Monday, October 19, 2009

How "Justice" Operates Under A Criminal Regime


















Thieves for their robbery have authority when judges steal themselves. --

Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, Act II, scene 2



It's time to play that time-honored children's game, "One of These Things is Not Like the Others." In this case we're going to examine three case histories of people accused of a supposed offense called "tax evasion."

"It's all in the wrist": Treasury Secretary and Goldman-Sachs bagman Timothy Geithner demonstrates his technique for picking the taxpayer's pocket.



Our first example involves Mr. Timothy Geithner,
who refused to pay Medicare and Social Security taxes for several years -- despite the fact that his employer would have reimbursed him for the tax expenditures. A 2006 audit revealed other irregularities in Mr. Geithner's tax history, including dubious dependent-child deductions.



Despite these, ah, irregularities, Geithner was confirmed by the Senate as the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, which collects tax revenues for -- among other things -- redistribution to Geithner's colleagues and former co-workers on Wall Street.



Sure, tax revenues are spent on other purposes, such as interest payments on the federal debt and killing harmless foreigners. But since the Congress made the Treasury Secretary the de facto economic dictator a year ago, servicing politically connected Wall Street criminals has become that department's primary mission, one that has devoured
trillions of dollars in wealth.


*Burp* Taxes are for other people: Tax-feeder Charles Rangel briefly lifts his snout from the congressional trough to pose for a photo.


Next, we turn to the case of Mr. Charles Rangel, a resident of New York, who refused to pay taxes on $75,000 in rental income from properties he owns in the Caribbean.



Rangel's first impulse was to share -- no, to give outright -- most of the blame for his tax evasion to his wife, Alma, who manages the family finances.


With equal generosity he tried to cut in the Spanish-speaking tenants of the property for a slice of the blame as well: "Every time I thought I was getting somewhere, they'd start speaking Spanish," he insisted.




Rangel's problems continued to accumulate when it was pointed out that
his tax evasion was undertaken in order to facilitate other forms of fraud: He couldn't accurately report his Caribbean income and qualify for "hardship"-case rent controls on properties he maintained in New York City, or the special "homestead" tax exemption he claimed on his property in Washington, D.C.



Despite those infractions, and others involving congressional financial disclosure rules, Rangel has retained his job as
a New York Congressman and, more importantly, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which is where tax laws that govern other people are written.



The third case we'll examine is that of New Hampshire residents Ed and Elaine Brown. Convicted of "tax evasion" and "resisting arrest,"
Mrs. Brown, 68, has been sentenced to thirtyfive years in federal prison -- an effective life sentence.


Her husband's sentencing has been deferred until he has undergone a "psychiatric evaluation": As was the case with political prisoners in the former Soviet Union, Mr. Brown is suspected by state authorities of being clinically deranged because of his eccentric political views. Chances are pretty good that if he avoids prison, Ed Brown may be institutionalized for the rest of his life.




Obviously, the case of Ed and Elaine Brown is different from those of Geithner and Rangel, since they're not part of that sanctified stratum of society entitled to live at the expense of the rest of us. They, like most of us, belong to that class of people whom the law fails to protect, rather than the class that the law fails to restrain.



Unlike Timothy Geithner, the Browns aren't involved in stealing huge sums of money. Unlike Charlie Rangel, they're not involving in imposing "laws" that justify the pilferage of privately earned wealth.



The Browns stole from nobody, inflicted no harm on anybody, and spent most of their lives (with the exception of one matter discussed below) providing honest services to other people in mutually beneficial transactions. None of this is true of the likes of Geithner and Rangel, for whom plunder has proven to be a lucrative and respectable career.




Like Geithner and Rangel, Ed Brown --
as a very young man -- once tried to enrich himself through theft, only to be caught, tried, and imprisoned for that crime. In 1976, Brown was given an unqualified pardon for that crime, which he committed as an 18-year-old. He then built a business as an exterminator.



For her part, Elaine built a large and successful practice as a dentist. Neither one of them lived at the expense of other people; they were producers, not parasites.
In 1996, the Browns decided that they wouldn't permit the likes of Geithner and Rangel to continue stealing from them in order to enrich political favored cronies and constituents. So, like Geithner and Rangel, the Browns stopped paying their taxes.

Armed robbery: "Law enforcement" agents steal Elaine Brown's dental practice, June 7, 2007.


In January 2007, the Browns were "convicted" of the supposed crime of tax evasion and invited to turn themselves in for imprisonment. They impudently scorned that generous invitation, choosing instead to barricade themselves inside the home the Feds planned to steal from them and letting it be known that they would use lethal force to defend themselves against any federal aggression.


The Browns' Plainfield, New Hampshire home -- invariably referred to as a "compound," the preferred description of any dwelling in which live people the government intends to kill -- was surrounded by paramilitary troops from the U.S. Marshals Service.


In short order the home also became a focal point for armed private citizens who intended to support the Browns in the event of an armed assault and, more importantly, to be on-scene witnesses to help deter any potentially murderous aggression by the Feds.



While the Browns were occupied at their home, a
small army of heavily armed federal agents seized Elaine Brown's dental office -- an act of felonious armed robbery. Unfortunately -- albeit predictably -- the throng of Brown supporters was seeded with paid federal informants, two of whom, posing as supporters, gained access to the home and arrested the middle-aged couple without incident.


Put on trial for
eleven felony weapons and "conspiracy" charges, the Browns were found "guilty." That is to say, the court demonstrated that the Browns threatened to use the same means to defend their lives and property that were to be employed by those seeking to deprive them of the same.


The Browns had assembled an enviable arsenal of firearms, ammunition, bullet-resistant clothing, and homemade explosives (or, as the federal prosecution insisted on describing the pipe bombs, "improvised explosive devices" -- a term intended to evoke the image of "terrorists" detonating hidden weapons while fighting U.S. troops in Iraq).




Assistant U.S. Attorney Arnold Huftalen, who presided over the prosecution, initially sought a prison sentence of up to 44 years for the Browns. Holding aloft one of Elaine's handguns, Huftalen simpered that "This was not a small, dainty, self-defense handgun," describing it instead as a heavy weapon "designed to kill 17 people without reloading."



Given the indignation with which Huftalen invested every lisping syllable of his presentation, one might think that the weapons possessed by the armed federal agents surrounding the Brown home were designed to tickle people. But Huftalen, as a servant of a criminal regime, assumes that only the state has the right to use or threaten lethal force, and that
its victims commit some variety of terrorism when they arm themselves with implements of self-defense more effective than Q-tips or Nerf balls.



"Mr. and Mrs. Brown did not engage in a principled dissent against laws they felt to be unjust," pronounced federal Judge George Singal as he imposed the sentence. "Let us not be fooled. The conduct engaged in by Mrs. Brown was purely criminal."



To be "criminal," conduct has to inflict demonstrable harm against an identifiable victim.
Neither Huftalen nor Singal can describe a single instance of palpable harm that resulted from the refusal of the Browns to pay income taxes, or from their acquisition of the means to defend themselves and their home from the criminal syndicate bent on stealing their property
and, if necessary, murdering them.


Even if we were to accept the premise that tax "evaders" injure the "public good" by withholding their wealth from the public fisc, how can it possibly be a greater crime for the Browns to deprive the Feds of a couple of hundred thousand dollars, while the unpunished tax "evader" Timothy Geithner shovels out hundreds of billions of dollars to con artists on Wall Street?


Yes, the Browns threatened to shoot or otherwise kill anybody who tried to harm them. This, coupled with the presence of a large number of witnesses, is probably the only thing that saved their lives.


Thus it is of some interest that Huftalen (as
reported by the Nashua Telegraph) chose to seek a life sentence for Elaine Brown -- despite the fact that she had never harmed a living soul, and despite the fact that there was no physical evidence linking her to the explosives in the Brown household -- "in order to deter Brown supporters [and, presumably, other Americans] from engaging in similar conduct."


It's worth remembering that tax evasion, far from being a crime of any sort, is among our nation's oldest and most sacred political traditions. The War for American independence from Great Britain was carried out by people who engaged in exactly the same kind of "criminal" conduct for which Elaine Brown will spend the rest of her life in prison, and for which her husband may end his days in the American equivalent of the Soviet psihuska.


Sure, the government ruling us -- the same one that not only countenances, but promotes, the monumental criminality of Geithner, Rangel, and their ilk -- calls tax evasion a "crime" when it is carried out by people outside of the privileged caste.


Real crimes involve some variety of force and fraud to deprive someone of something to which he is entitled. Nobody is entitled to take the property of another through taxation, even if such pilferage is "authorized" by a majority of 300,000,000 to 1. The course pursued by Ed and Elaine Brown may have been unwise, but it neither picked my pocket nor broke my leg.


Pocket-picking and leg-breaking are the veritable job descriptions of those who seized the Browns' property, kidnapped them, and are preparing to detain them for the rest of their lives. This is how "justice" operates under the Robber State that afflicts us.

Source: Pro Libertate
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"Legal Action to enforce Human Rights Conditions in EU-Israel Association Agreement" eu_flag


eu_flag















Gaza Strip, September 2, 2009 (PalTelegraph)- Clare Short MP and the European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza have launched a legal action which require the European Union to uphold the human rights conditions entrenched in the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

The action was launched in a letter sent to President Barroso and Javier Solana, the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, spelling out the way in which the Treaty conditions are being breached and the way in which international law applies.

The case is being taken forward on behalf of the complainants by Public Interest Lawyers of 8 Hylton Street, Birmingham.

The Commission has been given 28 days to reply to the detailed case outlined in a 15 page letter which spells out the fact that under the EU-Israel Association Agreement, the EU has clear obligations in the light of Israel's violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The case made is that the EU is failing to meet these obligations.

In the letter it is argued that ‘Palestinian, Israeli and International Human Rights organizations have concluded in numerous reports and studies that Israel's actions in Operation Cast Lead intentionally and systematically disregarded and violated both international humanitarian law and international human rights law'.

Furthermore ‘the combined reports delivered to the UN including that of Richard Falk, charged with investigating the human rights situation in Palestine found several breaches of law in Operation Cast Lead. The Special Rapporteur on Poverty discussed reports that during the military intervention Israel deliberately obstructed the work of humanitarian personnel leaving the poor without basic medical, food and other services in violation of both international humanitarian law and human rights law'

The case presented outlines the position of the International Court of Justice and the UN with respect to the countless violations, amongst which include the acquisition of territory by force, obstructing the self determination of the Palestinian People and many other peremptory norms.

In pointing to EU's obligation in the face of so many reports and statements of the highest authority in international law, it states that ‘Under the Geneva convention The EU must not only insure that its own comply with human rights: it also requires it to base its relations with Israel on the mutual respect for human rights.

Thus where Israel persistently violates human rights and the EU does not take appropriate steps against Israel it will be in breach of article 2 of the Geneva Convention'.

Maintaining the status quo in the EU-Israeli Association Agreement, which makes Israel, EU's biggest trading partner is improper and more importantly it is justiciable. The letter points towards specific steps which the European Community is required to take under the agreement where Israel is in breach of Article 2 of the Geneva Convention.

In recognition of its obligations it calls upon the Commissioner to meet its obligations and further provide detailed description of its actions in fulfilling its obligations.

Clare Short said today "I and many others have tried through our parliaments to require our governments to comply with international law, without success. We now hope legal action will require compliance.

It is my firm belief that the only way to peace is to require Israel to comply with international law and that this is in the interests of all parties. The European Commission and member states are failing in their duty to uphold the conditions of our own treaty with Israel and to use these requirements to obtain long term peace and justice."

Source: From Gaza

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ISRAEL WANTS PEACE~BEND OVER~HERE IT COMES....



Two reports out today (below) that "appear" to show a jovial Netanyahu suddenly announcing "The Settlement problem is resolved." And then "The Palestinians should talk to us already." and "We will start talks with the Palestinians without Pre-Conditions." Holy Shit Batman, Please people do not get excited. This is the SAME horrid evil man who has allowed more and more settlements to be built and vowed Jerusalem will be the undivided capital of Israel. No, there's something else amiss here. Israel NEVER does anything for the right reasons; only if they are "under threat" or "getting something" do they move position. This is still early days, but perhaps it's the goldstone report fallout. I can't imagine Obama would want to have to be in a position of using the American UN Security council veto to block the report. Not after his co called "new beginning with the Muslims world" speech in Cairo and all that nonsense. That would be tantamount to telling the Arab/Muslim world that democracy never works for you, which leaves one alternative.....resistance, armed and otherwise.

Additionally Obama wants to appear "different" than Bush, who gave the veto to Israel at will. So best guess is that Netanyahu will give over on building "more" settlements, keep the ones he has, dismantling all the little shitty ones he doesn't want, and this will be hailed as a "miraculous" concession by the US and Israel. Imagine if you will, the audacity of this, that Israel has decided to give up only SOME of what it NEVER legally owned!

Another reason is Goldstone is not to be taken lightly folks. As there are technically NO Israeli Civilians, they ALL serve in the Army, so that means that anytime some Israeli wants to leave Israel to come to England or anywhere else for a vacation, or to attend college, or for any other reason, they could find themselves arrested for war crimes. And this most likely would take place in some tiny little country somewhere where you’d least expect it. They find themselves behind bars and on trail. They need this report to go away. So they will do their “own” investigation as the report calls for then a few low level IDF soldiers will have their hand slapped (no commanders, generals or anyone of importance who ordered the murders) and then that will be that. Israel cooperated, story over. Ah, but the WORLD won’t be happy with the results, and that is where the Palestinains come into this mess, as it really won’t be over unless the Palestinians and the Arab states say Goldstone is over. And they may make other attempts to cause problems at the UN for Israel. So, America will praise Israel and attack Hamas for its small part and then point to the “great progress” in the Israeli Palestinians situation. Then call for the report to be quashed in the “interest” of ongoing “peace” Just like Israel attempted to do now when they claimed the Goldstone report could end the “Peace Process” when there was “no peace process” to loose, so it was a bit too early as they had “no track record” of appearing to be agreeable to moving forward in any peace deal. Now they will create these “facts” on the ground over the next few days, weeks and months. Expect them to now appear to be most agreeable towards peace, settlements and an ultimate resolution to the situation. Key word here is “appear”

Then the pressure will be brought upon the Palestinians to drop support for Goldstone in return for the bribe they got on settlements and whatever else Israel decides to throw in to sweeten the pot, like the new phone system and other trivial things that cannot compare to the 1400 murdered in Gaza remembered in the Goldstone report. After all, in addition to the "miraculous settlement agreement" mentioned above and the other little prizes, if Israel is involved in "so called" negotiations WITH the Palestinians in March, this too will be used as a reason to drop support for the report before it reaches the Security Council. Also, let me say, that I wonder if the Palestinians had any say in this "miraculous" settlement agreement made between the US and Israel. Don’t you just love how two other countries decide how much stolen land will be returned to the rightful owners? Without the rightful owners involved in discussions? Absurd! What we are talking about here is nothing more than dictatorship by the US and Israel. Ah well, rant over for now, as there will be plenty of time to say more during the upcoming "one sided" negotiations. Here are the two reports:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that talks between Israel and the U.S. over construction in the West Bank settlements had ended and the two countries had resolved settlements row, local daily Ha'aretz reported Monday.

Netanyahu made these remarks while meeting visiting Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero last Thursday, saying "we solved the matter of the settlements with the Americans," according to the report.

"I cannot say more than that. If you are interested in hearing more details, ask in Washington," the Israeli premier was quoted as saying.

It is not clear what Netanyahu meant and what details of the "solution" are, but this is the first time that Netanyahu said the settlements issue has been solved, said Ha'aretz.

The settlements issue is the main bone of contention between the Obama administration and Israel. source
AND THIS:
Sources in Jerusalem said that Netanyahu spoke about the matter after his representatives Mike Herzog and Yitzhak Molcho reached agreements in Washington during their talks last week.

Zapatero told Netanyahu of his visit to the White House two days before his arrival in Jerusalem. He said he was obsessed with Obama, and that there will never be another chance where a man who professes values such as his will be president, and everyone must help him realize his vision.

Netanyahu responded to Zapatero, saying he was willing to start talks with the Palestinians without any pre-conditions.

"The Palestinians should talk to us already," Netanyahu said source
So, the Palestinians should "talk to us" and would that include ALL the Palestinians who were elected democratically? Or just the ones you can manipulate?

Source: Irish4Palestine
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The Politics of Rabbinic Child Rape


Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
catalyst@catholicleague.org

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on a front page story in the New York Times on the problem of child sexual abuse:

Reporter Paul Vitello shows the shocking extent of child sexual abuse in Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community. He also details the cover-ups that have long been aided and abetted by law enforcement.

Where have all the church-and-state advocates been all these years when Orthodox rabbis were allowed by the D.A.’s office to settle these cases “internally”? Where have all the professional victims’ groups been in staging protests outside synagogues? Where have all the sue-happy lawyers been seeking to plunder the Orthodox? Where have all the comedians and late-night entertainers been in cracking jokes about rabbis raping kids?

It’s not just Orthodox Jews who have been given a pass: no group has gotten away easier than public school employees. Consider this. Because public school students have only 90 days to file suit, it is already too late to prosecute a teacher—in virtually every state—who molested a minor as recently as last spring. But if the offense took place in a Catholic school, the student has years to file suit. Not only that, molesting teachers are still shuffled from one school district to another; it’s called “passing the trash.”

Orthodox Jews try cases of child rape in rabbinical courts. Imagine if the Catholic Church failed to report abuse cases to the authorities and decided instead to institute its own ecclesial courts? Today’s article quotes a Jewish attorney urging law enforcement to recognize “religious sensitivities” for the guilty by seeking alternatives to prison. Allow a Catholic attorney to advise the same and it’s called corruption.

Last year, 40 minors in this small Jewish community said they were abused. Last year, there were 10 such allegations in the entire Catholic Church in all 50 states. Catholics are fed up with the duplicity. It’s not just Roman Polanski who can rape and run with impunity these days. The politics of child rape is sickening. [End quote]

Afterword: Mr. Donahue should take the next step and research the Talmudic permission for the molestation of children. In Catholicism such molestation is an abuse of power by a corrupt bureaucracy. In Judaism such molestation is institutionalized and legally permissible. See the documentation in Judaism Discovered, by Michael Hoffman: pp. 424-427; 698-705.


Source: On the Contrary


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Where's The Outrage?



Mish: Where's The Outrage?

I don't know about you, but I am outraged.

I am outraged and not just about Goldman Sachs, but about a process that allows, even encourages political pandering, by time and time again rewarding leveraged riverboat gamblers and failed institutions and at taxpayer expense.

I am outraged that real people are suffering massively while the influence peddlers have stolen the country for their own personal benefit.

I am outraged at a political system that is totally unresponsive to the American people.

I am outraged by campaign contribution and lobbying processes that allows corporations to buy votes with donations.

I am outraged how legislators ignored the wishes of the people who clearly did not want these bailouts in the first place.

I am outraged that very little of this is in mainstream media. Why is this stuff not on the front page of every newspaper in the country or at least in the editorial pages?

I am outraged that the average US citizen is not aware of any of this, instead depending on CNBC, or "The View" for their interpretation of the world.

I am outraged how special interest groups have exercised their power to monopolize the economy for the benefit of themselves, US citizens be damned.

I am outraged that all these bailout programs are doing nothing to alleviate the massive consumer debt problems. Every program, virtually every program was designed to bailout lending institutions, not consumers.

I am outraged at fees charged by banks receiving bailouts.

I am outraged over government pension plans and government pay scales massively out of line with the private sector.

I am outraged that Congress and this administration thinks the solution to massive budget deficits are still higher budget deficits in excess of a trillion dollars.

I am outraged about indictments. Paulson Admitted Coercion to force a shotgun wedding between Bank of America and Merrill Lynch yet no indictments were handed out. Let the Criminal Indictments Begin: Paulson, Bernanke, Lewis.

I am outraged that US citizens are not concerned enough and not educated enough to demand change.

I am outraged that the two party system has failed. Neither party has delivered meaningful change on budgets, on taxes, on social security, on deficit spending, on the size of government, on military spending, or fighting needless wars.

I am outraged that the Obama Administration promised changed and did not deliver. "Yes We Can" was a lie. The reality is "It's Business As Usual, Only Worse, With Higher Deficits".

I am outraged there is not enough outrage over this.

Where the hell is the outrage?

Mike "Mish" Shedlock

http://globaleconomicanal...

output
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