[Mb-civic] i am happy i live in the empire

[IHHS at aol.com]

I think it was the late drug-addled Kurt Cobain who, before he died at his  
own hand, sang in one of his grunge ditties: "You're not paranoid if they're  
really after you." The thought was hardly original with poor Kurt, but these  
days, with the Bush administration and its open-ended war on terror, the phrase 
 has new resonance. 
Put aside for the moment the horrendously unconstitutional PATRIOT Act and  
its evil consequences; secret police spying on all our finances and banking;  
arrest and detention for years of US citizens without charges filed or right to 
 counsel. Put aside the secret, Bush-approved NSA wiretapping and FBI 
searches  without warrants clearly required by federal law. You can even forget for a 
 moment the confiscation and forfeiture of millions in private bank accounts, 
 based on nothing more than a presidential directive and suspicion by federal 
 money police with no due process and no judicial appeal. 
But consider these choice items in the news, mostly ignored by the  
"mainstream" media: 
1) PATRIOT Act games:  This was supposed to be an  "anti-terrorist" law. We 
previously have noted that the Act is being used for  easy secret police action 
against any alleged "crime" they choose. Two federal  judges ruled in secret 
that the Act can be used in any criminal investigation,  not just those 
involving alleged terrorism. Yesterday's Wall Street Journal ran  a front page 
article showing how the greatly expanded Act powers, that waive  many usual 
constitutional rights, were used to convict, possibly wrongfully, a  US citizen of 
Lebanese extraction, of buying stolen baby food! Eight years in  prison based on 
evidence obtained with secret anti-terrorist investigations that  the defense 
counsel was not allowed to see. LINK (subs only): _Please click here  for 
more information._ (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114411067761115987.html)   
2) Drones may prowl US skies: Unmanned aerial vehicles have soared  the skies 
of Afghanistan and Iraq, spotting enemy encampments, protecting  military 
bases and even launching missile attacks against suspected terrorists.  Now 
police UAVs may be flying over the USA. Testimony before Congress this week  from 
police agencies envisions using UAVs for everything from border security to  
domestic surveillance high above American cities. Smile when you look up! LINK:  
_Please  click here for more information._ 
(http://news.com.com/Drone+aircraft+may+prowl+U.S.+skies/2100-11746_3-6055658.html)   
3) Federal mass detention centers: Shades of the mass roundup of  Japanese 
Americans in 1941-- the US government has awarded a $385 million  contract (to 
Halliburton, of course) for the construction of "temporary  detention 
facilities." These would be used, the US says, in the event of an  "immigration 
emergency." Read  this one and wonder what's next -- LINK: _Please click here for 
more  information._ (http://www.counterpunch.org/sigal03162006.html)   
4) Get out the RAID: The Pentagon is trying to develop insect  cyborgs able 
to sniff out explosives, or "bug" conversations (pardon the pun),  by lurking 
unseen with micro-transmitters strapped to their bodies. The cyborgs  -- half 
insect, half robot -- would be created by inserting tiny devices into  the 
bodies of flying, hopping or crawling insects while in their larva or pupa  stage, 
so that the mechanisms become part of their bodies and ultimately allow  them 
to be moved by remote control. And you think we are making up this stuff?  
LINK: _Please  click here for more information._ 
(http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=267341&area=/insight/monitor/)   
5) No longer "safe" deposit boxes: The rumor is that in the event of  a 
"national emergency" agents from the US Dept. of Homeland Security will be in  
charge of opening safe deposit boxes and determining what items will be given to  
bank customers. No weapons, cash, gold, or silver will be allowed to be given 
to  box owners. Bank employees have been told not to discuss this matter in 
public.  LINK: _Please click here  for more information._ 
(http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=10012)   
In pop culture, "paranoia" is used to describe excessive concern about one's  
own well-being or persecutory beliefs concerning personal threats to 
ourselves  or our property, often linked to a belief in conspiracy theories. In 
psychiatry,  "paranoia" describes a mental illness. So are we all going crazy? 
That's the way that it looks from here...but I wonder who else is  looking?
BOB BAUMAN
Editor
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