this is the state of free speech in one particular case in texas;
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Warning that the government must not be given the
power to criminalize speech it deems distasteful or annoying, The
Rutherford Institute has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the
prosecution of a Texas man who faces up to one year in jail and a $4000
fine for sending emails to police criticizing them for failing to
respond to his requests for assistance. In an amicus brief filed
with the Supreme Court, Rutherford Institute attorneys argue that the
prosecution of Scott Ogle for sending complaints to a sheriff’s office,
including one email stating that officials were “pissing” on the
Constitution, violates the First Amendment’s safeguards for freedom of
speech and the right to petition the government for a redress of
grievances. Moreover, Institute attorneys argue that the Texas law under
which Ogle was charged, which makes it a crime to send “annoying,”
“alarming” or “harassing” electronic messages, is so overbroad that it
could be used to punish a negative review of a restaurant posted online
or caustic Facebook posts.
“It was Justice William O. Douglas who affirmed the right of
Americans to speak softly or angrily to government officials, even if
our words challenge and annoy. We need not stay docile and quiet, nor
must we bow submissively to authority and speak with awe and reverence
to those who represent us. That is the genius of the First Amendment,”
said constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead, president of The
Rutherford Institute and author of Battlefield America: The War on the American People.
“Nowhere in the First Amendment does it permit the government to limit
speech in order to avoid causing offense, hurting someone’s feelings,
safeguarding government secrets, protecting government officials,
insulating judges from undue influence, discouraging bullying,
penalizing hateful ideas and actions, eliminating terrorism, combatting
prejudice and intolerance, and the like.”
In 2016, a frustrated Scott Ogle emailed the Hays County Sheriff’s
Office over their alleged inattention to his requests for help. In his
emails, Ogle accused one officer of “[being] your typical arrogant,
condescending, belligerent self who chooses to look the other way.”
Another email stated “[y]ou have a Constitution to uphold, son, you’re
pissing on it” and referred to a deputy as a “little bitch” and a
“little state weasel.” Based on these emails, Ogle was charged with a
crime under a provision of Texas’ Penal Code for making “repeated
electronic messages in a manner reasonably likely to harass, annoy,
alarm, abuse, torment, embarrass, or offend another.” The law also
requires that the messages be sent with the same intent. A violation of
this statute is punishable by up to one year in jail and a $4000 fine.
Prior to trial, Ogle’s lawyer argued that the statute violates the First
Amendment—which affirms the rights to freedom of speech and to petition
the government for a redress of grievances—because it criminalizes a
substantial amount of constitutionally-protected speech. However, both
the state trial and appellate courts rejected Ogle’s constitutional
defense. In asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review Ogle’s case and
strike down the Texas statute, The Rutherford Institute argues that even
if Ogle’s emails were in bad taste, the government must not have the
power to judge and punish speech because of its judgment that the speech
is rude. Pointing out that statutes similar to the one being applied to
Ogle have been held unconstitutional by other state and federal courts,
Institute attorneys have also urged the Supreme Court to resolve the
conflict between those rulings and the ruling in Ogle’s case.
Affiliate attorney Chris Moriarty assisted The Rutherford Institute in presenting its arguments............https://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/under-texas-law-banning-annoying-or-offensive-electronic-messages-man-faces-a-year-in-prison-for-criticizing-police/245591
Thursday, April 25, 2019
this writer explores 'sanctions', their definition and the ramifications in this case mostly about iran but also the war the empire is trying to start;
The American aggression against Iran is
escalating to a level that threatens world war. On Monday April 22, the
USA declared that it has withdrawn “waivers” given to China, India,
Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Italy and Greece, under the illegal
US economic warfare campaign being conducted against Iran under the name
of “sanctions.” The stated objective is to reduce Iranian oil exports
to zero, crippling the Iranian economy, damaging the economies of
countries that purchase Iranian oil and raising the price of oil for the
rest of the world suppliers, including of course the US and Saudis,
that have pledged to fill the gap, at a higher price of course.
The American Secretary of State, Mike
Pompeo declared, with all the arrogance of Herr Garbage in Chaplin’s
film The Great Dictator,
“The Trump Administration has taken Iran’s oil exports to historic lows, and we are dramatically accelerating our pressure campaign in a calibrated way that meets our national security objectives while maintaining well supplied global oil markets.”
In other words, “we are going to bring Iran to its knees while we make a pile of dough doing it.”
Iran responded by
stating that it will continue to ship oil and both Turkey and China
quickly stated that they do not accept the US actions and will continue
to buy Iranian oil. Italy and Greece have said nothing, but they
kowtowed months ago and have not purchased Iranian oil despite being
given the waivers by the US. It has to be assumed that they knew what
was coming and so sought oil supplies elsewhere.
The Iranians have threatened to close
the Straight of Hormuz if the waivers are suspended and the Americans
use force to block Iranian oil shipments which would mean the blocking
of oil shipments from the Arabian peninsular, thereby threatening oil
supplies to many nations in the world that depend on those supplies,
including Europe and North America. An attempt to block the Straight of
Hormuz would result in the Americans trying to eliminate the Iranian
naval vessels closing the passage, major naval engagements and outright
war. It may be that the US is hoping to provoke such a clash to give it
the pretext for war against Iran. Everything points to that conclusion.
Armed action to block Iranian exports of
oil is the logical step the US will have to take if the illegal
“sanctions” are ignored and the US maintains its threat to bring Iranian
oil exports to zero. Any such action would not only be aggression
against Iran, it would also be an act of aggression against China and
the other nations relying on that oil. But armed conflict and the risk
of a major war is a risk the US seems willing to take. Whether they are
reckless or that is the American objective is difficult to say but if it
comes to that it won’t much matter for the consequences will be
terrible and world wide. But, looking at US actions, real war, not just
economic, appears to be their objective..........https://journal-neo.org/2019/04/24/iran-is-no-one-s-colony/
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
the empire increasingly shows its hand and intentions but the world isn't fooled;
A primary focus of my writing of late centers around the idea that the policies of the Trump administration, and the neocons in control of it, will hasten the decline of U.S. imperial power and more rapidly usher in a multi-polar (and possibly bifurcated) world. Today’s news regarding the elimination of waivers on Iranian oil imports provides another perfect example.
Specifically, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced earlier today that waivers which allowed eight countries to import Iranian crude oil without being subject to U.S. sanctions would expire on May 2 without extension. The eight countries included are China, India, Turkey, South Korea, Japan, Greece, Italy and Taiwan.
This move is an extraordinarily foolish and reckless act which illustrates the extreme hubris and short-sightedness of those running American foreign policy under Trump. What the U.S. is decreeing to the entire world with this action is that the U.S., and the U.S. alone, decides who gets to trade with who. The U.S. is telling China, the second largest economy in the world and home to over one billion people, that it lacks the sovereign authority to buy oil from Iran if it so desires. If the U.S. can unilaterally play boss on the trade decisions of foreign countries, national sovereignty does not exist in practice anywhere on the planet. There is only empire........https://russia-insider.com/en/surefire-way-hasten-imperial-decline-us-tells-china-india-and-turkey-they-cannot-import-iranian-oil
A primary focus of my writing of late centers around the idea that the policies of the Trump administration, and the neocons in control of it, will hasten the decline of U.S. imperial power and more rapidly usher in a multi-polar (and possibly bifurcated) world. Today’s news regarding the elimination of waivers on Iranian oil imports provides another perfect example.
Specifically, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced earlier today that waivers which allowed eight countries to import Iranian crude oil without being subject to U.S. sanctions would expire on May 2 without extension. The eight countries included are China, India, Turkey, South Korea, Japan, Greece, Italy and Taiwan.
This move is an extraordinarily foolish and reckless act which illustrates the extreme hubris and short-sightedness of those running American foreign policy under Trump. What the U.S. is decreeing to the entire world with this action is that the U.S., and the U.S. alone, decides who gets to trade with who. The U.S. is telling China, the second largest economy in the world and home to over one billion people, that it lacks the sovereign authority to buy oil from Iran if it so desires. If the U.S. can unilaterally play boss on the trade decisions of foreign countries, national sovereignty does not exist in practice anywhere on the planet. There is only empire........https://russia-insider.com/en/surefire-way-hasten-imperial-decline-us-tells-china-india-and-turkey-they-cannot-import-iranian-oil
and there are videos. if you've done nothing wrong that doesn't mean you won't be attacked by 'our' uniformed assassins;
Lynchburg, VA — On the night of February 17, 2018 Walker Sigler, his wife Kate, and their children were asleep in their home doing nothing wrong and harming no one when two Lynchburg police officers came to the door. As Sigler woke up to the noise, the officers opened fire through the closed door and shot Sigler. This innocent man’s leg was shattered and he was nearly murdered because two trigger happy cops were scared of their own shadows.
In June of last year, Officers Edward Ferron, 41, and Savannah Simmons, 22, were both indicted for their actions that night on three felony counts of reckless handling of a firearm resulting in serious bodily injury, unlawful wounding and unlawful shooting at an occupied domicile.
In March, they pleaded no contest to the charges and were “sentenced” for their crimes to 100 hours of community service — a travesty of justice indeed.
“This is an exceptionally difficult day, as you can imagine,” John E. Lichtenstein, Sigler’s attorney, said after the hearing. “It is difficult to understand these actions. But I think what we want you to know is the Siglers respect the process. They respect this process with what happened today. And he’s doing all they can to try to get better and to try to deal with it.”
As WSET reports, officers said they approached the home and announced that they were there to investigate suspicious activity. One of the officers attorney’s, Chuck Felmlee, said the officers then heard yelling and heavy foot steps as though someone was running toward them. They say it was Sigler who then slammed the door which made a loud clanging sound they believed to be a gun shot at the time. The officers fired four shots. One bullet hit Sigler and shattered his leg.
None of this “loud clanging sound” is evident in the video and the actual door to the home was all the way closed. The only open door was the the storm door which most people never lock........https://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/cops-walk-up-to-innocent-familys-home-shoot-dad-through-the-door-no-jail/245541
Lynchburg, VA — On the night of February 17, 2018 Walker Sigler, his wife Kate, and their children were asleep in their home doing nothing wrong and harming no one when two Lynchburg police officers came to the door. As Sigler woke up to the noise, the officers opened fire through the closed door and shot Sigler. This innocent man’s leg was shattered and he was nearly murdered because two trigger happy cops were scared of their own shadows.
In June of last year, Officers Edward Ferron, 41, and Savannah Simmons, 22, were both indicted for their actions that night on three felony counts of reckless handling of a firearm resulting in serious bodily injury, unlawful wounding and unlawful shooting at an occupied domicile.
In March, they pleaded no contest to the charges and were “sentenced” for their crimes to 100 hours of community service — a travesty of justice indeed.
“This is an exceptionally difficult day, as you can imagine,” John E. Lichtenstein, Sigler’s attorney, said after the hearing. “It is difficult to understand these actions. But I think what we want you to know is the Siglers respect the process. They respect this process with what happened today. And he’s doing all they can to try to get better and to try to deal with it.”
As WSET reports, officers said they approached the home and announced that they were there to investigate suspicious activity. One of the officers attorney’s, Chuck Felmlee, said the officers then heard yelling and heavy foot steps as though someone was running toward them. They say it was Sigler who then slammed the door which made a loud clanging sound they believed to be a gun shot at the time. The officers fired four shots. One bullet hit Sigler and shattered his leg.
None of this “loud clanging sound” is evident in the video and the actual door to the home was all the way closed. The only open door was the the storm door which most people never lock........https://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/cops-walk-up-to-innocent-familys-home-shoot-dad-through-the-door-no-jail/245541
giraldi presents an attempt to cover all things russia/trump focusing on those behind the scenes here, and makes some good points;
The real “deplorable” in today’s United States is the continuation of a foreign policy based on endless aggression to maintain Washington’s military dominance in parts of the world where Americans have no conceivable interest. Many voters backed Donald J. Trump because he committed himself to changing all that, but, unfortunately, he has reneged on his promise, instead heightening tension with major powers Russia and China while also threatening Iran and Venezuela on an almost daily basis. Now Cuba is in the crosshairs because it is allegedly assisting Venezuela. One might reasonably ask if America in its seemingly enduring role as the world’s most feared bully will ever cease and desist, but the more practical question might be “When will the psychopathic trio of John Bolton, Mike Pompeo and Elliott Abrams be fired so the United States can begin to behave like a normal nation?”
Trump, to be sure, is the heart of the problem as he has consistently made bad, overly belligerent decisions when better and less abrasive options were available, something that should not necessarily always be blamed on his poor choice of advisers. But one also should not discount the likelihood that the dysfunction in Trump is in part comprehensible, stemming from his belief that he has numerous powerful enemies who have been out do destroy him since before he was nominated as the GOP’s presidential candidate. This hatred of all things Trump has been manifested in the neoconservative “Nevertrump” forces led by Bill Kristol and by the “Trump Derangement Syndrome” prominent on the political left, regularly exhibited by Rachel Maddow.........https://www.lewrockwell.com/2019/04/phil-giraldi/the-conspiracy-against-trump/
The real “deplorable” in today’s United States is the continuation of a foreign policy based on endless aggression to maintain Washington’s military dominance in parts of the world where Americans have no conceivable interest. Many voters backed Donald J. Trump because he committed himself to changing all that, but, unfortunately, he has reneged on his promise, instead heightening tension with major powers Russia and China while also threatening Iran and Venezuela on an almost daily basis. Now Cuba is in the crosshairs because it is allegedly assisting Venezuela. One might reasonably ask if America in its seemingly enduring role as the world’s most feared bully will ever cease and desist, but the more practical question might be “When will the psychopathic trio of John Bolton, Mike Pompeo and Elliott Abrams be fired so the United States can begin to behave like a normal nation?”
Trump, to be sure, is the heart of the problem as he has consistently made bad, overly belligerent decisions when better and less abrasive options were available, something that should not necessarily always be blamed on his poor choice of advisers. But one also should not discount the likelihood that the dysfunction in Trump is in part comprehensible, stemming from his belief that he has numerous powerful enemies who have been out do destroy him since before he was nominated as the GOP’s presidential candidate. This hatred of all things Trump has been manifested in the neoconservative “Nevertrump” forces led by Bill Kristol and by the “Trump Derangement Syndrome” prominent on the political left, regularly exhibited by Rachel Maddow.........https://www.lewrockwell.com/2019/04/phil-giraldi/the-conspiracy-against-trump/
if you still believe the crap your tv and schools tell you about the empire being a nation of laws i suggest you read this for an update;
Sunday’s Washington Post carried an article about the suicide of former Peruvian President Alan García, who Peruvian officials had charged with official corruption while he was in office. The article posited the possibility that García committed suicide because under Peru’s judicial system, he would have faced up to three years in pretrial detention without actually being indicted, which the Post said was “a term unthinkable in many democracies, even for suspects facing overwhelming evidence of the most heinous crimes.”
What the Post did not point out is that indefinite detention without a trial is not unthinkable in the United States. Instead, thanks to the Pentagon and the CIA, indefinite detention has now become a core feature of America’s criminal-justice system. As the Post implies, it is also a hallmark of tyranny.
Among the potential acts of tyranny with which our American ancestors were most concerned was the power of the federal government to keep people in jail indefinitely without a trial. That was why the Constitution, which called into existence a government of limited powers, did not delegate such a power to federal officials. It’s also why the American people enacted the Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments, which expressly guaranty the rights of trial by jury, a speedy and public trial, bail, and protection from cruel and unusual punishments.
The Pentagon and the CIA destroyed those rights with the establishment of their prison, torture program, and “judicial” center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Today, there are people at Gitmo who have been languishing for more than a decade, denied the benefits of trial by jury, a speedy and public trial, and bail........https://www.fff.org/2019/04/23/gitmo-destroyed-our-constitutional-order/
Sunday’s Washington Post carried an article about the suicide of former Peruvian President Alan García, who Peruvian officials had charged with official corruption while he was in office. The article posited the possibility that García committed suicide because under Peru’s judicial system, he would have faced up to three years in pretrial detention without actually being indicted, which the Post said was “a term unthinkable in many democracies, even for suspects facing overwhelming evidence of the most heinous crimes.”
What the Post did not point out is that indefinite detention without a trial is not unthinkable in the United States. Instead, thanks to the Pentagon and the CIA, indefinite detention has now become a core feature of America’s criminal-justice system. As the Post implies, it is also a hallmark of tyranny.
Among the potential acts of tyranny with which our American ancestors were most concerned was the power of the federal government to keep people in jail indefinitely without a trial. That was why the Constitution, which called into existence a government of limited powers, did not delegate such a power to federal officials. It’s also why the American people enacted the Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments, which expressly guaranty the rights of trial by jury, a speedy and public trial, bail, and protection from cruel and unusual punishments.
The Pentagon and the CIA destroyed those rights with the establishment of their prison, torture program, and “judicial” center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Today, there are people at Gitmo who have been languishing for more than a decade, denied the benefits of trial by jury, a speedy and public trial, and bail........https://www.fff.org/2019/04/23/gitmo-destroyed-our-constitutional-order/
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