What can we do to prevent people from being tortured for asking good questions? More generally, how can we respond effectively to abuses of power, in an era when the authorities and the media they own are ignoring most forms of peaceful protest?

After spending many hours of conversation with Father Frank Morales of St. Mark's Church during my recent trip to New York, I think I have an answer.

Frank Morales (who now stands beside David Ray Griffin and Rev. Rich Lang in my pantheon of Christian heroes) has been struggling against military and police abuses of power almost since I was in diapers. In my interview with him on 9/8/07 (archived free at: http://www.republicbroadcasting.org/get_archive.php?hn=Barrett&yr=07) and in private conversations that kept us up till the wee hours, Frank brilliantly analyzed the trends toward martial law and police state tactics. He pointed out that protesting OUTSIDE THE HOMES of those who abuse their power has often been the most effective way to apply pressure on malfeasant police and other authorities. In New York, the mere threat of doing this has gotten immediate results.

What can we do to prevent people from being tortured for asking good questions? More generally, how can we respond effectively to abuses of power, in an era when the authorities and the media they own are ignoring most forms of peaceful protest?

After spending many hours of conversation with Father Frank Morales of St. Mark's Church during my recent trip to New York, I think I have an answer.

Frank Morales (who now stands beside David Ray Griffin and Rev. Rich Lang in my pantheon of Christian heroes) has been struggling against military and police abuses of power almost since I was in diapers. In my interview with him on 9/8/07 (archived free at: http://www.republicbroadcasting.org/get_archive.php?hn=Barrett&yr=07) and in private conversations that kept us up till the wee hours, Frank brilliantly analyzed the trends toward martial law and police state tactics. He pointed out that protesting OUTSIDE THE HOMES of those who abuse their power has often been the most effective way to apply pressure on malfeasant police and other authorities. In New York, the mere threat of doing this has gotten immediate results.

What does it take to get on the no-fly list?

I’ve got all the qualifications and then some.

I’m an Irish Muslim anarchist —that’s three strikes against me already.

I think the two worst terrorist groups in the Middle East are the Israeli Defense Forces and their US military proxy—and I do not hesitate to voice that opinion, including under FBI interrogation.

And I devote most of my time and resources to spreading the news that 9/11 was an inside job.

For more than a year, I have been flying all over North America lecturing on 9/11. I usually wear the 9/11 WAS AN INSIDE JOB t-shirt Alex Jones gave me when I go through airport security. I tip the security people in deception dollars, and sometimes give them DVDs. I always make a point of urging the pilots and stewardesses on my flights to check out http://www.pilotsfor911truth.org

Despite all this, I somehow failed to make the no-fly list, or even the slow-fly list...until now.

continued at http://www.mujca.com/nofly.htm

Santander, Spain
September 4, 2007
On the night of September 1st in northern Spain’s port city of Santander, I, Gregory William Grisham Vento, U.S. and Spanish citizen, was peacefully exercising my right and duty of freedom of expression, with a large overhead protest sign, when I was arbitrarily and brutally arrested by several municipal police which spontaneously provoked a brief riot.

I am 47 years old, father of two and work and contribute to society like any other good citizen. I had affixed the sign to a post in a very popular square full of TGIF revellers. The public was generally very interested, delighted to talk to me and took turns taking pictures of their friends and loved ones under the sign. The two sided sing read on one side,(translated): 911 WAS AN INSIDE JOB www.investigar11s.org and on the other side: BU$HLADEN DEMOLITIONS INC. SPECIALTY IN TWIN TOWERS.

MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20298840/site/newsweek/page/0/

Smile … Or Else
‘Behavior Detection Officers’ are now watching passengers’ facial expressions for signs of danger. It’s a new level of absurdity for America.

By Patti Davis

Aug. 16, 2007 - It was bound to happen. Now even a frown or grimace can get you into trouble with The Man.

“Specially trained security personnel” will be watching passengers for “micro-expressions” that will reveal treacherous agendas and insidious intentions at airports around the country. These agents, who may literally hold your fate in their hands have been given a lofty, Orwellian name: "Behavior Detection Officers."

Did anyone ever doubt that George Orwell’s prophecies in “1984” would arrive? In that novel, he wrote, “You had to live—did live, from habit that became instinct—in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.”

This is what we know. Jose Padilla was arrested and detained by the US government for several years, without being allowed to see an attorney, and without formal charges. The US government vis-à-vis Donald Rumsfeld publicly accused Padilla of being an ‘enemy combatant,’ while being held without an attorney and with no formal charges, and accused Padilla of planning a dirty-bomb attack against the USA.

Ultimately, no charges were ever filed regarding a dirty bomb attack, and Jose Padilla, who was held for several years and questioned extensively without an attorney being present, and with no formal charges, was brought to trial based upon evidence gathered during the period Padilla was detained and questioned without an attorney being present. This evidence was then considered sufficient to bring alternate charges against Padilla and a formal trial in Florida.

Here is a CNN interview with Padilla’s lawyer:

CNN: What happens in the brig? What goes on in South Carolina when Jose Padilla goes down there? You mention a black hole. Is it that?

Another good story from Raw Story. Its not directly related to what happened on 9/11, but it is certainly intertwined, as false flag attacks are carried out partly as an excuse to clamp down on civil liberties.

"Lawmakers from both parties are complaining about the powerlessness of the country's Civil Liberties Board, which was created in the wake of 9/11 upon the recommendation of the September 11 Commission, Congressional Quarterly is reporting.

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board has been receiving information months after it has appeared in mainstream media outlets, including the New York Times.

Democrats and Republicans have complained about the Bush administration's management of the Board and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) has introduced a bill to compel Bush to implement the 9/11 Commissions recommendations. The bill has received bipartisan support.

Excerpts from the Congressional Quarterly restricted access article follow:
#

A board set up to protect against civil liberties violations resulting from government anti-terrorism programs does not have enough power to do its job, Democratic and Republican lawmakers charged Wednesday.