Tag Archive: Supreme Court


NPR .'s profile photo
June 13, 2013 3:00 PM
A technician loads patient samples into a machine for testing at Myriad Genetics in Salt Lake City in 2002. The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Myriad cannot patent the BRCA genes, which are tested to check a woman's risk for breast and ovarian cancer.

A technician loads patient samples into a machine for testing at Myriad Genetics in Salt Lake City in 2002. The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Myriad cannot patent the BRCA genes, which are tested to check a woman’s risk for breast and ovarian cancer.

Douglas C. Pizac/AP

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that human genes cannot be patented, upending 30 years of patent awards granted by the U.S. Patent Office. The court’s unanimous decision has enormous implications for the future of personalized medicine and in many ways is likely to shape the future of science and technology.

Myriad Genetics, one of the nation’s , isolated two genes with mutations that can indicate a high risk of breast and ovarian cancer. The company patented the genes, known as BRCA 1 and BRCA 2, and developed a test so that women with family or previous cancer histories could see if they had the mutations.

But the patent meant that other researchers could not use the isolated genes to develop potentially more reliable and cheaper tests. A group of doctors, patients and researchers went to court to challenge Myriad’s patent, and on Thursday they won a prtial victory.

The Supreme Court, while acknowledging the importance of Myriad’s discovery, by isolating the two BRCA genes and that the genes are a product of nature.

“The location and order of the nucleotides existed in nature before Myriad found them. Nor did Myriad create or alter the genetic structure of DNA,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court. “To be sure, it found an important and useful gene, but separating that gene from its surrounding genetic material is not an act or invention.”

 

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WFAA.com

Court ruling may open up breast cancer gene tests

Associated Press

Posted on June 14, 2013 at 1:01 AM

 

A ruling by the Supreme Court that human genes can’t be patented is expected to increase access and drop the cost for tests for gene mutations that greatly raise the risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer.

In a bit of a mixed message, the court unanimously decided that certain types of gene tests may still be protected by patents, yet it struck down patents that a company has long held for BRCA genes. The company makes the only test for two of those breast cancer genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2.

“It appears that it will allow the market to open up so that other laboratories can offer the test,” said Rebecca Nagy, a genetics counselor at Ohio State University and president of the National Society of Genetic Counselors. And that should make the tests cheaper and available to more women, she said.

Hours after the ruling, one company — DNATraits, part of Houston-based Gene By Gene, Ltd. — said it would offer BRCA gene testing in the United States for $995 — less than a third of the current price.

A primer on the case:

Q: What did the court say?

A: Patents held by Myriad Genetics Inc. on BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are not valid, because isolating a naturally occurring segment of DNA cannot be patented. We all have two copies of these genes; mutations in one of them can give a woman up to an 87 percent risk of developing breast cancer and up to a 54 percent risk for ovarian cancer.

 

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On January 16, 1919, the ratification of the 18th amendment was certified by the US Congress.  This amendment had been ratified by 46 of 48 states and said:

Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.

Section 2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

The 18th amendment was repealed by the 21st amendment on December 5, 1933.

Before I started researching for this article, what I thought I knew about the prohibition era went something like this:  The 18th amendment was passed.  Organized crime took over in New York and Chicago.  The mob thrived.  People danced “the Charleston”.  Al Capone got arrested for tax evasion.  And eventually the 18th amendment was repealed by the 21st.  It occurred to me recently that learning more about prohibition era America might provide some useful lessons for today, so I have done some reading.  I am still far from expert on the period, but what I have learned so far is absolutely fascinating.

What strikes me most about prohibition and its repeal is that this is a familiar recipe.  NullifiersAmendmentsWe have seen how nullification helped pave the way to freedom for Pennsylvania’s black population during the 19th century.  Pennsylvania’s resistance to the federal fugitive slave acts spanned decades and included jury nullification, individual nullification in the form of the underground railroad, state-level nullification in the form of personal freedom acts, and electoral efforts at the national level, eventually culminating in the Civil War and the 13th amendment.

Similarly, the Whiskey Rebellion, consisted of a combination of jury nullification, individual nullification in the form of non-compliance, and organized nullification in the western counties of many of the states.  It came to fruition when Thomas Jefferson was elected President.  Jefferson appointed Pennsylvanian and accused whiskey rebel, Albert Gallatin, to be his Treasury Secretary and to oversee the repeal of the unpopular whiskey tax.

This article will demonstrate how the same basic template was used in order to bring about the 21st amendment.  Can the nullification deniers continue to bury their heads in the sand when nullification has played a role in not one, but two Constitutional amendments?  It’s sort-of hard to argue that nullification isn’t a valid part of the Constitutional process when there are two real, live, examples where nullification was part of the process that led up to a Constitutional amendment.

Was Prohibition Constitutional?

I am aware that this question seems almost nonsensical.  How could an amendment to the Constitution possibly be unconstitutional?  The thing to remember, though, is that prohibition involved more than just the 18th amendment.  After the amendment came federal legislation, and after that came interpretations by the Supreme Court.  I would invite you to look at section 1 of the amendment again.  What was actually prohibited by the amendment?  According to Last Call, the phrase “intoxicating liquors” was intentionally chosen in order to be misleading.

This conscious dodge had enabled fence-sitters, conflict avoiders, and wishful thinkers to support the amendment in the hope that the eventual definition would leave room for some of the milder forms of liquid stimulation.

When you see the word “liquor” in that amendment, does it include “beer”?  I don’t know what the language was in 1919, but to my understanding, beer, wine, and liquor are three different types of alcoholic drinks.  The amendment was enabled by the Volstead Act, which prohibited drinks with more than 0.5% alcohol, including beer and wine.  This is a classic bait and switch.  Is an agreement valid when it is made under intentionally false pretense? Jack S. Blocker, Jr. wrote in the Journal of the American Public Health Association,

The Volstead Act defined “intoxicating” as containing 0.5% or more alcohol by volume, thereby prohibiting virtually all alcoholic drinks.  The brewers, who had expected beer of moderate strength to remain legal, were stunned, but their efforts to overturn the definition were unavailing.

The Supreme Court’s decisions upheld Congress’ bait and switch and added on some power grabs of its own.  Section 2 of the amendment said that the federal government and the states had concurrent enforcement power.  According to Robert Post of Yale Law School, writing in the William and Mary Law Review, over the prohibition years, the supreme court modified its interpretations of the 4th, 5th, and 10th amendments in order to uphold the Volstead Act and interpret the enforcement power in the 18th amendment expansively.  The court allowed wiretaps without a warrant, allowed a person to be charged twice for the same crime under state and federal statutes, and allowed warrantless searches of motor vehicles – establishing the “reasonable suspicion” standard.

Post writes that Supreme Court Justice McReynolds sputtered in dissent to United States vs. Carroll:

Has it come about that merely because a man once agreed to deliver whisky, but did not, he may be arrested whenever thereafter he ventures to drive an automobile on the road to Detroit!”

And to that, political scientist Robert Cusman answered:

it certainly has, and … most of us are not sensitive enough to feel that such a result violates the requirements either of justice or of common sense.”Prohibition

Simplistically – the phrase concurrent enforcement could mean two things.  It could mean that the states enforce the law in their own spheres of influence – inside their borders; and the federal government enforces it in its sphere – interstate commerce and foreign trade.  This understanding would not have involved reinterpreting the Bill of Rights.

Post cites advocates as arguing,

the dual sovereignty in our federal system of Nation and State each supreme within its own sphere did not signify a merely functional division of labor between state and federal governments, but instead a fundamental constitutional commitment, symbolized by the Tenth Amendment, to maintain ‘state control over local affairs.’

Instead of accepting this argument, which would have left the Bill of Rights intact, the court interpreted it to mean that the federal government could enforce the amendment anywhere, including domains that had been reserved to the states by the Tenth Amendment.  Post goes on to say,

Read More Here

Dees Illustration

Stephen Lendman
Activist Post

It’s no surprise. Michael Parenti calls America’s High Court its “autocratic branch.”

It’s notoriously pro-business. It’s longstanding. In Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railway (1886), it granted corporations legal personhood.

More recently, in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes et al (June 2011), it denied longstanding sexual discrimination class action redress. It overruled a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision doing so.

In AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion (April 2011), it did so two months earlier. It blocked class action redress claiming fraud. The company’s wireless subsidiary charged sales tax on cellphones it advertised as free. Two California courts rules for plaintiffs. The High Court overruled them.

In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled for money power over democratic governance. One dollar = one vote.

Corporations and PACs can spend all they want. Doing so more than ever lets them control US elections. Voters are effectively disenfranchised. They have no say whatever.

Numerous other rulings show America’s High Court is supremely pro-business. The Roberts Court is more so than previous ones. Even The New York Times noticed.

On May 4, it headlined “Corporations Find a Friend in the Supreme Court.” It rejected an anti-trust class action suit against Comcast. Subscribers sought to prove unfair competition and overcharges. Wrongdoing was dismissed 5 – 4. It didn’t surprise. It’s consistently pro-business. Doing so facilitates corporate empowerment, discriminatory practices, willful fraud, and products harming human health.
Bowman v. Monsanto again showed where America’s High Court stands. Justice again was denied. Corporate interests alone matter. In 2007, Monsanto sued Vernon Bowman. He’s an Indiana farmer. At issue was alleged patent infringement.

He bought mixed soybean seeds. He did so from a grain elevator. He planted them a second time. He supplemented them with soybeans bought from the same source.

Monsanto’s licensing agreement forbids second plantings. It wants seeds sold used only once. It wants farmers to pay each time they plant.

Bowman claimed no patent infringement. It expired on what he first bought. He supplemented with commodity soybeans. They’re usually used for feed.

He said they naturally “self-replicate or sprout unless stored in a controlled manner.” In other words, he planted soybeans, not new seeds. He violated no law.

Justice Elena Kagan delivered the court opinion. She didn’t surprise. She and other justices spurn judicial fairness. They do so in defense of privilege. She rejected what she called “that blame-the-bean defense.”

Bowman had no chance. He was no match against Monsanto. He was ordered to pay nearly $85,000 in damages. He’s a small farmer. Doing so may bankrupt him. Longstanding agribusiness plans call for greater consolidation at the expense of small competitors.

Bowman lost at the district, appellate and High Court levels. They ruled one way. They claimed patent exhaustion doesn’t permit farmers to replant seeds and harvest them without patent holder’s permission.

Generic drug companies freely do it. The Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act permits it. Once patents expire, holders no longer have exclusive rights.

In 2014, the last of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready US patents will expire. Monsanto’s supposed to lose exclusivity. At issue is will or won’t it happen?

Expect Monsanto to press hard to keep it. Earlier it said it wants international regulatory Roundup Ready soybeans support until 2021. It’s unclear if other companies will be able to sell generic versions. Monsanto won’t make it easy to do so.

On May 13, Food Democracy Now (FDN) denounced the Supreme Court ruling. Executive director Dave Murphy accused Washington of complicity in permitting the “corporate takeover of (America’s) food supply.”

“Today,” he said, “the Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the corporate takeover of our food supply, in a huge win for Monsanto, and a major loss for America’s farmers and consumers.”

Monsanto has long engaged in an effort to subvert family farmers that do not use their genetically-engineered seeds, and the Court has now handed corporations even more control over what our families eat.

Currently, Food Democracy Now! is a co-plaintiff in a lawsuit in the District Court of Appeals, Organic Seed Associations et Al. v Monsanto to protect America’s farmers from unwanted contamination of their crops by Monsanto’s patented genetically-engineered plants.

Our nation’s family farmers grow our food on farms where cross-pollination between organic, non-GMO crops and Monsanto’s genetically-engineered patented crops is regular and naturally-occurring process.

The Court’s decision to give Monsanto the power to control the future harvest of America’s family farmers and our county’s food supply is deeply troubling, immoral and a very bad sign for the future of our nation’s food.

In March 2013, Obama signed the Monsanto Protection Act.It’s the Farmer Assurance Provision rider in HR 933: Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013. Monsanto lawyers wrote it.

It permits circumventing judicial decisions. If courts rule GMOs unsafe, Monsanto’s free to ignore them. So can the Secretary of Agriculture.

He’s free to ignore food safety. He can let hazardous GMOs poison America’s food supply. Obama’s complicit with giant corporate interests. He’s their man in Washington. He’s beholden to monied interests. They own him.

Read Full Article Here

     

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Supreme Court dismisses plea of Novartis for patent of cancer drug

Novartis-protest
A file photo of protests against Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG’s case against the Indian government on drug patents.

Reuters | Apr 1, 2013, 11.27AM IST

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG’s attempt to win patent protection for its cancer drug Glivec, a serious blow to Western pharmaceutical firms who are increasingly focusing on India to drive sales.

The decision also sets a benchmark for several intellectual property disputes in India, where many patented drugs are unaffordable for most of its 1.2 billion people.

India’s domestic drugs market is the 14th largest globally, but with annual growth of 13-14 per cent and the world’s second biggest population, it has massive potential at a time when traditional developed markets have slowed down.

“I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people, except for a few public officials.”
— George Mason, in Debates in Virginia Convention on
Ratification of the Constitution
, Elliot, Vol. 3, June 16, 1788

Now  I   am no  Constitutional  Attorney, as is  supposedly the  case  with  Obama.  However,  I  do  prefer straight forward language  as  opposed  to the  spin  that   Attorneys, legislators , politicians,  etc, etc  apply  to everything and  make it  illegible  to the  everyday   Citizen.  It  seems to  me  that  George  Mason  one of  the  framers  of the  Constitution  put it  rather  clearly and  concisely   when  he  stated……”Who are the Militia? They consist now of the whole people, except for a few public officers.”…..during Debates in Virginia Convention on the Ratification of the Constitution, Elliot, Vol. 3, June 16, 1788

It  would  stand to  reason that  being  one of  the  Gentleman  directly  involved  with the  framing  and ratification of  the  Constitution  that  specifically protects  the  rights  of  the  People to  bear  arms.  Who  better to know  it’s  true  meaning than  one  who was  actually  there and directly involved in the  process?  It  seems  rather  ludicrous  to  have  any  number  of  supposed   scholars trying to  decipher  what  was  intended  when  it is  written  in plain   English  for  all to see.  Unless of  course  the  reason  for  said debates is  nothing  more  than  an  attempt  to   circumvent the  Constitutional  basis  for  the  2nd  amendment  and   infringe upon the rights of t he  People.

This is  quite  clear and  leaves no  doubt  as  to  its  meaning.  Nor  does it  leave  room  for interpretation as  it  spells it  out  fully.   The  Militia  consists of  the  Whole people.  End of   discussion  end  of  debate,  i don’t  care   who you are  or  what  your  title  is .  It is  time to   shut  up and  allow the  People  the rights afforded  them under the  protection of  the  Constitution and the  Bill  of  Rights.  That  means   those  control freaks  in search  of pushing others  around and  the  tyrants  who want  to   change  everything to their  advantage  so that  they  can  continue  looting the  Peoples  money and  destroying  this Nation unfettered by those  pesky  little  laws.  Any questions?????

Militia Q+A

Fire Arms And Liberty

Copyright (c) 1994 Constitution Society. Permission is granted to copy with attribution for noncommercial purposes.


Q: What is the Militia?

A: It was best defined by George Mason, one of the Framers of the U.S. Constitution, who said, “Who are the Militia? They consist now of the whole people, except for a few public officers.”

Q: If they’re the whole people, why do we need a special word like “militia” to refer to them?

A: The Militia is the people in a certain capacity, as defenders of the community and enforcers of the law. In that capacity, they are expected to have and use the tools needed to perform that role: personal weapons, and particularly firearms.

Q: Isn’t that what we have the military and police for?

A: Yes, we do hire some of us to perform these duties on a full-time, paid basis. But that does not relieve us of the power or the duty to perform those duties when the situation calls for it.

Q: Power? Don’t the military and police have powers ordinary civilians don’t have?

A: Yes, the police have special powers to enforce certain regulations, like traffic regulations, that civilians don’t have. And the military can engage in combat operations on foreign soil representing the United States. But all citizens have general powers to repel invasions, suppress insurrections, and enforce the laws, the three duties of the Militia, just like the military and police. They just don’t do it on a full-time, paid basis.

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Second Amendment to the United States Constitution

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United States of AmericaGreat Seal of the United States

This article is part of the series:

Original text of the ConstitutionPreamble
Articles of the Constitution

Full text of the Constitution

The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects the right to keep and bear arms. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights.

The right to bear arms predates the Bill of Rights; the Second Amendment was based partially on the right to bear arms in English common-law, and was influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689. This right was described by Blackstone as an auxiliary right, supporting the natural rights of self-defense, resistance to oppression, and the civic duty to act in concert in defense of the state. Academic inquiry into the purpose,[1][2] scope,[3] and effect[4] of the amendment has been controversial[5][6][7] and subject to numerous interpretations.[8]

In United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. 542 (1875), the Supreme Court ruled that “[bearing arms for a lawful purpose] is not a right granted by the Constitution. Neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence.”, but also stated that the Second Amendment “has no other effect than to restrict the powers of the national government”, as the right was not yet been made applicable to the states.

In United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939), the Supreme Court ruled that the amendment “[protects arms that had a] reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia”. This ruling has been widely described as ambiguous, and ignited a debate on whether the amendment protected an individual right, or a collective militia right.

In District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment “codified a pre-existing right” and that it protects an individual’s right to possess a firearm, unconnected to service in a militia[9][10] and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home within many longstanding prohibitions and restrictions on firearms possession listed by the Court as being consistent with the Second Amendment.[11]

In McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U.S. 3025 (2010), the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment limits state and local governments to the same extent that it limits the federal government.[12]

Text

There are several versions of the text of the Second Amendment, each with slight capitalization and punctuation differences, found in the official documents surrounding the adoption of the Bill of Rights.[13] One version was passed by the Congress,[14] while another is found in the copies distributed to the States[15] and then ratified by them.

As passed by the Congress:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

As ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State:

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.[16]

The original hand-written copy of the Bill of Rights, approved by the House and Senate, was prepared by scribe William Lambert and resides in the National Archives.

The Second Amendment is the only amendment to the Constitution which states a purpose.[17]

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‘Well regulated militia’ does not mean gun control

Citizens train with firearms on gun safety, self-defense, and home defense, in keeping with the Second Amendment provision of a "well regulated militia," or a disciplined, well trained people's militia.
Citizens train with firearms on gun safety, self-defense, and home defense, in keeping with the Second Amendment provision of a “well regulated militia,” or a disciplined, well trained people’s militia.
Credits:
(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Common errors in thinking have characterized the argument among progressives that the term “well regulated militia” as contained in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution mandates national gun control laws and various restrictions.

Such thinking, however, cannot be verified by the historical record.

How do we know that this is the case? How can we be certain that the Framers did not wish to impose cumbersome national gun restrictions and controls on the firearms rights of the citizens?

The text itself, understood within its historical context and the philosophy and written explanations of the Framers themselves, provides the answers.

The Second Amendment is part of an overall Congressional bill known as “the Bill of Rights” — the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. The first 10 amendments were presented to the states as one entity for approval. Although originally the bill contained more than 10 amendments, the states whittled them down to 10, the ones on which they all could find common agreement.

Read Full Article Here

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GUN OWNERS: FIGHTING WITH AN UNLOADED GUN

By: Devvy
March 30, 2013
NewsWithViews.com

Since the unspeakable horror in Newtown, CT, last December, the lackeys who serve the ruling elite have stepped up efforts to ban specific types of weapons. There has never been any question the desired goal is to disarm we the people because the Second Amendment is the only thing standing between us and those who wish to rule us with an iron fist.

Efforts to nullify the Second Amendment have been stepped up with the usual cast of clowns releasing more flatulence than a massive herd of cattle:

Rev. Jackson: Some ‘Anti-American People’ Arming Themselves in U.S.Have ‘Confederate Ideology’
Michael Moore: ‘Calm Down, White People, and Put Away Your Guns’
Politico Reporter: LaPierre Is ‘Tired, Old White Guy That Is Clinging on to Something of the Past’ (Another empty-headed female)
Belafonte blasts ‘white America’ for black gun crimes -NAACP forum used to attack 2nd Amendment ‘carnage’ in cities

Al Sharpton: “People Do Not Have The Right To Unregulated Rights In This Country”

“Sharpton and other black leaders were meeting and then held a press conference. In that press conference, Sharpton said, “Absolutely, I mean if you look at the Second Amendment it was that you would have militia to protect yourself in case the government came and attacked citizens. First of all, if the government were to come to disarm you, you would not be able to use an automatic weapon to defend yourself. Let’s be serious. We’re in a world of drones now so the Second Amendment would not help you in that area. It is absurd to try to cite that.”

What’s absurd is that buffoon speaking on an issue he knows nothing about.

Then, we have victims of mind melt; their brain has been washed by the relentless propaganda dished out to Americans on a daily basis for decades:

Des Moines Register publishes gun-ban column advocating deadly violence against NRA, GOP leaders

“In a column that appeared after the shooting with the headline “Kaul: Nation needs a new agenda on guns,” he proposed a new liberal agenda: repeal the Second Amendment, declare the NRA a terrorist organization and make membership illegal, and well, make violent threats to Republican leaders and NRA members. The Des Moines Register published this junk on December 29.

“I would tie Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, our esteemed Republican leaders, to the back of a Chevy pickup truck and drag them around a parking lot until they saw the light on gun control,” he wrote. Is that a threatening James Byrd reference? “And if that didn’t work, I’d adopt radical measures,” he continued. This was how he spelled out the other agenda items, which included killing NRA members who wouldn’t surrender their arms:” (Rest at link above)

Naturally, Butch Napolitano’s thugs from the Department of Fatherland Security ignored promoting the murder of NRA members.

Over the past few years, great effort has been made to reach out to sheriffs across the country as the tyranny coming out of the Outlaw Congress and various unconstitutional agencies continue to terrorize Americans over things like raw milk. Actually, Jack McLamb’s association, Police & Military Against The New World Order, has been at it for more than a decade. Jack is a former police officer himself; a real gentleman. Former sheriff, Richard Mack, has been out there working hard, reaching out to sheriffs around the country.

They have been very successful. So successful, in fact, the carnival barker WH press secretary, Jay Carney, spewed this vomit with a straight face:

“CNSNews.com asked, “There have been 381 sheriffs that have signed on saying they would not enforce gun laws they believed were unconstitutional. Would the administration have a problem if local law enforcement did not enforce whatever gun package were to pass?”

“Carney responded that he had not seen the list of sheriffs. “I think as a general proposition we think that people ought to follow the law,” Carney told CNSNews.com. “As an absolute matter of fact in my view, and I think many other constitutional experts, there’s not a single measure in this package of proposals the president has put forward that in anyway violates the Constitution. In fact, they reflect the president’s commitment to our Second Amendment rights.”

I sincerely appreciate the work of Jack, Richard and all the sheriffs in this country who have stepped forward to show their support for the Second Amendment. However, the word sheriff appears no where in the U.S. Constitution making that office vulnerable to politicians who react with hysterical emotion instead of reason and logic.

Delaware leads nationwide move to strip county sheriffs of power

Law would fire sheriffs for defying gun control measures – Texas:

“The first effort emerged in Texas. Legislation proposed by Dallas Democratic Rep. Yvonne Davis would remove any sheriff or law enforcement officer who refuses to enforce state or federal laws. What’s more, it would remove any elected or appointed law enforcement officer for simply stating or signing any document stating that they will not obey federal orders. A gun lobbyist told Secrets, “Beware because once something like this is introduced in one state, it will be followed very quickly in several other states.”

The bill is H.B. 2127. Pray tell, Ms. Davis – just how do you intend to remove any sheriff in this state? They are elected by the people. One can hope that since our state legislature is controlled by Republicans, both houses, with a Republican governor, that bill won’t stand a chance. Texans might want to call their state rep and tell him/her you’re outraged Ms. Davis has introduced such a bill.

It’s not just a nationwide effort to limit their power, but to abolish the office of sheriff altogether. Mark my words, it’s coming.

Then, there are the imbeciles who have zero understanding of the meaning of the Second Amendment:

Utah Governor: “Utah Will Adhere to the Law” and Obey Federal Gun Laws

“As courageous state legislators enlist in the fight to repel the federal government’s assault on the Second Amendment, the governor of one western state is telling a liberty-minded state representative to stand down. Governor Gary Herbert of Utah recently called a pro-gun rights bill sponsored by a Utah state representative “an exaggeration” and encouraged the lawmaker to “adhere to the law.” This is not the level of support citizens of the Beehive State would expect from the man they elected to lead their state.”

Since 2005, Dr. Edwin Vieira has been trying to educate gun onwers and lawmakers about the constitutional militia. I’ve been trying, but running into a brick wall from individuals who simply ignore the history of the militia and the true meaning of the Second Amendment. Responses I get from private militia members here and in other states is “we don’t need the stinking state”. Such geniuses. I hate to break it to you fellas, but as “private” militias, you have zero legal authority to do anything other than target practice.

Last summer I wrote four working papers and one bill for our state legislature. One of the working papers is to reconstitute the constitutional militia. They were given to members of the legislature. Did I get any support from the militia groups in Texas? Not one that I’m aware of; after all, “We don’t need the state.”

Our legislature is going to do nothing about a constitutional sound money bill, Agenda 21, revitalizing the constitutional militia or the Seventeenth Amendment. I sent every Republican (they control both houses) a letter directing them to those working papers and the one bill I wrote .I included Dr. Vieria’s nine page presentation to the Montana banking committee on a constitutional sound money bill. It cost me about $350.00 for the printing and postage. I might as well have burned the money and not wasted my time. Despite efforts to get the word out to active groups here in Texas, few did anything in contacting state legislators and senators to get three bills written; I wrote one with the working paper. Because there was no pressure, those four issues will not be addressed by our legislature this session. Our legislature goes out of session May 27, 2013, until January 6, 2015. By then it will be too late. Don’t Mess With Texas is nothing but empty words.

I’ll say it again: militias around the country are doing great work in planning and preparing for disasters to help first responders. They are responsible, patriotic folks. But, there is a difference between the constitutional militia and private ones:

Are you doing your constitutional duty for “homeland security”?

“All this is no merely quaint story-telling about men attired in knee-britches and three-cornered hats, or the anachronistic and academic stuff of Colonial re-enactors and museums at Lexington and Concord. This is what “the Militia of the several States” actually were, codified in every relevant statute of every Colony and independent State throughout a period of almost 150 years prior to ratification of the Constitution. And therefore this is what “the Militia of the several States” still are, because that term incorporated in the Constitution must be interpreted in light of its historical antecedents as known to the Founding Fathers, and continue to be given the selfsame construction until the Constitution is amended (which, with the assistance of Providence, in this particular it never will be). See Eisner v. Macomber, 252 U.S. 189, 206 (1920). The only possible difference to be countenanced today actually amounts to an expansion: Now, with the legal emancipation of women, “the Militia of the several States” arguably includes all able-bodied females, who might be called to serve in some capacities in the most critical, last-ditch situations of State and National defense, freeing men for more arduous duties.

“So, constitutionally YOU very likely–indeed, almost surely–are a member of “the Militia of the several States” in the State in which you live. And, if so, the Constitution imposes a duty on YOU to keep and bear arms in the Militia for the defense of your State and Nation, because that is the meaning of the Militia: the people in arms, and therefore the people with arms. And, most importantly, their own arms: their own private property in their own personal possession.

“Moreover, because the duty to keep and bear arms is of constitutional stature, each individual enjoys an absolute constitutional right as against every level, department, or branch of government–National, State, and local–to fulfill that duty. Inasmuch as the Constitution requires all of We the People eligible for the Militia to possess their own private arms in their capacity as a governmental institution, then on no account, for no reason, and by the application of no power can any level of government disarm any of them. Indeed, to argue that any other branch of government may disarm the one branch of government that the Constitution specifically requires to be armed is so illogical as to verge on insanity.”

Private militia have no power despite the nasty, patronizing emails I get from men:

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Constitution.org

“I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people, except for a few public officials.”
— George Mason, in Debates in Virginia Convention on
Ratification of the Constitution
, Elliot, Vol. 3, June 16, 1788

Militia

“The militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves, … all men capable of bearing arms;…”
— “Letters from the Federal Farmer to the Republic”, 1788 (either Richard Henry Lee or Melancton Smith).
“Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man against his own bosom? Congress shall have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birth-right of an American … The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the People.”
— Tench Coxe, 1788.
“How we burned in the prison camps later thinking: What would things have been like if every police operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive? If during periods of mass arrests people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever was at hand? The organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and, notwithstanding all of Stalin’s thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt.”
— Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Nobel Prize winner and author of The Gulag Archipelago, who spent 11 years in Soviet concentration camps.
If we are ready to violate the Constitution, will the people submit to our unauthorized acts? Sir, they ought not to submit; they would deserve the chains that our measures are forging for them, if they did not resist.
— Edward Livingston
Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.
— Mao Zedong, Nov. 6, 1938, Selected Works, Vol. 2

The meaning of “militia”

The word “militia” is a Latin abstract noun, meaning “military service”, not an “armed group” (with the connotation of plurality), and that is the way the Latin-literate Founders used it. The collective term, meaning “army” or “soldiery” was “volgus militum”. Since for the Romans “military service” included law enforcement and disaster response, it might be more meaningfully translated today as “defense service”, associated with a “defense duty”, which attaches to individuals as much as to groups of them, organized or otherwise.

When we are alone, we are all militia units of one. When together with others in a situation requiring a defensive response, we have the duty to act together in concert to meet the challenge. Those two component duties, of individuals to defend the community, and to act together in concert with others present, when combined with a third component duty to prepare to do one’s duty and not just wait until the danger is clear and present, comprises the militia duty.

Real courage is found, not in the willingness to risk death, but in the willingness to stand, alone if necessary, against the ignorant and disapproving herd. — Jon Roland, 1976

Militia Duty: Defend. Co-operate. Prepare.

To understand the above motto is to understand the foundation of society and legitimate government and law.

What distinguishes those engaged in militia from an army

  1. The authority for militia is any threat to public safety.
  2. Those active in militia are usually not bound for a fixed term of service, or paid for it.
  3. Those active in militia cannot expect arms, supplies, or officers to be provided to them.
  4. No one has the authority to order militia to surrender, disarm, or disband.

……

“War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded sense of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse… A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares about more than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. As long as justice and injustice have not terminated their ever-renewing fight for ascendancy in the affairs of mankind, human beings must be willing, when need is, to do battle for the one against the other.” — John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), “The Contest In America,” Fraser’s Magazine, February 1862

…..

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable. — John F. Kennedy

…..

It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government. — Thomas Paine

The scene of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City

The scene of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City
Wed Feb 20, 2013 10:37AM GMT


By Dr. Kevin Barrett

Ellen Mariani’s petition to the Supreme Court sought to reinstate her wrongful death lawsuit against US government officials and others – a suit which had been denied, at lower levels, on the grounds that she had no standing to sue those responsible for her husband’s death! In fact, Ellen Mariani was cheated by lawyers who were secretly working for the other side, and by judges with massive conflicts of interest.”

On Tuesday, February 19, 2013, the United States Supreme Court slammed its door in the face of the last 9/11 family member seeking justice through the American legal system.

Ellen Mariani, whose husband Neil was murdered on September 11, 2001, had turned down more than a million dollars in government hush money to pursue the real 9/11 criminals in federal court.

After eleven years, two separate lawsuits, and an unbelievable series of encounters with corrupt lawyers and Israeli-American judges, Ellen Mariani has finally heard from the United States Supreme Court. And the Supreme Court’s message is loud and clear: There will be no truth, and no justice, concerning 9/11… at least not in the US court system.

Ellen Mariani’s petition to the Supreme Court sought to reinstate her wrongful death lawsuit against US government officials and others – a suit which had been denied, at lower levels, on the grounds that she had no standing to sue those responsible for her husband’s death! In fact, Ellen Mariani was cheated by lawyers who were secretly working for the other side, and by judges with massive conflicts of interest.

Vincent Gillespie of the Ellen Mariani Legal Defense Fund explains: “It’s politics. They don’t want any 9/11 cases to go forward… If this had come to trial, there’s all kinds of evidence that could have come out.”

Ellen Mariani’s case, like almost all 9/11-related litigation, was channeled through the courtroom of Judge Alvin Hellerstein. Gillespie charges:

“One of the problems was Judge Hellerstein. He’s an immense problem. First, we have Israeli defendants here. ICTS (the airline security company established in 1982 by members of Israeli intelligence) is one of the defendants. And Hellerstein is a Zionist Jew with all kinds of connections to the Jewish community. His sister lives in Israel, his son works in an Israeli law firm, he’s involved in a couple of Jewish organizations in New York. His wife is involved in a Jewish organization. Just that by itself is going to create a conflict of interest. He’ll want to protect Israeli defendants.”

Israeli defendants? Were there Israelis involved in 9/11?

Gillespie explains: “There were over 180 Israelis arrested on and around 9/11. The person overseeing that was Michael Chertoff, a dual national Israeli-American. And he sent them all back with a slap on the wrist for visa violations.”

Women enjoy being raped, says supreme court hopeful

MetroNews

Muhammad Daming Sunusi (
Muhammad Daming Sunusi (Picture: YouTube)

A budding supreme court judge has ignited public outrage by saying women enjoy being raped.

Muhammad Daming Sunusi made the quip during a vetting session for Indonesia’s highest court.

When asked his views on the death penalty for rapists, he replied: ‘The rapist and the victim of rape both enjoy it, so we must think carefully before imposing the death penalty.’

According to reports the parliamentary selection panel laughed at his comments, but drew immediate criticism on social media and from rights groups.

Mr Daming later apologised for the remark, which he said was ‘intended to break the ice’.

Speaking at a press conference he declared: ‘I apologise to the Indonesian public from the bottom of my heart. I realise those words shouldn’t have come out from anyone, let alone a justice hopeful.’

Despite the apology two political parties have already said they would vote against Mr Daming being elected as one of 23 judges at the court in Jakarta.

Women’s rights groups have also suggested the chief judge of Palembang high court be censured.

The Supreme Court reinterpreted the law about how money from corporations and unions could be spent on campaigns. Super PACs and other outside groups made possible by the court’s decision spent nearly $1 billion on advertising in federal races. J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Citizens United decision led to spending blitz in 2012

By Reity O’BrienemailAndrea Fulleremail

6:00 am, January 16, 2013 Updated: 9:58 am, January 16, 2013

Advertisement

The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision unleashed nearly $1 billion in new political spending in the 2012 election, with media outlets and a small number of political consulting firms raking in the bulk of the proceeds.

Spending records released by the Federal Election Commission show that throughout the 2012 election, corporations, unions and individuals that could take advantage of the high court’s ruling were responsible for about $933 million of the estimated $6 billion spent during the contest.

Nearly two-thirds of the new money — about $611 million — went to 10 political consulting firms, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis. All but one of the top 10 recipients bought advertising in various media markets on behalf of super PACs and nonprofits. Eighty-nine percent of the expenditures made to the top 10 went to spots attacking candidates, the data show.

“For some in the industry, it has been a definite boon,” said Dale Emmons, president of the American Association of Political Consultants. “This election appears to have set a new benchmark on the amount of money that could be spent, because there were no limits on what could be spent.”

The 2010 Citizens United decision and a lower-court ruling allowed unlimited donations to super PACs and nonprofits, independent groups that used the funds primarily to fund ad campaigns.

Media buyers keep only a fraction of the total spending — usually 15 percent, according to Federal Communications Commission records, with the rest going to media outlets.

The winners

The top recipient of independent spending among media buyers was Mentzer Media Services, the Towson, Md.-based media placement firm run by longtime GOP consultant Bruce Mentzer.

Mentzer attracted nearly $204 million from conservative super PACs and other outside groups. In a tough year for Republicans, only 26 percent of the candidates who were supposed to benefit from the ads won their races, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis.

The firm was the preferred vendor for the pro-Mitt Romney super PAC Restore Our Future, which paid Mentzer nearly $132 million to purchase air time in presidential battleground states.

A Mentzer employee who answered the phone declined to comment on the firm’s involvement in the 2012 election.

Second was Crossroads Media, which was paid about $163 million to buy media time for conservative super PACs and nonprofits in 2012. The firm is run by Michael Dubke, the former president of Americans for Job Security — a pro-Republican nonprofit and one of Crossroads’ top clients.

 

Read Full Article Here

By Nora Eisenberg
The Raw Story

["A Woman In The United States Military Crying" on Shutterstock]

Veterans groups claim that delays by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in processing combat-related mental health claims has contributed to the 6,500 veteran suicides each year, and filed a federal court case in July 2007 asking the courts to invervene. Friday — after five years of legal battle spearheaded by veterans advocates Veterans for Common Sense (VCS) and Veterans United for Truth, Inc (VUFT) — the U.S. Supreme Court, without comment, let stand a May 2012 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling on VA’s behalf.

The 2007 case, Veterans for Common Sense v. Shinseki, sought to hold VA — the second largest federal agency — responsible for the widespread delays and denials in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) associated with service in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, which has resulted in an astonishing 18 veteran suicides daily. In June 2008, Federal District Court Judge Samuel Conti of San Franscisco ruled that, though the plaintiffs had shown that veterans endure long waits for medical care and thereby suffer higher rates of suicide and post-traumatic stress disorder, an understaffed VA can not remedy the situation on its own. Instead, he said, it requires an intervention by Congress and even the President.

 

Read Full Article Here

Politics, Legislation and Economy News

Legislation – Politics  :  Hypocrisy – Special Interests

KBR: Kickbacks, Bribes, Ripoffs & War Racketee...

High court won’t hear case against Halliburton

AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has ruled out reviving lawsuits against Halliburton Corp. over insurgent ambushes that killed civilian truck drivers in Iraq.

In its order Tuesday, the court said it will not review a federal appeals court ruling that threw out suits filed by truckers and their families claiming that Halliburton and its former KBR Inc. subsidiary knowingly sent military supply convoys into danger on roads in the Baghdad area.

The attacks killed seven KBR drivers and injured at least 10 others in April 2004.

The appeals court said a federal law prohibits the lawsuits because it provides workers’ compensation to civilian employees injured while under contract with defense agencies.end of story marker

Oregon Guardsmen suing KBR for Iraq job

 

PORTLAND, Ore., Oct. 9 (UPI) — Lawyers say they will be watching the outcome of a civil case brought by members of an Oregon National Guard unit against defense contractor KBR.

Jury selection was scheduled to begin Tuesday in the case of Bixby et al vs. KBR. The plaintiffs are 12 members of the Oregon National Guard who were deployed to Iraq in 2003 shortly after the U.S.-led invasion. The unit’s charge included providing security at a water treatment plant damaged in the fighting, The (Portland) Oregonian reported.

KBR had been contracted by the Pentagon to repair infrastructure in Iraq. While working at the plant, KBR exposed the soldiers to sodium dichromate, a chemical containing carcinogenic compounds, the suit contends. Two soldiers have died of cancer and scores more report ongoing health problems as a result of being exposed to the chemical, the newspaper said.

Photos published in the newspaper taken by the soldiers show large piles of loose paper bags containing the chemical in an open-air storage facility. Soldiers say the chemical regularly blew in the wind and leached into the soil.

KBR said it took steps to curtail the chemical being released and did not knowingly expose soldiers to it.

Twelve members of the unit are plaintiffs in the case, a number trimmed down from 100 previous plaintiffs. A judge has said other soldiers will have the chance to pursue their lawsuits after the initial case is heard.

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