H.R. 347: Another Step in the Elimination ofthe First Amendment

Kurt NimmoInfowars.comMarch 5, 2012

It is fairly obvious Obama andCongress rushed through H.R. 347in order to curtail demonstrationsthat will undoubtedly occur duringboth Democrat and Republicanconventions this summer. Alsoknown as the “Federal RestrictedBuildings and GroundsImprovement Act of 2011,” the billmakes it a felony to disrupt orprotest at any place or eventattended by any person with secretservice protection.

“Current law makes it illegal toenter or remain in an area where certain government officials (more particularly, those with SecretService protection) will be visiting temporarily if and only if the person knows it’s illegal to enterthe restricted area but does so anyway,” Michigan Rep. Justin Amash wrote on his Facebookpage. “[H.R. 347] expands current law to make it a crime to enter or remain in an area where anofficial is visiting even if the person does not know it’s illegal to be in that area and has no reasonto suspect it’s illegal.”

Amash, Paul Broun, a Georgia Republican, and Ron Paul were the lone dissenting voices opposedto this bill, which is being calledthe “First Amendment RightsEradication Act” designedspecifically to counter the Occupymovement and other politicalgroups opposed to the banksterregime in control of the Congressand the presidency. Democratshave characterized opposition tothe bill as “a whole lot of kerfuffleover nothing.”

Gene Howington, a guest bloggeron law professor Jonathan Turley’sblog, contends that the

government deliberately made thelanguage of H.R. 347 vague andoverly broad. Howington writes that“it seems to be a trend that vague oroverly broad language could be fairlydescribed as being purposefullyadopted allowing ‘wiggle room’ forFederal authorities to potentiallyabuse civil and human rights underthe color of authority.”

While the recently enacted and alsovaguely worded NDAA “poses athreat to your 4th, 5th and 6thAmendment rights, the newest attack of vague language is aimed at your 1st Amendment rights ofFreedom of Speech, Freedom of Assembly and Freedom to Petition,” Howington notes. “Ascurrently worded, it might as well have been called the ‘Federal We’re Too Important To BeAnnoyed By Your Protest Act of 2011' or (as described by Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), one of thefew Representatives to vote against the bill) the ‘First Amendment Rights Eradication Act’because it effectively outlaws protests near people who are ‘authorized’ to be protected by theSecret Service.”

In 1998, Bill Clinton signed Presidential Decision Directive 62 establishing the National SpecialSecurity Events, or NSSE, a directive making the Secret Service responsible for security atdesignated events, including presidential nominating conventions. Other events under NSEEinclude summits of world leaders, meetings of international organizations, and presidentialinaugurations. In other words, with the passage of this bill, it will now be a felony to protest theG20 and globalist “trade” summits and other neoliberal confabs where international banksters andtheir minions plot our future behind closed doors.

Such a draconian restriction of theFirst Amendment is another step in aneffort to outlaw all protest against thegovernment, especially at eventswhere the controllers discuss andfinalize their plans to implementworld government and a centralizedglobal banking system. The globalelite have repeatedly demonstratedtheir animosity toward theConstitution and the Bill of Rights.Taking down the First Amendment –

in addition to the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and most importantly the Second – under the bogus andcontrived aegis of a manufactured war on terror amply reveals what they have a mind: a gulagpanopticon where resistance is not only futile, but illegal, and where the slaves are disarmed andpowerless to effectuate change.

Targeting Free Expression

Stephen LendmanInfowars.comMarch 5, 2012

Free expression in all forms isfundamental in democratic societies.Without it, all other freedoms are at risk.

Included are free speech, a free press,freedom of thought, culture, andintellectual inquiry. It also includes theright to challenge government authoritypeacefully, especially in times of war andcases of injustice, lawlessness, officialincompetence, and abusive governmentbehavior.

Denying it risks tyranny. Voltairedefended it, saying “I may disapprove ofwhat you say, but I will defend to thedeath your right to say it.”

Howard Zinn called dissent “the highest form of patriotism.” It includes the right to speak andwrite freely, assemble, protest publicly, and associate with anyone for any reason lawfully.

Democracy depends on it. Bill of Rights freedoms affirm it. Nonetheless, US history is strewnwith abusive laws. The 1798 Sedition Act criminalized publishing “false, scandalous and maliciouswriting” against President John Adams or Congress, but allowed it against Vice President ThomasJefferson.

The 1917 Espionage Act imprisoned anyone convicted of “insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or(encouraging) refusal of duty in the military or naval forces of the United States.”

It targeted First Amendment speech againstWW I and American’s participation in it. The1918 Sedition Act went further. Itcriminalized “disloyal, scurrilous (or) abusive”anti-government speech.

The Supreme Court upheld the EspionageAct, notably in (Eugene) Debs v. UnitedStates. A five-time socialist presidentialcandidate, he served prison time for opposing

militarism and America’s WW I entry.

In 1968, the Warren Court disallowed draft card burning ongrounds it would disrupt the “smooth and efficientfunctioning” of American recruitment.

However, in 1969, the Court upheld student rights to wearblack arm bands, protesting the Vietnam War. In Brandenburgv. Ohio (1969), it ruled government can’t punish inflammatoryspeech unless directed to incite lawless action.

In Texas v. Johnson (a 1989 flag burning case), JusticeWilliam Brennan wrote the majority opinion, saying:

“(I)f there is a bedrock principle underlying the FirstAmendment, it is that government may not prohibit theexpression of an idea simply because society finds the idea offensive or disagreeable.”

America has no Brennans today. As a result, speech and all other liberties are threatened. Undereither major party, the nation’s hurtling toward tyranny.

Forgotten is Jefferson’s warning, saying:

“What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to timethat their people preserve the spirit of resistance.” He also said free speech “cannot belimited without being lost.”

Former US Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall added:

“Above all else, the First Amendment means that government has no power to restrictexpression (regardless of its) ideas…subject matter (or) content….Our people areguaranteed the right to express any thought, free from government censorship.”

Suppressing Free Expression

Major media scoundrels are thought control gatekeepers. Insteadof reporting vital information accurately, they suppress it. Thefree interchange of speech, ideas, and opinions suffers. Publicopinion’s manipulated to support what people should oppose,denounce, and refuse to accept.

Police state laws pass largely below the radar. They erode anddestroy fundamental freedoms. The USA Patriot Act alonewrecked key constitutional protections, including:

•Fifth and Fourteen Amendment due process rights;

•First Amendment freedom of association rights;

•Fourth Amendment protections from unreasonable searches and

seizures;

•prohibitions against unchecked governmentsurveillance powers to monitor virtually all ouractivities, and use secret “evidence” unavailable tocounsel in prosecuting politically targeteddefendants. In addition, the Act created the federalcrime of “domestic terrorism.” It applies to UScitizens and aliens. It states criminal law violationsare considered domestic terrorist acts if they aimto “influence (government policy) by intimidationor coercion (or) intimidate or coerce a civilianpopulation.” By this definition, anti-war and globaljustice demonstrations, environmental and animalrights activism, civil disobedience, and dissent ofany kind may be called “domestic terrorism.” As aresult, Occupy Wall Street and other protesters may be arrested and so charged. HR 347 increasesthe likelihood. The Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011:

“Amends the federal criminal code to revise the prohibition against entering restrictedfederal buildings or grounds to impose criminal penalties on anyone who knowingly entersany restricted building or grounds without lawful authority.”

“Defines ‘restricted buildings or grounds’ as a posted, cordoned off, or otherwiserestricted area of: (1) the White House or its grounds or the Vice President’s officialresidence or its grounds, (2) a building or grounds where the President or other personprotected by the Secret Service is or will be temporarily visiting, or (3) a building orgrounds so restricted due to a special event of national significance.”

On February 6, a Senate amendment titled, “Federal Restricted Buildings and GroundsImprovement Act of 2011¢ passed unanimously withno dissent.

On February 28, the House suspended the rules andpassed HR 347 388 – 3. The bill awaits Obama’ssignature.

Only the fullness of time will determine how muchdamage is done, but clear red flags are raised.

On February 29, Russia Today reported how FirstAmendment rights are risked, saying:

“Just when you thought the governmentcouldn’t ruin the First Amendment anyfurther,” this measure threatens legitimateprotests near locations where US officialsare present, even with no knowledgethey’re there. Participants may becriminally prosecuted for exercising theirFirst Amendment rights.

Section (c) states:

“the term restricted buildings or groundsmeans any posted, cordoned off, orotherwise restricted area -

(A) of the White House or its grounds, or the Vice President’s official residence or its grounds;

(B) of a building or grounds where the President or other person protected by the Secret Serviceis or will be temporarily visiting; or

(C) of a building or grounds so restricted in conjunction with an event designated as a specialevent of national significance; and

(2) the term ‘other person protected by the Secret Service’ means any person whom the UnitedStates Secret Service is authorized to protect under section 3056 of this title when such personhas not declined such protection.’ ” In fact, they may be covered wherever they are any time forany purpose. Virtually any event may be designated “significant.” Among others, they includecongressional sessions, party conventions, G8, G20, IMF, World Bank, and NATOmeetings/summits, public appearances for any reason, funerals of prominent officials, locationswith visiting foreign dignitaries or despots, and other events unrelated to government business.Vague language leaves it up for grabs how authorities will use this measure, and how courts willinterpret it if challenged. OWS protesters target government, corporate, and related locations forredress. Many hundreds already have been harassed, violently attacked, arrested and detained.Expect worse if they’re criminalized for exercising their First Amendment rights. As a result, theymay be subject to arrest, prosecution, imprisonment up to 10 years, and/or fines. Whether it turnsout this way isn’t clear. However, numerous police state laws currently target First Amendmentand other freedoms. Activists are wrongfully imprisoned on bogus domestic terrorism charges.

A Final Comment

Will sweeping anti-OWS crackdowns follow under HR 347 and other measures entirelydestroying inviolable constitutional rights cast aside to enforce tyranny? Only the fullness of timewill tell, but don’t bet against it. Remember Jefferson’s warning that “All tyranny needs to gain afoothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.” In today’s climate of permanent war,corporate predation, and state-sponsored fear, if ordinary people don’t defend their rights, whowill?

Government Is Not Civilization, It IsSlavery JGVibes Strike the RootMarch 5, 2012

One of the most pervasivemisconceptions in our cultureis the idea that “government”has anything to do with thestructure or organization thatwe see in our society. This isone of the primary reasonswhy people have such adifficult time considering thevery real possibility of a worldwithout the organizationknown as “government.”When someone suggests thatwe simply do away with this unjust and unnecessary organization, they are typically met withsome very negative knee-jerk reactions from whoever they may be talking to. This kind ofconversation typically ends very quickly because both sides have completely different ideas ofwhat the word “government” actually means, making it very difficult to find common ground.

If we attempt to examine government from an outsider’s perspective, we would see a worldwhere people are grouped into two different categories, those in government and those not. Atface value, we can see that these two groups of people have completely different standards andexpectations, even though they are the same species and have the same basic needs. Lookingcloser, we can see that these different standards and laws are not neutral, they are very muchbenefiting those in government at the expense of those who are not. The most important

discrepancy to mention here is the fact that those ingovernment have a license to kill anyone whohappens to disobey them.

Pointing out this fact is vital in understanding the truerelationship between those inside of government andthose outside of government, and that is therelationship between slave and master. If someonehas the right to initiate the use of force on you if youdisobey them, you are essentially their property. Ifyou don’t believe me, go on over to Google and typein “slave definition,” and the first definition you willfind is the following: “A person who is the legal

property of another and is forced to obeythem.” Now, doesn’t that sound a wholelot like therelationship between peopleinside government and people outsidegovernment? If you can force people to dothings against their will, then you aretreating them as if they were yourproperty.

However, if you ask any random personon the street to define “government” foryou, they would probably give you thestory that they were taught in governmentschool. You know, the one about how government is the backbone of civilization, and the meansby which people in the community come together for mutually beneficial projects. Well this maysound good, but it isn’t at all true, because the government is comprised by a miniscule fraction ofthe population, and they would not be able to provide anything at all if it wasn’t for the resourcesthat they forcibly extracted from the rest of society. Therefore, it is safe to say that all functionsthat are currently being carried out by the organization known as “government” could actually bebetter served by individuals in the community working together for common goals. Voluntarytrade, charity and other peaceful methods of interacting would create a far better society than theone that we see today, which is filled with violence and forced associations.

It is not a new thing for people to confuse government with culture and have the misconceptionthat without a central planning structure, everything that makes a society great would vanish. Thisfact was recognized by some of the more radical “founding fathers” of America, includingThomas Paine. In his most famous literary effort “Common Sense,” there is a section called “Ofthe Origin and Design of Government in General, with Concise Remarks on the EnglishConstitution.” In this piece, Paine discusses the difference between government and society.

Paine writes, “Some writers have so confounded societywith government, as to leave little or no distinction betweenthem; whereas they are not only different, but have differentorigins. Society is produced by our wants, and governmentby our wickedness; the former promotes our happinesspositively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively byrestraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, theother creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last apunisher. Society in every state is a blessing, butGovernment, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; inits worst state an intolerable one: for when we suffer, or areexposed to the same miseries by a government, which wemight expect in a country without a government, our

calamity isheightened by reflecting that we furnish the means bywhich we suffer.” His statement is as true today as itwas during the first American Revolution. Culture,society and security are absolutely capable of continuingin the absence of a central control system.

The most common argument against having anorganized civilization without government is the notionthat we are all somehow stupid, worthless savages whowould not be able to figure out how to build a damnroad if there wasn’t someone with a gun in our faceevery step of the way, telling us how, when and whereto do it. But if people are stupid savages, and politiciansare people, then isn’t the government made up of a bunch of stupid savages who can’t be trustedwith a license to kill? Aren’t they just the same as us and even in many cases far worse than us?

There is nothing that the government can do that you and a large group of likeminded peoplecan’t do better. The government doesn’t provide services, they simply take money from everyone(except their buddies, of course!) and use a very small portion of that money to pay people in thecommunity to do things for their neighbors that they probably would have done anyway in thenatural course of human interaction. Looked at in these terms, it becomes apparent that thegovernment is nothing more than a violent middleman, who forces his way into nearly everyinteraction that takes place between each of its so-called “citizens.”

Everything that the government does is an attack on people who don’t belong to thatorganization. If you think about it, every single action that the government takes is some kind ofpunitive measure taken against people who don’t belong to that organization. Even when thegovernment claims to be doing something nice, they are doing so with resources that they

obtained by using threats and violence, which reallydoesn’t make much of a case for the virtuousness ofgovernment.

This organization is not here to protect our rights as itclaims to. In fact, when the government steps in andgives itself the responsibility to “protect” your rights, itis simultaneously stripping you of your ability to actuallydefend your own rights. When you are dependent uponthe whims and capabilities of another human being toprotect your rights, you are literally handing your rightsover to them and essentially submitting to slavery.

Court approves warrantless searchesof cell phones Terry BaynesReutersMarch 5, 2012

U.S. police can search a cell phone for its numberwithout having a warrant, according to a federalappeals court ruling.

Officers in Indiana found a number of cell phones atthe scene of a drug bust, and searched each phone forits telephone number. Having the numbers allowedthe government to subpoena the owners' callhistories, linking them to the drug-selling scheme.

One of the suspects, Abel Flores-Lopez, who wasconvicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison, arguedon appeal that the police had no right to search the phone's contents without a warrant.

The U.S. Court of Appeal for the 7th Circuit rejected that argument on Wednesday, finding thatthe invasion of privacy was so slight that the police's actions did not violate the FourthAmendment's ban on unreasonable searches. The case gave the court an occasion to examine justhow far police can go when it comes to searching electronic gadgets.

"Lurking behind this issue is the question whether and when a laptop or desktop computer, tablet,or other type of computer (whether called a 'computer' or not) can be searched without awarrant," Judge Richard Posner wrote for the three-judge panel. He raised the example of theiCam, which allows someone to use a phone to connect to a home-computer web camera,enabling someone to search a house interior remotely. "At the touch of a button, a cell phonesearch becomes a house search," he wrote. Posner compared the cell phone to a diary. Just aspolice are entitled to open a pocket diary to copy an owner's address, they should be able to turnon a cell phone to learn its number, he wrote. But just as they're forbidden from examining loveletters tucked between the pages of an address book, so are they forbidden from exploring lettersin the files of a phone. Prosecutors argued that in an age when people can wipe their cell phonesclean remotely, officers are under pressure to obtain data before it is destroyed. The courtacknowledged that the actual risk that one of the suspects would have been able to destroy thephone's contents was minimal in this case. But so was the invasion of privacy, limited to telephonenumbers. The court left the question of just how far police can go in searching a phone's contentsfor another day. A lawyer for Flores-Lopez was not immediately available for comment.(Reporting By Terry Baynes)

USA #1? 40 Embarrassing Things ThatAmerica Is The Best In The World At

The American DreamMonday, March 5, 2012

Is the USA still #1? Well, there are many things thatAmerica is still the best in the world at, butunfortunately a lot of those categories are nothing to beproud of. Once upon a time the United States was thegreatest nation on earth, but now we are a nation that isin a horrific state of decline.

Just consider a few of the embarrassing things thatAmerica leads the world in: obesity, crime, divorce,teen pregnancy, child abuse deaths and governmentdebt. The statistics that you are about to read below areincredibly disturbing. Most people that write thesekinds of articles about the decline of America hate thiscountry. But that is not the case with me. I was bornand raised in America and I love this nation deeply. It istime to realize that we will never be able to start fixingour problems until we take a really good look in themirror and realize just how far we have fallen. Americais not the country that it once was. America is acomplete and total mess and just “tweaking” a few things here and there is not going to return thisnation to its former glory. We have forgotten the things that once made us great, and if we do notreturn to them we will continue to fall apart as a nation.

With that being said, the following are 40 embarrassing things that America is the best in theworld at….

#1 America has the highest incarceration rate and the largest total prison population in theentire world by a good margin.

#2 There are more car thefts in the United States than anywhere else in the world by far.

#3 Of all the major industrialized nations, America is the most obese. Mexico is #2.

#4 The average American drinks more than 600 sodas a year – the most in the world.

#5 U.S. corporations sell more fast food and more soda than anyone else in the world by a widemargin.

#6 Nobody watches more television per week (28 hours) than Americans do. Although to behonest, people living in the UK are tied with us.

#7 The United States leads the world in credit card fraud.

#8 The United States has the highest percentage of one person households on the entire planet.

#9 The United States has the highest divorce rate in the world by a good margin.

#10 The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the world by far.

#11 There are more school shootings in America than anywhere else in the world.

#12 The United States has the highest child abuse death rate in the world.

#13 There are more “deaths by reptile” in America than anywhere else in the world.

#14 The United States has the most lawyers per capita in the entire world.

#15 The United States produces more pornography than any other nation in the world.

#16 Americans take more prescription drugs than anyone else in the world.

#17 More is spent on prescription drug advertising in America than anywhere else in the world.

#18 The percentage of women taking antidepressants in America is higher than in any othercountry in the world.

#19 More people have been diagnosed with mental disorders in America than anywhere else onearth.

#20 The United States has the highest rate of illegal drug use on the entire globe.

#21 There is more credit card debt in America than anywhere else in the world.

#22 There is more mortgage debt in America than anywhere else in the world.

#23 There is more student loan debt in America than anywhere else in the world.

#24 The United States spends more money on government schools than any other nation onearth does.

#25 U.S. citizens spend more time in school than anyone else in the world. So why are so many ofus dumb as a rock?

#26 Nobody in the world gets more plastic surgery done than Americans do.

#27 The United States leads the world in eating disorder deaths.

#28 According to nationmaster.com, the United States has the most total reported crimes in theworld by far.

#29 Nobody has more airport security thugs groping women and children than America does.

#30 The United States spends much more on health care as a percentage of GDP than any othernation on the face of the earth.

#31 The United States has the most complicated tax system on the entire planet.

#32 The United States has the most laws on the entire planet.

#33 The United States spends more on the military than the next 12 nations combined, and yetthe Obama administration is considering plans to unilaterally slash the size of the U.S. nucleararsenal by up to 80 percent.

#34 The United States has the most foreign military bases in the world by far.

#35 The United States exports more arms to other countries than anyone else in the world.

#36 Americans spend more time sitting in traffic than anyone else in the world.

#37 Americans spend more money on elections than anyone else does in the world by a very widemargin.

#38 Every single year, the United States has the largest trade deficit in the world by far.

#39 The U.S. government wastes more money than any other government on earth does.

#40 The United States has accumulated the biggest mountain of government debt in the historyof the world.

So is the USA #1?

Unfortunately, the answer way too often is yes.

The goal of this list of embarrassing things is not to trash America.

Rather, the goal is to wake Americans up and to get them to realize what has happened to us.

We should be deeply humbled and embarrassed as a nation. We were once the best in the worldand the envy of the entire globe, but now the whole world is laughing at us.

America is supposed to be a beacon of liberty, freedom and prosperity for the entire planet.

Instead, we are rapidly turning into a horror show.

Wake up America. The condition of our country is absolutely shameful, and every single day itgets even worse.

Please share this list with as many people as you can. The American people need a massive wakeup call, and it is up to those of us that are awake to share the truth while we still can.