Thursday, March 13, 2014

Gun Confiscation: 110,000 Citizens in Maryland Targeted

Gun Confiscation: 110,000 Citizens in Maryland Targeted


While things continue to escalate in Connecticut as the state has called for gun owners who have not registered their guns to surrender them, just a few states away, new laws in Maryland are doing something similar: Targeting citizens for gun confiscation.
According to the new law, the state's gun registry would be linked to its criminal database.
The Associated Press reports:
State law requires gun owners to surrender their weapons if they're convicted of felonies or any violent crimes, but Del. Luiz Simmons, D-Montgomery, said Maryland State Police lack a systematic way of enforcing this. They can't use their databases to identify gun owners convicted of crimes.

State Police estimate that if they linked the databases, they would find 10 percent of registered gun owners — about 110,000 people — would be disqualified. They estimate a rate of 1 percent each year thereafter.

The Department of Legislative Services believes it would cost about $300,000 to create the database. The department also anticipates a need for seven new full-time troopers to investigate findings from the new database, with a cost of more than $1 million a year for salaries and equipment.

You may say that this is good because it targets criminals. While that does seem to be the initial thrust of the legislation, there should be the consideration of gun registration, which government should not be a party to. Paul Joseph Watson makes the following observation:
While the law is ostensibly aimed at disarming criminals, we have seen a steady expansion of reasons that are being applied to bar Americans from owning firearms. The law also creates a chilling effect on the second amendment by implying that gun owners are all guilty until proven innocent.

"This smacks of a police state mentality," said Maryland resident Ronald Smith in written testimony before a hearing on Tuesday.
Maryland delegate Mike Smigiel spoke to Freedom Outpost about the legislation and says that his greatest fear is that it looks to put an ex post facto law in place. He said, "It appears that the bill would take things that, 20 year ago or 30 years ago, would not be considered to be… associated with having a loss of your Second Amendment rights…then take the current day and say that you had a misdemeanor, a fight in a bar…that you shouldn't own a firearm. Yet, for the last 20 years you've had the ability to purchase and own a gun."
"The ex post facto application is a real serious concern." Smiegel said. "We continually attempt to make law abiding citizens into criminals. They want to take away the fact that you can have a PBJ (Probation before judgment), but only if you get it with regards to firearms. They don't take away your probation before judgment with any other…you could be a murderer, you could be an arsonist, you could be a drug dealer and you still keep your PBJ and you're not convicted of the crime."
Delegate Smiegel wants to see two avenues pursued. He would like to see mental health dealt with. In that matter, he wants people to actually get help so that they don't injure themselves or others whether with a gun or another object. Second, he wants to see those who engage in violent crime with a firearm dealt with severely, not being released back out into society. In this manner, Smiegel says we can deal with criminals completely different than we can law abiding citizens.
Smiegel's ten-year-old son gets it. After seeing a picture on television of a person, who had been booked for a crime (you know the mug shot with the numbers beneath), his son asked, "Daddy, why didn't they just keep him in jail when they had him there to take his picture?"
Delegate Smiegel has been on the front lines fighting anti-gun legislation and has remained true to his oath.
I think this is the issue. The solution to problems is not to make criminals out of law abiding citizens. It is rather to enforce the existing laws against those that break them.
At the same time, ex post facto laws are what is creating the stir up in Connecticut regarding the registration of semi-automatic guns and high capacity magazines. During my interviews with Navy veteran John Cinque, this was something he pointed out as well, and part of the reason he told lawmakers that he would not comply with such laws.
The irony in both situations is that Connecticut, "the Constitution State," and Maryland, "The Free State," are both targets of the progressive agenda that has only one goal: complete and total gun confiscation.
Connectictut citizens are taking a stand. Will Maryland citizens do the same?
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The tanks have eliminated two terror targets so far, latest reports claim.

The tanks have eliminated two terror targets so far, latest reports claim.


image
By Tova Dvorin
The IDF has sent tanks into Gaza over the past several minutes, which have already eliminated two terror targets, in response to the barrage of rocket fire on Israel.
At least 60 rockets slammed into southern Israel on Wednesday, hitting several Jewish communities.
Several were stopped by the Iron Dome; no injuries have been reported. Thousands of Negev residents remain in shelters Wednesday evening, however, until the attacks have subsided.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reacted to the attack by pledging a “forceful” response against those responsible.
“This seems to be in response to our counterterrorism efforts yesterday,” Netanyahu declared, according to Channel 2. “We will continue to strike those who want to harm us, we’ll act against them very forcefully.”
More to follow.

Meet the Mind-controlled Obama Twins

Meet the Mind-controlled Obama Twins
http://americanactionreport.blogspot.com/2011/10/meet-mind-controlled-obama-twins.html
It's an open secret that acting-President Obama uses one or more doubles.  What if Obama’s double is not just a double?  What if he’s Obama’s twin, and what if neither of them is “in charge” in the White House? 

Just in case you’re not up to speed on the Obama double part, take a look at the photos on this page and at the following links. (here) and (here) 
Mr. Obama has scars that appear to be cranial surgery scars.  As if that weren’t curious enough, the scars are inconsistent from one photo to the next, suggesting that "Obama" is more than one person, and that both persons are Manchurian candidates.
One person commenting to a blog entry wrote that Obama’s scars are consistent with the scars a person would have after being implanted with a cranial transmitter/transponder (CTT).  I couldn’t find enough articles on CTT’s to come to a conclusion on that one, but I did find that a patent for a CTT does exist.  Its official title in the patent is “Apparatus and method for detecting neural signals and using neural signals to drive external functions,” and the patent number is 7187967. (here)
 Notice also the photos of Mr. Obama waving.  In one photo he has long, thin fingers.  In another, his fingers are short and stubby.

 Someone has said that Obama’s ears don’t stick out in some photos the way they do in others.  I really couldn’t tell the difference.
 It’s a fairly safe bet, then, that Obama uses a double or more than one.  That doesn’t mean, though, that the double is his twin.  The thought that Obama may be twins stems from my little investigation of his hidden past.

As I’m sure you know, he has left almost no paper trail.  Most of the documents he claims as his own are forged.  Most people have only one official birth record.  Obama claims two, and both were clumsily Photoshopped.   Most American men get their first Selective Service cards when they’re young.  Obama got his about the time he declared his candidacy for President.  Most Americans have only one Social Security number.  Obama has several, including one that had been issued to a woman who died during the 1930s.  Unlike names of hurricanes, Social Security numbers are not reused.
Birth Certificate
Social Security Number
Selective Service Registration
The National Review Online attempts to explain away the layers in the most recent Obama forged birth certificate, but techno savvy readers commenting on the article shoot that set of excuses to hell and back.   (here)
 As far as I know, the only lawful document recording Obama’s existence prior to his achieving national prominence was an elementary school record from Indonesia.
You may also be aware that no one from his classes at Harvard remembers him.  I did, however, find one person who claims to remember him from his time at Occidental College.  Her name is Lisa Jack.
  Who is Lisa Jack?  She’s a psychologist who is almost as enshrouded in mystery as Barack Obama.
Lisa Jack is credited with having taken about a dozen photos of Obama in 1980, when he was supposedly attending Occidental College.  The background in the photos is devoid of anything suggesting the place they were taken.  Those pictures could have been taken anywhere except my teenage son’s bedroom.
 I searched out the name Lisa Jack on the Internet.  Her bio says that she has a PhD in psychology and works at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  (here)

Curiously enough, she has the thinnest bio I’ve ever seen for a member of a college faculty.  Her bio says nothing of her classes, conferences, academic papers, or much of anything else.  All that’s listed is what you see below:
Lisa Jack
Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of Southern California (Counseling Psychology)
Office: Memorial Hall 329
phone: 612-330-1221
e-mail: jack@augsburg.edu
for any academic papers Lisa Jack may have written.  I found no papers for which she was listed as first author or corresponding author, but I found close to a dozen that listed her a bit further down among the authors.  Most of them concerned psychological studies of twins.  Two of them concern psychological studies of cigarette smokers.  (Obama is a cigarette smoker.)
I checked Google Scholar
Okay, so what’s the story on Augsburg College?  Augsburg College is in Minnesota, quietly nestled among—no, not anything as pastoral as trees or rolling hills—it’s quietly nestled among classified government buildings.  Their Physics Department could have kept Mulder and Scully, of X-Files fame, busy for an entire season.  Professor Cyndi Jones is joined at the hip with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and her specialties include nuclear terrorism. (here) Does that include false flags?   Professor Mark J. Engebretson is in cahoots with NASA and the National Science Foundation, and is an unindicted co-conspirator for what sounds like the HAARP project. (here)    Did college pranksters in his classes have anything to do with the collapse of a nearby bridge at both ends? (here)
Professor David Murr came to Augsburg College from the State Department and monitors activity in space.   (here)  Agent Mulder would have a field day with that guy!  Like, what does a physicist from the State Department do with activity in outer space, conduct exo-diplomacy?  
     Several faculty members, including two with Russian-sounding names, don’t have links to their pages.  Hmmm.  The Cold War ended barely twenty years ago, and this place is packed with people sporting Eastern European-sounding names.  One can be excused for wondering if Augsburg College has more “rabbits” than a fake chinchilla farm.  (A "rabbit" is the CIA term for a defector.)
 Let’s recap this thing before moving ahead.  We have a “President” and his double—possibly a twin.  Both have cranial surgery scars, meaning that some sawbones has been playing around with their brains.  One “Obama” has no known history; the other “Obama’s” history is forged or hidden.  The only person who remembers Barack Obama from his college years is a woman whose profession involves rummaging through people’s brains, who specializes in twins and smokers, and who works for a college that CIA spooks and other spooky types would love.  The name of one of Bela Lugosi's last movies comes to mind: Spooks Run Wild.
Are there any indications that the Obama twins are mind controlled?  Yes, there are.  For one, the guy is not able to speak for more than a minute without a teleprompter.  For another, his voice has the same sonorous tone regardless of what he’s saying.  It’s as if he doesn’t know or care what he’s saying.
 The following paragraph reads like a description of the crumbling personality of someone who is controlled by others:
“President Obama finished the speech, walked off the stage, was escorted to the back corridor where he collapsed into a seat against the wall.  Both hands went to each side of his head which was leaning down almost between his knees. You could see marks on the sides of his face where the stage makeup had been rubbed off by his hands. He wears that stuff everywhere these days.  A staffer walked up and leaned over the president and told him it was time to go.  The president looked up, gave a little smile, and got to his feet slowly. Very slowly.  The only word he said was 'Yeah.'  There was no excitement. No energy from him.  The people around the president seemed to ignore his condition.  They looked right through him until he started walking down the hallway toward the outside.  They followed alongside him and seemed to kind of push him out the door.  The president looked incredibly tired.  Used up.”  (source) 
I wonder if the other Obama twin feels like that.

Wall Street fixer Timothy Geithner recently announced, “He (Obama) is not in charge.  I am!”  (here) Check out the Stanley Ann Dunham Obama and Timothy Geithner goings on when they lived in Indonesia.  You’ll find Rockefellers, the CIA, and a deliberately created financial crisis.  (here)
   Before CIA-connected Geithner was “in charge” of Obama, Mossad-connected Rahm Emanuel was in charge of him. (here)     and (here)
  So where’s all this heading?  An entertainment critic, upon hearing of the alleged death of Elvis Presley, commented, “Good career move.”  Really.
The Book of Revelation suggests a possible career move for the sock puppet Obama twins in the event that “Obama’s” poll numbers sag below that of telemarketers.  Revelation says that the Anti-Christ would be “killed” by a wound in the head but would be resurrected three days later.  Gullible people would be told that this is evidence of his divinity, and they'd believe it and worship him (the way they worshiped Obama during his first few months in office). 
 Obama’s handlers have a ready made double to pull off the trick.  That’s the way stage magicians do it, except that they don’t assassinate their stage doubles when they disappear and reappear.  A stunt like that would work wonders for Obama’s poll numbers.
     Another possibility is that his handlers will pull a JFK on us.  The assassination of President Kennedy was an inside job.  After bumping off JFK, his assassins reshaped the Kennedy image and evoked that false image of Kennedy as a martyr to the very goals that Kennedy had opposed during the last few months of his life.   Toward that end, the Obama twins could be worth more to Wall Street dead than they are alive.

Obama’s Movable Features …His Newest Scar!

Obama’s Movable Features …His Newest Scar!

Vatic Note: This is up because of the first blog up today, which is his signing the GMO bill after promising his voters he would not allow GMO products to stand.  Those that have been with Vatic Project should remember when Obama went to the orient and was gone a whole 12 days and I kept asking "where is he, what is going on for him to be gone so long".  My very first suspicion came when he traveled to the orient by ships and a whole naval flotilla of war ships which didn't make any sense at the time.  Remember, such a flotilla has a naval hospital ship in it.  Could that be why he went by ship?  Is he hardwired mind controlled???
Its quicker, cheaper and easier to fly to where ever he was scheduled to go.    I even mentioned the lack of real press conferences or his daily show up somewhere to say some words that mean nothing, and no where was he to be found. Rather the press reported that he did this or he did that. Now this rabbit hole I ended down, is showing we may not be dealing with someone in control of his own mind or even his own body so someone could well be running this government who was not elected to do so and that IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.

We need an independant medical examination of him with ex-rays of his head to determine if he is HARDWIRED mind controlled, etc. Is this tied into Israel's project Blue brain???? If this is a double, then is OBAMA EVEN ALIVE??? I don't know, but something is getting even weirder and weirder, the further we dig and probe. Michelle, tell us if he is under some sort of mind control? Let us know if you have a problem with those surrounding you? SOMEBODY BETTER COME UP WITH SOME EXPLANATIONS AND PRETTY DOGGONE SOON HERE.  

Or is Obama's double really a clone?  Has his brain been preprogrammed?  Or is Obama, already dead?  Did they kill him and have his clone replace him when he tried to act like the President ?  Lots of questions and absolutely no answers.  As all of you know, I am not an Obama fan simply due to the 2008 election when I could see that Obama was the designated winner and that was before he even won the nomination.

However, he was elected whether I liked it or not and thus, he was to be given a chance to perform.  If he is fully mind controlled, then that is not possible, and he is our President so, they have no right to mess with him at all.  I would say the same no matter who it was.  Go back to your own country and screw that one up, and leave us alone.

Obama’s Movable Features …His Newest Scar!

http://wtpotus.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/obamas-movable-features-his-newest-scar-open-thread/
Posted on January 27, 2011 ,by Bridgette


Barack Obama and Michelle December, 2010

Here a Scar, There a Scar, Everywhere a New Scar!  Or Does Obama Have a Twin? A Double? 

The Latest Scar on Obama’s Head. But this time it appears on his left side and extends from the top of his head down to his neck. (VN:  its at a completely different angle than the first photo) Does this explain the loss of 30 pounds  that some people are reporting? Did someone go for his jugular? Does he change scars like he changes his hair color?


PLEASE NOTICE THE ANGULAR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE FIRST PHOTO AND THE OTHER TWO PHOTOS, SO ITS A NEW SCAR.                     


This original photo could be a negative reversed to show his scar on his left side when it appears to be an extension of the scar appearing here on his right side. But it does not explain the new scar that extends to his neck! There must be more to all those vacations! (VN:  notice the scar is at a different angle from the photo  immediately above this one. That means to me one of them is new or its two different Obama's with scars, not a good sign at all).

Note the double lobed ear at the bottom.

When will those Medical Records that were “Sealed” be Opened? Those records would shine a light on who Obama is and if these photos are of one or two people .



Can Medical Records Explain His Two Sized Hands?

Skinny, long fingers and its opposite a flat club hand. Photo was cropped to show hands. Who plays Obama’s double?



GETTING UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

Compare the Ears on the left  and Below

 
Who Wants an Explanation?
We the People Do!

The article is reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and is for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

H.R. 4138: ENFORCE the Law Act of 2014

Introduced:
Mar 04, 2014
Sponsor:
Rep. Trey Gowdy [R-SC4]
Status:
Passed House
The bill’s title was written by its sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.
Status
This bill passed in the House on March 12, 2014 and goes to the Senate next for consideration.
Prognosis
28% chance of being enacted.
Only about 23% of bills that made it past committee in 2011–2013 were enacted. [show factors | methodology]
Text
Read Bill Text »
Last updated Mar 07, 2014.
6 pages
 
Progress
Introduced Mar 04, 2014
Referred to Committee Mar 04, 2014
Reported by Committee Mar 05, 2014
On House Schedule Mar 06, 2014
Passed House Mar 12, 2014
Passed Senate ...
Signed by the President ...
Full Title
To protect the separation of powers in the Constitution of the United States by ensuring that the President takes care that the laws be faithfully executed, and for other purposes.
Primary Source
GovTrack gets most information from THOMAS, which is updated generally one day after events occur. Activity since the last update may not be reflected here. Data comes via the congress project.
 
Votes
Mar 12, 2014 5:03 p.m.
Passed 233/181

Cosponsors
22 cosponsors (22R) (show)
Committees
House Judiciary
The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.
Summary
3/7/2014--Reported to House without amendment.Executive Needs to Faithfully Observe and Respect Congressional Enactments of the Law Act of 2014 or the ENFORCE the Law Act of 2014 - Authorizes either ...
The Constitution requires the President to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”[1] It effectively directs the President to enforce all constitutionally valid laws, regardless of the Administration’s views ...
No summary available.
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Another Finance Industry Suicide – Edmund Reilly Jumps In Front Of Train

Another Finance Industry Suicide – Edmund Reilly Jumps In Front Of Train

Yet another suicide has sent shivers through the financial world.  This time it was 47 year old Edmund Reilly of the New York’s Vertical Group.  His death marks yet another in a series of recent suicides within the financial industry.

(via New York Post)

Trader kills self in finance world’s latest suicide

A Manhattan trader was killed Tuesday morning by a speeding Long Island Rail Road commuter train, marking at least the seventh suicide of a financial professional this year.
Edmund (Eddie) Reilly, 47, a trader at Midtown’s Vertical Group, jumped in front of an LIRR train at 6 a.m. near the Syosset train station.
He was declared dead at the scene.
Reilly’s identity was confirmed by Salvatore Arena, an LIRR spokesperson, who said an investigation into the incident was continuing.
Passengers on the west-bound express train told MTA investigators they saw a man standing by the tracks before he jumped in front of the train, Arena said.
“Eddie was a great guy,” Rob Schaffer, a managing director at Vertical, told The Post in an email. “We are very upset and he will be deeply missed.”
The divorced father of three had rented a house around the corner from his ex-wife, Michelle Reilly, in East Norwich, NY.
One family friend, who said he spoke to the trader on Sunday, told The Post that Reilly “didn’t look good.”
Separately:
■  Autumn Radtke, the CEO of First Meta, a cyber-currency exchange firm, was found dead on Feb. 28 outside her Singapore apartment. The 28-year-old American, who worked for Apple and other Silicon Valley tech firms prior to founding First Meta, jumped from a 25-story building, authorities said.
■  On Feb. 18, a 33-year-old JPMorgan finance pro leaped to his death from the roof of the company’s 30-story Hong Kong office tower, authorities said. Li Junjie’s suicide marked the third mysterious death of a JPMorgan banker. So far, there is no known link between any of the deaths.
■  Gabriel Magee, 39, a vice president with JPMorgan’s corporate and investment bank technology arm in the UK, jumped to his death from the roof of the bank’s 33-story Canary Wharf tower in London on Jan. 28.
■  On Feb. 3, Ryan Henry Crane, 37, a JPM executive director who worked in New York, was found dead inside his Stamford, Conn., home. A cause of death in Crane’s case has yet to be determined as authorities await a toxicology report, a spokesperson for the Stamford Police Department said.
■  On Jan. 31, Mike Dueker, chief economist at Russell Investments and a former Federal Reserve bank economist, was found dead at the side of a road that leads to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington state, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. He was 50.
■ On Jan. 26, William Broeksmit, 58, a former senior risk manager at Deutsche Bank, was found hanged in a house in South Kensington, according to London police.  LINK
______________________
Is this series of suicide deaths merely tragic coincidence, or is there perhaps another War on Wall Street that has literally taken on the aspect of life and death for those who find themselves on the losing end?
_______________________
CHECK OUT D.W. ULSTERMAN’S FRANK BENNINGTON P.I. SERIES:

To fight anti-democratic legislation, Palestinian citizens must unite

To fight anti-democratic legislation, Palestinian citizens must unite

As Israel’s right wing escalates its attempts at silencing Israel’s Palestinian minority, Ran Greenstein offers the Arab street an alternative approach at fighting back. 
By Ran Greenstein
“At the end of every sentence you say in Hebrew there’s an Arab with a hookah” (Meir Ariel, a Song of Pain)
There is no Israeli politician, past or present, for whom this phrase is more applicable than Avigdor Liberman. His brainchild, the Governance Law, which was adopted by the Knesset earlier this week, raises the electoral threshold from 2% to 3.25%. This may not seem a lot, but had it been in effect at the time of the 2013 elections, it would have eliminated three small parties currently represented in Israel’s parliament. Given that two of these parties represent Palestinian citizens, and that Liberman was the main sponsor of the law, it is reasonable to assume that such an outcome was precisely the intention behind the law. A third party representing Palestinians would have just managed to pass the bar, though its supporters would have suffered very anxious moments during the elections period.
Of course, there is nothing in the letter of the law that applies specifically to Palestinians. Parties representing small Jewish constituencies would be affected in the same way. In a diverse society with many ethnic, religious and national minorities, a law of this nature is bound to have negative impact on the ability of groups to gain electoral representation. Thus, it would have a clear anti-democratic effect. That its most likely impact would be to reduce the parliamentary presence of a national minority, already subjected to formal and informal discrimination, would make the harm even greater.
MK Hanin Zoabi (photo: Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)
MK Hanin Zoabi (photo: Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)
In the face of such an obvious assault on democracy, what is to be done?
Setting aside efforts to change the law, which are likely to continue, the obvious course of action would be to present a united list that would face no problem crossing the 3.25% threshold. But how can such unity be achieved if it has proved impossible so far? How can the constituent elements overcome their existing differences? What do the communists of Hadash, the secular nationalists of Balad and the Islamists of the United Arab List really have in common, asks Noam Sheizaf, “save for being Palestinians?”
The answer seems to stare us in the face: they are indeed Palestinians living in the State of Israel – the “nation state of the Jewish People.” And, they are culturally and historically related to non-citizen Palestinians under Israeli military rule in the West Bank and those in the diaspora, the eternal Others of the Jewish state. In this sense, all of them face the same challenges: political exclusion, second class citizenship, social and cultural marginalization, smaller municipal budgets, inferior state facilities, lower access to jobs and services, and being treated as a permanent security threat. In short, they are strangers in the land of their birth. This – and not merely the ethnic identity they happen to share – is the basis for a common agenda and potential political mobilization.
Having common concerns is a necessary but not sufficient condition for joint action. It is normal for ethnic and national communities to show internal diversity, to have a range of views on issues that are of relevance to their members, to organize on different bases reflecting the variety of social positions that divide members from each other, and to adhere to different religions, perspectives, interests. In these respects Palestinians in Israel exhibit a high level of social and political diversity, expressed in sharp contestation at the local level (as witnessed for example, in the acrimonious, recently-decided elections in Nazareth). Under normal circumstances this would prevent them from forming a single political movement with a united platform.
The circumstances are not normal, however. Spearheaded by Liberman and his political allies, Palestinian citizens have been facing a coordinated attack from the right wing several years now. The Jewish political mainstream is either complicit in the attack or is watching from the sidelines, without making any attempt to block it. A flurry of recent parliamentary initiatives – the Nakba law, the loyalty oath law, the boycott law, the restriction on residence rights of Palestinian non-citizen spouses, the campaign to restrict funding to NGOs that challenge Israel as a Jewish state and even to prohibit their registration altogether – all these clearly target the Palestinian population and its progressive Jewish allies. The Prawer Plan and the ongoing efforts to destroy the capacity of Bedouin citizens to live independently on their land are a key component of this onslaught. The onslaught is accompanied by the work of civil society organizations such as Im Tirzu and its loyal media mouth-pieces, as well as by the involvement of the security services, which harass activists whose protest “pose a threat to state security.”
It may not be obvious, especially to people based outside of Israel, but the anti-Palestinian campaign is more a sign of weakness rather than strength. It is motivated by fears for the loss of the unquestioned Jewish-Zionist hegemony, and discomfort with the growing presence of Palestinian citizens in workplaces, universities, media, and the public domain in the last 20 years. Improved educational and job-related skills have seen a movement into social positions and residential areas that used to be the exclusive preserves of Israeli Jews, such as the medical field and service industries. Towns such as Nazareth Illit and Karmiel, founded as Jewish alternatives to Arab Nazareth and surrounding villages, have large and growing Palestinian populations, despite racist campaigns to block them from moving there. In the streets of a growing number of Haifa neighborhoods, one can hear more Arabic (and Russian) spoken than Hebrew, despite the fact that the latter is the lingua franca of the residents.
Let there be no mistake here: people of different backgrounds do not live together in an idyllic inter-communal harmony, but they do live together. Not everywhere and not without problems, but in more places than before and on more equal terms. This has given rise to anxiety among Jews living in close proximity to Palestinians, many of whom are Russian immigrants who form, not surprisingly, the power base of Liberman and his party.
How could Palestinians take advantage of their strengths and, at the same time, confront the new political challenges? They could learn from the experiences of other people faced with similar challenges that forced them to unite on a national basis to confront colonial-type domination. The Algerian and Vietnamese National Liberation Fronts, the African National Congress in South Africa and the Civil Rights Movements in the U.S. are all examples from different contexts which offer useful historical lessons. To be sure though, they were not electoral fronts, and their military aspects are not of any relevance in our current context.
Palestinian citizens can draw on their own history as well: the legacy of unity attempts in the late 1950s under the names of the Arab or National Front, leading to the al-Ard movement of the 1960s, should be resurrected. Broken apart by police repression, undermined by internal factionalism, and disrupted by regional conflicts pitting Nasserist nationalists against Soviet-aligned communists, it was the first major attempt to forge political unity in the post-Nakba period. It failed. And yet, given the difficult circumstances of those days, it was a remarkable achievement and some of its aspects deserve further study and reflection.
What is to be gained from this strategy? If the parties representing Palestinian citizens combined their votes in 2013 they would have reached 4th place, behind Labor and ahead of Jewish Home and Shas. A bloc of 12 members would have entitled them to parliamentary rights such as committee chairs/members that they do not have today. They would have acquired a strong voice, making it nearly impossible to ignore them. Of course, some people who voted for one of the three lists would not vote for a united one. However, if a unified choice became available, those who refrained from participating in the elections altogether might reconsider. In addition, the dynamism of the campaign could generate new mass energy whose repercussions for political mobilization would go beyond mere electoral politics.
Of course, there will be costs to such a move, the major one being that an Arab electoral unity might have negative consequences for alliances with progressive Jews. Although Hadash receives the bulk of its votes from Palestinians, it has always insisted on the principle of Jewish-Arab struggle, in line with its roots in the Communist Party (the only force in the country’s history to practice such cooperation, albeit not unproblematically). Its Jewish members of Knesset – Tamar Gozhansky and Dov Khenin – have had an excellent record of progressive work. Practically and symbolically, it would be a disaster to disrupt this model of joint work across ethnic boundaries. This need not be the outcome of a Palestinian electoral front. There is no reason why Jewish candidates could not be included on the list, or why the front should not try to appeal to potential Jewish voters. However, the danger of a retreat behind ethnic walls is real and would have to be addressed. Liberman is counting on continued fragmentation and growing distance between Jewish and Arabs activists as a result of the new legislation. Let us not grant him his wish.

Rybachuk speaks at NATO forum

Official Website of President of Ukraine
27.11.2006 17:22
Press office of President Victor Yushchenko

Rybachuk speaks at NATO forum

“The task of political forces [in Ukraine] is to compromise on when Ukraine will sign a NATO Membership Plan,” said Presidential Advisor Oleh Rybachuk at a forum “The NATO Transformation in the New Global Era” in Riga. “The most important thing is that we have all agreed that the objective of our cooperation with NATO is Ukraine’s membership in the alliance. This course is irreversible.”
Mr. Rybachuk said the President believed reforms in Ukraine indicated its readiness to join the membership plan, which will help us involve renowned experts in developing the national economy and boost foreign investment. He also added it would help Ukraine take part in the formulation of policies to develop European and Euro-Atlantic security.
Mr. Rybachuk said Ukraine’s leaders must now join their efforts to launch an information campaign promoting the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration, so that Ukrainians freely and consciously choose their future. He said one of the priorities of the government was to make the issue “less politicized.”
In Riga, Oleh Rybachuk is going to meet with political leaders, international experts and media representatives. 

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Taken Questions
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
December 14, 2004
Question Taken at December 14, 2004 Daily Press Briefing

Deputy Secretary Meeting With Oleg Rybachuk (Taken Question)

Question:   What did Deputy Secretary Armitage and Mr. Oleg Rybachuk, Chief of Staff to Ukrainian Presidential Candidate Victor Yushchenko, discuss during their meeting last Friday?
Answer:   Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage and Mr. Oleg Rybachuk met briefly on Friday, December 10, 2004. During their meeting they discussed recent developments in Ukraine.

2004/1359
Released on December 14, 2004

 Daily Press Briefing
Richard Boucher, Spokesman
Washington, DC
December 14, 2004

INDEX:

IRAQ

Iraqi Special Tribunal / Court Process of Investigative Judges

Assistance from International Community

Iraqi Process of Prosecution / Saddam Hussein

Query on Tariq Aziz and Other Detainees

Issue of Custody for Detainees

Status on Number of Troops in Iraq

DEPARTMENT

Tariq Ramadan / Questions Pending in Visa Process

EGYPT / ISRAEL / UNITED STATES

Signing of Qualified Industrial Zone Agreement

MIDDLE EAST

Hamas Claims of Contact with United States and EU

CAMBODIA

Human Trafficking / Suspension of General Un Sokunthea

U.S. Support of Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department

Incident Involving Rescue of Women and Girls from Brothel

TAIWAN

Impact of Elections

ROMANIA

Official Election Results

Reports of Irregularities

ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS

Basic Framework of Arrangement for Palestinian Elections

Direct Money Going to Elections

ETHIOPIA / ERITREA

Progress on Demarcation of Border

Status of Ministerial Level Delegations

INDONESIA

Query on the Cooperation in War on Terror

Reports of Australia Mission Reduction in Hours of Operation

JAPAN

Deputy Secretary Armitage Meeting with Japanese Minister for Environment

Issue of Imposing Sanctions on North Korea

CHINA

European Union Considers Lifting of Arms Ban


TRANSCRIPT:12:00 p.m. EST
MR. BOUCHER: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I don't have any statements or announcements, so I'd be glad to take your questions. Mr. Schweid.

QUESTION: Well, could you tell us what you think of the likely beginning of trials next week in Iraq of Baathists and other enemies of the government?

MR. BOUCHER: Let me try to explain exactly where we understand the core process is.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR. BOUCHER: Always with the proviso that this process is in the hands of the Iraqis.

QUESTION: Absolutely.

MR. BOUCHER: The Iraqi Special Tribunal will proceed as it prepares cases and moves forward. I think I discussed this a bit yesterday and said that their effort so far in compiling data, databases, evidence and things like that had been, you might say, largely behind the scenes. They were moving into more and more visible areas.

There is a court process that involves investigative judges and a hearing for some of the former regime officials that is under preparation that we would expect to be held next week. At that point, the accused and their attorneys do go to court, although that's not the actual trial.

Each trial process takes time and consists of several stages. This is an Iraqi court, run by Iraqi judges, and they will move through those stages and set the timetable for the court proceedings. We do expect it to be an open process. It will be more and more visible to the general public. We'll see hearings, we'll see legal motions, and we'll see a prosecution conducted by the Iraqis.

They are supported, with some assistance from the international community, as they prepare for trials and develop the structures of the court. And we and other partners are continuing to help them in that regard.

QUESTION: Assistance meaning financial assistance?

MR. BOUCHER: Assistance -- We've done some training. We've done some legal advice. They've -- in their statute, as you know, they can use experts from around the world in order to prepare these things.

QUESTION: Is the U.S. providing them with any legal material, with anything to help make a case? And what about Saddam Hussein? Does he remain under --

MR. BOUCHER: Well, I think it applies to all the detainees. I don't know the exact status of Saddam Hussein, but they are being brought into an Iraqi process of prosecution. We have provided legal advice, financial support, but also things like the forensics on the mass graves that have been uncovered, the evidence that has been amassed over the really decades of collection of these information about the crimes of the former regime.

We've done some training, as I've said. So we have helped in a variety of ways. So they are now moving forward with their process for them to decide how to proceed and how to put on trial the people who put the -- who committed these crimes against the Iraqi people.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Just to follow up. Will people like Tariq Aziz and others be accused of genocide or crimes against humanity?

MR. BOUCHER: That will be something for the Iraqi courts and the Iraqi prosecutors to decide.

QUESTION: But you don't have any idea of what are the charges against these particular people?

MR. BOUCHER: That will be something for the Iraqis to decide.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Richard, when this was being set up, you said that you reserved the right after the Iraqis were through with their judicial process to try anybody that committed any crimes against the United States. Are there any plans for that?

MR. BOUCHER: I'm not aware of anything new on that.

QUESTION: Richard, even though you call it an Iraqi process, and I know you're referring to the legal --

MR. BOUCHER: Proceedings, yeah.

QUESTION: -- that didn't happen, what about the custody of all of these people? Are they still under U.S. custody? Are some under -- ? Saddam?

MR. BOUCHER: I think your colleague asked me that about Saddam Hussein. I, frankly, don't know. That's a question you'll have to check with the Pentagon on, whether --

QUESTION: Could you take the question?

MR. BOUCHER: I think that's a question you can ask the Pentagon, as far as who has physical custody.

QUESTION: Tariq Ramadan, the would-be professor at Notre Dame University, earlier in Geneva today said he was giving up on the job and coming to the United States, and he called his inability to get here, "an attack on academic freedom." Does the State Department have any comment on that?

MR. BOUCHER: We've commented on this before. There are questions that need to be asked and answered in visa interviews, in the visa process. We have been willing to go through that process after Mr. Ramadan's initial exclusion. We would have to point out, though, that the resignation from the proffered teaching post at Notre Dame would nullify the basis for the pending visa application and, thus, that would end the review of his application for a visa.

The gentleman, Mr. Ramadan, had reapplied for a visa; the case was under review, but beyond that I cannot go.

Sir. Yes.

QUESTION: Egypt, Israel and the United States have signed today a partial free trade deal. Do you have anything on that?

MR. BOUCHER: This is related to something called the Qualified Industrial Zones. It's a very important development. It's something we've been working on for some time. Ambassador Zoellick is attending the signing ceremony today in Egypt. He said, "It is a concrete, practical result of President Bush's plan to promote U.S. trade ties with the Middle East so as to strengthen development, openness and peaceful economic links between Israel and its neighbors. We are pleased that agreement has been reached on these Qualified Industrial Zones. We expect the zones in greater Cairo, Alexandria, the Suez Canal to expand trade and promote investment while serving as a catalyst for stronger ties between Israel and Egypt. We hope, also, that Egypt will focus other economic reform efforts in order to boost its international competitiveness more generally."

This has been a regular subject of discussion with Egypt and with Israel for many months now. The Secretary has been discussing it with his Egyptian and Israeli counterparts over time and we're glad to see that between us and, especially the trade officials involved, that we've been able to bring this all to fruition. And we think it's a very positive thing and offers opportunities to Israelis and Egyptians, in terms of business, jobs, exports and modernization of their economy.

QUESTION: Richard, a leader of Hamas was on the BBC yest-- last night over in the U.K. on Newsnight, I think, and he said that Hamas has been in contact with the United States and the EU. Is that true?

MR. BOUCHER: No. We don't conduct business with designated terrorist organizations. Hamas is a designated terrorist organization, and we're not aware of anything at all that would substantiate such a reference.

QUESTION: Any contact at all?

MR. BOUCHER: No. Not from the State Department; we're not aware of anything that would be even remotely like that.

QUESTION: Not through a third party or --

MR. BOUCHER: I'm not aware of anything that could substantiate such a claim.

QUESTION: Poland today has announced an important reduction in the number of its troops in Iraq from 2,500 to 1,700 soldiers. Are you disappointed by this decrease?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't have anything on that. As you know, people are increasing their numbers, extending, decreasing numbers all the time. The Japanese just extended for a year the other day. We've had a lot of various different troops go in recently. I haven't -- I wasn't aware the polls that made any new announcements or what their timeframe is for this, but it's an ongoing process. Some are increasing, some are decreasing; and I don't have any particular, now, comment on one statement or another.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Do you have anything on the developments in Cambodia concerning human trafficking?

MR. BOUCHER: Yeah. I think you all saw we put out a statement the other day expressing particular concern about some women and girls who had been rescued from a brothel in Phnom Penh. Now on December 13th, yesterday, the police commissioner in Cambodia suspended General Un Sokunthea, head of the Cambodian Police Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department. That department had been the ones who rescued the women and girls from this brothel and we're very deeply concerned to see that the head of that department has been suspended. Obviously, any punitive measures against her would call into question Cambodia's commitment to fight human trafficking.

We very much support the work of the Anti-Trafficking Department. We believe that General Un should be commended for the courageous efforts to investigate this brothel and other brothels.

QUESTION: Do you have any reason to believe that the government was responsible for the -- not responsible, but implicit, in the abduction of these women, that they looked the other way or -- ?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't know exactly how to describe it. Obviously, when the government finds out about something like this, the action that the Anti-Trafficking Department took to rescue these women and girls and give them a new opportunity on life is one that should be commended, and not something that should be subject to further potential punitive action by other people in the police department.

So we certainly believe that they should do the right thing and support these kinds of activities and not in any way denigrate them. But how much they might have been involved or if somebody might have been involved in the genesis of the whole situation, I don't know.

QUESTION: Are you investigating that?

MR. BOUCHER: I think it's a matter we'd certainly keep under advisement, but I'm not aware that there's any particular investigation. We're trying to deal right now with the situation of these women, how to make sure that they have this new opportunity and that the people that are trying to help them are able to help them.

QUESTION: You don't have anybody in Cambodia and --

MR. BOUCHER: We have a whole embassy in Cambodia.

QUESTION: I'm sorry, I'm sorry. What are you doing to -- I'm thinking of Burma. What are you trying to do to find the --

QUESTION: There's an embassy in Burma, too.

MR. BOUCHER: There's an embassy in Burma, too. Let's go back to the subject and not discuss --

QUESTION: Well, but no, I'm just saying, what are trying to do to find the girls?

MR. BOUCHER: This has been a matter that our Embassy has followed and something that we're working on through our Embassy in Cambodia, and I think I'll just leave it at that for the moment.

Yeah. Okay.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR. BOUCHER: No, we've got a few more.

Nicholas.

QUESTION: Yeah. I apologize if that came up yesterday, Richard. But on Taiwan, the election results, does that have any impact on the arms deal that you were --

MR. BOUCHER: It came up yesterday. I declined to speculate yesterday.

QUESTION: You did? Okay, sorry.

MR. BOUCHER: And I don't think I'll speculate today. I haven't changed my mind overnight.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR. BOUCHER: Sir.

QUESTION: The U.S. Embassy in Bucharest monitored the elections, presidential elections, the second tour. Do you have any comments on the outcome, as the official results have been brought to the public?

MR. BOUCHER: First of all, we congratulate Mr. Basescu on his victory. We look forward to continuing in very close cooperation between the United States and Romania. Mr. Nastase, of course, has conceded, and we think that's the right thing to do.

Overall, we're very pleased to see a open, free and fair election and congratulate the Romanian people on the election. There were monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe -- 15 international experts who went to assess the elections. They noted some administrative problems that have persisted in these elections but they consider the overall conduct to be satisfactory.

We've heard some reports of irregularities, and of course, these irregularities all need to be investigated. But there is no evidence that these irregularities affected the outcome. We'll look forward to their final report in about a month.

QUESTION: Thank you very much.

MR. BOUCHER: Yeah. Sir. Said.

QUESTION: Very quickly on the Palestinian election. I know the Israelis are saying they will pull out for three days, and the Palestinians are saying we need more. The Israelis are stopping candidates from moving from place to place. One candidate, Hassan Khreisheh, was forced to withdraw his name because he couldn't even leave his village.

So, one, are you going to press the Israelis to open up for a little more time? And second, did you request -- or are you going to request the Israelis to allow the candidates to move because Mr. Marwan Barghouti alleges that he was beaten up last week?

Then I have a quick follow-up on that.

MR. BOUCHER: We have seen those reports. I think our basic attitude has been that so far the parties, the Israelis and the Palestinians, seem to have been working very positively. They have worked out a number of these issues. They worked out the basic framework of arrangements for the Palestinian elections. We have certainly welcomed that. We've encouraged that. We think both sides have shown a positive attitude, and we hope that they continue to work these things out.

So I realize there is a few differences over different aspects of this, but I think the track record so far is good and we have just basically encouraged them to keep working that way.

QUESTION: Are you aware, or maybe you could share with us if there are any plans to send in, like, emergency aid for the election considering that the $20 million that was sent out apparently went to Israel utility companies?

MR. BOUCHER: It also serves to free up budget resources that the government, that the Palestinian Authority might need for the elections. I'd give you this statement that Ambassador Burns did at the Ad Hoc Liaison Group in Oslo. I think that details in some -- a bit more than I can from the top of my head, some of the direct money that's going to the elections and how the money contributes to helping the Palestinians have an election at this point.

Yeah. David.

QUESTION:   You may have to take these. I was looking for a readout from Mr. Armitage's meeting with the Ethiopian Foreign Minister yesterday and whether -- I understand that there is a ministerial-level Eritrean group in town and I'm wondering if there are plans to meet them. And c, Yamamoto was in Eritrea. I'm just wondering if there is any sort of U.S. move afoot to try to straighten out the problems there between Ethiopian and Eritrea.

MR. BOUCHER:   It's been -- the problems between Ethiopia and Eritrea, as well as our individual relationships with each of these places have been important matters for our diplomacy over time. The U.S. has always encouraged progress on the demarcation of the border, but we've also looked to make opportunities to move forward in our relationships. And that's essentially, I think, what Deputy Assistant Secretary Yamamoto was doing when he was in Eritrea.

As far as ministerial-level delegations and some of those other questions, I will have to look at them and see what we can get you.

Yeah. Farrah?

QUESTION:   Have you ever talked about what Deputy Secretary Armitage discussed with the Chief of Staff of Yushchenko on Friday? I know they met for, like, ten minutes. Did you ever get a readout of their meeting?

MR. BOUCHER:   No. Did Adam talk about it? I have to check on it. I wasn't aware of that. We were on travel on Friday.

QUESTION:   I have one other question on Indonesia. Is it the U.S.'s position that Indonesia has been fully cooperative in the war on terror?

MR. BOUCHER:   I don't know that we've tried to sort of put gold stars on people and say "fully cooperative" or "partially cooperative" or "somewhat cooperative." We don't -- really haven't tried to do rankings.

What we've said is that everybody needs to give this their full effort. We've seen a lot of work by Indonesia in the war on terror. We are always looking for more areas where we can cooperate with other governments to try to stop terrorism. And I think it's in our interests and their interests, as well, to do that.

QUESTION: If I might follow up, from Canberra Tuesday, the Australian Foreign Ministry announced that their mission operating hours and scale of staff will be reduced during the year-end holiday period; and they cited the general risk of perhaps more terror. Is the United States doing similar or does it share this assessment?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't have anything new on that. I would suggest, however, that you check the general Travel Warning we have for Indonesia that relates to some of those things.

Let's go to the back.

QUESTION: Change of subject. Do you have the readout for -- I'm sorry, Mr. Armitage met with the Japanese officials yesterday afternoon. And also, if you can confirm some reports that saying that Mr. Armitage indicated that U.S. will support Japan on possible sanctions that Japan would put on North Korea?

MR. BOUCHER: Which Japanese officials are you asking me about, that the Secretary -- the Deputy Secretary met with?

He met with the Japanese Minister for Environment.

QUESTION: Yes.

MR. BOUCHER: That was yesterday. I think I talked about that a little bit yesterday.

I know this question did come up about what he told -- what he said about sanctions, and he said, in fact, in private what he has said before in interviews, I think, with Japanese wire services, or maybe it was one of the newspapers, where he talked about, first of all, our support for Japanese efforts to resolve the abductee issue. He said that we do not take a position on whether or not Japan should impose sanctions on North Korea.

As he said previously, he said sanctions can be a powerful tool, and especially the threat of sanctions, and any imposition of sanctions should be carefully planned and deliberately implemented so as to maximize effectiveness and produce desired results. So it was just a general observation. He didn't recommend one way or the other whether Japan should take that step.

QUESTION: Could you get a readout of that meeting?

MR. BOUCHER: Yeah.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR. BOUCHER: Yeah. Sir.

QUESTION: There was a report that Deputy Secretary Armitage, during that meeting, urged Japan to avoid using sanctions.

MR. BOUCHER: That's what she just asked and that's what I just answered.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR. BOUCHER: I told you what he did say.

Okay, Elise.

QUESTION: Do you have any reaction to the Polish decision to withdraw a third of its troops by February?

QUESTION: He asked that.

QUESTION: My God, I'm totally out of it.

MR. BOUCHER: Do you have any reaction to the fact your colleague asked the question 20 minutes ago --

QUESTION: Sorry.

MR. BOUCHER: -- and I said I'll try to deal with it? I haven't learned anything since I've been here. (Laughter.) I haven't learned anything because I've been here with you. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: All right. If this question has been asked, I withdraw the question.

MR. BOUCHER: Okay.

QUESTION: I heard a little blurb on the radio this morning about the Europeans lifting the arms ban on -- with respect to sales to China. Do you have anything on it?

MR. BOUCHER: This has been an issue the EU has been considering. The EU made some decisions last week. You'll see Foreign Minister Bot also addressed it at the press conference that we had in The Hague last Friday. That, as far as we know, is the latest statement by the European Union on the subject, and I'll just stick with what they said then. Our views are clear. They have not made any decisions to lift the ban at this point.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR. BOUCHER: Thank you.

(The briefing was concluded at 12:20 p.m.)

DPB#205

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