Dr. Ron Paul Sheds Some Sense on the Flu "Epidemic"

US soldier shoots herself after formally exposing US torture program

US interpreter who witnessed torture in Iraq shot herself with service rifle

By David Randall
Sunday, 26 April 2009



It is possible that one of the victims of the United States' torture policy is a young, devout Mormon woman from Arizona called Alyssa Peterson. She was a soldier who not only saw the rough interrogation methods that the US military used on Iraqi prisoners, but was deeply troubled by them. Some weeks after formally protesting about them to her superiors, and asking to be reassigned, she took her gun and killed herself. The cause of her death was kept secret for two years, and the mystery of what Peterson witnessed, and the content of the notes she made, still goes on.

It was in September 2003 at Tal-Afar air base, northern Iraq, that Specialist Peterson, serving with a military intelligence section of the 101st Airborne, came across interrogation methods very different from the ones she had known in training. An Arab-speaker, Peterson was assigned to work as an interpreter at interrogation sessions in a unit known as "The Cage". After only two nights, she refused to take further part in the sessions and was reassigned. Then, on 15 September, she shot herself with her service rifle. A notebook recording her thoughts was found by her body. Its contents were blanked out in the subsequent official report.

Her family, in Flagstaff, Arizona, were told she had died from a "non-hostile weapons discharge". It was only after an Arizona reporter, Kevin Elston, investigated, that the army revealed Peterson had killed herself. They refused to say what interrogation she objected to, and maintain that all documents relating to methods used at Tal-Afar have been destroyed.

But, at Mosul, also in northern Iraq, a former US soldier, Kayla Williams, later told the broadcasterCNN: "There were prisoners that were burned with lit cigarettes. They stripped prisoners naked then removed their blindfolds so that I was the first thing they saw. And then we were supposed to mock them and degrade their manhood."

She, too, objected. Williams had once met Peterson, and conceded the interpreter had personal problems. The official army report into her death, obtained in 2007 by the Arizona Daily Sun, said that she had once been reprimanded for "showing empathy" to detainees. It said her superiors had given her suicide prevention training.

Her body was buried, with military honours, in Flagstaff, Arizona. One of scores of messages on a memorial website reads: "Alyssa Peterson was a shining example to all, a true hero and patriot for displaying empathy and her opposition to torture."

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Travelling to Europe? Think Twice if you Question the Hollowcost

Travelling to Europe? Think Twice if you Question the Hollowcost...
14 Countries on this Earth are to be avoided if you do not wish to risk your freedom

Brandon Dean
WizardofOswald.com
April 25th, 2009

Have you ever asked yourself why a country--any country--would feel the need to enact legislation which punishes even the public questioning of an historical event? Did you even know laws exist in 14 countries which make thinking for yourself illegal? This article is geared toward those who are serious about investigating history, even to the extent that it might alienate them from their family, friends and society. I have more respect for these individuals than any others on the face of the planet. The truth is more important than anything else--even life-- and we must never forget that.

Here in the U.S. and in most of the large western countries, the suffering of the Jewish people during World War II has been front page news for over sixty years. Any time a new holocaust museum springs up, it's front page news. Every time a huge Hollywood director comes out with a new film or TV special about World War II or the holocaust, it's everywhere-on every billboard and commercial they can expose you to. These same promote the hopeless and false story of gas chambers which killed six million, four million, one and a half million, or many other random numbers of Jews during this supposed holocaust. The numbers of dead have changed more times than a craps game in the boys' bathroom at junior high school...

So those who wish to perpetuate this myth, which has sucked the souls of the German people dry, have lobbied for and enacted laws in fourteen different countries (all European besides Israel) which make it ILLEGAL to even question the holocaust of the Jews during World War II! it is actually illegal to question an historical event!

There are people in jail RIGHT NOW for questioning the holocaust, including but not limited to Ernst Zundl and Dr. Fredrick Toben. Just yesterday, David Duke, a white separatist and American citizen, was arrested in the Czech Republic while on his way to a seminar, for questioning the holocaust of the Jews during World War II. He was released today and told to get out of the country by midnight. How dare he question history!!

The purpose of this article is not to convince you one way or the other about the holocaust itself (which most certainly did not happen the way we've been taught), but to illustrate exactly how absurd "holocaust denial" laws are, and to help truth-lovers avoid being arrested while vacationing in foreign lands.

These are the countries truth-loving people should avoid until their idiotic laws are repealed, included with the title of the legislation which made thinking for yourself illegal:

Austria: National Socialism Prohibition Law (1947, amendments of 1992)Austria

Belgium: Negationism Law (1995, amendments of 1999)

Czech Republic: Law Against Support and Dissemination of Movements Oppressing Human Rights and Freedoms (2001)

France: LAW No 90-615 to repress acts of racism, anti-semitism and xenophobia (1990)

Germany: Criminal Code: § 130 Public Incitement (1985, amendments of 1992, 2002 and 2005)

Israel: Prohibition of Holocaust Denial Law (1986) (note that Israel does not try to couch its tyranny in flowery legal language)

Leichtenstein: § 283 (5) (2000)

Lithuania: Resolution on the Crimes of Totalitarian Regimes

Luxembourg: Article 457 (3)

Poland: Act of 18 December 1998 on the Institute of National Remembrance - Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation

Portugal: Racial Discrimination Law

Romania: Emergency Ordinance no.31 (2002, ratified May 2005)

Spain: Anti-Genocide Law (1971, amendments of 1995)

Switzerland: 261bis Rassendiskriminierung / Discrimination Raciale (1995)


And that's that my friends... Don't question their fantasy if you wish to travel to any the above countries. I guess we're still safe in countries like Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, Scotland, England, Norway, Finland, and Greece.

If you believe the hollowcost happened exactly as you were told, no matter how many different versions of the "truth" they've fed you, then feel free to go buck wild and travel wherever you want...

copyright Brandon Dean 2009

Israel Admits Using White Phosphorus

I guess the photos of white phosphorus raining down on civilians are pretty hard to deny...

Israel backs down over white phosphorus

Palestinians run for cover during the Israeli phosphorus strike over the UN Relief and Works Agency headquarters at Beit Lahia, Gaza, in January

Sheera Frenkel in Tel Aviv

Israeli troops stopped using white phosphorus shells in Gaza this year after The Times published evidence that they were injuring civilians.

In its first explicit admission, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that “media buzz” had forced the army to withdraw the shells from its arsenal on January 7 - the day that The Times obtained photographs of stockpiles and two days after the newspaper had exposed the effect of white phosphorus on the population of Gaza.

Phosphorus bombs may be used to create smokescreens but their use as weapons of war in civilian areas is banned by the Geneva Conventions. They cause severe burns that can penetrate to the bone.

An IDF briefing yesterday after an inquiry into the three-week Gaza offensive disclosed that two different munitions containing white phosphorus had been used. Mortar shells fired by ground forces and 76mm rounds fired from naval vessels both contained phosphorus as an active ingredient.

Related Links

• Israel accused of war crimes over munitions

• Gaza white phosphorus shells 'were US made'

• Spent shells prove use of white phosphorus

Until now the IDF has denied the Times accounts. On January 7 a military spokeman said that the shells in question had “no explosives and no white phosphorus”. Yet it was clear from yesterday's briefing by Major-General Dan Harel, the IDF Deputy Chief of Staff, that commanders were concerned by the controversy. “Since this was a big buzz in the media, we issued an order 7 Jan '09 to stop using white phosphorus shells,” he said, adding: “These shells were used only to create smokescreens, in keeping with international law.”

Even after the January 7 order the IDF continued to deploy less dangerous “smoke shells”, which contain felt soaked in phosphorus.

Israel launched Operation Cast Lead on December 27 in an effort to halt daily rocket attacks by Hamas militants from Gaza that were terrorising residents in southern Israel.

Yesterday's briefing was based on five IDF investigations into alleged violations committed by the military during the operation, in which more than a thousand Palestinians were killed. An Israeli official said that inquiries “revealed a very small number of incidents in which intelligence or operational errors took place”. By and large, the army had “maintained a high professional and moral level”.

The incidents included an attack that killed 21 people when forces targeted a home rather than a nearby weapon storage facility. “These unfortunate incidents are unavoidable and occur in all combat situations, in particular of the type which Hamas forced on the IDF by choosing to fight from within the civilian population,” the official said.

Human Rights Watch said: “We consider the IDF investigations a cover-up for serious violations of international law. Hamas also seriously violated the laws of war.”

Timetable of allegations and rebuttals

January 5 The Times reports tell-tale smoke above Gaza. An Israeli military official says: “We categorically deny the use of white phosphorus.”

January 8 The Times runs pictures of white phosphorus shells stockpiles. Major Avital Leibovich, a military spokesman, says: “This is what we call a quiet shell - it has no explosives and no white phosphorus. It is not for killing people.”

January 12 The Times finds more than 50 phosphorus burns victims in hospital

January 14 Gabi Ashkenazi, Israel Defence Forces Chief of Staff, says: “The IDF acts only in accordance with international law and does not use white phosphorus .”

January 16 UN Relief and Works Agency HQ hit with phosphorus munitions

January 21 Major Leibovich admits use of white phosphorus “according to international law”. Major- General Amir Eshel, the army's head of strategic planning, says: “It is the most non-lethal kind of weapon. I don't see any issue with that.”

January 23 Israel launches investigation into white phosphorus munitions: “Some practices could be illegal. The IDF is holding an investigation concerning one specific unit and one incident.”

April 22 Israeli military official tells The Times that a “media buzz” led to the order to stop using white phosphorus shells

cop goes spastic when reporters start filming the US Army violating the posse comitatus act:

HERO COP STOPS SCUMBAG NEWS REPORTER FROM FILMING PATRIOT ARMY SOLDIERS VIOLATING POSSE COMITATUS

Posted By: J
Date: Wednesday, 22-Apr-2009 14:51:07

Sgt. Ramirez goes psycho on the reporter and his cameraman.

I suspect the reason is about 1:50 into the clip where the "highway hero" assaults the camera man, wrestles his 30,000 dollar camera to the ground where by providence captures a US soldier running across shouting orders...

They don't have to worry about resistance much, 'murkans know their place, they just need shouted and shoved because all the flouride in their heads kinda damages their response times y'know.

check this shit out. unbelievable. this cop needs to be given a lesson... brandon

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Miss New Jersey Backs Medical Marijuana

Former Miss New Jersey makes marijuana her platform

By BEN LEACH Staff Writer, 609-272-7261

Published: Friday, April 17, 2009

'Marijuana could be a miracle drug for a lot of people,' says 2006 Miss New Jersey Georgine DiMaria.

A former Miss New Jersey has put down her tiara and is ready to fight for the legalization of medical marijuana.

Georgine DiMaria, 24, said as a child her asthma was so severe that it left her bedridden, forcing her to be homeschooled. “When you can’t breathe, nothing else matters,” she said.

When DiMaria learned that her uncle in South Carolina had used marijuana as part of his treatment for cancer, DiMaria investigated it herself. It helped her immensely, she said. Because of law enforcement taken against people that have used marijuana for medicinal purposes, DiMaria would not say when she used marijuana or how she obtained it, but she did say it was medically beneficial to her.

DiMaria also said she kept her usage under wraps while serving as Miss New Jersey, due to the controversy surrounding the drug and its potential to be abused.

DiMaria became Miss New Jersey pageant and competed in the Miss America pageant in 2006. Since then, she has served as a national spokeswoman for the American Lung Association. DiMaria emphasized that she does not condone smoking.

In February, the New Jersey state Senate approved a bill that would legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. It awaits approval in the Assembly and from Gov. Jon S. Corzine.

State Sen. Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, said Friday in a phone interview that he voted in favor of the bill after his constituents showed an overwhelming amount of support for the bill.

Van Drew said he believes medical marijuana should be available to those who need it, but he’s concerned about a portion of the bill that would allow patients to grow as many as six marijuana plants of their own.

“If you’re growing plants, how can you tell which ones are being used for a medical need?” Van Drew asked.

Van Drew said he would prefer patients buy their medical marijuana at certified locations, a sort of pharmacy that would dispense it. The senator noted California has a similar program, but its dispensiaries have struggled to stay open: Federal Drug Enforcement Administration kept raiding them to prevent illegal marijuana trafficking.

However, in March, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said federal agents will now target distributors only when they violate both federal and state laws — meaning, those in compliance with California law will no longer be raided.

To date, 13 states have approved the medical use of marijuana.

“I’m hoping that by the time (the bill) is going through the Assembly, maybe more will happen at the federal level,” Van Drew said.

For DiMaria, the goal is to make sure government at all levels does not deny access to a drug that could help so many with medical conditions.

“Marijuana could be a miracle drug for a lot of people,” DiMaria said.

Art McMaster, president and CEO of the Miss America Organization, could not be reached Friday for a comment.

E-mail Ben Leach:

BLeach@pressofac.com

source

bob dacy---we are all militia

great video:

April 14--come get my taxes...

Tax Day Becomes Protest Day

How the tea parties could change American politics.

By GLENN HARLAN REYNOLDS

Today American taxpayers in more than 300 locations in all 50 states will hold rallies -- dubbed "tea parties" -- to protest higher taxes and out-of-control government spending. There is no political party behind these rallies, no grand right-wing conspiracy, not even a 501(c) group like MoveOn.org.

Reuters

A rally and march in protest of higher taxes in Santa Barbara, Calif., April 4.

So who's behind the Tax Day tea parties? Ordinary folks who are using the power of the Internet to organize. For a number of years, techno-geeks have been organizing "flash crowds" -- groups of people, coordinated by text or cellphone, who converge on a particular location and then do something silly, like the pillow fights that popped up in 50 cities earlier this month. This is part of a general phenomenon dubbed "Smart Mobs" by Howard Rheingold, author of a book by the same title, in which modern communications and social-networking technologies allow quick coordination among large numbers of people who don't know each other.

In the old days, organizing large groups of people required, well, an organization: a political party, a labor union, a church or some other sort of structure. Now people can coordinate themselves.

We saw a bit of this in the 2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns, with things like Howard Dean's use of Meetup, and Barack Obama's use of Facebook. But this was still social-networking in support of an existing organization or campaign. The tea-party protest movement is organizing itself, on its own behalf. Some existing organizations, like Newt Gingrich's American Solutions and FreedomWorks, have gotten involved. But they're involved as followers and facilitators, not leaders. The leaders are appearing on their own, and reaching out to others through blogs, Facebook, chat boards and alternative media.

The protests began with bloggers in Seattle, Wash., who organized a demonstration on Feb. 16. As word of this spread, rallies in Denver and Mesa, Ariz., were quickly organized for the next day. Then came CNBC talker Rick Santelli's Feb. 19 "rant heard round the world" in which he called for a "Chicago tea party" on July Fourth. The tea-party moniker stuck, but angry taxpayers weren't willing to wait until July. Soon, tea-party protests were appearing in one city after another, drawing at first hundreds, and then thousands, to marches in cities from Orlando to Kansas City to Cincinnati.

As word spread, people got interested in picking a common date for nationwide protests, and decided on today, Tax Day, as the date. As I write this, various Web sites tracking tea parties are predicting anywhere between 300 and 500 protests at cities around the world. A Google Map tracking planned events, maintained at the FreedomWorks.org Web site, shows the United States covered by red circles, with new events being added every day.

The movement grew so fast that some bloggers at the Playboy Web site -- apparently unaware that we've entered the 21st century -- suggested that some secret organization must be behind all of this. But, in fact, today's technology means you don't need an organization, secret or otherwise, to get organized. After considerable ridicule, the claim was withdrawn, but that hasn't stopped other media outlets from echoing it.

There's good news and bad news in this phenomenon for establishment politicians. The good news for Republicans is that, while the Republican Party flounders in its response to the Obama presidency and its programs, millions of Americans are getting organized on their own. The bad news is that those Americans, despite their opposition to President Obama's policies, aren't especially friendly to the GOP. When Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele asked to speak at the Chicago tea party, his request was politely refused by the organizers: "With regards to stage time, we respectfully must inform Chairman Steele that RNC officials are welcome to participate in the rally itself, but we prefer to limit stage time to those who are not elected officials, both in Government as well as political parties. This is an opportunity for Americans to speak, and elected officials to listen, not the other way around."

Likewise, I spoke to an organizer for the Knoxville tea party who said that no "professional politicians" were going to be allowed to speak, and he made a big point of saying that the protest wasn't an anti-Obama protest, it was an anti-establishment protest. I've heard similar things from tea-party organizers in other cities, too. Though critics will probably try to write the tea parties off as partisan publicity stunts, they're really a post-partisan expression of outrage.

Of course, it won't be the same everywhere. There are no national rules, and organizers of each protest are doing things the way they want. And that's the good news and the bad news for Democrats. It's not a big Republican effort. It's a big popular effort. But a mass movement of ordinary people who don't feel that their voices are being heard doesn't bode well for the party that positioned itself as the organ of hope and change.

Will these flash crowds be a flash in the pan? It's possible that people who demonstrate today will find that experience cathartic enough -- or exhausting enough -- that that will be it. But it's more likely that the tea-party movement will have an impact on the 2010 and 2012 elections, and perhaps beyond.

What's most striking about the tea-party movement is that most of the organizers haven't ever organized, or even participated, in a protest rally before. General disgust has drawn a lot of people off the sidelines and into the political arena, and they are already planning for political action after today.

Cincinnati organizer Mike Wilson, a novice organizer who drew 5,000 people to a rally on March 15, is now planning to create a political action committee and a permanent political organization to press for lower taxes and reduced spending. Tucson tea party organizer Robert Mayer told me that his organization will focus on city council elections in the fall as its next priority. And there's lots of Internet chatter about ways of taking things further after today's protests.

This influx of new energy and new talent is likely to inject new life into small-government politics around the nation. The mainstream Republican Party still seems limp and disorganized. This grassroots effort may revitalize it. Or the tea-party movement may lead to a new third party that may replace the GOP, just as the GOP replaced the fractured and hapless Whigs.

Mr. Reynolds is the author of "An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths" (Thomas Nelson, 2006). He will be covering the tea party protests today at PJTV.com.

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Texas Governor Backs State Sovereignty Movement

WAKE UP CALL: TEXAS GOV. BACK RESOLUTION AFFIRMING SOVEREIGNTY
Tue Apr 14 2009 08:44:54 ET

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry joined state Rep. Brandon Creighton and sponsors of House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 50 in support of states’ rights under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state,” Gov. Perry said. “That is why I am here today to express my unwavering support for efforts all across our country to reaffirm the states’ rights affirmed by the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I believe that returning to the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution and its essential 10th Amendment will free our state from undue regulations, and ultimately strengthen our Union.”

Perry continued: "Millions of Texans are tired of Washington, DC trying to come down here to tell us how to run Texas."

[VIDEO]

A number of recent federal proposals are not within the scope of the federal government’s constitutionally designated powers and impede the states’ right to govern themselves. HCR 50 affirms that Texas claims sovereignty under the 10th Amendment over all powers not otherwise granted to the federal government.

It also designates that all compulsory federal legislation that requires states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties, or that requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding, be prohibited or repealed.

Developing...

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Deutschland Boots GM Corn

Germany Bans Cultivation of GM Corn - MONSANTO UPROOTED

Germany has banned the cultivation of GM corn, claiming that MON 810 is dangerous for the environment. But that argument might not stand up in court and Berlin could face fines totalling millions of euros if American multinational Monsanto decides to challenge the prohibition on its seed.

The sowing season may be just around the corner, but this year German farmers will not be planting gentically modified crops: German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner announced Tuesday she was banning the cultivation of GM corn in Germany.

DPA

Greenpeace activists take a sample from a Monsanto test site near Borken in North Rhine-Westphalia: The GM crop MON 810 has been banned in Germany.

Under the new regulations, the cultivation of MON 810, a GM corn produced by the American biotech giant Monsanto, will be prohibited in Germany, as will the sale of its seed. Aigner told reporters Tuesday she had legitimate reasons to believe that MON 810 posed "a danger to the environment," a position which she said the Environment Ministry also supported. In taking the step, Aigner is taking advantage of a clause in EU law which allows individual countries to impose such bans.

"Contrary to assertions stating otherwise, my decision is not politically motivated," Aigner said, referring to reports that she had come under pressure to impose a ban from within her party, the conservative Bavaria-based Christian Social Union. She stressed that the ban should be understood as an "individual case" and not as a statement of principle regarding future policy relating to genetic engineering.

Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND) both welcomed the ban. Greenpeace's genetic engineering expert, Stephanie Töwe, said the decision was long overdue, explaining that numerous scientific studies demonstrated that GM corn was a danger to the environment.

However the ban could prove costly for the German government. Experts in Aigner's ministry recently told SPIEGEL that it will be hard to prove conclusively that MON 810 damages the environment, which could enable Monsanto to win a court case opposing the ban and potentially expose the government to €6-7 million ($7.9-9.2 million) in damages.

Monsanto said Tuesday that it would look into the question of whether it would take legal proceedings as quickly as possible. Andreas Thierfelder, spokesman for Monsanto Germany, said the matter was very urgent as the planting season was just about to start.

Aigner has recently come under pressure from Bavaria to ban GM corn. Bavaria's Environment Minister Markus Söder wants to turn Germany into a "GM food-free zone." Environmental groups have long called for a ban on GM crops in Germany, arguing that they pose a danger to plants and animals.

However, supporters of genetic engineering argue that a ban could prompt research companies and institutes to pull up stakes and leave Germany. Wolfgang Herrmann, president of Munich's Technical University, has said that a prohibition risks precipitating "an exodus of researchers."

The issue has exposed a split between Bavaria's CSU and its larger sister party, Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union. Katherina Reiche, deputy chairwoman of the CDU/CSU's parliamentary group, has complained of the "CSU's irresponsible, cheap propaganda," claiming that it could harm German industry. She argued that anti-GM sentiment was one reason a subsidiary of the German chemical giant Bayer decided to moved its facilities for genetic engineering from Potsdam, near Berlin, to Belgium.

MON 810 was approved for cultivation in Europe by the European Union in 1998 and is currently the only GM crop which can be grown in Germany. The plant produces a toxin to fight off a certain pest, the voracious larvae of the corn borer moth. The crop was due to be planted this year on a total area of around 3,600 hectares (8,896 acres) in Germany. The cultivation of MON 810 is already banned in five other EU member states, namely Austria, Hungary, Greece, France and Luxembourg.

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moron tries to rob AA meeting and gets smoked...

another instance of a conceal and carry permit coming to the rescue... Brandon

Man Killed While Trying to Rob Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting

Columbia (WLTX) - A New Jersey man has been shot and killed at an Alcoholics Anonymous center in South Carolina in what police say was a thwarted robbery.

The State newspaper reported that Columbia police said Sunday that a visitor to the AA center shot and killed the 18-year-old man who was trying to rob members there.

Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said Kayson Helms of Edison, N.J., was shot in the neck, abdomen and chest.

Columbia Police say Helms walked into the meeting at 2015 College Street, the Acoa Club, at 11 p.m. Saturday night with a gun and demanded whatever those at the center had and was shot.

Helms was taken to Palmetto Richland where he later died.

Police did not identify the man who shot Helms, but said the individual had a concealed weapons permit.

So far, no charges have been filed.

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iraqi shoe thower's sentence cut to one year

Iraq shoe thrower's jail term cut

Zaidi has always insisted he was making a legitimate protest

The Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at former US President George W Bush has had his sentence cut from three years to one year on appeal.

Muntadar al-Zaidi's lawyer argued that the charge should be changed from assault to insulting a foreign leader.

The judge agreed and reduced the term in line with the less serious offence.

An official for the court said the presiding judge had also taken into account the fact that Zaidi had no prior criminal history.

"The appeal court issued its decision today... taking into consideration that he [Zaidi] is still young and doesn't have any previous convictions," said Abdul Sattar al-Birqdar, the spokesman for the Iraqi judicial council.

Grave insult

Zaidi's lawyer, Yaha al-Ittabi, said the decision showed "the independence and the integrity of the Iraqi judiciary".

Shoe hurling is a grave insult in Arab culture, but Mr Bush - who was on a farewell trip to Iraq at the time - shrugged off the attack.

Footage of the shoe hurling incident

The shoe attack happened in mid-December 2008 during a news conference Mr Bush was holding with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Zaidi, of al-Baghdadiya TV, called Mr Bush "a dog" and threw his shoes as a "farewell kiss" from Iraqis who had been killed, orphaned or widowed since the US-led invasion.

"I had the feeling that the blood of innocent people was dropping on my feet during the time that he was smiling and coming to say bye-bye to Iraq with a dinner," Zaidi said during his trial in March.

Hero or criminal?

He was overpowered and arrested and his actions were condemned by the Iraqi government as "shameful".

Zaidi had faced a potential 15 years in jail, now slashed to one year

But the shoe attack, at a globally televised news conference, was celebrated across the world by critics of the outgoing US president, who ordered the 2003 invasion of the Iraq.

An opinion poll carried out for the BBC and ABC - the full results of which appear next Monday - suggested 62% of the Iraqis polled considered Zaidi a "hero".

Some 24% of the sample said they viewed him as "criminal", while 10% thought he was a hero and criminal equally.

Taking into account pre-trial custody and the customary reductions of sentences, Zaidi is set to be released on 14 September.

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Glen Beck Admits to FEMA Camps, But Then Denies They Exist

post this video everywhere!

man kills 3 cops in PA-feared obama wanted his guns

3 Cops Killed In Pa. Shooting


PITTSBURGH (AP)
http://cbs5.com/national/officers.shot.Stanton.2.975824.html


A man opened fire on officers during a domestic disturbance call Saturday morning, killing three of them, a police official said. Friends said he feared the Obama administration was poised to ban guns.


Three officers were killed, said a police official at the scene who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.


Police spokeswoman Diane Richard would only say that at least five officers were wounded, but wouldn't give any other details.


The man who fired at the officers was arrested after a several-hour standoff. One witness reported hearing hundreds of shots.


The shootings occurred just two weeks after four police officers March 21 in Oakland, Calif., in the deadliest day for U.S. law enforcement since Sept. 11, 2001.


Police did not immediately release the gunman's identity, but his friends at the scene described him as a young man who thought the Obama administration would ban guns.


One friend, Edward Perkovic, said the gunman feared "the Obama gun ban that's on the way" and "didn't like our rights being infringed upon." Another longtime friend, Aaron Vire, said he feared that President Obama was going to take away his rights, though he said he "wasn't violently against Obama.
"

Perkovic, a 22-year-old who said he was the gunman's best friend, said he got a call at work from him in which he said, "Eddie, I am going to die today. ... Tell your family I love them and I love you.
"

Perkovic said: "I heard gunshots and he hung up. ... He sounded like he was in pain, like he got shot.
"

Vire, 23, said the gunman once had an Internet talk show but that it wasn't successful. Vire said his friend had an AK-47 rifle and several powerful handguns, including a .357 Magnum.


The officers were called to the home in the Stanton Heights neighborhood at about 7 a.m., Richard said.


Tom Moffitt, 51, a city firefighter who lives two blocks away, said he heard about the shooting on his scanner and came to the scene, where he heard "hundreds, just hundreds of shots. And not just once -- several times.
"

Rob Gift, 45, who lives a block away, said he heard rapid gunfire as he was letting his dog out.


He said the neighborhood of well-kept single-family houses and manicured lawns is home to many police officers, firefighters, paramedics and other city workers.


"It's just a very quiet neighborhood," Gift said.

Campaign For Liberty Member Held at Missouri Airport for Carrying Cash

The Soviet Story - Untold millions dead

Connecticut Decriminalizes Weed

Connecticut votes to decriminalize pot

Decriminalization of possession of less than 1/2 oz. for those over 18.

By CHRISTOPHER KEATING~The Hartford Courant

On a groundbreaking vote, the legislature’s judiciary committee decided Tuesday night to decriminalize marijuana possession for adults 18 and older who have less than half an ounce of the drug.

Under a compromise, the marijuana laws would not change for anyone under 18, and the amount that would be decriminalized was reduced from less than 1 ounce to less than half an ounce. The possession of small amounts would no longer be a crime and would instead be an infraction with a maximum fine of $250 that could be paid like a speeding ticket.

Some Democratic legislators, including Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney of New Haven, have been pushing hard this year for decriminalization, saying that doing so could save the state more than $11 million in law enforcement costs annually because far fewer people would be sent to state Superior Court to be overseen by prosecutors and probation officials. If marijuana users were issued a ticket that could be paid by mail, they would no longer need to go to court.

The bill passed 24-14 in the Democratic-dominated committee, and the highest-ranking Republican who voted for the measure was deputy House Republican leader William Hamzy of Plymouth.

ARTICLE CONTINUES…