government agencies, threat of imprisonment without charges and a $1 trillion price tag per year. The cost of “free” healthcare is mind numbingly ludicrous rules and regulations for doctors and patients, massive fraud, outrageously expensive procedures and medications, and a $100 trillion unfunded liability left for future generations. The ultimate cost of an overbearing, all controlling government will be economic collapse and revolution.

The concluding act during this bad week for freedom occurred on Saturday in the great state of Maine. When it became clear that Ron Paul was going to win the Maine caucuses, the GOP establishment, that has already anointed Mitt Romney the Republican nominee, decided the people of Maine would be told who won. Using the excuse of an impending snowstorm (less than 1 inch), the powers that be cancelled the caucuses in Washington County where a large contingent of youthful Ron Paul supporters dominated. The Girl Scouts didn’t cancel their event in the same county that day. The men who cancelled the caucus are strong Romney supporters. This was a blatant Stalinist act of voter disenfranchisement. The GOP leaders declared those votes would not count in the totals. Despite this despicable act of rigging an election, Ron Paul doubled his vote percentage from 2008. His message of freedom, liberty, non-interventionism, sound money and self-reliance is reverberating across the land among young people who have not been programmed by the governing elite and the corporate mass media. The establishment will do everything in their power, including vote fraud, to prevent Ron Paul’s anti-establishment message from being heard.

Read more about freedom’s low tide in America.

© 2012 The Burning Platform

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Photo by flickr user AZRainman