December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Englewood seeks limit on Net sex sites
by Douglas L. Peterson 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Seems this stuff is now in my own back yard. If anyone wants to talk to the people involved, go here: http://www.ci.englewood.co.us/ http://www.denver-rmn.com/news/1231filt4.shtml > Englewood seeks limit on Net sex sites > > Program to curb access of children at libraries > > Associated Press > > > ENGLEWOOD -- The Englewood Public Library will > be the first in Colorado to try a new technology > strictly limiting children's access to sex sites > on the World Wide Web. Mayor Tom Burns said the > city and its librarians have no intention of > censoring the Internet, and the Guardiannet > program can be cancelled after a 30-day test run > if it doesn't work out. > > Starting in April, all of the library's Internet > users will need a plastic "Smart Card" to go > online. The cards will be coded to indicate > whether children under 18 have their parents' > permission to full access or should be restricted > to the limited database of 5,000 child-friendly sites. > > "It's a solution that allows parents to make > the decision, rather than the institution," said > City Manager Gary Sears. > > However, Sears said the move could invite > lawsuits from civil rights groups that may > view the city's decision as censorship. The > move also comes amid national debate > among librarians on whether blocking systems > constitutes censorship and violates First > Amendment rights. > > Jamie LaRue, president of the Colorado Library > Association, called Internet restrictions > "a tricky issue." > > "When I was a little boy ...I knew what was > wrong," LaRue said. "The part that bothers > me is that we are using technological > inventions to replace civility and conscience in > what is in fact an ethical problem." > > The Englewood City Council voted 5-2 to > approve the $108,000 contract with > Guardiannet, even though the library > board recommended against it. > > Councilwoman Lauri Clapp said it will give > the library the needed tools to help parents > protect their children. City Councilwoman > Alex Habenicht opposed the measure. > > December 31, 1998 -Doug www.TheServerFarm.net

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critique of capitalism/moore
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

------- Forwarded Message Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1998 13:04:29 -0500 From: "Mark A. Smith" <msmith01(a)flash.net> To: Mark <msmith01(a)flash.net> Subject: SNET: Police State Conspiracy - An Indictment (Conclusions) - -> SNETNEWS Mailing List This is a multi-part message in MIME format. - --------------5E5047714EA Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit http://www.newdawnmagazine.com.au/51b.htm - --------------5E5047714EA Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; name="51b.htm" Content-Disposition: inline; filename="51b.htm" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by echo.flash.net id MAA07108 THE POLICE STATE CONSPIRACY =97 an INDICTMENT =97 [Image] By RICHARD MOORE [CLOSING ARGUMENTS] Presented before the GRAND JURY of LIBERTY On this FOURTH DAY of HEARING The PEOPLE v NWO Et Al Defendant 1 - NWO ("Corporate Globalist Elite") Defendant 2 - MEDIA ("Corporate Mass Media") Defendant 3 - GOVT ("National Government Leadership") Defendant 4 - INTELCOM ("Intelligence Community") Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, in the first three days of this hearing we have seen how the infrastructures of a police state are being established in the United States. Civil liberty protections have been systematically dismantled; conspiracy laws permit the conviction of people not involved in crimes; police forces are being paramilitarised; longer sentences are being given for minor offences; prison populations are growing dramatically. We have seen how factionalism is being promoted in order to divide society against itself; we have seen how the evidence shows that dramatic incidents, such as the World Trade Centre and Oklahoma Federal Building bombings, have been covertly and intentionally staged in order to avoid debate in the implementation of police-state measures. Today, in these closing arguments, we will examine two points. First, we will review the background of the NWO capitalist elite in order to understand why political suppression via police-state measures is an inevitable necessity for them. Second, we will review recent developments in Ireland, to show how police-state measures which took years to justify politically in the US are being exported wholesale to other Western countries. 1. Capitalism and the Necessity of Police States in the West The religion of the NWO elite is capitalism, and the root of most of the problems of the world today, including the development of police states in the West, can be traced to the dynamics of capitalism. The dictionary definition of "capitalist" begins: "An investor of capital in business..." What distinguishes capitalism from earlier forms of private commerce and trade is the emphasis on external capital investment =97 funds which are invested in an enterprise for the purpose of increasing the value of the investment. In particular capitalism is characterised by stock corporations, where ownership shares in a business can be bought and sold. Stockholders are technically the owners of an enterprise, but the interests of stockholders are not the same as the interests of an owner who also operates an enterprise. An owner-operator is concerned with operating a healthy business and developing it over time. He or she might be interested in growing the business, or might just as well be happy for it to stabilise at some manageable size and then bring in a stable ongoing profit. But a capitalist, an external investor, is interested solely in the growth of the business, which is what increases the value of the stock investment. A stable business translates into stagnant stock values; a business which is merely profitable is not a good place for capital investment. One can compare a corporation =97 or any investment vehicle =97 to a taxicab, and an investor to a rider. The operator of a taxicab is concerned with keeping the vehicle in good repair and making a regular profit over time. A rider, on the other hand, is only concerned with his own use of the vehicle. If the rider gets to his destination on time, he has little concern over whether the vehicle is damaged in the process. Similarly a capital investor uses an investment vehicle. Only a period of growth is required by the investor. If the vehicle then falters, investors simply sell their shares and reinvest elsewhere. The history of capitalism is indeed strewn with the carcasses of boom-and-bust corporations, industries, and whole economies. In a capitalist economy there is a pool of capital =97 the sum of all the money investors are making available. Just as water seeks its own level, so this ever-growing capital pool always seeks the best available growth opportunities. And just as water over time can wear down the highest mountain, so the relentless pressure of this growth-seeking capital pool eventually creates an economy and society in which growth is the dominant agenda. External ownership =97 the separation of ownership from operation =97 is the origin of the growth imperative in a capitalist economy. The evolution of capitalism proceeds according to the following dynamic. In each phase of its development capitalism operates within a larger societal regime =97 a particular political, cultural, technological, and economic environment. Within this regime, under the relentless pressure of the investment pool, the various investment vehicles are exploited to the maximum practical degree. There always comes a point where further growth of the pool becomes problematic or impossible. When such a societal growth barrier is encountered, the creative energy of capitalism is unleashed on a new objective: changing the surrounding societal regime. There is thus a characteristic rhythm to capitalist evolution. Periods of growth within a regime are punctuated by changes of regime designed to create a new period of growth. A new societal regime might be characterised by technological changes (the Industrial Revolution), by political changes (creation of republics), or by new societal projects (imperialism.) Driven by its relentless growth imperative, capitalism has become the driving force behind societal evolution wherever it has taken hold. Apologists for capitalism call such societal changes "progress" and emphasise whatever real or imagined beneficial qualities might be present. In fact such changes have been designed by human creativity yoked to the objective not of societal improvement, but to that of creating new investment vehicles for the ever-voracious capital pool. In fact the intentional destruction of societies and economies, particularly but not only in colonised nations, has been a technique frequently employed to create new investment vehicles. One of the most important and characteristic societal developments brought about by capitalism is the rise of capitalist elite oligarchies. Given that the evolution of capitalism proceeds through an ongoing series of intentional societal changes, it is only natural that the mechanisms of societal control would themselves evolve over time and eventually be consolidated into political domination by a capitalist elite. People of the same trade seldom meet together... but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. =97 Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations In every society where capitalism has taken hold, a dominant capitalist oligarchy has in fact emerged, along with the establishment of institutions designed to further elite interests in a systematic way. Today, the United States itself has become a vehicle for managing world events so as to facilitate investment, to make the world safe for capitalism. Transnational corporations (TNC=92s) have evolved into gigantic engines for generating capital growth, and TNC-dominated bureaucracies (International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Trade Organisation, et al) are being given global decision-making power over a wide range of issues, loosely called economic =97 and those institutions are rapidly becoming in all but name a world government. Global capitalism today is coming up against several constraints, and globalisation, in its full NWO dimensionality, can be seen as the creative attempt by very competent, corporate-funded planners to overcome those constraints. One of the constraints comes from the very global success of capitalism =97 there is no longer any possibility of growth through territorial expansion. Other means of growth =97 and many have been perfected over the years =97 must b= e deployed. In Southeast Asia, in Africa, and in the former Soviet Union, the policies of Western finance capital and of its tool, the IMF, have created capital-growth vehicles through the intentional destruction of once healthy economies. In South Korea, for example, Western over-investment was followed by the sudden withdrawal of funds and credit. Thus a financial bubble was created, and when it burst the South Korean currency was destroyed and the national finances were depleted. In desperate need of finance, South Korea was forced to turn to the IMF. The IMF then came forward with one of its infamous "restructuring" programs which in truth should be called "demolition" programs. Sound businesses that had been thriving only weeks before were forced into bankruptcy; South Korea was forced to change its social and labour policies from top to bottom; the systems were dismantled which had been responsible for South Korea=92s postwar economic success. These so-called IMF "reforms" which were forced on South Korea had nothing to do with the causes of the financial collapse. Not only that, but the IMF "rescue funds" did not go to South Korea at all, but were rather used to repay the external investors whose market manipulations had caused the collapse. While Western taxpayers fund the IMF, and Southeast Asian (and other) populations suffer the consequences of IMF policies, it is Western capital that reaps all the benefits. What were the benefits reaped by Western capital? To begin with, the IMF bailout of the investors means that Western capital was first able to profit from the decades of South Korean growth, but was then protected when the bubble burst. Global capitalism has been called "casino capitalism", and the IMF makes sure that the big players cannot lose in this game, no matter which cards turn up. But that was only the beginning. To understand the primary benefit derived from destroying the South Korean economy, we must note that capitalism is currently suffering from what is called a "crisis of over-production". The efficiency and size of TNC producers have evolved to the degree where much more can be produced than can possibly be consumed. In automobiles, electronics, and many other industries there are simply too many producers chasing too few consumers. Interventions such as in South Korea and the former Soviet Union have become a systematic mechanism to selectively cull global competitors, thus creating growth room for those that remain. In addition, the assets and productive capacity of the victims have been made available at bargain prices for purchase by Western interests. This selective destruction of economies is a "regime change" in the global society, designed to create growth vehicles for the Western capital pool. Elimination of producers creates growth room in the global economy for Western operators; bargain purchase of assets increases monopoly concentration of global commerce in Western hands; destabilised societies are forced to import what they formerly produced for themselves, further increasing Western capital-growth opportunities. One of the myths of globalisation is that it represents a relative decline of Western interests, that market forces will allow other regions to make inroads against traditional Western domination. With the postwar economic rise of Japan and later Southeast Asia, this myth in fact gained considerable credibility. But as the postwar boom began to level out, and a new regime of growth became necessary, it has become clear that the global capital elite remains primarily a Western elite. The IMF is in fact dominated primarily by Western-based interests, and its power has been used to selectively cull non-Western operators. While the IMF culls competitors using the power of the purse strings, the US and NATO accomplish the same objective in other ways. In the case of the petroleum market, where limiting supply is crucial to maintaining desired global oil prices, geopolitical machinations have been employed to restrict at various times the production of Iran, Iraq, Libya, and others. By encouraging the split-up of Yugoslavia, which competed in several world markets including automobile production, additional culling was accomplished. As capitalism enters its global era, it is doing so under the control of the Western capitalist elite. This elite dominates the leading Western nations politically, even more firmly controls the foreign policies of those nations, and totally controls the policies of the IMF, the World Bank, and the other institutions of the global governmental apparatus. All the potent agencies which determine the course of global societal evolution are firmly in the control of the Western elite. But in another sense the decline of the West is not myth but reality. Western elites remain in firm control and continue to prosper under globalisation, but Western societies are in fact in decline =97 economically, culturally, and politically. This decline is intentional, planned and implemented by the capitalist elite as a societal change designed, as always, to create growth vehicles for the capital pool. This particular episode of Western societal engineering is called the "neoliberal revolution" and it was formally launched with the candidacies of Ronald Reagan in the US and Margaret Thatcher in the UK, and with the adoption of the Maastricht Treaty in Europe. The agenda of the neoliberal revolution is summed up in the all-too-familiar mantra "free trade, deregulation, privatisation, and reform". The true meaning of this agenda can be easily found by analysing each transaction in terms of its consequences for capital growth. Free trade, whose practical definition must be inferred from the terms of the international free-trade agreements, in fact means the elimination of national sovereignty over the flow of capital and goods. The consequence is that TNC=92s have more flexibility in optimising production and distribution, and in exploiting the opportunities created by the culling of competitors. This flexibility is the growth vehicle provided by the free-trade plank of the neoliberal platform. Deregulation refers to the elimination of national sovereignty over corporate concentration, capital movement, corporate operations, pricing, and product standards. Again the benefit is clear. Greater freedom in concentrating ownership, shifting capital, operating without environmental or other restraints, raising prices, and reducing standards =97 these all provide vehicles for growth in this neoliberal phase of capitalism in Western economies. Privatisation refers to the sale of national assets to corporate operators and the transfer of control over national infrastructures to those operators. Each such transfer creates an immediate growth vehicle for capital, in the exploitation of the asset and the infrastructure. In addition the transfers have been in fact sweetheart deals where negotiators on both sides of the transactions have represented the interests of the same capitalist elite. Asset values have been heavily discounted, through various tried-and-true trickeries of accounting, and the "sales" have in fact represented immediate transfers of wealth from public ownership directly into corporate coffers. The sale transactions themselves are growth vehicles. Reform, besides referring to generic compliance with the neoliberal agenda, also means reducing the taxes of corporations and the wealthy, eliminating social services, and generally cutting back the functions of government. Obviously these tax changes serve to grow the capital pool. The elimination of social services also serves as a growth vehicle in two ways. Workers become hungrier for employment, creating a downward pressure on wages. New enterprises can be started in order to provide the services formerly provided by government (medical care, insurance, etc). The general cutting back of government functions is simply part of the sovereignty transfer from national governments to the centralised regime of global institutions. As power and administration is concentrated globally, the role of national governments is being reduced and refocused. As has been long true of governments in much of the Third World, the role of Western governments is devolving toward three major functions: conforming to the dictates of the global regime, making payments on the national debt, and controlling the domestic population. The paramilitarisation of police forces, the rise in prison populations, and the extension of police powers are very necessary societal changes required to enable the full implementation of the neoliberal agenda. It is no accident that in the USA, where the neoliberal agenda has been most thoroughly implemented, the collateral police-state apparatus is also most thoroughly deployed. SWAT teams, midnight raids, property confiscations, mandatory and draconian sentencing, a booming prison-construction industry, increased surveillance and monitoring of individuals and organisations =97 these are all an increasing part of the American scene. Government officials have stated that Americans must expect even more dramatic security measures, and that military vehicles and weapons can be expected in domestic situations where warranted by security concerns. The neoliberal agenda in fact amounts to the dismantlement of Western societies, undoing what was in some sense many decades of social progress. Although the dominant global elite remains based in the West, strong Western societies are no longer required under the global regime, as they were in the era of competitive nationalism. Just as the IMF devastates non-Western societies in ways that provide growth vehicles, so the neoliberal revolution devastates Western societies for the same purpose, if at a somewhat more gradual pace. Police-state regimes, whether or not acknowledged by that name, are an inevitable necessity if Western nations are to be kept in line as the neoliberal dismantlement, which is still in its early days, continues to unfold. 2. Exporting the Police State: Ireland and the Omagh Bombing I=92ve been living in the UK and Ireland for over four years. I=92ve been observing the peace process and the tactics of the various sides, including several Irish Republican Army (IRA) bombings. While by no means condoning violent methods, I have been nonetheless impressed by the care that went into the planning and execution of most of the IRA=92s operations. Huge bombs were set off in London, in the heart of the financial district and at the Docksides complex, causing immense property damage and embarrassment to British officials, with surprisingly little injury or loss of life. Without approving of violence, one can still acknowledge that the IRA has, at least in recent years, been politically astute in their (nonetheless unjustifiable) operations. The Omagh bombing was totally out of character; it made no sense whatsoever within the political context of Northern Ireland and the progress of the peace process. Certainly there are dissident elements who aren=92t satisfied with the compromises that have been reached, but accommodations have been made to all sides, and the overwhelming spirit in both North and South is to reach a settlement and put the "troubles behind us". The Omagh bombing was the most deadly of the entire 30-year "troubles". It was out of character not only by its timing, but also in terms of its scale. My first response on hearing of it was "Where did this come from?" It seemed to have come from out of the blue, totally unrelated to the Irish context. It felt like one of the "staged dramatic incidents" that we reviewed in the previous instalment of this Indictment (see New Dawn No. 48). Suspicious, I waited for the other shoe to drop. I didn=92t have to wait long. The headline on page seven of the Irish Times for September 1st reads: "Harsh measures =91regrettably necessary=92 to fight terrorism." Here we read of a fourteen-point anti-terrorism bill that is, in its essentials, copied directly from the police-state provisions that have been adopted in varying degrees by the US and Britain. A suspect who refuses to answer questions, can have his silence used against him. The silence itself can be "inferred" as being corroborating evidence against the suspect. The right to trial by jury becomes little more than a sham: if the suspect doesn=92t confess all, he either opens himself to perjury (by lying) or else builds, through silence, an "inferred" case against himself. The validity of trial by jury is further undermined by a another provision, which requires the defense to announce to the prosecution, in advance of a trial, all witnesses it is going to call. Thus the prosecution is armed in advance with the strategy of the defense, much to its advantage. And witnesses are exposed to possible harassment leading up to the trial, the fear of which could have a chilling effect on their willingness to testify. As if that weren=92t enough, a suspect is expected to divulge, under police questioning, every bit of evidence that he might rely on in his defense. Otherwise "inferences" can be drawn. The very vagueness of "inferences" still further extends the power of the state over that of the accused in what has become a mockery of a criminal trial. The "conduct" of an accused =97 by which he can be judged guilty =97 is re-defined to include "movements, activities, actions or associations". The critical word here is "associations". If you can be proved to be a member of an organisation, and if that organisation engages in illegal acts, then your mere association makes you to some degree a party to the acts. This provision establishes in Ireland what in the US are known as conspiracy laws. Such laws, in conjunction with agent provocateurs, can be used to suppress popular organisations which legitimately and legally oppose government policies. Just as the US President, under police-state provisions, can declare any organisation to be a "terrorist organisation", so can the Irish government "suppress" any organisation under the 1939 "Offences Against the State" act. The new "regrettable measures" of the anti-terrorism bill extend considerably the power of the state to succeed in suppressing any organisation it decides it doesn=92t like. Under the charge of "directing an unlawful organisation", one can receive life imprisonment. "Directing", it turns out, means directing the activities of the organisation "at any level". Thus, if an organisation has been officially "suppressed", all of its leaders down to the precinct level can be rounded up and put in prison with the key thrown away =97 simply for being leaders, and even if the organisation is engaged in no illegal activity. Under the charge of "unlawful collection of information" one can be imprisoned for up to 10 years. If you have maps and lists of people, perhaps to support political organising, and the prosecutor says you were planning a terrorist network, it is up to you to prove he=92s wrong. Again trial by jury is made a mockery. Instead of the state proving its case beyond a reasonable doubt, it is up to the accused to prove they aren=92t guilty. During thirty years of troubles such anti-terrorist provisions were not considered necessary. Then on the very eve of final settlement a mysterious, uncharacteristic "incident" occurs in Omagh, and with suspicious suddenness the Irish government comes up with an anti-terrorism bill which mimics the "latest developments" in the police-state provisions of the US and Britain. The parallels between the Oklahoma City and Omagh bombing scenarios are striking. Both were unprecedented in their scale of death and injury; neither made any sense in terms of being a "political statement" for any group or organisation; the circumstance of both were highly suspicious; both were immediately followed by the passage of omnibus anti-terrorism bills without debate. Summary The pattern, then, is clear. The US leads the way in the development of police-state measures and of the means to get them implemented without debate. The measures are then exported to other countries by the tried-and-true method of staging dramatic incidents. Globalisation is a very systematic process, as we have seen in the pattern of IMF interventions, and as we can see in the establishment of global governing institutions. It is no surprise that a systematic means have been developed to implement the police-state regimes which are required to fulfill the aims of the neoliberal revolution. The evidence, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, is clear. Our NWO elite leaders are committed to the program of corporate globalisation. They are compelled to this strategy by the need to keep their capital pool growing. Reducing Western populations to Third-World status is a necessary part of their plans for the globalisation of the economy and the consolidation of all power in their centralised bureaucracies. The installation of police-state regimes is being purposely pursued in order to force this elite program on Western populations. I suggest to you that the only reasonable verdict is "guilty as charged", and that the sentence should be the overthrow of the capitalist elite oligarchy, through non-violent democratic revolution, and the replacement of the capitalist system by one more appropriate to human happiness and well-being. I thank you for your attention and invite you to go forth and do your duty as free men and women to secure the future of the Earth and of your progeny. Recommended Reading (alphabetical order): William Blum, Killing Hope, US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II, 1995, Common Courage Press, PO Box 702, Monroe, ME 04951, USA. Michel Chossudovsky, The Globalisation of Poverty, 1997, Third World Network, 228, Macalister Road, 10400 Penang, Malaysia, fax 60 4 226 4505. Richard Douthwaite, The Growth Illusion, 1992, Lilliput Press, Dublin. William Greider, Who Will Tell the People =97 the Betrayal of American Democracy, 1993, Simon and Schuster. Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, 1997, Simon and Schuster. V.I. Lenin, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, 1939, International Publishers Co. Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith (editors), The Case Against the Global Economy and for a Turn Toward the Local, 1996, Sierra Club Books, San Francisco. Richard K. Moore, Globalization and the Revolutionary Imperative, a book-in-progress available online at http://cyberjournal.org/cadre/gri/gri.html Michael Parenti, Make-Believe Media =97 the Politics of Entertainment, 1992, St. Martin=92s Press, New York. David Wise, The American Police State, 1973, Vintage Books. Previous parts of Richard Moore=92s Police State Conspiracy =97 An Indictment were published in New Dawn Nos. 46, 47 & 48. [Image] Richard Moore, an expatriate from Silicon Valley, currently lives and writes in Wexford, Ireland. He currently runs the Cyberjournal "list" on the Internet. Email: rkmoore(a)iol.ie, FTP: ftp://ftp.iol.ie/users/rkmoore/cyberlib Address: PO Box 26, Wexford, Ireland. - --------------5E5047714EA-- - -> Send "subscribe snetnews " to majordomo(a)world.std.com - -> Posted by: "Mark A. Smith" <msmith01(a)flash.net> ------- End of Forwarded Message

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Northpole Standoff
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1998 15:28:40 -0800 To: rah(a)shipwright.com, Other People... From: Somebody Subject: Northpole Standoff Dec. 23, 1994 Northpole Standoff A fierce battle ended in a stand-off today as a multi-jurisdictional task force of federal law enforcement agents tried to arrest the leader of a militant doomsday cult, who call themselves "Elves," living in a heavily fortified compound at the Northpole. According to witnesses, federal agents hid in livestock trailers as they drove up to the compound. The approach was difficult in the snow using wheeled vehicles. Several agents were reportedly thrown from the trailer when it hit a snowbank. The agents were unable to use dog teams and sleds because the ATF agents shot all the dogs during training at a nearby recreational facility where agents had practiced for weeks on a mock-up of the compound in preparation for the raid. As three National Guard helicopters approached, over 100 law officers stormed the main compound, a heavily fortified gingerbread structure, throwing concussion grenades and screaming "Come out!" Cult members and law officers negotiated a cease-fire about 45 minutes after the incident began. For the next several hours, ambulances and helicopters swarmed the premises. The area was cordoned off and ATF agents with machine guns were posted in the roadways to keep reporters at least two miles from the main battle area. In a lengthy report on the group Saturday, The Northpole Tribune-Herald said that the cult was known to have a large arsenal of high-powered weapons, probably produced in a workshop disguised as a "toy factory." This toy factory is also believed to be the sight of a mephamphetamine laboratory, according to sources inside the ATF. The article quoted investigators as saying the crazed cult leader, who uses several aliases, "Santa Claus," "Saint Nick," "Sinterclaas," and "Saint Nicholas," age unknown, has abused children and claims to have at least 15 wives. Santa Claus denies these accusations of abuse and said he has had only one wife, Mrs. Santa Claus. Authorities had a warrant to search the Northpole compound for guns and explosive devices and an arrest warrant for its leader, Santa Claus, said Mess Stanford of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Washington, D.C. Mr. Stanford added it would be useless to attempt to get a copy of this warrant, however, because it had been sealed, "for national security reasons." The assault came one day after the Northpole Tribune-Herald began publishing a series on the cult, quoting former members as saying the deranged cult leader, Santa Claus, abused children and had at least 15 wives. ATF spokesman Jack Killchildren in Washington said the assault had been planned for several weeks, although he added, "I think the newspaper's investigation set up heightened tension." The cult's fortress, called "The Toy Factory," is dominated by a tower with lookout windows facing in all directions. Guards reportedly patrol the 77-acre grounds at night. Attorney General Janet Reno ordered the raid after cult members refused to surrender documents relating to national security. A source inside the Justice Department said that the documents were lists of cabinet members and highly placed government officials who were naughty or nice. Despite preliminary, secret negotiations to obtain the list, the Elves refused to surrender the document to the Justice Department. The raid was scheduled for December 23, because December 25 is believed to be a traditional cult holiday and all the militant elves would be engaged in cult rituals in preparation for the event. At a press conference this afternoon, Attorney General Reno said, "These militants abuse children in the most vile manner, by teaching them to expect charity. They have even distributed free, working replicas of 'assault weapons' and 'handguns.' It is a matter of dire importance to our future and the future of all our children, that this peril be ended by every means at our disposal." She went on to say that "I do not want to surround the compound and shoot everyone and then burn it to the ground in order to prevent this child abuse from occurring again, but that appears to be our only alternative." According to Reno, the "Toy Factory" itself is a sweatshop and conditions inside were horrendous. The Department of Justice is also looking into allegations of animal cruelty. Former members of the cult have claimed that Santa Claus frequently uses leather restraints on at least eight reindeer, housed in sordid conditions on the compound. Witnesses reported seeing a reindeer with a protruding red nose, which Janet Reno said was further indication of the abusive conditions inside the compound. Several of the elves were reported by the BATF to have been carrying automatic weapons. However, independent sources dispute this, claiming that the "automatic weapons" were nothing more than large candy canes. ATF leader Ted Oyster, shaken after the ordeal, spoke to reporters as hundreds of agents, many of them in tears, were taken away from the Northpole in military airlifts, ambulances, and private vehicles. "We had our plan down, we had our diversion down, and they were waiting..." Oyster said resignedly, shaking his head. A hospital spokesman said that most of the wounded ATF agents appeared to be suffering from shrapnel wounds from broken candy canes, as well as frostbite, apparently suffered from wearing forest-green camouflage in the wintry terrain. Attorney General Reno offered no comment on these reports. Mack "the knife" McWarty was seen strolling across the White House lawn, chuckling to himself as he read what inside sources say was a copy of the naughty/nice list. One highly placed government official was found dead in Marcy Park. His name and the cause of death are unknown at this time, however, the White House immediately issued a statement claiming the official had committed suicide after learning his name was not on the nice list. Patsy Thomahawk refused to comment on the advice of her attorney on whether she had any part in removing copies of the naughty/nice list from a safe in the White House. A spokesman from the MJTF said that it was indeed a tragedy that Santa Claus had caused this confrontation, but this should be a lesson to anyone who tries to give to everyone without permission from the welfare department, and that gathering sensitive data without a permit from official sources will be stopped by any means. FBI spokesman Bob Pricks, the former national Abortion Poster Child of 1944, relayed that "We are dealing with a madman. We have cut off all electricity, water, and communications to the compound. Santa Claus has demanded that we relay a message to the world. It reads, 'Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.' FBI psychological experts are presently analyzing the message, however, preliminary reports indicate this is an encrypted threat to invade the neighboring towns near the Northpole. It may also be a doomsday message that the cult intends to commit suicide, like Jonestown." Shortly after the raid, a smiling Reno was seen strolling through the pile of rubbish looking for anatomically correct Barbie dolls. She claimed that she was going to confiscate any that she found as "evidence" and that they were for a personal investigation that she was conducting. Attorney General Reno also disclosed some information about plans to raid Mr. E. Ster Bunny sometime next spring. According to the FBI's report on Mr. Bunny, he has been hoarding food all year. This is in direct violation of a secret Presidential Directive. "This ingratitude for everything that we have done will stop, even if it means raiding every house in the USA to enforce these new laws that were made to insure your freedom...." Reno said. This, boys and girls, should make us all sleep just a little bit better tonight. The government will protect us from overindulging in freedom. If they didn't step in and take control of that "naughty/nice" list, just think what shape we might be in..... ***** <somebody's .sig> --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)philodox.com> Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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RE: Norway - go to jail for naming baby illegal [CNN] (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1998 19:57:17 -0800 > From: Tim May <tcmay(a)got.net> > Subject: RE: Norway - go to jail for naming baby illegal [CNN] > At 5:59 PM -0800 12/31/98, Reeza! wrote: > > >THAT is _almost_ understandable. You say that Iceland requires immigrants > >to change their names to Norse ones, you didn't say to Norse ones on the > >approved list. or Norse ones avoiding those on the disapproved list. Does > >Iceland have the same "children who are born here are Icelandic citizens, > >regardless of the nationality of the parents" provision of the US > >constitution? > > Is that written into the Constitution? I wasn't aware of that. If so, I > will have learned something new tonight, perhaps the last major new thing I > learn in 1998. No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States. The first sentence is normaly considered the legal standard that is being referenced here. It's the only place in the Constitution that refers to how one actualy gains citizenship. There are apparently three (one unmentioned) ways: 1. natural born (ie being physicaly born on US soil) is the highest measure of 'American' citizenship 2. being a citizen of the US at the time of ratification 3. Unementioned, but implied by the stipulation of 1. for the office of president. The intent is commenly held that this prevents foreign nationals of long-standing from bringing foreign influence into the office. Implicit is that the legislature set relevant standards. ____________________________________________________________________ What raises the standard of living may well diminish the quality of life. The Club of Rome The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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