As you all know I have been in the process of assembling legal assistance in dealing with the onslaught of dangerous incitements occurring associated with the New York 911 Truth movement, as well as myriad documented cases of threats that have been occurring.

It has come to my attention that a website 911Researchers.com has run an opinion piece as follows:

Enemy Combatant Status: Render John Albanese to a Black Site?
Submitted by Fred on Tue, 2007-02-06 14:56.

"It is my personal opinion based solely on the email presented here that John Albanese might be a dangerous lunatic who poses a threat to the American way of life. If he poses a clear and present danger to the security of our homeland and to himself, I feel it would be for the best if he were placed in a secret black location where interrogators could use enhanced methods to achieve greater effectiveness in getting the truth out of him. I feel in my gut that he could be an Al Qaida operative, based on the language he uses in that email. As a general rule, it seems to me that any dangerous character making threats could be some kind of "enemy combatant" and should be treated as such."

It is with sadness that I must report that it has been communicated to me by several of the most prominent members of the New York 911 Truth movement that prolific 9/11 blogger and "researcher" Nico Haupt has been positively identified as having taped inflammatory photos - including photos of swastikas and excrement - to the walls of St Marks Church in New York City.

A frequent gathering place of various non-denomination grassroots activist groups, as well as events featuring dance, poetry and film showings, St. Marks Church is also unofficial home to www.NY911Truth.org.

According to Les Jamieson, leader of the NY group:

"On Sunday Jan. 21st Nico Haupt came to our Sunday event at St. Marks Church. He interrupted it and caused a huge disturbance. When people tried to oppose him he just cursed them out. Then he taped a printout of the email below (archive) on the wall. I'm sorry for any shock or disgust you'll experience, but I think it's important that this be seen."

The email went on to include photos depicting prominent 9/11 activists and Websites - including 911Blogger - depicted as associated with nazi imagery, swastikas, concentration camps and excrement.

According to Nico Haupt himself:

"We're" doing this boldly because the purpose *IS* actually to indeed destabilize the top of this structure or to confuse and weaken the self-appointed leadership of this 9/11 "truth" movement.
It is done to minimize their "limited hangout" manipulations, their abusive power and to make sure that the leadership will not be replaced by similar elements.
I consider the 9/11 Truth Movement as a CULT.
We're all currently 'victims' of this cult concept, among them honest and once respected 9/11 Researchers plus former members of the 9/11 Science and Justice Alliance (2002-2006). "

I would like to commend the leadership of 911Blogger in the restraint they have shown in last several months, as the work of Nico Haupt and other activists in the movement have engaged in similar type attacks.

Unfortunately, the behavior of Mr Haupt has now transcended into the realm of legally actionable behavior. This no longer is an issue of competing theories and schools of 9/11 research - as Mr Haupt would have us believe. Mr. Haupt has now crossed a very dangerous legal red line that assaults the sensibilities and safety of the community. It is my opinion that placing swastikas on the wall of a church - dedicated towards serving the needs of the community - is a hate crime, and must be reported and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

It is therefore with sadness that I must report this to our community.

911 Truth Legal Defense Fund

I am proud to announce the formation of the 911 Truth Legal Defense Fund. As many of you know there has been a new surge of attacks against members of this movement by individuals engaging in intimidation tactics, thinly veiled threats, blackmail and online smear campaigns.

As the producer of a soon to be released film on this very subject I have found myself at the focal point of much of this internal conflict, with various members of the movement contacting me from all over this nation expressing their personal fears and anxiety over the veracity of some of these attacks. It is funny to note that these attacks are succeeding in uniting a long-splintered movement, with members whom I have not spoken to in years contacting me to report incidences of intimidation tactics.

I have chosen a release date of February 19, 2007 - Presidents Day - to release my new film "Disinformation in the Information Age."

When I originally started working on this project i viewed it as a somewhat humorous aside to my more important project, which is the 3 hour revision of "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime."

Disinformation - misinformation - crazy theories - wacky websites - etc, etc, have always been a part of the 9/11 Truth movement, and I simply thought it would be fun to explore this topic - show some humor - and demonstrate our ability to laugh at ourselves.

But, like my experience in 2002 when i first started unraveling some of the strange anomalies associated with 9/11 itself, i discovered that i was peeling an onion and uncovering layer upon layer of hidden anomalies and facts that each it turn demanded further digging. I started to lose my sense of humor when I realized the depth of disrespect some of these purveyors of disinformation were showing towards - not only their fellow researchers - but towards the victims and their families themselves.

We are hearing the reports now of a leader beset on all sides by failure, and the inequity of dissention. A president increasingly entrenched in a self-imposed cocoon of desperation, surrounded by second-string neo-conservative ideologues who continue to peddle him false hope, against all hope, of pulling victory from the mouth of defeat. Like a child playing chess George Bush simply will not accept defeat, futilely moving his last few pawns into position around a lone king, with neither the common sense or decency to resign.

These are, after all, human lives he is playing with.

I have always disliked the phrase "liberal gatekeepers." I always felt that the phrase itself smacked of sour grapes, and seeks to blame otherwise sincere members of the media who we have failed to reach with reasoned and well-formed arguments on 9/11.

I now feel forced to rethink this position.

Many of us are growing frustrated by the ongoing attacks by the liberal gatekeepers against the 9/11 Truth movement. They do indeed appear to be mounting. Most notably Alexander Cockburn, The Nation and Noam Chomsky have weighed in on this issue.

I think it is important to put some perspective on this issue. I am therefore reprinting this excellent article from 1994, which illustrates a mode of operation that can only be described as baffling - and (shudder) "Left Gatekeeping."

http://www.webcom.com/~lpease/media/cockburn.htm

Alexander Cockburn and Noam Chomsky vs. JFK: A Study in Misinformation

INTRODUCTION
In early 1992, after the release of Oliver Stone's film JFK a media thundercloud erupted.

After early attacks in mainstream media like the Chicago Tribune and Washington Post, many other alternative media of both the left and right began to run articles on the film including outlets like "The Village Voice", for which Alexander Cockburn used to write. To the surprise of many, when some of these supposed leftist media organs did chime in, they savaged the film as wildly as the mainstream press did. These outlets were, specifically, The Progressive, Z magazine, and The Nation. The writers were, respectively, the late Erwin Knoll, Noam Chomsky, and Alexander Cockburn. Chomsky then wrote a book, Rethinking Camelot to specifically attack one of the main theses of JFK, namely that Kennedy had intended to withdraw from Vietnam by 1965.

Congress demands anthrax probe answers
FBI had refused, citing concerns about possible investigation leaks
By Joel Seidman and Ken Strickland
Producers
NBC News
Updated: 3:20 p.m. ET Dec 12, 2006
WASHINGTON - In a strongly worded letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales demanding an FBI briefing for members of congress on the ongoing investigation into the anthrax attacks five years ago, thirty-three lawmakers, from both sides of the aisle, joined Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., in demanding investigators tell them what they have learned in the unsolved case.

The FBI has, so-far, refused, citing concerns about possible leaks. But the lawmakers say in their letter that the FBI's response - a blanket prohibition against any further anthrax briefings - is out of line. The letter states that FBI agents themselves may have been leaking sensitive information about the case to the news media when a former scientist who once worked at the Army's infectious disease laboratory at Fort Detrick, Md., became the focus of the investigation.

"Given recent revelations that FBI agents were the anonymous sources for New York Times stories casting suspicion on "person of interest" Stephen Hatfill, it appears that the FBI may itself be responsible for the inappropriate disclosures of sensitive case information," according to the letter sent today to the Justice Department.

Patrick Leahy – 9.11 Truth’s Best Chance for Justice?

Is there any hope that Congress will reopen 9.11 for investigation? Many of us have been wondering this since the historic election results of early November handing Democrats a majority in both houses of Congress.

Many of us are rightfully jaded. The democrats in many respects have been complicit in the cover-up of many of the most important facts and questions associated with that day.

But, we should not entirely give up hope. The political tides are changing, and there is perhaps one glimmer of hope that we should all consider actionable.

In October of 2001 Senator Patrick Leahy was one of two democrats targeted in the Anthrax attacks (which was later verified to have originated in US military bio-weapons labs). These attacks helped to usher in the Patriot Act which Leahy had opposed.

According to Paul Thompson’s timeline:

"On October 4, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman and future anthrax target Patrick Leahy (D) accuses the Bush administration of reneging on an agreement on the anti-terrorist bill. Leahy is in a key position to block or slow the bill."

And then in late September 2006 Senator Patrick Leahy posed the following questions:

This story is just breaking on MSNBC and CNN - so there are no details yet - but it will be interesting to see exactly who this American is and what he was planning.

He will, of course, be portrayed as another John Walker or Jose Padilla - but - we should look carefully to see if there are any telltales signs that he has any 'connections.'

For example - Nick Berg - the American beheaded in Iraq - it was confirmed shared an email account with Zacarias Moussaoui. The FBI contends to this day that this was simply a bizarre coincidence and Berg had given the password to Moussaoui in a bus terminal where they had met and struck up a friendship.

Sure.

Bizarre coincidences like this deserve to be treated with a certain level of incredulity from the public, and if this "American" arrested in Egypt has even the appearance of being "connected" to any "bizarre coincidence" we need to be prepared to confront it.

If 9/11 was designed to herald in a broader agenda of American hegemony, it stands to reason that Iran remains on a very short list of targets.

I early bloggered here: http://911blogger.com/node/4214 that Debka was reporting a buildup of carrier groups in the region. There was some debate as to whether Debka is a reliable source (which I agree - it is speculative at best) – but there is some circumstantial evidence indicating that the build-up is indeed occurring – including a story I found that ran in the Navy Times – as well as this recent and startling story that Iran took photos of one such carrier group utilizing spy planes:

http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_18867.shtml

And now Debka is reporting this:

USS Boxer Strike Group, entered the Persian Gulf Thursday, Nov. 9, the largest US landing force to reach this water in a decade

The Boxer Expeditionary Strike Group (BOXESG) now in the US Fifth Fleet area headquartered in Bahrain, consists of Boxer (picture), Amphibious Squadron 5, the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Seals), the Coast Guard cutter Midgett and
Canadian frigate HMCS Ottawa, as well as the USS Dubuque, USS Comstock, the largest landing craft in the US Navy, USS Bunker Hill and the guided missile destroyers USS Benfold and USS Howard.

Hope For the Best – And Prepare For the Worst

My wife and I watched the HBO documentary last night on DieBold electronic voting machines with clenched teeth and tears in our eyes. These machines are as crooked as a dog’s hind leg – and no one appears to care.

The documentary ended on a particularly poignant note. After gaining the cooperation of a Florida polling official to test his machines, a simple memory card which is used to hold tabulated votes, (infected with malicious software) corrupted and skewed the results of a test election, leaving no telltale signs of tampering. And with no paper trail, the crime was complete.

The cooperating poll worker, (a man who appeared to be in his late 50s) who had insisted that this sort of ‘hack’ was “impossible,” was reduced to tears, as the implications of what he had just witnessed, and what this meant for our democracy, sunk into his mind. Seeing this man crying for our democracy was an especially poignant moment that most Americans appear to fail to grasp.

What does this have to do with 9/11?

We all know the stakes. Our nation has spent billions to insert heavily, and apparently intentionally, compromised voting machines into our system. Could they get away with stealing another election?

US aircraft carriers USS Eisenhower and USS Enterprise in the Red Sea off the Saudi Arabian coast

November 1, 2006, 2:20 PM (GMT+02:00)

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower, and its accompanying carrier strike group, passed through the Suez Canal on Monday, Oct. 30, and arrived in the Red Sea on Tuesday, Oct. 31.

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that the USS Eisenhower is at sea off the Saudi Arabian coast, together with another aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise. The presence of the two US aircraft carriers, and their accompanying strike groups, in a body of water as small as the Red Sea is an extraordinary development.

So far there have been no indications that the USS Eisenhower arrived to replace the USS Enterprise.

US Intelligence director John Negroponte also is in the region. He was in Saudi Arabia over the weekend and in Cairo on Tuesday, and is due to arrive in Israel on Wednesday, Nov. 1.

With the arrival of the USS Eisenhower in the region, there are now three US aircraft carriers in the Persion Gulf and surrounding waters, including the USS Iwo Jima. Accompanying the USS Eisenhower are the guided-missile cruiser USS Anzio, the guided-missile destroyers USS Ramage and USS Mason and the nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine USS Newport.

With all the attention that the Military Commissions Act of 2006 is receiving - many of us have missed the companion legislation that George Bush signed into law along with it.

Public Law 109-364, the "John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007" was signed by the George Bush on October 17th, 2006.

This law, which was signed in a private Oval Office ceremony, allows the President to declare a "public emergency" and 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."

According to Senator Patrick Leahy, this law will actually encourage the President to declare federal martial law.

http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200609/091906a.html

President Bush signed this law on the same day that he signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006. The two laws complement one another. One allows for seizing, detaining and torturing U.S. citizens, while the other allows military onto the streets of America.

Taken together - these laws are the very essence of dictatorship - and the term is "martial law."

This law states:

"the President may employ the armed forces, including the National Guard in Federal service, to restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States..."

Matt Taibbi - Abusing the Truth
Crisis in America
by - John Albanese

It is a singularly disturbing attribute of any journalist, whether a creature of the right wing media – or left, to inject themselves so thoroughly into a story that they themselves BECOME the story. This is the stuff of narcissism and yellow journalism.

Matt Taibbi is not alone. We have all seen the Geraldo Rivera video clips involving prurient subject matter, designed to incite his guests, resulting in flying chairs and bloody noses. This does not pass for journalism. It is the job of journalists to report on accidents – not incite them.

At its best it is purely the stuff of entertainment - and Jerry Springer. At its worst it is intentional disinformation put out by major news networks like FoxNews who regularly incite their guests with an agenda of insults and spin, designed to make their ideological opponents look bad.

All of this may be entertaining to watch, but it is surely not the stuff of legitimate objective journalism.

And while it may be impossible for any reporter to truly remain a fly on the wall, truly objective and emotionally uninvolved in their story, (since journalism is in fact a product of the human experience) we do expect that journalists will at the very least attempt to limit their involvement in any given story to the bare necessities of reporting the facts to the public, with at least a basic foundation of personal integrity and fairness, even when editorializing.