Nazi apologist still a KBOO Director

Becky Chiao - is now KBOO's Director after she resigned as President of KBOO's Board of Directors, but she brings the same limitations she had serving as President to her new position. In the recent past Becky's conservatism, her vaunted respect for some of Portland's political figures and her present employment with the Portland Police Dept. seem to have affected her judgment; expect more of the same.

On June 02, 2010, Lisa Loving had Alan Graf (Portland's "Hippi Lawyer") on her KBOO talk show as a guest - describing his experience with the Portland Police Department's very own Nazi sympathizer, Capt. Kruger. It seems that the good Captain got married at Hitler's summer villa in Germany, and he put together a memorial park for fallen Nazi soldiers in S.E. Portland. Alan Graf had other pertinent information to share: Saprize! saprize! Would ya believe it?! There seems to be extensive video and other testimony which documents Capt. Kruger's intolerance for diversity, and/ or for the "left" (anyone to the left of Hitler or Genghis Khan?) and his frequent, "gleeful" use of excessive violence. Who woulda thought?! Nazis, as I recall, weren't especially known for a kindlier, gentler approach - rather they retain a reputation as bullies and thugs and as fanatic racists. I would fail to see how Capt. Kruger could make any Portland citizen feel any safer. I also wonder if at least some of Kruger's fellow officers don't feel ambivalent about Kruger's status, because they must be tempted to question whether or not Kruger enhances citizen respect for its police force and/or jeopardizes their safety on the job.
(Source - http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2010/07/400845.shtml?discuss)

Becky Chiao had ruffled a number of KBOO's members because of comments she made when she called into Lisa Loving's talk show to defend Kruger. Of some interest to many KBOO members is the fact that Becky Chiao, until this Monday's board meeting, was the President of the KBOO board of directors. Becky spoke only for a few moments, but Becky's statements - on air and in a letter she later posted on KBOO's website - reveal more about her than I think she meant to divulge. (The audio recording of that show and Becky's letter can be found here: http://kboo.fm/node/21803 )

Becky Chiao called in to the program and defended Kruger and stated
"it is just an innocent hobby of his"; she thought Alan shouldn't deny Kruger his right to his own "ideology", "lifestyle", or "hobby".

Sorry, some of us citizens think that it is our right - even our DUTY - to insist that politicians and public servants SERVE only at our pleasure, and their ideologies are very much our business, especially since Capt. Kruger has been known to take out his ire upon peace demonstrators - types whose contrasting ideology is often that of Gandhi.

In Portland, I suspect that many taxpayers - as taxpayers - would like to exercise their right to cancel any future paychecks made out in the Capt.'s name. Unfortunately, as Beckie reminded Portland in a letter posted to KBOO (thank you Beckie!), Portland's oblivious political leadership has not taken any action about Kruger; Vera Katz and Police Chief Rosie Sizer, in particular, put their stamp of approval upon Kruger, so that fine officer, sic, remains a stain on Portland's police force.

(I will not hesitate to say, "Shame on Vera and Rosie!" I fully expect that this Kruger decision, among other decisions by Portland's political leadership, will eventually cost the City of Portland ever more in the way of out of court settlements to victims of police violence.)*

Certainly, right now with a city budget strained by a recession, Portland should question whether it can afford Capt. Kruger.

It may be relevant that Becky works for the Police Department in Risk Management. It is also relevant, I think, that Becky admits that she is "pretty conservative", and that she personally admires Vera & Rosie as "strong" women.

Given the lap dog status of our corporate media, some of us think that our independent media is more important now than ever before, and that our "watch dog' should, therefore, be ever more vigilant.

IMO, Beckie's avowed "admiration" for Portland's political leadership betrayed a certain lack of objectivity - much less a spirit of persistent inquiry. Left, right, and center - there's many in Portland who think that the media's first loyalty should be to all of Portland's citizens, black, white, and gay - NOT its politicians.

In Becky's letter, she described her remarks on air as an attempt to be "fair and reasonable" about Capt. Kruger. Sorry, I think its far from reasonable to look upon Kruger's Nazi fascination/admiration as "an innocent hobby" - if I may say so, I think it's insane. If a private citizen belonged to a white supremest group - one would hope that our police or the FBI would be keeping a close eye on him. Some of us think Kruger and any other Nazi lover in the Portland police force should return to civilian life so the proper authorities can more easily keep track of them.

Beckie's exceptional respect for leading political figures - feminine or not - and her "conservatism" are traits which I think jeopardizes her ability to be an aggressive watchdog for the public interest. For instance, Beckie had praise in her letter that Portland's Police Force has won awards for their excellence; some of Portland citizens look askance at an award for a city:
(Source link to www.portlandcopwatch.org )

• - where in the last year, an autistic teen was tasered,
• - where, in the last 8 years, there has been 4 police killings of an unarmed black man,
• - where 3 people in 5 years have been shot in the back by a police sniper while they were talking to a police negotiator.

In this Orwellian era I think any reward for "excellence" should automatically make us suspicious; haven't Obama and Kissinger both received the Nobel Peace Prize?! Just as the corporate media's endorsement of any - usually well funded - candidate should cause the prescient voter to write that particular candidate off our list, so, too, we citizens of Portland should not become less vigilant because of any such "award".

That Becky's contribution to the media's watchdog role is questionable, is one thing, but to have nearly every sitting board member come to her defense - not only excusing her lapse of judgment - but praising her as "courageous" and "open minded" is quite another.*** I'm sure that Becky is probably a very pleasant person to work with, but I would insist that Becky's ability to make positive contributions to an independent media outlet is mediocre at best.

Again I'll quote the wise gnome: "...the respected intellectuals< http://www.chomsky.info/interviews/20031028.htm>;in virtually every society are those who are distinguished by their conformist subservience to those in power. Others who take elementary human responsibilities seriously tend to suffer overwhelmingly in one form of repression or another."

In his own words Alan Graf says:
"Captain Kruger has a free speech right to his hobby !?! How about the right to abuse his authority and wreak violence on people exercising their right to free speech? Guess that's ok." Personally, I'd feel more comfortable if Alan Graf were on KBOO's Board.





Kathleen Bushman aka the Big Mouthed Frog

PS Becky - the Nazi Apologist resigned her office as KBOO Foundation President but still continues as KBOO's Nazi apologist Director. Is that what the members wanted when they elected her ?

*** This profuse praise for Becky littered KBOO's last board meeting of 7-26th, 2010.

Kucinich introduces a bill to prohibit the extrajudicial killing of US citizens

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) announced back in May of this year that he would introduce legislation that would end the practice of targeting U.S. citizens for extrajudicial killing after The Washington Post and The New York Times revealed that the Obama Administration was continuing the Bush-era policy of including U.S. citizens on lists of people to be assassinated without a trial.

Just about a month ago, JULY 30TH, Kucinich introduced the following bill - http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2010_cr/hr6010.html - but I'm sure that few Americans heard about it, cause there seems to be a media blackout on the bill.

I fully expect that the DLC will make sure that Kucinich has a strong - VERY well funded Democratic challenger to face the next time he runs for re-election, he or she will get Obama's endorsement, or the Dims will simply rig the voting machines. Well - Dennis will sure be welcome in the Green Party, but he will face the same problems in the Green Party. Unfortunately, we Greens face the same difficulties as progressive Democrats do: easily rigged voting machines, two party collusion to keep 3rd Party candidates off the ballot, and the main stream media's tendency to totally ignore 3rd Party candidates. If the Dims take Dennis on in his next race, at least the Dims may be forced to expose the real secret - our democracy is a myth.

- http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2010_cr/hr6010.html

111th CONGRESS 2d Session

H. R. 6010

To prohibit the extrajudicial killing of United States citizens, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

July 30, 2010

Mr. KUCINICH (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. FILNER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. STARK, Mr. ELLISON, and Mr. JACKSON of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Select Committee on Intelligence (Permanent Select), and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

---

A BILL

To prohibit the extrajudicial killing of United States citizens, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:

(1) On January 27, 2010, The Washington Post revealed that United States citizens have been included on lists maintained by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) to be assassinated.

(2) The January 27 Washington Post article reported that the JSOC and CIA maintain lists of individuals deemed `High Value Targets' and `High Value Individuals', whom they seek to kill or capture, that the lists currently include United States citizens, and that the President has authorized military operations with the express understanding that a United States citizen may be killed.

(3) Admiral Dennis C. Blair, then the Director of National Intelligence, in testimony before the House Select Committee on Intelligence on February 3, 2010, confirmed the policy of including United States citizens on such lists, stating that `a decision to use lethal force against a U.S. citizen must get special permission' before the targeting of a United States citizen can be granted and that `being a U.S. citizen will not spare an American from getting assassinated by military or intelligence operatives overseas if the individual is working with terrorists and planning to attack fellow Americans.'

(4) The Obama administration has publicly authorized the extrajudicial killing of Anwar Al-Awlaki, a United States citizen born in New Mexico who is accused of involvement in terrorist organizations abroad, the first confirmed United States citizen to be added to a CIA list of targets for capture or killing.

(5) According to an article published in The Nation in November 2009, the private security contractor Blackwater Worldwide, now Xe Services, is intimately involved with the targeted assassination programs run by the CIA and JSOC in Pakistan.

(6) Department of Defense Instruction 1100.22, issued on April 12, 2010, states that `security is inherently governmental' and that the `U.S. Government has exclusive responsibility for discretionary decisions concerning the appropriate, measured use of combat power, including the offensive use of destructive or deadly force on behalf of the United States', particularly in operations that have virtually no transparency, accountability, or oversight.

(7) United States Attorney General Eric J. Holder recognized that the Department of Justice has successfully prosecuted many terrorism defendants in Federal courts, stating on Friday, November 13, 2009, that `for over two hundred years, our nation has relied on a faithful adherence to the rule of law to bring criminals to justice . . . Once again we will ask our legal system to rise to that challenge, and I am confident it will answer the call with fairness and justice'.

(8) Executive Order 12333 (46 Fed. Reg. 59941; relating to United States intelligence activities), issued by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, stated, `No person employed by or acting on behalf of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, assassination'.

(9) Executive Order 11905 (41 Fed. Reg. 7703; relating to United States foreign intelligence activities), issued by President Gerald Ford in 1976, stated, `No employee of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, political assassination'.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that--

(1) due process of law is a fundamental principle in the United States Constitution, the United States has a commitment to the principles included in the Bill of Rights, and no United States citizen, regardless of location, can be `deprived of life, liberty, property, without due process of law', as stated in Article XIV of the Constitution;

MORE GO TO ORIGINAL

Today I want to share today's LUV - a free news service to which I subscribe. This excellent news source keeps me well informed no matter how busy I get; I can't recommend it highly enough. It brings each day's important news items to my attention, and provides whatever background information may be necessary to put any particular event into a comprehensible context.

DEMOCRATS THWART DEMOCRACY

When the Democratic National Committee gets involved in a primary election, their primary fear is that democracy might somehow break out. In their blackest nightmare, someone like Dennis Kucinich, who actually represents the public interest in wanting to end the wars, cut the defense budget and provide public health care, as polling shows do the American people, would become the Democratic Party candidate for president.

The system works to not allow a candidate who represents the public interest to get publicity for their campaign through the tightly-controlled corporate media, nor to appear in debates, or in most cases, even to appear on a ballot. There are thousands of hoops to jump through for this, and even a Green Party of millions has a difficult time getting on the ballot in many states. The ruling Forces of Greed (FOG) fear democracy more than anything else, guarding against it here and with nearly a thousand military bases abroad (in case it should break out somewhere else, and they might lose control of the local natural resources, access to consumers or cheap labor).

Democratic activists, not seeming to understand that actual democracy is not allowed, recently tried to get rid of the "superdelegate" rule which allows mostly DNC inside Party corporatists to have veto power over the popular vote in Democratic primaries, superdelegate votes far more powerful than votes of us mere peasants, so that if someone like Kucinich, Barbara Lee, Marcy Kaptur or the likes should do well in an election, they can easily be replaced by a corporatist stooge acceptable to the establishment, including the ruling FOG, the National Security State, and their extremely compliant mass media on behalf of corporate greed at any cost.

But the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee would not hear of it. Superdelegates stay, Democracy continues to be thwarted, ironically by those who run a political party which goes by the bizarre euphemism "Democratic." Thankfully for the Dems, most of their rank and file haven't figured out the scam and continue to line up to have their votes altered.

---

KATIE COURIC: WAR IS GOOD FOR WOMEN, SO LET'S KEEP IT GOING!

Activists are upset that Katie Couric has allowed propaganda messages on CBS News to make it appear that Afghan women are better off under the corrupt government put in power by the US, and that life will be hell for them if US troops should ever leave.

Much of this pro-war line came from a propaganda story in Time Magazine, which has a long record of supporting war and corporate greed against the public interest.

For years we have been running reports at LUV News by Afghan women saying things are worse for females under the brutal warlords installed by the US government, as at least the Taliban protected women and girls from rape and murder which have become far more common under the warlords. There are as many religious fanatics in the current Afghanistan government as under the Taliban, some even advocating for extremely misogynist sharia laws to become the legal code of the land.

---

HIDING POISONED MAKEUP

Corporate Crime Reporter has a piece this morning showing that the cosmetics industry is fighting efforts to regulate them, so that their products are free of harmful ingredients. They don't want you to know how dangerous their products might be.

Some time ago we ran a story showing that many lipsticks had lead in them, and that it can cause brain damage if ingested.

Our corporations control the Food and Drug Administration so that they don't have to worry about any consequences from poisoning their customers. Campaign financing bribes allow them to put their people in charge of the agency, and of course, write the related laws in Congress.

---

When our government accuses you of being a terrorist without evidence being made public, even if you are an American citizen you can be murdered by government agents without having had a fair trial in a court of law, as things stand today. You are not given an opportunity to prove your innocence, and if a lawyer tries to represent you, the lawyer can get twenty years in prison just for giving you advice, and a million dollar fine (accused of aiding the enemy in times of war).

Any of us, of course, can be accused of being a terrorist, at any time, and subject to this. If it should happen to you, there is no place to appeal, nowhere to go for help, the highest levels of government will be on the side of murdering you, so you shouldn't even try to contact them.

These are the draconian rules of a fascist state. Thankfully, Bill Quigley is doing something about it, and tells us, following, about his actions to bring back the rule of law, as our "war on terrorism" takes us down a rabbit hole into a world of insanity --Jack

Why We Sued to Represent Anwar Aulaqi

By BILL QUIGLEY

Anwar Aulaqi is a US citizen and Muslim cleric living somewhere in Yemen. The US has put him on our terrorist list and is trying to assassinate him. The Center for Constitutional Rights and the ACLU filed suit today so we can be pro bono lawyers for his father, Nasser Aulaqi, to stop the government from killing him.

We filed suit today challenge the US requirement that lawyers must seek permission from the government before we can provide free pro bono legal representation to a US citizen.

This case will not decide whether the US can legally assassinate US citizens or anybody else. This case is about whether the government can deny pro bono lawyers to US citizens who the government accuses of being terrorists. Once we win the right to be lawyers for his father, we will challenge the constitutionality of the US efforts to kill him.

The barrier to us becoming lawyers is a set of rules enacted by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (usually called OFAC) which is a part of the Treasury Department. US law essentially prohibits trading with the enemy in a time of war. OFAC regulations go further and prohibit lawyers from giving free representation to people on the terrorist list unless the government gives them permission. Violations trigger punishment of up to 20 years in jail and fines of up to one million dollars.

We think the US Constitution overrules these OFAC regulations. The First Amendment protects the right of non-profit lawyers and legal organizations to give pro bono legal representation to any US citizen. The Fifth Amendment protects the right of citizens to have that legal representation.

We know this is a controversial case. Representing someone accused of being a terrorist is a tough decision. CCR is a human rights organization. We condemn all killing of civilians for political purposes by any government or any organization or any individual.

What this case is really about is not Aulaqi but about our government disregarding the rule of law.

There are many reasons we can argue that premeditated killing by the government off the battlefield is illegal. The rule of law guaranteed by the US constitution binds even the President of the US and the military. Our constitutional system of checks and balances does not allow the executive branch of government to just decide in secret that they are going to kill people. The government certainly could not just execute him if he was in the US. The US would not allow other governments to come here and assassinate someone they opposed. And the US would never just fire drone strikes into the UK, China, Russia or Australia to kill someone. Yemen is over a thousand miles away from the battlefield of Afghanistan or Iraq. So why would anyone think it is legal to assassinate a US citizen in Yemen?

Despite these questions, Aulaqi has been the target of several unsuccessful drone strikes as the US military and CIA are actively trying to kill him.

These are all issues that should be decided in a court of law. That is why we are filing this suit.

His father, Nasser, said it best. If the government has proof his son violated the law, then they should charge him in public and let the law take its course.

If the government can find him to assassinate him, they can find him to bring him to justice.

The right to go to court to challenge the government is a core US value. It is important that we win the right to represent him no matter how controversial he is. Otherwise the government can deprive citizens of their right to a lawyer at the exact same time as they are trying to kill them. The courts should make these decisions and people deserve the right to have lawyers try to challenge the government. That is what we are after and that is fair.

http://www.counterpunch.org/quigley08032010.html

Bill Quigley is legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights and a law professor at Loyola University New Orleans. His email is quigley77@gmail.com

---

If you wish to be removed from this list, please let us know

To join the Liberty Underground news service email libertyuv@hotmail.com with "join" for a subject

You may also join our talk group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/libertyundergroundtalk/ if you would like to participate

email: libertyuv@hotmail.com

Tell your friends about LUV News because some people just don't get it