dont tread on me

FBI Pigs on a wing

On the morning of September 24th, FBI agents served grand jury subpoenas and raided the homes of several anti-war and social justice activists in Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois. The FBI appears to be targeting people associated with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization and the Arab-American Action Network. Search warrants indicate agents were looking for connections between local antiwar activists and groups in Colombia and the Middle East. Most of the people whose homes were searched or who were issued subpoenas had helped organize or attended protests at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, two years ago.The social justice community, mindful of the COINTELPRO intimidation tactics that the FBI has implemented in the past against anti-war and civil rights organizers, view the raids as an intimidation tactic. Within a day, activists organized a solidarity vigil, a press conference to raise public opinion of the matter, and put out a call for rallies nationwide.
Coverage Roundups: DC-IMC | Indybay | Chicago IMC | Twin Cities IMC
More Coverage from Twin Cities IMC: Oct6: Anti-War Activists: "We Have Nothing to Say to a Grand Jury" | Sept29: Midwest Social Justice Community Rallies Around Investigated Antiwar Activist | Sept24: At Least Four Minneapolis Houses Raided, Activists Subpoenaed in National FBI "Terror" Expedition Against Antiwar Activists | Breaking News
Demonstration Reportbacks: Portland, OR | Rochester, NY | Champaign, IL | Olympia, WA | Buffalo, NY | Washington, DC
Solidarity Statements: African People’s Solidarity Committee | Labor Activists Condemn FBI Repression | Send a Note of Protest and cc your local media
Related Stories: US Coast Guard admittedly spied in Olympia Activist circles | PA "Terror Watch" Bulletins Tracked Activists Across State
More Information: If An Agent Knocks | Committee to Stop FBI Repression

Update on Portland, Oregon homelessness.

This is a quote from the People Project:

"In Portland, Sisters Of The Road (Sisters) and Street Roots have been at the forefront of resistance to “quality of life” measures, including a camping ban and sit/lie ordinance. In 2003, Sisters and Street Roots launched the Right to Sleep Campaign, urging City Hall to look at alternatives to criminalization measures that target individuals living on the streets. In their newspaper, Street Roots highlighted the civil rights issues faced by people experiencing homelessness through in-depth reporting on private security in downtown Portland and how it relates to the criminalization of homelessness. Over the years, the newspaper reported on a number of criminalization efforts, including alternatives to the camping, sit-lie, and Drug Free Zones. Due to community pressure and legal challenges, the sit/lie ordinance was twice struck down as unconstitutional in 2004 and 2009.

Photo Credit: Michael Lloyd/Oregonian

In 2010, the city proposed another version of the sit-lie law called the Sidewalk Management Ordinance. In response, Sisters organized an action in celebration of sidewalks being for everyone that was attended by over 200 unhoused and housed allies who then marched to City Hall to testify against the measure.  Sisters exposed the classism and bias of the new ordinance in a public statement they used in their media work, outreach to the community, and in City Council hearings.
Sisters also gave a presentation to the city’s Human Rights Commission on the history of the two previous sit/lie ordinances, how it had been used against homeless people, and how the Council was manipulating the issue to make the new ordinance seem like it was about mobility rights for “differently-abled” people.  They specifically objected to the way the ordinance used the Americans with Disabilities Act. Homeless people were targeted for blocking sidewalk access for people with disabilities even though the Portland Housing Bureau recently found that 47% of homeless people had a high risk of mortality caused by untreated disabilities.
A week after the presentation, the Human Rights Commission took a public stand against the ordinance. At the next City Council hearing on the ordinance, three Commissioners testified that it violated human rights and the City Council should vote no on it.
Despite these efforts the ordinance passed. Sisters immediately switched gears and launched a “know-your-rights” campaign. They did street outreach that included handing out 2,000 flyers to educate Portlanders on their rights under the law and invited them to organize with them to oppose the ordinance. Sisters’ organizer Chani Geigle-Teller notes, “Largely because of this organizing on the streets, conversation by conversation, our weekly Civil Rights Workgroup consistently has over 12 volunteers who come in throughout the week to help us carry out this work!”

The City of Portland, including the business alliance have been kicking street people out of their businesses because they look dirty.  The City of Portland furthermore always try to resurrect the "Sit-lie" ordinace that was found unconstitutional in 2009.  The Portland police harass and "shake down" the members of the homeless community.  All big cities have "tent cities".  In 1929, they were called "Hoovervilles".  Even Dignity Villiage in Portland is just one of the kinder Hoovervilles.  By the way, President Herbert Hoover was blamed for the 1929 stock market crash and the  great  depression.

Protest on war and capitalism Portland OR

Bank of America = Bare Ass Bank -------------  Wells Fargo = Welts Fragin

Cut Them Credit Cards into ribbons

FBI and Police got hackers on staff

The FBI and local police employ expert hackers to break into activists' computers to harass them.  Obama obviously condones this action or he is so much of a reagan style retarded imbicle that he does not know what is going on.  Or he is too stoned to care.

Monday, July 28, 2003

Hacker claims he was working for FBI

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Feds not talking, but county forging ahead on case

By Dan Horn
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Jesse Tuttle, a computer hacker better known as 'Hackah Jak.' (Joseph Fuqua II photo) | ZOOM |

"Jesse Tuttle was sure he had made a good deal two years ago when he agreed to help the government safeguard sensitive computer systems against hackers, thieves and terrorists.
For Tuttle, a computer hacker known around the world as "Hackah Jak," it was the chance of a lifetime.
The deal would help him avoid prosecution on computer hacking charges and would pay him to do something he loves: search the Internet for vulnerable computer systems. If he found one, he says, he wrote a report about it for the FBI in Cincinnati.
"He is a genius with computers," says Tuttle's lawyer, Firooz Namei. "He was basically the eyes and ears of the FBI on this world that no one knows exists."
But Tuttle's Internet sleuthing ended in May, when Hamilton County sheriff's deputies charged the 23-year-old Camp Dennison man with breaking into the county's computer network and accused him of storing child pornography on his home computer.
Tuttle says his work with federal authorities explains everything, and that he was arrested because one government agency didn't know what another was doing.
But the FBI isn't talking and county officials stand by Tuttle's arrest.
Tuttle's case is the product of an intensifying cyber war between hackers and law enforcement officials around the world. It's a high-tech war with high stakes.
The fight will decide who has access to everything from credit card numbers to military secrets to designs for the next generation of space shuttles.
And as Tuttle's case illustrates, it's not always easy to tell the good guys from the bad.
"You never really know what (a hacker's) motives are and who else they may be working with," says Dorothy Denning, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School who has written about cyber terrorism. "There is some risk involved."
But with the number of computer intrusions nationwide jumping from 22,000 to 82,000 in the past three years, authorities and private companies are increasingly willing to work with hackers like Tuttle in hopes of preventing online attacks.
The trend has sometimes caused disagreements and confusion among law enforcement agencies, as Tuttle claims happened in his case. And it has forced hackers who traditionally guard their independence to choose sides.
Hackers dedicated to making the Internet more secure call themselves "white hats," while those determined to damage or steal from Web sites consider themselves "black hats."
Tuttle refers to himself as a "gray hat," someone who does no serious harm but still enjoys the illicit thrill of cracking a system.
"It's always been like a sport for me," says Tuttle, who is free pending his trial. "Being able to do it, outsmarting the system. ... I find a lot of pleasure in it."
Whatever Tuttle's motives - and whether he was really working for or against the government, or both - his story is a cautionary tale from the front lines of a war most Americans never see.
Contact with the FBI
Tuttle says his motives have been clear since the day he agreed to help the government. He says everything he did - from tapping into computer systems to posing as a teenage girl online - was related to his work with the FBI.
He says he helped make several highly sensitive government networks more secure and, in one case, helped federal agents track a pedophile's online activities.
"I never tried to steal goods or services," Tuttle says. "If I found out about (a vulnerable system), I'd hack the system. If there was a problem ... I'd call the FBI and say there is a hole."
That's what he says he was doing earlier this year when he tapped into the county's Regional Computer Center, which stores electronic versions of court records, property tax information and other data.
Although Tuttle says the FBI never asked him to crack specific systems - including the county's system - he says the agency encouraged his work and paid him up to $1,000 cash at a time for information.
As a matter of policy, FBI officials neither confirm nor deny working with specific informants. But court records and other sources show a link between Tuttle and federal authorities.
Tuttle signed an agreement with federal prosecutors in August 2001 that helped him avoid criminal charges for hacking into the computer system of a New York brokerage firm. Although it was not a formal cooperation agreement, the document states that Tuttle "agreed to provide the government with information."
Tuttle and his lawyer at the time, C. Ransom Hudson, say it was understood that Tuttle would continue to help the FBI. Tuttle has business cards from agents in New York and Cincinnati and says he remained in regular contact.
"They decided to see how he could be useful," Hudson says of the FBI.
He says federal authorities delivered a new CD burner for Tuttle to his law office so the young computer hacker could take it home, copy information that he gathered on the Internet and share it with the FBI.
The CD burner, along with the rest of Tuttle's computer equipment, is now in the hands of sheriff's investigators.
Prosecutor Mike Allen says the man known as Hackah Jak is a criminal, regardless of whatever else he may have been doing. He says he has not yet contacted the FBI about the case.
"We don't know anything about it," Allen says. "We're just concerned about our case."
Namei says the FBI's efforts in the worldwide cyber war will suffer as long as local authorities prosecute his client.
"These charges could be destructive to a relationship that the FBI has nurtured," says Namei, who says he has spoken several times to FBI agents about their work with Tuttle. "
Tuttle says he just wants his name cleared.
He says he knows nothing about child pornography on his computer but speculates it may stem from his work on the pedophile case. And he says his brief invasion of the county's system was typical of his work with the FBI.
Typically, Tuttle learned about potentially vulnerable systems from talking to other hackers online. The only wrinkle this time was that he says he investigated the county's system after a freelance writer asked him whether he thought it might be vulnerable. "I gained access in two seconds," Tuttle says of the county's system.
He says he was preparing a report about it for the FBI at the time of his arrest.
An online celebrity
Even before his arrest, Tuttle had numerous brushes with controversy. Though most know him as a bartender who lives with his parents in Camp Dennison, his alter ego, Hackah Jak, has been an online celebrity for years.
His hacker resume includes raids on Web sites for Sony Corp., Comedy Central and even the Girl Scouts. In each case, he says, he left a calling card but rarely did significant damage.
After cracking a food Web site, for example, he added a series of recipes for meals "you can eat while hacking."
Like many hackers, some of whom have dubbed themselves "hacktivists," Tuttle says there is good in what he does. Hackers can make political statements, he says, and their raids often lead to improvements in computer security.
While that may be true, some experts say, it also may be nothing more than an excuse for bad behavior.
"I think there's a lot of people who say they are hacktivists when in reality they are just interested in sophomoric attempts to get notoriety," says Dan Moniz, a staff technologist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit group dedicated to protecting people's freedoms online.
But Tuttle says he's more interested in hacktivism than showing off.
He points out that Hackah Jak was among the most vocal of the hackers who raided Chinese government Web sites after China seized an American spy plane more than two years ago.
He said he did much the same after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks when he helped create "The Dispatchers," a group of hackers that targeted government sites in several Middle Eastern countries.
Tuttle says the same sense of patriotism that drove him then was one of the reasons his deal with the FBI was so appealing.
He acknowledges he had another motive, too: The opportunity to avoid criminal charges for hacking the New York brokerage firm.
A risky business
It is that mix of motives that makes any deal with hackers a risky proposition. Hackers, by their very nature, walk a fine line between harmless fun and serious legal trouble.
But as computer crime continues to rise, hackers have found their skills are marketable.
"We won't hire them, but some will," says Peggy Weigle, chief executive officer of Sanctum Inc., a security consulting firm in Santa Clara, Calif. "There is a kind of religious debate about it. Some feel once they do that sort of thing, they've gone too far."
There are risks for hackers, too. While most security work is done with full disclosure to the parties involved, hackers like Tuttle work in a less defined, more dangerous world.
That's because the act of cracking a system is usually a crime, even if the hacker does no harm and later tells the Web site manager how to fix the security breach.
"How that's received depends on who is on the other end," Moniz says. "Some will say 'thanks,' and some will file a lawsuit or criminal charges."
Hamilton County officials have taken the latter approach with Tuttle.
"He didn't do anything malicious. He just got in there," says Ed DePompei, a project manager at the Regional Computer Center. "But if you leave your door open and somebody walks in and sits down in your chair, would you consider that a crime? Just because the door is open, it doesn't mean I'm inviting you in."
Tuttle says he doesn't understand how an act he considers a good deed could be turned into criminal charges and a possible 80 years in prison.
But despite his predicament, he says he is eager to get back online and back into the cyber war.
"The work I do for the FBI," Tuttle says, 'I can still do that work for them.' "

My stance on monkeywrenching

I neither condone or condemn monkeywrenching (ecotage).  I never read the "Monkeywrencing Fieldguide".  I read the "monkeywrench gang" (a novel) that I found humorous.

New file on my site

USB Modeswitch 1.1.1 in its entirity has been posted on my site in Files and Downloads.  This small program allows 3G mobile broadband modems such as the Cricket Cal Comp A600 to operate on Linux systems, particularly on Ubuntu and Ubuntu based systems.

Slant on Obama

A New Slant on Obama

author: Amy L. Dalton

A New Slant on Obama

I say that Obama is amazing, and is rebuilding the American dream! I will give you an entirely new slant on the "amazing" job Obama is doing, and I thank God for the President. Keep reading for my additional comments and an explanation. When discussing Obama, I point to: 1. Obama destroyed the Clinton Political Machine, driving a stake through the heart of Hillary's presidential aspirations - something no Republican was ever able to do. 2. Obama killed off the Kennedy Dynasty - no more Kennedys trolling Washington looking for booze and women wanting rides home. 3. Obama is destroying the Democratic Party before our eyes! Dennis Moore had never lost a race. Evan Bayh had never lost a race. Byron Dorgan had never lost a race. Harry Reid - soon to be GONE! These are just a handful of the Democrats whose political careers Obama has destroyed. By the end of 2010, dozens more will be gone. Just think, in December of 2008 the Democrats were on the rise. In the last two election cycles, they had picked up 14 Senate seats and 52 House seats. The press was touting the death of the Conservative Movement and the Republican Party. However, in just one year, Obama put a stop to all of this and will probably give the House - if not the Senate - back to the Republicans. 4. Obama has completely exposed liberals and progressives for what they are. Sadly, every generation seems to need to re-learn the lesson on why they should never actually put liberals in charge. Obama is bringing home the lesson very well: Liberals tax, borrow and spend. Liberals won't bring themselves to protect America . Liberals want to take over the economy. Liberals think they know what is best for everyone. Liberals are not happy until they are running YOUR life. 5. Obama has brought more Americans back to conservatism than anyone since Reagan. In one year, he has rejuvenated the Conservative Movement and brought out to the streets millions of freedom loving Americans. Name one other time when you saw your friends and neighbors this interested in taking back America ! 6. Obama, with his "amazing leadership," has sparked the greatest period of sales of firearms and ammunition this country has seen. Law abiding citizens have rallied and have provided a "stimulus" to the sporting goods field while other industries have failed, faded, or moved off-shore. 7. In all honesty, one year ago I was more afraid than I have been in my life. Not afraid of the economy, but afraid of the direction our country was going. I thought, Americans have forgotten what this country is all about. My neighbors and friends, even strangers, have proved to me that my lack of confidence in the greatness and wisdom of the American people has been flat wrong. 8. When the American people wake up, no smooth talking teleprompter reader can fool them! Barack Obama has served to wake up these great Americans! Again, I want to say: "Thank you, Barack Obama!" After all, this is exactly the kind of hope and change we desperately needed!! Amy L. Dalton  http://dc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/150215/index.php

contribute to this article

Why Obama Sold Out

27.Oct.2010 18:19

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Not Rocket Science

link

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh of The New Yorker points out that the Pentagon generals openly call Obama, "...the scared little black boy." Hersh points out that it likely the war economy interests and their generals have made Obama an offer he can't refuse. The offer extends to his family too. Would you do any differently? Curious too that on aniversary of Congressman Wellstone freedom of information documents show that Wellstone had a death threat the day before his plain "mysteriously" crashed.

FBI spies on activists

What is the FBI - some new Gestapo?  The FBI is America's new secret police.  Are we on our way to a police state in the USA?  Cointel Pro #666?

Guilty as Charged - UN Report on Gaza flotilla

Guilty As Charged: UN Report on Gaza Flotilla Massacre

by Stephen Lendman
Friday Sep 24th, 2010 8:24 AM

important UN report

Guilty As Charged: UN Report on Gaza Flotilla Massacre - by Stephen Lendman

On September 22, Reuters headlined the news, saying:

"UN Experts Condemn Israel Attack on Gaza Flotilla"

It explained that the UN Human Rights Council's (HRC) "panel of international experts" concluded what was obvious on day one - that Israel's international water attack "was unlawful and resulted in violations of human rights and international humanitarian law...."

A one paragraph AP report said the same thing. America's leading paper, The New York Times (always pro-Israeli), published the above two accounts, not its own, ducking its responsibility to do in detail.

In contrast, Israeli papers covered it prominently, including Haaretz headlining, "UN Human Rights Council: Israel flotilla raid broke international law," saying:

"The UN Human Rights Council's fact-finding mission concluded that Israel's naval blockade of the Palestinian territory was unlawful because of the humanitarian crisis there, and described the military raid on the flotilla as brutal and disproportionate."

Israel's response was unsurprising, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ygal Palmor saying:

"Israel is a democratic and law abiding country that carefully observes international law and, when need be, knows how to investigate itself."

True on the last point, but it never does nor will it. False on the others. As honest observers know, Israel is a lawless, undemocratic, pariah state believing in Jewish exclusivity above all other religions. As a result, its 1,548,000 Israeli Arabs (as of spring 2010) have no rights. In addition, the four million + in Gaza and the West Bank (Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics mid-2010 figures) have been persecuted under military occupation for over 43 years, living in constant terror.

Balad Party MK Hanin Zuabi, on board the Mavi Marmara mother ship, praised the HRC's report, saying "the criminals who ordered and carried out the raid should be brought to justice." More on Israeli retribution against her below.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said "Now it's required to be a mechanism in order to translate this report into action and to bring occupation commanders to trial for the crimes they committed." Indeed so, but no measures whatever have been proposed or implemented.

Information on the Flotilla Massacre

Seven earlier articles covered it in detail, accessed through the following links:

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/05/brave-israeli-commandos-slaughter-aid.html

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/06/flotilla-massacre-historical.html

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/06/theyre-coming-freedom-flotilla-two-and.html

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/06/gaza-flotilla-massacre-goldstone.html

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/07/investigating-freedom-flotilla-attack.html

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/08/charade-begins-netanyahus-flotilla.html

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/08/from-goldstone-to-uribe.html

The Human Rights Council (HRC) Report

On May 31, 2010, Israeli commandos attacked unarmed, nonviolent civilians attempting to deliver vitally needed humanitarian aid to 1.5 million Gazans, trapped under siege for three years at the time. At least nine were murdered in cold blood, over 50 wounded, some seriously. They and the others were arrested, detained, and treated harshly until let out of the country to go home.

Released on September 22, the HRC (called the Mission below) report detailed serious Israeli crimes of war and against humanity, based on 112 witness testimonies in Geneva, London, Istanbul and Amman as well as other information, including forensic evidence, video footage, and other photographic material. As a result, the HRC:

"concluded that a series of violations of international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law, were committed by the Israeli forces during the interception of the flotilla and during the detention of passengers in Israel prior to deportation."

The Mission thanked the Turkish and Jordanian governments for cooperation. Also OCHA, UNRWA, UNSCO and others for their help. Israel refused, saying its position was "one of non-recognition of and non-cooperation with the Mission."

Under international law, Israel's blockade is illegal. It caused a grave humanitarian crisis affecting 1.5 million Gazans, mostly civilians. Aid is vitally needed. Attacking anyone trying to deliver it is a clear crime against humanity, especially in international waters.

A "vessel on the high seas (posing no threat) is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of its flag State."

Under the laws of armed conflict, "a blockade is illegal if:

(a) it has the sole purpose of starving the civilian population or denying it other objects essential for its survival; or

(b) the damage to the civilian population is, or may be expected to be, excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated from the blockade."

In other words, no blockade is permitted it it inflicts disproportionate harm to civilians. Israel has done it grievously for over three years, suffocating 1.5 million Gazans illegally.

Among other international law provisions, Fourth Geneva's Article 33 states:

"No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism, are prohibited."

The Mission called Israel's blockade disproportionate and illegal, and the attack on the Flotilla unjustified and criminal.

International law regarding occupying powers is clear and unequivocal, enumerating explicit responsibilities. Israel is a serial violator. Gazans are protected persons. So were Flotilla passengers. Israel was prohibited from intercepting and attacking them. Under the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Article 6, paragraph 1:

"Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life."

The Mission said "This right is non-derogable." The Flotilla interdiction was lawless "since there was no legal basis for the Israeli forces to conduct an assault and interception in international waters. Moreover," in doing so, Israel was "obligated" under international law and its own "international human rights obligations."

Under Article 2 of the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement:

"in the performance of their duty, law enforcement officials shall respect and protect human dignity and maintain and uphold the human rights of all persons."

Article 3 states:

"Law enforcement officials may use force only when strictly necessary and to the extent required for the performance of their duty."

Israel, of course, used commandos, heavily armed trained killers, acting as law enforcers, instead of the Coast Guard or other protective forces. Clearly their mission was well-defined - to interdict, attack and murder designated targets, their names and photos provided in advance. Evidence uncovered proved it.

The Mission concluded that force used "was unnecessary, disproportionate, excessive and inappropriate and resulted in the wholly avoidable killing and maiming of a large number of civilian passengers."

It determined that at least six of the dead were killed by "extra-legal, arbitrary and summary executions," some shot multiple times in the head at close range. In addition, passengers detained weren't told why or informed of their rights, in violation ICCPR's Article 9, paragraph 2 stating:

"Anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him."

It wasn't done, "and in some instances passenger requests for such information were met with verbal abuse or physical violence."

On board the vessels and in detention, Israel treated them cruelly and inhumanely in clear violation of international law. As a result, injuries resulted or were exacerbated. For all onboard, willful pain and suffering were inflicted. For some, it amounted to torture, an Israeli specialty.

From the moment of interdiction until release and departure, their entire experience was shocking, excessive, disproportionate, and criminal, in violation of numerous international and Israeli laws.

In addition, Israel made "a deliberate attempt....to suppress or destroy evidence" besides fabricating its version of events, including fake videos and other falsified materials.

Another offense also deserves mention. Haneen Zouabi, an Israeli MK was on board the Mavi Marmara. She wasn't detained, but was extensively and abusively interrogated. Because of her participation, the Knesset voted on June 7 to deny her three parliamentary privileges:

-- to travel abroad;

-- retain her diplomatic passport; and

-- have her legal fees paid if losing her parliamentary immunity results in criminal prosecution.

In addition, during Knesset discussions of her participation, racist, sexist, and physically threatening remarks were made. Some MKs also wanted her criminally prosecuted and removed from the Knesset. Further, Israel's Interior Minister, Eli Yishai, accused her of treason and requested authorization from the Attorney General to revoke her citizenship. So far, no action has been taken, but Zouabi continues to receive death threats.

Final Comments

The Mission concluded that Israel caused "a humanitarian crisis (on) May 31, 2010," the day of the attack. "The preponderance of evidence from impeccable sources is far too overwhelming to come to a contrary opinion." Israel's justification on "security grounds" is entirely baseless. Moreover, "prosecutions" are clearly warranted under Fourth Geneva's Article 147, covering:

-- willful killing;

-- torture or inhuman treatment; and

-- willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health.

Remedial action should be guaranteed all victims. Those responsible should be held criminally culpable. Their crimes shouldn't go unpunished. Those aboard are left with "deep psychological scars....The Mission is not alone in" condemning Israel for its actions, nor about Gaza's "deplorable (and lawless) situation."

So far, passengers have been denied justice, and culpable Israeli officials remain unaccountable, unpunished, and free to keep rampaging, what happens daily in Occupied Palestine while so-called "peace talks" continue, a charade by any standard.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen [at] sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com

Ban on high-content alcohol

Ban on High-Content Alcohol - Public Hearing Tomorrow!

author: Damos Abadon

A Ban on "high-content/highly fortified" beer & wine is being proposed by Portland City Council. This down town prohibition is little more than an attack on the poor & will do NOTING to address any problems!

Portland City Council is considering a ban on so-called "high-content" alcohol in a misguided, poorly thought-out, guaranteed ineffective attempt at curbing down-town drunkenness. This [proposed] ban will cover all of down town, including parts of Goose Hollow. In a city with a tendency towards well-intentioned but poorly thought-out proposals, this one is probably one of the dumbest i've seen yet. Supposedly targeting the homeless who reside [mostly] in dt, such a ban will also directly affect residents/tenants as well. Turning downtown Portland into some sort of "alcohol high-impact" zone won't do a damned thing to address the "problems" it's supposedly intended for. It won't do anything to stop some people from simply hopping the MAX to the nearest corner stores in NE/SE to buy high-content booze & carrying it back into dt. It doesn't do anything to address the crowds of drunken club-goers who rove all over dt at night/on the weekend (i'm pretty sure that most alcohol-related crime in dt can be attributed to people leaving clubs & bars, NOT the homeless). And this ban would also punish dt residents who buy whatever (including tall boy 16 oz. cans/sixpacks & some wines) & take it back to their apts.

Besides Councilwoman Amanda Fritz, who's pushing for this in the first place, other people supporting this ban are pretty-much who you'd expect: the Portland Business Alliance (who were behind the "Sit & Lie" ordinance) & snooty bourgeois Pearl district socialites. On its surface, this ban is little more than [yet another] front for ridding dt Portland of "undesirables", which would be bad enough. But this will also affect working-class people, poor students, people who simply buy/drink what they want & mind their own business (including many homeless).

City Council will be hearing PUBIC TESTIMONY on the proposed ban on Wednesday Sept. 15th at 6pm at City Hall. Please attend & let Council know that PROHIBITION DOESN'T WORK & to cease this aggression on the poor. And just because YOU don't live in dt doesn't mean this doesn't affect you - it might. If Fritz & City Council feel that there is not strong opposition to this ban, they WILL enact it. The "problem/s" won't go away, they'll only shift & then Council & various interests will be proposing a CITY-WIDE ban. This is how it starts, people...