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Done like a Dinner
by sham Monday, Sep 27 2010, 10:19am
international / prose/poetry / literature

bait taken,
the vixen is off
and running
with every flawed expectation
and personality failing,
running nowhere
or rather into a trap
it helped create
for itself.

a simple turn of the screw
a deft twist of the wrist
et viola!
a master craftsman
at work
a juggler extraordinaire
admires
another superb
performance.

another trickster,
deceiver and
(inept) manipulator
dispatched,
for all to see --
exposed for the vile
dishonest,
hateful thing it
really is.

ya gotta laugh
when the prey
takes the bait
with a dog’s relish
and self-satisfied grin --
its empty, soulless eyes
scanning for danger
in all the wrong places.

an aberration,
a sick surprise
wrapped
in coloured cellophane
and tied with string
(ribbons are at a premium).

manoeuvred,
played
and gently
landed

a job well done,
a locked door
flung open
to reveal the ugliness
hidden inside.

the gallery gasps
at such duplicity
and treachery
though
the juggler was aware
from the start.

nothing more extraordinary
than a disingenuous fake,
a counterfeit coin
among real tender,
a very bad imitation.



Police State warnings ignored, now this:


These raids were pre-empted -- of course they will result in various movements going underground and adopting different tactics and strategies. We repeat for the benefit of the hearing deaf and the seeing blind -- ANONYMITY IS POWER. Americans are very hard learners! Have we 'got it' now?


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FBI Serves Terrorism Warrants in Minnesota, Chicago
by staff report via reed - AP Monday, Sep 27 2010, 11:26am

September 24, 2010 -- MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The FBI said it searched eight homes in Minneapolis and Chicago as part of a terrorism investigation on Friday, and two subjects said the agency is targeting leaders of the anti-war movement.

FBI spokesman Steve Warfield told The Associated Press agents served six warrants in Minneapolis and two in Chicago.

"These were search warrants only," Warfield said. "We're not anticipating any arrests at this time. They're seeking evidence relating to activities concerning the material support of terrorism."

The home of Minneapolis anti-war activists Mick Kelly and Jess Sundin were among those searched, they told the AP.

"The FBI is harassing anti-war organizers and leaders, folks who opposed U.S. intervention in the Middle East and Latin America," Kelly said before agents confiscated his cell phone.

Sundin called the suggestion they were connected with terrorism "pretty hilarious and ridiculous."

Warfield said he couldn't comment on whose homes were searched or give details on why because it's an ongoing investigation. "There's no imminent threat to the community," he said.

The searches were first reported by the Star Tribune.

Sundin said she wasn't certain exactly what kinds of information the FBI was after or who else had been searched in either city.

An FBI SWAT team entered first "and looked for pointy things. And then they left and the FBI agents came in and looked through everything in the house," she said.

The agents took "computers, several boxes of papers, everything related to data like discs," Sundin said.

Both Sundin and Kelly were organizers of a mass march on the first day of the Democratic National Convention in St. Paul two years ago, and recently appeared at a news conference to announce plans for another protest if Minneapolis is selected to hold the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

Police estimated the peaceful march drew 10,000 protesters; organizers put the figure at 30,000. Other protests were marked by destructive acts by anarchists. More than 800 people were arrested during the four days of the convention, including Sundin and Kelly.

Sundin said they've already sought permits for 2012, "something I don't think terrorists would do."

The FBI's spokesman in Chicago, Ross Rice, would only say two searches were conducted Friday in Chicago and that there were no arrests. He declined comment further.

Asked about the reports, the U.S. Attorney's office spokesman in Chicago, Randy Samborn, confirmed warrants were served in the city "in connection with a law enforcement investigation." He also declined to provide details.

Associated Press Writer Michael Tarm in Chicago contributed to this report.

© 2010 The Associated Press.

Will They Raid My Home For Writing This?
by Mary Shaw via reed - ICH Tuesday, Sep 28 2010, 7:48pm

It's like McCarthyism all over again.

On September 24, FBI agents raided the homes of some anti-war activists in Chicago and Minneapolis on suspicion that they were providing material support to terrorism.

This follows only a few weeks after it was discovered that Pennsylvania's Office of Homeland Security had been spying on activist groups in the Keystone State.

The Chicago Tribune quotes one of the harassed activists in Minnesota as calling the searches "an outrageous fishing expedition."

Indeed. But this is apparently how our tax dollars are being used.

Apparently the authorities still subscribe to the George W. Bush-style assumption that if you're not in lockstep with the government's policies, then you must be with the terrorists.

And the Bush administration's knee-jerk, fear-based policies in response to 9/11 have arguably made it legal for agencies to conduct these witch hunts.

The Patriot Act broadened the definition of domestic terrorism to an extent that it "may have a chilling effect on the U.S. and international rights to free expression and association," says Amnesty International USA.

Amnesty continues: "The law defines 'domestic terrorism' as acts committed in the United States 'dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws,' if the U.S. government determines that they 'appear to be intended' to 'influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion,' or 'to intimidate or coerce a civilian population.' Such ambiguous language allows for loose interpretation that might violate civil liberties and international human rights."

As we're seeing right now.

To further complicate things, as I wrote back in June regarding Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it is not unconstitutional for the government to block speech and other forms of advocacy supporting a foreign organization that has been officially (and arbitrarily) labeled as terrorist, even if the aim is to support such a group's peaceful or humanitarian actions.

Coincidentally, the Justice Department's Inspector General released a timely report last week after a review of FBI crackdowns on peace and social justice activists during the George W. Bush administration. The report is rather critical of the FBI.

The ProPublica Blog summarizes:

"The FBI activities reviewed by the Justice Department took place from 2001 to 2006, and involved groups including the Thomas Merton Center (a Pittsburgh social justice center), People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Greenpeace, The Catholic Worker (communities of religious pacifists) and a Quaker peace activist.

"The report by the Justice Department watchdog didn't find that the FBI targeted these groups on the basis of their free speech activities - which would be a serious violation of FBI guidelines - but did fault the agency for other reasons, most notably a 'factually weak' basis for opening investigations.

"'FBI agents and supervisors sometimes provided the [Office of the Inspector General] with speculative, after-the-fact rationalizations for their prior decisions to open investigations that we did not find persuasive,' the report said.

"The report also found that that the FBI unnecessarily classified its probes as domestic terrorism investigations, even though some of the potential crimes were trespassing or vandalism - acts not normally considered to be terrorism. This classification resulted in several individuals improperly being placed on terrorism watchlists.

 

"The Inspector General also found that the FBI gave 'inaccurate and misleading' explanations to justify its attendance at a 2002 rally against the Iraq war organized by the Merton Center."

How much farther do they have to go before this becomes an actual police state?

Or is it already?

And will they raid my home for writing this?

Copyright applies.


 
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