Archive for the ‘Foreign and Domestic’ Category

End the Occupation Protest/Rally – STATEWIDE

Friday, June 4th, 2010

Protest to end the occupations/the global empire!

I think we’ve given Obama enough time to fulfill his promise to bring our troops home. He said 16 months, it’s been 16 months.

Let’s peacefully demonstrate to end the occupation and bring our men and women home. Let’s rally to stop funding these wars.

KANSAS CITY AREA PROTEST/RALLY
Sunday, June 6th
2-4pm
At the Fountain on the Plaza
47th and JC Nichols Parkway
Kansas City, MO

SAINT LOUIS AREA PROTEST/RALLY
Sunday, June 6th
Noon – 2pm
The Hampton Round About near the Zoo
St. Louis, MO

COLUMBIA AREA PROTEST/RALLY
Sunday, June 6th
1-3pm
Corner of 9th and Broadway, Downtown Columbia
Columbia, Mo

Any other groups interested in joining us? Please forward to other groups as well.

Thank you!!

Iraq Veterans Against War will be joining forces with LRP for this event!!

Posted in Action Alerts, Collaboration, Events, Foreign and Domestic, Issues, Kansas City, Saint Louis, Street Action | 3 Comments »

McCain Proposes Indefinite Detention Without Trial for Citizens

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010
McCain Proposes Indefinite Detention Without Trial for Citizens | Print | E-mail
Written by Thomas R. Eddlem
Sunday, 18 April 2010 18:30

John McCainSenator John McCain (R-Ariz.) has introduced a bill that would allow the President to imprison an unlimited number of American citizens (as well as foreigners) indefinitely without trial. Known as The Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010, or S. 3081, the bill authorizes the President to deny a detainee a trial by jury simply by designating that person an “enemy belligerent.”

The bill, which has eight cosponsors, explicitly names U.S. citizens as among those who can be detained indefinitely without trial:

An individual, including a citizen of the United States, determined to be an unprivileged enemy belligerent … may be detained without criminal charges and without trial for the duration of hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners in which the individual has engaged, or which the individual has purposely and materially supported, consistent with the law of war and any authorization for the use of military force provided by Congress pertaining to such hostilities. [Emphasis added.]

Note that the Bush administration once said that the so-called “war on terror” would last a generation or more, and the U.S. military has officially classified many former Guantanamo detainees, such as England’s Tipton Three, as having “returned to the battlefield” for merely granting an interview for the movie The Road to Guantanamo. Another five innocent Uighur (Ethnic Turkish Muslims from China) detainees had been listed as having “returned to the battlefield” after their release because their lawyer had written an op-ed protesting their prolonged detention without trial after they had been mistakenly picked up by a greedy bounty hunter. Writing an opinion or speaking an opinion against the party in power in Washington can — and already has — made some people “enemy belligerents.”

The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires that “No person shall … be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,” and the Sixth Amendment stipulates the due process of law that all are required to receive:

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

The requirement for a jury trial has no exceptions for military reasons, and doesn’t even exempt foreigners. It simply employs the phrase “all criminal prosecutions,” words that unequivocally apply to the military and civilian justice systems, as well as to both citizens and foreigners. The Founding Fathers truly applied Christ’s command to “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you,” but John McCain’s new bill wouldn’t even do to American citizens what we would assume were basic rights. There is no greater tyranny than indefinite imprisonment at the whim of an executive without legal recourse, and that is precisely what McCain and eight other senators would impose upon America.

McCain defended his bill in a speech on the Senate floor March 4, stating:

The legislation would authorize detention of enemy belligerents without criminal charges for the duration of the hostilities consistent with standards under the law of war which have been recognized by the Supreme Court.  Importantly, if a decision is made to hold a criminal trial after the necessary intelligence information is obtained, the bill mandates trial by military commission where we are best able to protect U.S. national security interests, including sensitive classified sources and methods, as well as the place and the people involved in the trial itself.

In other words, the right to trial by jury guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution would no longer be a right. The bill would mandate “military commissions” rather than a jury trial, if and when the President deems to hold a “trial.” Under McCain’s legislation, trial by jury wouldn’t just be a privilege that the President could withdraw at a whim, the President would be required to deny jury trials. The right to trial by jury would be denied entirely! Of course, any American could be held for decades without trial or even being charged with a crime under McCain’s bill.

Cosponsors of the bill include Democrat/independent Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Republicans Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, David Vitter of Louisiana, George LeMieux of Florida, and Roger Wicker of Mississippi. Those cosponsoring this outright attack on the Bill of Rights are those same Republican neo-conservatives who have dominated the GOP for the last decade or more. Conservative constitutionalists need to reassert control of the Republican Party and purge this cancer from the party and the U.S. Senate, if they wish to retain their freedoms.

Photo of John McCain: AP Images

http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/crime/3344-mccain-proposes-indefinite-detention-without-trial-for-citizens

Posted in Foreign and Domestic, Issues | No Comments »

Remove ICLEI – Restore the Republic!

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

http://www.iclei.org/

ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability is an international association of local governments as well as national and regional local government organizations that have made a commitment to sustainable development.

(READ MORE AND WHAT TO DO IN THE ARTICLE POSTED AT THE BOTTOM BY TOM DEWEESE)

Missouri Dues Paying Member Cities (paid with your tax dollars):

Olivette, MO, U.S.A.
Saint Louis, MO, U.S.A.
University City, MO, U.S.A.
Columbia, MO, U.S.A.
Kansas City, MO, U.S.A.
Creve Coeur, MO, U.S.A.

Here are the “partners” of the organization:

United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)
Metropolis
World Economic Forum
Clinton Climate Initiative
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)
UNFCCC Logo
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Climate Group
World Bankorld Conservation Union (IUCN)
REEEP – Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership
Global Footprint Network
International Centre for Sustainable Cities
Earthquakes and Megacities Initiative

Remove ICLEI – Restore the Republic!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Many Americans ask how dangerous international policies can suddenly turn up in state and local government, all seemingly uniform to those in communities across the nation and around the globe.

The answer – meet ICLEI, a non-profit, private foundation, dedicated to helping your mayor implement all of his promises. Originally known as the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), today the group simply calls itself “ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability.”

In 1992, ICLEI was one of the groups instrumental in creating Agenda 21. The group’s mission is to push local communities to regulate the environment – and it’s having tremendous success.

I have included a list of 544 American cities in which ICLEI is being paid with tax dollars from city councils to implement and enforce Sustainable Development. ICLEI is there to assure that the mayors keep their promises and meet their goals. Climate change, of course, is the ICLEI mantra.

Read the rest here: http://deweesereport.com/index.php?p=post&id=2

Catherine Bleish
executive director
Liberty Restoration Project
http://www.LibertyRestorationProject.org/

blog: http://www.donttreadoncat.com/
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DontTreadOnMe

Freedom reaches across party lines.

Update by Kevin:

Kansas Member Cities:

Lawrence
Mission
Overland Park
Prairie Village

Illinois Member Cities:

Carol Stream
Chicago
Elmhurst
Lake Forest
Northbrook
Oswego
Plainfield
Rock Island
Springfield
Urbana

For a list of all member cities, click here

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Posted in Centralization, City Council, Foreign and Domestic, Freedom 21 | No Comments »

Press Release Submitted: Sunshine Law

Monday, March 16th, 2009

Press Release

For Immediate Release

Liberty Restoration Project delivers “Sunshine Law” request to Jefferson City regarding Police document.

Kansas City, MO. March 16th, 2009:

Today representatives of the Liberty Restoration Project (LRP) hand delivered a “Sunshine Law” request to 3 offices in Jefferson City. The Sunshine Law in Missouri is a version of the Federal Freedom of Information Act that allows groups to petition for information. This request was delivered to Missouri Governor Jay Nixon’s office, Missouri Highway Patrol office and State Emergency Management office. The LRP is operating as a mouthpiece to a national “Freedom Movement” that feels that a document released by the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) on February 20th, 2009, has placed a peaceful movement into the same groupings as “Paramilitary”, white supremacists, hate groups and unconstitutional Militia. This document was released to the Missouri Highway Patrol offices and was released from the desk of Governor Nixon’s desk. This document was leaked to the public by someone who obtained it from their law enforcement agency.

The document in question is being criticized by the freedom movement because of such generalized information provided in the document. The document was written as a training tool for the police to be able to identify Militia members and protect officers as well and citizens. Instead the document managed to label anyone with a political view that differs from the two party designs. This document indicates current Texas Congressman Ron Paul as an icon for the Paramilitary movement, as well as displaying an inverted American flag, or having copies of documentaries that discuss issues that are relevant to the freedom movement. This document indicates that displaying a 3rd Party bumper sticker, or a “Gadsden Flag”, or even carrying a copy of the United States Constitution could be considered “political paraphernalia”. The freedom movement as a whole feels that this document will allow Missouri police to profile vehicles, individuals, organizations, or even political figures as “radical” or “extremists”, and will infringe upon a person’s 1st amendment right to express their views. The most immediate threat to this peaceful group will come at the end of March when Congressman Ron Paul will hold a regional conference in St. Louis, MO. This conference will bring in hundreds of supporters into Missouri, and now most are fearful of being singled out and profiled against, and potentially having their rights violated by the police, all because of a generalized and poorly informed document.

The Liberty Restoration Project is requesting on behalf of a national freedom movement for a retraction of this document, and a formal apology from the Governor, MIAC, and the Missouri Highway Patrol. The Liberty Restoration Project in Kansas City will extend a hand in drafting information that will not only clarify a position of a freedom movement, but also assist in better informing law enforcement officials in hopes to protect our peacekeeping officers and citizens.

For More information about the LRP, please visit: www.libertyrestorationproject.org

Please contact Bryon Huber at: 816-739-8064

Attached you will find the Sunshine Law request that was submitted.

Full MIAC report can be found at : http://www.scribd.com/doc/13232178/MIAC-Strategic-Report-The-Modern-Militia-Movement

####

United,
Bryon Huber
Director of Public Relations
Liberty Restoration Project
www.libertyrestorationproject.org

Posted in Centralization, Collaboration, Events, Federal Reserve, Foreign and Domestic, Issues, KC Smartport, News, North American Union, Oil, Press Releases, Real ID, Second Amendment, Tenth Amendment | No Comments »

Six Years in Iraq, Nothing Has Changed

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

I wanted to start by introducing myself as foreign policy contributor to the Liberty Restoration Project. I am a veteran of the Iraq War, a student in Kansas, and an activist for Iraq Veterans Against the War.  I would like to thank Catherine and the LRP for inviting me to share some of my experiences and perspective with you all.

As the sixth anniversary bears down upon us and I have been tasked to organize events in our area and speak to various groups in KC Metro, I am increasing alarmed by the attitudes of the situation we are now in. Tonight I met with planners for a major event near the Plaza and the question was put forward, “What do Iraq Vets (IVAW) think about the Presidents plan to extend the withdrawal“.  First of all, to speak on behalf of such a diverse group of individuals is flattering at best. Many people don’t realize the make up of our organization and the fact that it represents several facets of the political spectrum here at home.  I will generalize in saying that our organization wasn’t satisfied with the original withdrawal date, an extension of which is upsetting but somehow, expected. In addition, the thought of leaving 50,000 troops in theatre for “non-combat purposes” is truly at the heart of the problem.  If we can’t understand what incited violence towards us to begin with, how will the people of Iraq ever see peace in the region?  This “new” plan continues our occupation of Iraq, promotes U.S. hegemony in the Middle East, diverts our nations wealth to nation building, and turns our military into the world police.  All of which were the foreign policy of the last administration.

Later during the meeting the question of the surge of troops to Afghanistan came up. Someone commented, “...at least that’s where Osama Bin Laden is from.”  Does this give us the authority to wage war on an entire nation? Furthermore, how does anyone know that Bin Laden is still even there, let alone alive? Last reports from U.S. intelligence states that they had no idea where he was whether that be in Afghanistan or Pakistan. Awkwardly enough, browsing the FBI Most Wanted list results in no mention specifically that charges Bin Laden with the September 11th attacks. This of course is all semantics because we are illegally occupying both countries and are nowhere nearer to our goals catching the perpetrators of the terrorist acts on that day.  What we certainly must do is hold our leaders accountable for their decisions and communicate our grievances regardless of the party that sits in office. This seems to escape some of my friends on the left. What would we have said if Bush extended a withdrawal date or called for a surge of troops in Afghanistan? Former President Bush did not get a pass and neither should President Obama.

We will not waiver in our efforts to see a speedy end to the occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Americans are still over there and continue to lose their lives. Hundreds of thousand of innocent continue to be extinguished by our flawed policies.  Peace and justice both here and abroad continue to remain elusive. Suggested promises of changing course will not prevent us from taking to the streets this year or any day the troops remain on foreign soil.

So what are we planning?  We have two major events on the horizon in KC while also acknowledging the huge March on the Pentagon. On March 14th we will reach out to Iraqi refugees in our area to be an example of humankind’s ability to live together in peace. Peace Race for the Human Race Vigil and Rally will take place at Mill Creek Park in KCMO at 3:30PM and will feature speakers, music, activities, and activism. A relay will take place to promote peace and a ”Race for Peace”  happening (otherwise known as a mass performance art piece) will encourage public involvement. Next the refugees, vets, and volunteers will come together to prepare an Iraqi dinner. Breaking Bread Together will take place at the Community Christian Church on 4601 Main at 5:30PM.  We believe that peace begins with communication and our example locally should be emulated by our leaders in Washington. I encourage you all to remember that this issue lingers and we should not be confused whether to recognize the anniversary this year as we have before. Nothing has changed.

 

Will Stewart-Starks

President, KU Iraq Veterans Against the War and their Supporters

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Posted in Commentary, Foreign and Domestic, Kansas City, Project Participation, Street Action, Topic Expert Program | No Comments »