Sharon Secor: Practicing Resistance and Raising Revolutionaries.

Today's CPS E-mail Exchange

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 02:08:00 +0000

And, so starts my week.

I sent an e-mail to Anthony Ramos:

Allegations

From: Sharon Secor
To: ANTHONY.RAMOS@dfps.state.tx.us
Cc: JAMES.BJORUM@dfps.state.tx.us LETICIA.GARCIA@dfps.state.tx.us CONSUELO.HERNANDEZ@dfps.state.tx.us legalg@hslda.org

Date:Mon, Jun 13, 2011 10:03 am

Good Morning Sir:

I am respectfully requesting that you e-mail me a copy of your allegations. I thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Sharon Secor, Freelance Writer

His supervisor, Leticia Garcia responded:

RE: Allegations

From: LETICIA.GARCIA@dfps.state.tx.us

To: sherrithewriter@aol.com

Date:Mon, Jun 13, 2011 5:27 pm

Ms. Secor, Mr. Ramos is out today. This serves as a response to your request. I am unable to provide you with the written allegations either by e-mail or regular mail. The investigator, Mr. Ramos will need to meet with you personally to provide you with this information. Please let him or I know as soon as possible when you can meet with him to discuss the reported allegations. Your cooperation is truly appreciated.

Letty Garcia
Unit QO Supervisor
Region 10-Marfa
432-729-3131

My response to her, which I also forwarded to their legal department:

Re: Allegations

From: Sharon Secor

To: LETICIA.GARCIA@dfps.state.tx.us

Cc: CONSUELO.HERNANDEZ@dfps.state.tx.us ANTHONY.RAMOS@dfps.state.tx.us JAMES.BJORUM@dfps.state.tx. legalg@hslda.org

Date: Mon, Jun 13, 2011 8:40 pm

Ms. Garcia:

Let us not be disingenuous here. You and I both know that under Texas law, it is my right to have a copy of your allegations. A right stands on its own. It is not a privilege to be denied.

In addition, a right is not a bargaining chip. I have a right to a copy of those allegations, meeting or not. Those are two separate issues.

Perhaps you are not responding with a lack of candor. Perhaps your response stems from a lack of knowledge, rather than a deliberate effort to deny me my rights under Texas law.

Because I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt on this point, I've done you the favor of forwarding our conversation on the matter to your legal department so that they may enlighten you on the subject.

I shall look forward to seeing your spurious allegations against me.

Sharon Secor, Freelance Writer

Friends and Readers, Readers and Friends... Please feel free to use the above contact information to remind these people that they are bound by law to respect the rights of my family and myself. It has been my experience that these sorts of people are more inclined to do so when they know that others are watching.

Why TSA, Wars, State Defined Diets, Seat-Belt Laws, the War On Drugs, Police Brutality, and Efforts to Control the Internet, Are Essential to the State

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 18:24:00 +0000

Butler Shaffer has written yet another excellent column. Well worth taking the time to read.

Here's an excerpt (bold added by me):

"The title of this article encompasses topics that arouse attention and criticism among persons of libertarian persuasion. The discussion of such matters usually treats each issue as though it were sui generis, independent of one another. Most of us respond as though the woman who is groped at the airport has no connection with the man who is tasered by a police officer; that the person serving time in prison for selling marijuana is unrelated to the men being held at Guantanamo. The belief that one person’s maltreatment is isolated from the rest of us, is essential to the maintenance of state power.

What we have in common is the need to protect one another’s inviolability from governmental force. When we understand that the woman being groped by a TSA agent stands in the same shoes as our wife, mother, or grandmother; when the man being beaten by a sadist cop is seen, by us, as our father or grandfather, we become less willing to evade the nature of the wrongdoing..."

Thanks for another thoughtful piece, sir.

Civil Disobedience: The Right of Revolution

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 20:25:00 +0000

Barbara H. Peterson wrote:

"Henry David Thoreau’s essay “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience” written in 1849 is as relevant to the times now as it was then. We have a right to stand up and question any institution or individual that claims authority over us, just as he did then. In fact, it is our duty as citizens to do so. Thoreau decided that he could not be associated with the government of his day without disgrace. How about our government today? Can we associate with it without disgrace?"

Read the rest here.

Sigh... Ramos and the CPS crew AGAIN

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 19:12:00 +0000

I cannot tell you how sick I am of having to deal with this type of harassment. In what has apparently become an annual event for whatever reason, I am having to defend the fundamental rights -- rights, not privleges -- of myself and my family, as well as aid each of my children in the assertion and protection of the rights they were born with. That's right, CPS for the third time in as many years.

Here is an excerpt from my recent letter to Governor Perry. It explains the situation, a bit of background (which can also be found by scrolling through the blog for anyone interested), and my position on the matter:

"My family has had to contact your office regarding Brewster County DFPS caseworker Anthony Ramos twice before and due to his continued harassment of my family, today I am forced to contact you again, requesting any assistance you may be able to provide in aiding me to protect my children from this man. As I have discussed with your office before, Ramos has had numerous complaints against him for multiple instances of abuse of power and intimidation.

Last year, I successfully resisted his unconstitutional demand that I present my children for inspection with the help of your office and other concerned parties. During that incident, you requested that Anne Heiligenstein, Commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, look into the matter. On Friday June 3, 2011, Anthony Ramos contacted me again, demanding a meeting, claiming a report was made. However, last year he contacted my brother, David Secor, stating the same thing, despite the fact that his partner, Azucena Carrasco, said specifically there was no new report or complaint, but that they were hoping to wrap up loose ends in the prior year’s investigation, which was unfounded and closed 4/17/2009.

Please note that in 2009, I was investigated and cleared (Ramos signed the 2009 letter himself, I have it still in its original envelope) in absentia, the fact that I wasn’t even a resident of Brewster County at the time adding a truly surreal element to the situation. I have never seen this man face to face and until our telephone conversation of June 3, 2011, I have never even spoken to him before. This is a very small community and everyone, including our local deputies, knows that I do not neglect or abuse my children. However, due to Ramos’s past and continuing behavior, I cannot trust this man to behave in a professional, fair manner.

Furthermore, as a full-time writer, I am particularly invested in the concept that words mean things. The Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution and Section 9 of the Texas Bill of Rights state unequivocally that “no warrant to search any place, or to seize any person or thing, shall issue without describing them as near as may be, nor without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation.”

The Texas Bill of Rights offers further protection, stating in Section 29 that “PROVISIONS OF BILL OF RIGHTS EXCEPTED FROM POWERS OF GOVERNMENT; TO FOREVER REMAIN INVIOLATE. To guard against transgressions of the high powers herein delegated, we declare that everything in this "Bill of Rights" is excepted out of the general powers of government, and shall forever remain inviolate, and all laws contrary thereto, or to the following provisions, shall be void.”

The highest courts in the nation have affirmed that the protections of the Fourth Amendment do extend to child abuse investigations, with one notable case being Calabretta vs. Floyd, which also addresses intimidation and coercion techniques as being forbidden and unconstitutional. It has also been established judicially that each of my children has her own Fourth Amendment protections. And, it is very clear what the Fourth demands prior to searching any place or seizing any person (including for involuntary questioning or ‘interviews’) – a warrant based upon probable cause and supported by oath or affirmation.

Ramos is not excepted from this demand and the abridgement of that protection is forbidden in the state of Texas by the simple, direct words of Section 29 of the Texas Bill of Rights. To my mind, the issue here is a simple one – do the federal and state constitutions mean what they say or not? As the highest laws of the land, I believe that they do. And, I hope that you do too."

So, basically here we go again. I am rapidly collecting information and extend my deep gratitude to those who have already been so helpful to me in that arena. As I contemplate my various options, I welcome input in developing my strategy for managing this situation. I shall look forward to hearing from those who choose to share their experience, expertise, ideas, and suggestions.

Contempt of State

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:26:00 +0000

Contempt of State – An Indispensable Virtue by Karen Kwiatkowski

A good read, featured on the always informative LewRockwell.com.

Where Best To Be Poor

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 21:40:00 +0000

Walter Williams wrote this recently, on a topic my brother and I often discuss. He's traveled to places where he's seen real poverty. Me, I read a lot. I study culture, places where right now people live on less than $2 a day, where mothers watch their children starve to death in their arms or die from illnesses that medications costing pennies could cure. I read history, women's diaries from the wagon trails of early American westward expansion, the stories of people during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, when people starved to death. I collect old cookbooks and read about what people cooked and ate one, two, three and more centuries ago, read the worries and efforts that go into food preservation and making it through the winter.

What people call poor here... sometimes we just shake our heads in absolute amazement at how Americans define poor. We were also discussing prepping the other day. A lot of people don't because they cannot imagine not being able to hit the grocery store or Walmart and find whatever they need there on the shelves. Just in time delivery, however, is a fragile system to rely on in our uncertain times. There's so much that can disrupt it -- a collapse in short term credit (during which deliveries have to be paid for in cash, instead of put on account), a fuel shortage, etc. and so on.

I've been prowling books from the late 1800's and early 1900's lately. Some fascinating reading, particularly concerning the aims of the compulsory education movement. Eugenicists of the day were quite pleased with its potentials. And, looking around today, I see exactly why.

Listened to some Ron Paul this afternoon. Campaign for Liberty is being targeted by the federal government, because I guess it is now illegal in some way to, during an election year, tell the public how politicians vote on issues and discuss politicians positions on the myriad of issues we face today.

More talk of a civilian force from Obama, supposedly to relieve the burden of the military in our illegal foreign occupations.

No wonder history calls me so strongly lately. The present seems... very ugly indeed.

American standards of living, 1918-1988

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 02:52:00 +0000

American standards of living, 1918-1988 - Google Libros

I love Google Books! I'm on a total history binge lately.

Our Shattered Social Contract – Children And The First Duty Of The Captured

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Tue, 11 May 2010 17:55:00 +0000

Originally Published at FreedomsPhoenix.com

“And hence it is, that he who attempts to get another man into his absolute power, does thereby put himself into a state of war with him.” – John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, Chapter 3, Section 17

“If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and to aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.” -- Paragraph III Army Code of Conduct

The consent of the governed to be governed relies upon the government upholding its end of the social contract, primarily signaled by respect for the rule of law. The Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution offer a clear, detailed set of terms and conditions for this nation being formed and for the continued consent of the governed. Once a government violates those terms and conditions, via the making of laws contrary to the liberty enshrined in those founding documents and the allowing of its agencies to disregard the rights and protections listed in those documents, the social contract is shattered.

When the social contract is shattered in this way, the government using its power to constrain and diminish liberty, rather than to protect and nourish it, or as John Locke explained in his Second Treatise of Government, “whenever the legislators endeavour to take away, and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any farther obedience, and are left to the common refuge, which God hath provided for all men, against force and violence.”

“Whensoever therefore the legislative shall transgress this fundamental rule of society,” continued Locke, “and either by ambition, fear, folly or corruption, endeavour to grasp themselves, or put into the hands of any other, an absolute power over the lives, liberties, and estates of the people; by this breach of trust they forfeit the power the people had put into their hands for quite contrary ends, and it devolves to the people, who have a right to resume their original liberty.” And, because at this point, the balance of power tips heavily to the side of the government, the people are well within their natural rights to utilize alternative means and theories of conflict resolution.

What greater breach of trust is there than the seizing of a family’s children by a rogue agency acting outside of the rule of law as defined by the founding documents of this nation? What greater betrayal of liberty is there than an agency, funded by tax dollars coerced from the people by threat of incarceration and violence, allowed to harass families and take away their children, all without ever convicting the parents of those children with a crime? It is an affront to freedom and civilization of the highest degree, and families should conduct themselves as such.

Children should be educated about their rights and responsibilities as free individuals. They need to be given the tools and knowledge they need to safely carry out their first duties, if captured within the system of a rogue agency, which are to resist and to escape. That means you must invest your time into raising children that are smart and responsible, with the practical skills they need to act safely outside of your supervision. In discussing plans and options with your children, you must, in the interest of safety, make an accurate assessment of their abilities and their maturity levels.

First, they should have absolute confidence that you will -- no matter what, no matter how long it takes, and by any means necessary – retrieve them. That way, you reduce their anxiety and fear, and help them be able to more in control of their actions, which will enhance their abilities to resist and escape. Discuss in age appropriate terms, taking care not to suggest methods and means that are not safe for an individual child’s maturity and skill level.

Pharmaceutical or chemical restraint is rampant within the CPS system, well documented and receiving attention throughout the nation. Teach them to smartly resist attempts to medicate by palming or cheeking pills and disposing of them without swallowing them. If physically forced to ingest, teach them how to make themselves vomit it up. They need to keep their minds clear and sharp.

Resisting is important, but it must be done smartly. For example, going to public school will offer greater contact and escape opportunities. Therefore, a child should make sure to comply enough to be able to attend school. Then, via the school library’s computer or those used in computer class, an e-mail or instant message can be sent to family and trusted family friends with specific information on location. Many schools have payphones and an observant child may be able to take advantage of an unattended desk phone to call home. Caller ID is cheap, and even if the child can only let the phone ring a few times to ensure the number shows up on the Caller ID, the parent can reverse look-up the number and get a location.

In addition to basic computer and telephone skills, which include memorizing important telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, children should from the time they are conscious of travel, be encouraged to learn how to get around their region. Maps make great posters, helping them to visualize their location in relation to other places, as well as teaching them how to use maps to get from one place to another. When my son was 4 years old, he could recite the route from Disney, in Orlando, Florida, to our suburban upstate New York home. He could list the roads and turns for everyplace we regularly went, from the grocery store 45 minutes away to my sister’s house an hour away to our usual restaurants and such. He could tell us how to get home from almost anywhere we typically went.

Actively teaching your children to be street smart can go a long way towards keeping children safe. Say, for example, because you don’t have $30,000 to drop on a lawyer and you don’t win the public defender lottery and get a lawyer interested in helping you, you are forced to use an alternative approach to rescuing your child. An arrangement is made for the child to slip out of school and meet a family friend a short distance away. You want to know that your child can get out of the school successfully and get to the meeting place safely.

They should know how to walk and talk with confidence, even if they don’t feel it. They need to know, when out in the street, who to make eye contact with, who not to, and why. For example, it is better not to make eye contact with the obviously mentally ill homeless, because you cannot predict the outcome of interaction. In other situations, brief eye contact and a nod is better, as it demonstrates a lack of fear and doesn’t suggest you would be a good victim. They should know countless examples of how people will try to get them into cars (I lost my puppy, can you help? Your mother sent me to pick you up. Can you give me directions to…).

They should know about safe body space and safe distance, to stay out of arm reach of strangers. They should know to be always aware of their location and surroundings, how not to be herded by a predator into an alley or some enclosed area. They should have concrete, step-by-step strategies of what to do if they feel threatened or followed. Make noise, kick parked cars to set off car alarms, ring door bells, and if the situation is desperate (in some neighborhoods, people just don’t want to get involved and won’t help), break a window in a place where you see people, so that they call the police, get into a store or public place and ask for help or call somebody and stay inside until help arrives. And, they should know how to defend themselves, with specific moves and strategies. They shouldn’t be afraid to pick up anything to protect themselves with -- a broken bottle, a garbage can lid, anything at all -- and should understand that at their size and age, the strategy is to fight to get free and then run away.

Older children, those that have demonstrated their maturity and life skill mastery, may be able to be trusted to escape and then contact a family adult or trusted family friend. However, they must be able to make solid assessments of their situation. In some cases, a dangerous situation may arise, and they should be willing to abort the escape plan. Their physical safety has to take priority. However, for a kid armed with knowledge, there are many ways to handle a given situation, and it is possible to construct a plan that will achieve both ends, safety and escape.

For example, say a teen escapes from a foster or a group home, slipping out at night and finds a highway heading towards home and walks it, staying off the road, down in the bush. The teen stops at a rest area and a predator aggressively starts harassing and following, to a degree that the teen doesn’t feel safe to leave. A cop notices the teen loitering. Instead of taking off and chancing that the predator is going to get the teen when the teen is back on the road, it is better to tell a portion of the truth to the cop. But, do not give the cop a real name or birth date. The end result is that, after hanging around the police station for a while, the police will probably deliver the teen to an emergency children’s shelter, from which the teen can contact family via an unattended computer or telephone or escape again. Physical safety was secured and the escape is still in progress.

A sense of personal responsibility for their own liberty and confidence in their natural right to engage in responsible, thoughtful direct action to secure it are among the greatest gifts one can give a child. That confidence should be built on real knowledge and practical skills, not the empty, spell it like it sounds honey sort of false self-esteem and near blind obedience to authority found in the public school systems. An educated child understands his or her natural rights, the terms and conditions of the social contract, and his obligations to himself and his family.

Teaching Children To Resist Interrogation

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Mon, 10 May 2010 17:30:00 +0000

Originally Published At FreedomsPhoenix.com

Ah, ‘tis a fine state of affairs we find today in the land of the formerly free. Here, in a nation created through revolution, by revolt against what was then the most powerful empire in the world, we have agencies and organizations that routinely operate with a palpable contempt for the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, and the rule of law. We have a veritable army of government workers and parasitic industries whose salaries, benefits, retirement, and job security rely on intimidating, persecuting, and destroying families.

Under the auspices of “protecting” children – never mind that by the government’s own numbers, far more children are beaten, starved, raped, and killed in state care than in the general population – agencies under the child protective services umbrella seize children and threaten families, without even a criminal conviction of a crime. Organizations, like the DARE program, encourage children to snoop and turn in their parents for suspected wrong doing. In today’s socio-political climate, in the same way that a responsible parent teaches a child not to touch the stove, not to take candy from strangers, and the difference between ‘good touch’ and ‘bad touch’, the wise parent must also teach their children how to resist interrogation.

Laying a good foundation is the best way to start, and that foundation is truth, told in age appropriate terms. The fact is, policemen are not always our friends, so don’t teach them that they are. They should be taught from the very start about privacy, what is for public knowledge and what is to be kept within the family. Children should be taught a healthy caution of any outsider, and to be careful of what they say. And, in the same way that one is truthful in telling a child what the potential outcome could be of falling for the “Can you help me find my puppy?” line and getting into a car with a stranger, one must be truthful in explaining the potential results of speaking to government agents, such as police, CPS workers, etc.

Establish simple, easy to follow rules of engagement right from the start. That will help to make smart behavior habitual. My children have always been taught that, other than their mother’s name, address, and telephone number, or those of an uncle or aunt, they are not to speak to a police officer, CPS worker, or any other governmental agent about anything at all without an adult of our family present. To any question outside of the norm or any question regarding family matters, their answer is to politely tell the questioner that he will have to ask their mom about that.

Define family matters for your children, with specific examples, as well as interrogation methods. This is best accomplished via role playing and by offering specific explanations for why somebody would be asking that particular question, what type of information they are hoping to elicit. Demonstrate the difference between a family friend, for example, asking what the child had for dinner last night and a CPS worker asking the same question. A family friend is making conversation, the CPS worker is trying to find out whether or not there are grounds for a neglect charge.

That is why it is best to simply teach children not to speak to them at all without a family adult present. It is too much pressure on a child to have to try to determine whether a question is innocuous and safe to answer or whether answering that question could result in separation from their family. A mistake in judgment on the part of the child that results in innocent words being twisted and the family torn apart could result in guilt that could damage the psyche for years to come.

Detail interrogation methods. These are professional manipulators and children need the tools with which to resist. Again, tell the truth, in age appropriate terms and be direct. Explain the specific lies they will tell the children. “If you just tell me about – fill in blank – you can go home.” During a recent refresher course on this matter, my 8-year-old chimed in with “and, they will pretend to be your friend.” Frequent discussions with increasingly in-depth explanations and examples are an essential part of enhancing your children’s success in resisting questioning and interrogation. Children old enough to read should be familiar with the Bill of Rights and how it applies to them.

In an absolutely bizarre situation that arose a few months ago (you can read about it here, if you like), my refresher courses took on a bit more urgency. Keeping things simple is best. As much as I would have liked my children to be cool and collected enough to state, if need be, “you are in direct violation of my Fourth Amendment protections,” my middle child expressed concern that if nervous she may not be able to remember to say that. So, we decided on a simple phrase that even my 3-year-old could say with gusto – “I have nothing to say to you.”

It is absolutely essential that children understand that you recognize that they are children facing down professionally trained adults, that you only expect them to do their best, and that if a mistake happens, you are not going to be upset with them at all. If something bad happens, they need to know that it is not their fault, but rather the fault of the agency itself and its illicit means and methods. Make sure you do not make your older children feel as though they have to be anxious or responsible for younger children’s answers. Such a situation is stressful enough, without adding undue psychological/emotional pressures.

Encourage their confidence in themselves with children’s literature featuring strong child characters standing up for what is right, even against adults and even when it is difficult and scary. And, always remind them, that no matter what happens, no matter what they are told, no matter how long it takes, if a family separation occurs, you will spare no effort, no expense in their rescue. They should have complete confidence that you will retrieve them by any means necessary. Teach them that you will never surrender, and neither should they.

Just Another Day In Foster-Incarceration Land – CPS Coercion and Murder, Another Life Stolen

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Sat, 08 May 2010 23:35:00 +0000

No matter where you stand on the issue of abortion, I think that we can all agree that when a person sees the ultrasound and names her little boy, what she carries within her is a baby. For her to be forced to choose between the loss of one child and the death of the other -- via a coerced, forced abortion -- is a human rights violation of the highest degree. Sadly, that is exactly what the American people’s collective submission to the illegitimate power of the State has wrought. According to recent news reports, it happened in Philadelphia.

“A Department of Human Services caseworker pressured a pregnant Mayfair teenager to undergo a late-term abortion by threatening to take away either her toddler or her unborn baby if she had the child, according to the teen's foster mother,” reported the Philadelphia Daily News on May 3, 2010. The late term abortion had to be done out of state, according to a World Net Daily report, because at 24 weeks, she was too far into the pregnancy to be legally aborted in Pennsylvania.

You know, in neo-natal intensive care units throughout the nation, you can find prematurely born babies of that age. A good number of those babies thrive and grow, leaving the hospital as healthy babies. I’ve seen it first hand, having spent a great deal of time in NICU’s with my own preemies. According to the news reports, that teen was excited about her new baby, wanted that child, and even chose a name.

Whether it is right or wrong for the teen to have another baby, that’s not for me to say. And it is not for the State to say. Nor is it for CPS to insist that she murder what was, to that teen, a baby under the threat of taking either the toddler she has or the baby away from her. Unfortunately, this vile act of cruelty and coercion is par for the course in the child protection services field. This rogue agency believes it is above the law, that they do not have to abide by the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, or any other law or statute that limits their behavior.

This agency needs to be dismantled. Abuse and neglect are crimes and should be handled by the police. CPS should not have the power of coercion and should only be allowed, funded, and mandated to provide genuine assistance and practical education in life skills to those in need. Of course, that would strip numerous power hungry, petty tyrants of their positions, salaries, and benefits. Offering true help and assistance may even, some day, make their jobs obsolete. And, that’s why the corrupt, vile practices of this agency will not end unless the people, the parents who value their family rights, take direct and persistent action against them on every front and in every way possible.

Let The Airlines Go Bankrupt- 93 Year Old Involved In Shake Down Over Applesauce By TSA

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 17:25:00 +0000

YouTube - 93 Year Old Involved In Shake Down Over Applesauce By TSA

Oh, how I hate these Nazi, Fascist bastards. Yet another reason I will never fly again. I hope these airlines all go bankrupt. I wish people would force it with their dollars, refusing to fly until the airlines either submit to having to treat people civilly and decently or completely fail, allowing the market to provide airlines that treat people properly. I pray for revolution, for revolt, for a civil uprising strong enough to wash this fascist filth from our nation.

Dead Dogs

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 20:54:00 +0000

Boston Review — Colin Dayan: Dead Dogs

Wow! A seriously deep article. Maybe it is just my reading of it, filtered through a bit of historical knowledge, such as the roots of the social service industry in the Progressive Era and the propensity of the State for murder on a grand scale, the indepth research I've done revealing zealous, patronizing, child protection professionals who so often mask their almost innate sense of superiority, their cruelty and contempt with pseudo-humanitarianism... A chilling article. Well done and worth the time to read it and think about it.

The People You’re Allowed to Hate

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 02:26:00 +0000

The American Conservative » The People You’re Allowed to Hate

Once again I find myself in a position that, I must admit, feels a bit awkward to me... That of agreeing with Pat Buchanan.

Alas, if real history were taught, then people would understand what the first Civil War was about. It was a power struggle between the states and the federal government. The United States of America. States came together voluntarily, and the war was about whether or not those states had the right to withdraw from this voluntarily entered union.

The war was not about slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation only 'freed' slaves in the south, not in the north. Lincoln himself didn't believe in the equality of blacks. His ideal soultion was to ship them back to where they came from. Furthermore, the other major nations didn't have to resort to war to end slavery in their countries and neither did the United States. The Abolition Movement was working, and the abomination of slavery would have ended without the war because right is right and wrong is wrong.

The supremacy of the federal government ushered in by Lincoln was a betrayal. The real issues of War of Northern Aggression, the war to prevent states from voluntarily withdrawing from a union they voluntarily joined, are rarely discussed. Everyone grows up with the propaganda and outright lies that describe the war as one to free the slaves and portray Lincoln as a saint that made huge sacrifices to free the slaves, and the south and those that fought against that unjust federal power grab continue to be villified.

Watching the federal government, bloated and fat on our tax dollars, continue to take as much power (and money) from the states and the people as possible, it certainly doesn't surprise me that they hope to keep the hatred of those that would deny their right to power burning hot. With the number of states taking steps to assert their states' rights and the number that are flirting more seriously with the notion of escaping the union and the federal government's ever more onerous demands, it doesn't surprise me at all.

Who Was Niccolò Machiavelli? by Murray N. Rothbard

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 16:31:00 +0000

Who Was Niccolò Machiavelli? by Murray N. Rothbard

A good Sunday morning read...

Marc Faber and Mish on Inflation, Deflation, Doom and the End of Civilization by Mac Slavo

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 07:34:00 +0000

Marc Faber and Mish on Inflation, Deflation, Doom and the End of Civilization by Mac Slavo

Some of my favorite economy watchers.

These People Want My Money For WHAT?!?!?

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 06:32:00 +0000

Washington Times - EDITORIAL: Obamacare's subsidy for the sexually depraved

Excerpts:

"Senate Democrats voted almost unanimously Wednesday night to ensure the right of rapists and child molesters to have guaranteed access to government-subsidized Viagra under the president's health care plan. Only Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana broke ranks with his Democratic colleagues."

"Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, put the Senate's majority party on the spot by offering an amendment denying convicted sex offenders coverage for erectile-dysfunction medications. Dr. Coburn's proposal would also have prohibited health care exchanges from offering any coverage of elective-abortion drugs like RU-486 at taxpayer expense."

"According to Senate Democrats, however, the drugs themselves were never the issue. Party leaders insisted subsidized Viagra would have to be provided to sex offenders because any changes to the reconciliation bill would have required the House to vote once again on health care legislation. Apparently, saving the House from an embarrassing vote was more important than protecting the public from chemically empowered predators."

Remember what you are paying for when you give the federal government your tax dollars.

I have two words... TAX REVOLT!

Is this a question we really have to ask?

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:43:00 +0000

IRS & Debt Collectors Enforce Tax Rules for Government Health Care

Will IRS Abuse American Rights to Enforce Health Care Reform Tax?

Published: Wed 24 Mar 2010

Wendy Blair

Excerpts:

"To enforce the bevy of new tax mandates stipulated in the Democrats' latest health care reform bill, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will experience the biggest expansion since tax withholding was first introduced during World War II, according to Representative Kevin Brady (R-TX)."

"A new prediction from the House Ways and Means Committee minority staff and the Joint Economic Committee approximates that as many as 16,500 new IRS staff members will be necessary to examine, collect, and audit additional tax information mandated on small businesses and households in the "reconciliation" bill that the House of Representatives will vote on this weekend, Brady says."

"When most people think of health care reform they think of more doctor's exams, not more IRS exams," explains Congressman Kevin Brady, the leading House Republican on the Joint Economic Committee. "Isn't the federal government already intruding enough into our lives? We need thousands of new doctors and nurses in America, not thousands more IRS agents."

Surprise, Surprise... (Not)

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 20:02:00 +0000

A little secret about Obama's transparency - latimes.com

"The Democratic administration of Barack Obama, who denounced his predecessor, George W. Bush, as the most secretive in history, is now denying more Freedom of Information Act requests than the Republican did."

Politicians Should Take Heed...

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:59:00 +0000

Calif. Police Dodge Bullet in Booby Trap Attacks - ABC News

This is an interesting story, stimulates the imagination it does. Here are some excerpts:

"First, a natural gas pipe was shoved through a hole drilled into the roof of the gang enforcement unit's headquarters. The building filled with flammable vapor but an officer smelled the danger before anyone was hurt.

"It would have taken out half a city block," Capt. Tony Marghis said.

Then, a ballistic contraption was attached to a sliding security fence around the building. An officer opening the black steel gate triggered the mechanism, which sent a bullet within eight inches of his face.

In another attempted booby trap attack, some kind of explosive device was attached to a police officer's unmarked car while he went into a convenience store.

"There's a person or people out there, a bunch of idiots, trying to do damage to us," Hemet Police Chief Richard Dana said. "We can't expect our luck to hold up, we need help."

I thought carefully about what I wanted to say, at least in this public manner, about this matter. Did I snicker at their boldness in private? Did I grin at their creativity in privacy? Did I feel a thrill rush through me at the thought that the constant governmental assault on our rights and freedoms may not go unanswered now that the political system is hopelessly broken and ineffectual? I'll keep the answers to those questions to myself, I guess. After all, we do live in interesting times.

Here, however, is what I'll say in public. Politicians would do well to take heed. They ram things down our throats that they clearly know we don't want. When they forced us to bail out the banks, indebting us for generations, they knew the American public did not support that act. They know fully that the American people are not in support of Obama care, yet they are doing their best to force it down our throats. Never mind the states acting to try to protect their citizens from this legislative obscenity, never mind public opinion. Rather than regulate the parasites sucking money and pushing up the prices for medical care, they choose to regulate the people and force them to give money to the inurance corporations and other parasitical industries associated with the health care industry.

Politicians would do well to read history. They would do well to remember that the Revolutionary War was fought over far less tax abuse. They would do well to remember that the Revolutionary War was, at its heart, guerrilla warfare. They would do well to note that each and every day the number of American people that are sick of their shit grows expodentially.

And, that's all I'm going to say on the matter. Publically, at least.

Inflation and Depression -- How Can It End Any Other Way?

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:23:00 +0000

Facts About The Deficit

Take a quick peek at these 14 quick facts about the deficit. If you see another way this can end, please tell me. I'm very interested. Recovery? HA! They didn't get where they are by being stupid. So, when they say it, it is a straight up lie. A complete, total, bald-faced lie.

I am amazed to be saying this, but Time ran an awesome piece --The Dropout Economy

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:46:00 +0000

The Dropout Economy - 10 Ideas for the Next 10 Years - TIME

I hope all my friends who snicker at my idealistic anarchism without giving real thought to how it could be, all my friends who shudder at the thought of the State no longer being there to care for/rule them, and all my friends who misunderstand the term anarchist as meaning one who believes in violent, out-of-control, chaos take the time to read this well written description of the real potentials of state-free living.

I expect many of these things to come to pass as our overall economic circumstances deteriorate. I already see many of these things happening. I've been living some of these ideals for a while now, and I see more and more people moving towards my point of view. It is heartening, really. I feel good. And, I don't fear the crash that is sure to come -- look at what's going on politically and economically. If anyone sees a way it can be resolved without a crash, please tell me, because I've been thinking seriously about it for a long time now and cannot see a way the government can pull out of this situation. Not in a way that leaves we the people as our founding fathers intended our nation to be. Not in a way that doesn't enslave the people with the debts of government and their corporate owners/handlers.

Government debt is at insane levels, personal debt touched record heights. Commercial real estate is crashing, and will rock the banking and lending industries. How willing will the people be to bail them out again? How much further can taxes go up before people refuse to pay? Tax collection on all levels -- federal, state, and local -- have reached record lows. The states are starving for money. Cities are shutting down schools and laying off teachers. What way out is there other than mad inflation, perhaps after a period of deflation. (Asset deflation -- do we not see that in the falling values of real estate? I'm betting that's not the only assets we'll see taking remarkable plunges in worth). Talk of recovery -- pure propaganda, outright lies. Look at the real numbers, read a little economic history. This is an economic depression. Don't trust anybody that tells you different.

Another aspect of falling tax revenues... they can make all the laws and rules they want. What I've learned is this -- enforcement is the key. Cash starved law enforcement agencies and other officials, such as the IRS (as also pointed out in the Time article), are not going to be able to afford to enforce nonsense laws, etc. Sure, there will be a lot of fee harvesting in areas ripe for it, speed traps and the like, but hopefully, people will move away from such places. Out here where I live, police officers don't want to make a 200 mile round trip to lock somebody up for some bullshit infraction, nor do they want the hassle of paperwork and repeated court appearances. Out here, the police stick to what is important and decide situations on their merits and their knowledge of the people involved, as it should be. Out here, we have old fashioned police officers that we can respect and trust. Not like the militaristic, revenue quota driven urban police forces, in which a cop is just as dangerous as a common street criminal, if not moreso, because he has the power of the badge. Hopefully, once the money drains out, and priorities must be made, the rest of the nation can have what we enjoy here in my part of the world.

But, I digress, I guess. Excited by reading something in Time that does speak positively of a more anarchist way of thought and living, happy that concepts of voluntary association and the ideal that people are capable of organizing themselves into cohesive, working communities without a governmental overlord parasite threatening and thieving, using coersion and violence, even killing if need be. Thrilled to find those thoughts expressed in a main-stream, middle-class, white bread (squishy, factory made and packaged Wonder Bread) sort of publication. So, read the Time piece. I hope it makes you feel as happy and hopeful as it did me.

How Cool Is This!?!?

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:06:00 +0000

Search the PopSci Archives | Popular Science

Thanks to Freedoms Phoenix for the head's up on this ultimate cool bit of news.

From the Popular Science Website:

"We've partnered with Google to offer our entire 137-year archive for free browsing. Each issue appears just as it did at its original time of publication, complete with period advertisements. It's an amazing resource that beautifully encapsulates our ongoing fascination with the future, and science and technology's incredible potential to improve our lives. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do. "

Oh, the incredible discipline it will take for me to meet my deadlines... I can hardly wait to delve into 100 years ago in Popular Science. I am a social history junkie. I already see how's its gonna be... just one more minute and I'll get back to my article... 2 hours later I look up in a daze at the clock... Oh, this is just too cool. I'm going to have to write these guys a big, fat thank you note!!!

FBI paid racist shock jock Hal Turner ‘in excess of $100,000′ | Raw Story

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 23:13:00 +0000

FBI paid racist shock jock Hal Turner ‘in excess of $100,000′ Raw Story

Raw Story with yet another stellar story. Here's some excerpts:

"According to Turner's lawyer, the shock jock was specially trained to incite fringe individuals. "His job was basically to publish information which would cause other parties to act in a manner which would lead to their arrest," attorney Michael Orozco said.

Turner's famously vile broadcasts began in 2002, though the one-time Pat Buchanan campaign coordinator did not begin his relationship with the FBI until 2003. Before Turner began his work in radio, he was a frequent guest on the Sean Hannity radio show in New Jersey."

Pretty much business as usual... just another incident on a long, long, list. Adding insult to injury, we pay for this harassment via our tax dollars.

Gunning Down the Constitution

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:15:00 +0000

Thought provoking video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOz0jnOxPg4

Be sure to take the time to read the comments that follow, really fascinating discussion about the rights of the individual vs. federal and state government, as well as a discussion concerning the balance of power between the federal government and the governments of the states.

For those of you that still believe in the political process...

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Secor) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:29:00 +0000

This is how we stop Blackwater for good.

Here's a campaign/petition in support of The Stop Outsourcing Security Act. Introduced by Rep. Jan Schakowsky, it would disallow the hiring of such firms as Blackwater to handle tasks that typically fall into the military realm of activity. Contractors would no longer be allowed to engage in military, security, law enforcement, and armed rescue tasks.

Blackwater, it seems, is in line to get a $1 billion contract from the Department of Defense. It is worth considering, as was recently pointed out to me by a military man how using these contractors masks the real number of people involved in Iraq and Afghanistan. Without these contractors, the US would have to send a lot more American soldiers to these places, a policy sure to be politically problamatic for the commander in chief and a source of unwanted negative press.