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Sunday, September 9, 2007

Blasts From The Past.....News Stories You Shouldn't Forget!

Foreign Privatization of America’s Infrastructure

We will soon be paying Wall Street investors, Australian bankers, and Spanish contractors for the privilege of driving on American roads as more than 20 states have enacted legislation allowing public-private partnerships to build and run highways. Investment firms including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and the Carlyle Group are approaching state politicians with advise to sell off extraordinarily valuable transportation infrastructure. When advising state officials on the future of this vital public asset, these investment firms fail to mention that their sole purpose is to pick up infrastructure at the lowest price possible in order to maximize returns for investors. Investors, more often than not foreign companies, are charging tolls and often insist on “noncompete” clauses that limit governments from expanding or improving nearby roads. Quiet plans are underway for the mega-project, NAFTA Super Highway, which would run a huge, privatized expressway from the Mexican border to the Canadian border to begin construction in 2007.

If you've never believed in UN AGENDA 21 before, the above story is proof that you'd better believe it NOW.

Check these links as well:

“The Highwaymen” Daniel Schulman with James Ridgeway. Mother Jones, 2/2007
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/01/highwaymen.html

“ Bush Administration Quietly Plans NAFTA Super Highway” Jerome R. Corsi, Human Events, 6/12/2006 http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=15497

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No Habeas Corpus for “Any Person”

Researched by Julie Bickel

With the approval of Congress and no outcry from corporate media, the Military Commissions Act (MCA), signed by Bush on October 17, 2006, ushers in military tribunal law for US citizens and non-citizens alike. While media have given false comfort that we, as American citizens, will not be the victims of the draconian measures legalized by this Act — such as military roundups, torture, life-long detention without court trial— articles below disclose verbiage in the MCA that allows for the institution of a military alternative to the constitutional justice system for “any person” regardless of American citizenship. The MCA did away with habeas corpus rights for “any person” arbitrarily deemed to be an “enemy of the state.” The judgment on whom is deemed an “enemy combatant” is solely at the discretion of President Bush. “And once that happens,” says Thom Hartmann, “you no longer have the right to challenge your detention. You don’t have the right to a lawyer, or to a trial, or to a jury. You don’t have the right to talk to anybody; you have no rights whatsoever. That’s what no habeas corpus means. They can put you in prison and torture you for the rest of your life.”

Check The Links:

“Who Is 'Any Person' in Tribunal Law?” Robert Parry, Consortium, 10/19/2006
http://consortiumnews.com/2006/101906.html

“ Still No Habeas Rights for You” Robert Parry, Consortium, 2/3/2007
http://consortiumnews.com/2007/020307.html

“ Repeal the Military Commissions Act and Restore the Most American Human Right” Thom Hartmann, Commondreams, 2/12/2007
http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0212-24.htm

“The Facts About the Military Commission Act” Bob Avakian, Revolution, 10/8/2006
http://rwor.org/a/064/torturelaw-en.html

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Bush’s Move Toward Martial Law

Researched by Julie Bickel

The Defense Authorization Act of 2007," which was quietly signed by Bush on October 17th, 2006, the same day that he signed the Military Commissions Act, allows the president to station troops anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in order to "suppress public disorder." By revising the two-century-old Insurrection Act, the law in effect repeals the Posse Comitatus Act and gives Bush the legal authority to order the military onto the streets of America, directing military operations against the American people under the cover of ‘law enforcement.’ The law facilitates militarized police round-ups and detention, transferring from the Pentagon to local militarized police units, the latest technology and weaponry designed to suppress dissent. Frank Morales asserts that “with the president’s polls at an historic low… and Democrats taking back the Congress… it is particularly worrisome that President Bush has seen fit, at this juncture to, in effect, declare himself dictator.”

“Bush Moves Toward Martial Law” Frank Morales, Uruknet, 10/ 26/2006
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=27769 or http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/10/28/18324231.php

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MEFTA: Wal-mart and Target Profit of Jordanian Slaves

Researched by Morgan Ulery and Mayra Madrigal

Major U.S. companies, including Wal-Mart, Target, Kohl's, Victoria's Secret and L.L. Bean, are buying apparel from sweatshops in Jordan under a three-way trade deal that binds the Arab nation to Israel and the United States. A report by the New York-based National Labour Committee says that the U.S-Jordan Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has descended into human trafficking and "involuntary servitude." Part of the FTA, the Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZs) programme, launched by Washington in 1998 as an economic dividend for Jordan's peace agreement with Israel, gives products from the zones duty-free and quota-free access to the U.S. market as long as the Arab nation sources at least eight percent of their content from an Israeli manufacturer. Both the United States and Israel are seeking to replicate this model in numerous trade deals with other countries in the Arab world, under Pres. George W. Bush's plan for a Middle East Free Trade Area (MEFTA), which would tie all 22 Arab states with the U.S. and Israel in a trade deal by 2013.

“U.S., Israel, Jordan Pact Created Havens for Servitude” Emad Mekay, Inter Press Service 5/ 3/06
http://civillibertarian.blogspot.com/2006/05/us-israel-jordan-pact-created-near.html

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