Summer of Love and Hope—Jody Evans and Ann WrightFreedom Rally 2008—Bette Smith and Linda Hunnicutt

2008 April 18

First hour—Jody Evans and Ann Wright bring us up to date on the plans for the Summer of Love and Hope.

Jody Evans is the founder of Code Pink and has appeared on our show previously. 

Mary Ann Wright is a retired United States Army colonel, retired official of the U.S. State Department, and now anti-war activist. She is most noted for being one of three U.S. State Department officials to publicly resign in direct protest of the invasion of Iraq in March, 2003.

Jody and Ann have recently returned from New Orleans's V-Day action. Jody reports that many media people were there, including Amy Goodman. And people went home with the determination to continue their efforts. 

Ann mentions the Service Women's Action Network, SWAN, and describes the cases of Lavina Johnston and Tina Priest. She insists that the military is a predatory organization: one of three women will be sexually assaulted during their term of service. And it is not restricted to women—one in ten men will be sexually assaulted during their term in the military.

Jody talks about her campaign “Don’t Buy Bush’s War”. People don’t want the war to happen, but they are afraid to take the steps to make it stop. 

Melinda introduces Ann and Jody to Monica Getz and Helen Garland and mentions her blog, the Earth Project.

Ann discusses counter-recruiting efforts: everyone passing a recruiting station should put up a flyer stating “One in three women and one in ten men will be sexually assaulted during their term of service”.

Jody reveals that their next trip is to Syria and Jordan: in these countries, one person in five is an Iraqi refugee.

Jody encourages people to go to the Code Pink website and click on the link for “Take Action Now” to find a new activity to do every week. 

Second hour—Bette Smith and Linda Hunnicutt, Granny Warriors, report on the Freedom Rally held April 15, 2008 in Washinton, D.C., with 1000-1200 people in attendance. 

Bette Smith has been an activist since 1983.

Bette recounts the hoops the Granny Warriors had to jump through to get the materials to the rally site (it involved getting the RV, pictured at left, to be X-rayed).

Reflecting on the previous hour's webcast, Bette says, “We have to start working together, to pull together.” 

Linda recounts that after the address by Ron Paul, the crowd grew even bigger. There was a terrific speach by Ernie Hancock, who himself has appeared on this show. Bob Schultz spoke about the case for redress of grievances. . 

Linda and Bette announce their upcoming event, Revolution Freedom Rally, in Sturgis, South Dakota, July 2–6, at the Buffalo Chip Campground. Linda, Bette, and their cadre will be there.

Buffalo Chip Campground features rental cabins, 2000 RV sites, acres of tentsites, shower facilities. 

Speakers include:

Russell Means—Republic of Lakota 

Carl Twofeathers Whittaker—Head of the Tennessee Militia and candidate for Governor of Tennessee.

Ernest Hancock.

Jack McLamb, (site may have vanished).

PokerFace.

Wanda Case

Art Pollack will be present, videotaping. 

Other features: Michelle’s Pitchfork Barbecue. 

Hacked Elections—Vickie KarpCitizen Audits—Lynn Landes

2008 April16

Vickie Karp is an election reform activist from Austin, Texas, who has worked on exposing the electronic voting machine fraud issue since 2003. She has served on the Board of Directors of Bev Harris’s non-profit Black Box Voting; is the National Chair of the Coalition for Visible Ballots, and the PR Director of Austin-based VoteRescue. In 2006, Vickie and fellow activist Abbe Waldman DeLozier co-edited the book, “HACKED! High Tech Election Theft in America” in an effort to help educate the public on the ongoing threat of stolen elections resulting from the use of electronic voting machines.

Lynn Landes is the publisher of The Landes Report and an award-winning journalist, columnist, and author of a dozen books on politics, history, the environment and energy. She is one of the nation’s leading researchers and analysts on voting integrity issues.

First hour—Vickie Karp

Vickie summarizes the current situation: we have taxation without representation today. She cites the Dan Rather documentary: “The Trouble with Touch Screens”, (also available on Google video). 

To have safe elections: “We need videotaped hand counting of the ballots, at the precinct, under the supervision of the public”.

On the subject of recounts: “Recounts can be hacked”. In Ohio in 2004, two election officials were indicted, convicted, and imprisoned for rigging the recount. 

Richard Hayes Phillips, Witness to a Crime. 

Local activism: county clerk or secretary of state or board of elections. Gather evidence of the hacks. The California study of 3 of the 4 top vendors “Red Team Study”.

William Singer (bradblog March 27) had filed a whistleblower suit against Hart Intercivic: “The Hart people had been lying to election officials in order to get the HAVA money”.

In the end, the officials may do the right thing only because of their liability

Next step: attending the county commissioners meetings, because they are the ones that write the checks for the county clerk. 

We are doing exit polls through Project Vote Count (Mark Adams, FL). We had 50% participation!

Local meetings: Coalition for Visible Ballots

Second hour—Lynn Landes

Going to court: the courts are pretty well staffed with corporate judges. People can read about her case (which was appealed all the way to the Supreme Court) on her website.

If you just keep pushing, eventually you will get from point A to point B. 

It's interesting how these entities have made the county clerk, not the county council, in charge of the elections.

Organize on a local level, form a group, like with meetup.com. Attend meetings of the county commissioners. 

A funny thing happens when someone gives you money to do activism. 

The heart of the problem is the secrecy of the ballot. The alternative is called “Open voting”. 

Why is it OK for some people to be required to vote publicly (like Congress), but the citizens to vote secretly? If you vote secretly, there is no way to ensure that you have voted at all.

Even the simplest of technology can be abused: how do we know our legislators are pushing the button, and not their staff?

Trust: do it yourself or have it done to you. Clothes have an odor that cannot be washed out. What is it? Formaldehyde.  

What to do: plan for the worst and hope for the best. Take things into your own hands. Growing your food, making your clothing. 

Learn about geography: understand how the nations of the world fit together. Keep learning. 

Mr. Conservative of California—Interview with Don Rogers

2008 April 14

Former California State Senator Don Rogers served in the California Legislature for 18 years and, as a senator, represented over 700,000 people living in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. While serving in the California Legislature, Senator Rogers wrote the initiative and led the successful campaign to abolish the California inheritance (death) tax and gift tax. As he tells the story,

When campaigning for the legislature, I heard from people all over the district complaining about the California death tax (Inheritance Tax). Here is how it worked: if a husband had owned a business, like a farm or a ranch, and the husband died, then the wife would inherit his estate. But then she would be forced to pay the high death tax, despite the farm or ranch not having enough cash available to pay that tax. So the widow would be forced to sell part of the farm, ranch, or business to raise the money to pay the tax. In my campaigning for Assembly, I made a promise to try to abolish this death tax. The first bill I introduced after being sworn in was that bill [January 1979].

The Assembly's Revenue and Taxation Committee, made up of a large majority of Democrats, was the first to hear his bill. The Committee immediately killed the bill. In January 1980, I introduced the bill again. And the same committee immediately killed it again.

Fortunately, California is a state that has an Initiative Process, which means that if you get a sufficient number of voter signatures, you can get an initiative on the ballot. So after having his bill killed two years in a row, I then wrote an initiative, Proposition 6, to abolish both the death tax and the gift tax, and led the campaign to get enough signatures to get the initiative on the ballot.

The initiative qualified for the ballot, and in June 1982 the two taxes were abolished by a 65% vote of the people, a two-to-one margin! From 1982 to the present, eliminating these two taxes has saved California families over 50 billion dollars, by my estimation.

I am the only legislator in the state of California who has ever gotten rid of a tax, —and I got rid of two taxes at the same time.

Senator Rogers graduated from Louisiana State University, is a registered geologist in the State of California, and currently owns and operates an oil-producing company there. He has done geological work in Alaska, California, Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, and Texas. He also holds a commercial pilot’s license and is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.

Senator Rogers has been a featured speaker for many groups and has appeared on many radio and television programs. He is especially knowledgeable about the U.S. Declaration of Independence, Preamble and Constitution, misleading facts being bandied about on global warming, extreme environmentalism, and campaigns to eliminate onerous taxes.

Melinda outs Ronald Reagan: the 1975 UROC resolution withdrawing support.

Freedom’s Phoenix—Ernest HancockTexasTURF—Terri Hall

2008 April 11

We interview two luminaries of the Revolution.

Ernest Hancock is a long-time libertarian activist, the publisher of Freedom’s Phoenix, a news aggregator, and hosts a talk show on the Air America Radio affiliate in Phoenix, Arizona, KPHX 1480AM. By maintaining a consistent and understandable libertarian philosophy without compromise, he has been able to develop powerful relationships across the country and across the political spectrum. He is currently running for National Chair of the Libertarian Party, whose convention will be held in Denver, Colorado this May 22–26.

Terri Hall is founder and executive director of Texans Uniting for Reform & Freedom (TURF) a non-profit organization whose mission is to educate the public on our government’s conversion of public highways to toll roads and on the abuse of eminent domain by our government. TURF also educates the public about the Trans Texas Corridor (TTC), the first of the planned NAFTA Superhighways connected to the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) and coming merger with Mexico and Canada through a North American Union (NAU). TURF is a grassroots group of Texans who are asking for reforms that require accountability and good public policy as well as promoting non-toll, sensible transportation solutions. Terri was recognized for her community activism as 2007 WOAI San Antonian of the Year: “Hall has in very many ways written the new guidelines for effective, bottom-up community and political organization in the 21st Century...”

Ernest joins us by cell phone: he is on his way from Phoenix, Arizona to Washington, D.C. to join Granny Warriors like Linda Hunnicutt for the April 15 Freedom Rally. You might want to head on up that way yourself!

Ernest relates his personal journey on the path of freedom, his radicalization, his alliance with the Libertarian Party and his efforts to reform the election process. He points out that, once he actually had a case before a judge, the press was willing to pay attention. He describes the early days in the grassroots efforts to support Dr. Ron Paul in his bid for Republican Party's nomination for President. 

Ernest gives credit to his wife and four kids for their important participation their common effort to change the world. 

Black Box Voting—Interview with Bev Harris and Walter Reddy

2008 April 8

Walter Reddy has been active in the liberty movement from an early age and was there on the ground in New Hampshire, on behalf of Granny Warriors, to effect a recount of the primary election on 2007. He has been an active Libertarian since 1972. He and co-host Jill St. James interviewed James Collier, co-author of Votescam, The Stealing of America, in the 1990s on their public-access television show, an hour-long interview available via Google video. He is currently active in the Free State Project in New Hampshire.

Bev Harris is the founder of Black Box Voting, “The Citizen's Center for Elections Oversight”, is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan elections watchdog group. Bev's group is the subject of Hacking Democracy, a video featured on this blogsite.

Black Box Voting investigates election problems, communicates the problems to the citizenry, and teaches citizens how to manage their own government—which means teaching citizens how to identify elections problems and providing citizens with the tools to oversee elections. Black Box Voting takes the position that being a citizen means taking an active role in government oversight. Elections procedures must be fair, they must be inclusive, they must prevent voter disenfranchisement, they must protect each individual's vote by reducing the ability to tamper or miscount. Systems do not achieve quality automatically—citizen oversight is the key ingredient to fair and accurate elections. Because We, the People are the owners of our government, we citizens should expect to take an active role in managing the quality of the government systems we have created.

Walter mentions that, even though both James and Kenneth Collier are deceased, Victoria Collier is still publishing the book and remains active in the voting reform movement. Online is a very revealing interview with Bill Headline, the head of Voter News Services.

Bev says, “Citizenship is not a spectator sport.”

The best way to vote is a transparent vote.

Mail-in and absentee votes should be minimized, and should be counted, under citizen supervision, on election night.

Bev relates her process of radicalization, with her background working with investigative reporter Jack Anderson and her experiences doing her own investigations. 

Caller Scott from Pennsylvania prompts a discussion of how a person can get active locally.

Healing Our World—Interview with Dr. Mary J. Ruwart

2008 April 7

We welcome to our webcast research scientist, author, and ethicist Dr. Mary J. Ruwart. She has worked extensively with the disadvantaged in low-income housing, was a contender for the 1992 Libertarian Party Vice-Presidential nomination, and is running for the 2008 nomination of the Libertarian Party for the office of President of the United States. Her scientific, political, and community activities have been profiled in several prestigious biographical works, including American Men and Women of Sciences, World's Who's Who of Women, International Leaders in Achievement, and Community Leaders of America.

Dr. Ruwart is the author of Healing Our World: The Other Piece of the Puzzle, hailed by Visions Magazine as “what may be the most important book of the decade.” Healing applies win–win strategies to the political realm, "bridging the gap between conservatives and liberals, Christians and New Agers, special interests and the common good with practical solutions to our economic, environmental, and societal woes" (Dr. Ron Paul, U.S. Congressman, R-TX).

Melinda writes:

You have another option when you vote for President this November

Dr. Mary Ruwart is running for president as a Libertarian, now, when such mainstream figures as Bob Bar and Mike Gravel are choosing to reregister to the Libertarian Party. This November, anything could happen.

Today, the divergence between the hot issues for Conservatives and Liberals are imploding, as the economy and stability of the social structure continues to crumble. Never has trust in government been more eroded; never have the people faced a more precarious future. Tent cities are springing up as more people every day lose their homes.

People who are worried about whether or not they will be able to feed their children will not take time to worry about what homosexuals are doing in the privacy of their own homes. The world is about to change, and one of the things that will change first is politics.

What will happen if this November there is a candidate for President of the United States who could attract the same kind of support that ignited the Ron Paul Revolution? What if that candidate is on the ballot in every state? What if that candidate not only spoke the message of Ron Paul but could also excite the support of mainstream women and minorities, delivering the message of freedom with compassion and love? The place where left and right merge could become the new wave for freedom.

Dr. Mary Ruwart, the author of Healing Our World—In an Age of Aggression, could well be that candidate. Ruwart, a friend and supporter of Ron Paul, was asked frequently to run but refused until it became clear that Congressman Paul would not be on the ballot this November. What if Dr. Ruwart asked Ron to be her running mate? What if this is the election that the corporations fail to steal because the people finally say No to the Vote Stealing Machines?

Dr. Ruwart was convinced to run by a host of backers who called on her to energize the Libertarian Party’s offerings for President. She is for liberty, and, as she puts it, “liberty is for everyone”. She says, “Liberty works!” She does not need to water down the libertarian message. 

She advocates, among other things, passage of the Equal Rights Amendment to the US Constitution, which aims to end sex discrimination by the government against women and men alike. The text of the amendment is simplicity itself: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” 

As she make clear in her book, Healing Our World, the regulation of drugs by the FDA and the licensing of medical care providers by the AMA is harmful to our well being. Dr. Ruwart points up the hidden agenda of hemp criminalization.  

Dr. Ruwart explains how the non-aggression principle leads to peace and prosperity. Download the MP3 for the show and listen to a great interview!

Coppercards: Defending Your Rights—Interview with Clive Boustred

2008 April 4

A leading technology and business strategist, Clive Boustred has provided the architectural vision for some of the world’s most successful companies. Mr. Boustred has designed massively scalar systems that have grown to support well over ten million users.

The next-generation Internet and banking systems Mr. Boustred designed to support billions of users—was interrupted by a governmental assault during deployment. This incident resulted in his analyzing the legal industry and the development of CopperCards.

Clive's Liberty for Life site has well-researched articles on a number of topics that will open your eyes:

• The real number of US troops dead from the wars in Iraq, backed up by a report from the Veterans Administration.
• America's new concentration camps, backed up by a report from the Halliburton Corporation.
• The law that never was: how the 16th amendment to the constitution was actually never ratified.
• The root of all evil is the Federal Reserve Bank, in particular, the way the Fed creates instability in our economy.
• How the US military are creating the most intensive nuclear disaster ever through the use of DU, a war materiel that is, technically, a nuclear weapon.
• Government spraying programs that threaten our lives.
• And more...

Clive discusses the reason an assassination attempt was made on him, in front of his children, by the Santa Cruz, California police.

Clive also discusses his initiative to bring justice to all citizens

Melinda mentions Steve Tvenden's work on natural ways to abate agricultural “pests”.

Clive quotes (1:17) Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf to illustrate how controlling communications is in the interests of the State.

Clive discusses (1:27) the way the legal system works, how you can deal with the government.

• Tell the judge, “I am here by special appearance.”
• Demand, “Show me the verified criminal complaint”.
• Do not agree to the jurisdiction of the court.

CopperCards encapsulates the law in an easy-to-read form that you can carry with you. It shifts the paradigm and shows you how to stand up for your rights. CopperCards is a for-profit company that acts like AAA for people stranded in the courts.

The CopperCard Mortgage card helps people with mortgages.

Lee from Minnesota called to mention Lindsey William's book The Energy Non-crisis and a talk available on the Internet. Al the News Guy will have Mr. Williams on his show Wednesday, 9 April 2008 on RPRRadio at 7 am Central time.

What every American needs to know—Interview with Dean Ahmad and Alison Weir

2008 April 2

Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad, Ph.D., President and Director of the Minaret of Freedom Institute, is an internationally known interdisciplinary scientist, author of Signs in the Heavens: A Muslim Astronomer's Perspective on Religion and Science. He is a senior lecturer at the University of Maryland where he teaches courses on religion and progress and on religion, science and freedom. He also teaches a course on Islam, Science and Development at Georgetown University for the Center on Muslim–Christian Understanding.

Alison Weir is the founder of If Americans Knew, ‘What every American needs to know about Israel/Palestine’. A journalist off and on for many years, Weir went on an independent investigation to the flashpoints in the West Bank and Gaza rarely visited by American journalists. Since returning she has spoken on Capitol Hill, to business leaders, at prestigious Washington D.C. thinktanks, and at a multitude of universities. Read her articles.

The mission of If Americans Knew is to inform and educate the American public on issues of major significance that are unreported, underreported, or misreported in the American media.

Alison outs the much under-publicized American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel foreign lobby, which, however, is not registered as a foreign lobby. She also mentions a powerful Supreme Court decision that removes restrictions on dual citizenship put in place in 1940. 

Current buzz on the web discusses the implications of dual citizenship for our government today, “important, if true.”

Alison also mentions the strip searches made on women as well as girls by Israeli security, and the application of the death penalty, although not to Jews.

Dean cites his article concerning neoconservatives, published in American Muslim Magazine.

Alison encourages people to subscribe to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, a well-researched journal.

Dean connects the current credit crunch and high price of oil to our foreign policy, something that most Americans remain ignorant of.

Alison warns of the new efforts to railroad the US into a war with Iran.

There are a number of great sites for up-to-date, accurate information; here are some useful sites:

Minaret of Freedom

If American Knew

The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs

B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. 

Alison relates the story about how her appearance at a local library was almost censored.

Alison relates the story of how a young boy was shot by Israeli security forces, on camera by an AP photographer. The AP bureau, however, made sure that the video, which contained evidence of what Americans would consider an atrocity—was erased. 

Alison discusses the many ways that we, as ordinary citizens, can take back our news sources and inform each other about what is going on in the world today.

Speaking Truth to Power—Interview with Carolyn Baker and Augustus Franklin Dunning

2008 March 28

Carolyn Baker manifests how the personal journey informs the revolution. She is an adjunct professor of history, a former psychotherapist, an author, and a student of mythology and ritual. Her website offers up-to-the-moment alternative reporting of U.S. and international news, articles containing information and opinion, and a venue of support and connection for awake individuals who want not only to be informed, but to organize their lives and communities in ways that most effectively assist them in navigating what current events are manifesting.

She is author of Reclaiming the Dark Feminine: The Price of Desire, The Journey of Forgiveness: Fulfilling the Healing Process, U.S. History Uncensored: What Your High School Textbook Didn't Tell You, and Coming out of Fundamentalist Christianity: An Autobiography Affirming Sensuality, Social Justice, and The Sacred. Her latest, The Spirituality of Collapse, is presently looking for a publisher.

She recommends Tim Bennett and Sally Erickson’s movie What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire.

Relating to the economy, she highlights Catherine Austin Fitts, who has done much work in the financial markets to reveal what others want to keep hidden.

She points out that, to get off the Grids, we need to create local economy, walkable community.

She mentions a favorite article The Collapse of Life as We Know It—Wait, I Need a Mocha Latte! by Joanna Gabriel.

She highly recommends James Howard Kunstler's  World Made by Hand, which is reviewed on her site.

Eco villages: Shannon (Virginia).

Update on the RealID Act from Melinda: Mark Lerner.

Augustus Dunning notes that our Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, appears to have dual Israeli–US citizenship, and is said to be a former Mossad agent.

Carolyn's blog article: Building Circles of Community.

Claim Your Own Freedom—Interview with Jane Stillwater, Kay Lucas, and Cindy Sheehan

2008 March 26

We bring back Jane Stillwater, the Iraqi Blogger and author of Bring Your Own Flak Jacket, and we welcome Kay Lucas, director of the Crawford Peace House, and, in the second hour of the show, Cindy Sheehan, peace activist and candidate for Congress.

Freedom is something you do not have until you give it to everyone. Hear how you can claim your own freedom.

Now, we will take back America. Most of the problems we face today can be traced back to two problems. First, the take over of the reins of government in America by corporations through various devious means. In 1789 they knew it as merchantilism. During the era of the Civil War, we called them Robber Barons. Today we know them as the Grid Corporations, the people who use deceit and government to steal, converting our lives into power and money in their pockets.

Second, the fundamental mistake made by the Founders in not carrying through with their mission. That mission was, and remains, to affirm to each of us our rights, given by God, invested in us from birth. To have ratified the Constitution without ending slavery and affirming women in their rights to control their own persons, property, and destinies, created the shackles that today still enslave us. It is time to understand and reboot the system.

The Constitution is for all of us. It always was.

Kay Lucas describes the history of the Crawford Texas Peace House, mentions David Modigliani’s documentary Crawford, and the fact that G. W. Bush’s Crawford ranch is already off the grid (shouldn’t yours be?).

Jane Stillwater and Kay Lucas meet for the first time!

Jane describes her difficulties in returning to Iraq to continue her work—the administration is denying her request to travel there. The Combined Press Information Center, in the Green Zone, has raised barriers to her return. She requests help from anyone in a unit that can embed her. If you can do this, or know of someone who can, please email Jane.

Caller Charles from New Hampshire brings to our attention a video by Linda Thompson, Waco, The Big Lie. Thompson is the founder of the American Justice Federation. 

Kay cites the credit grid as the most important grid to get off. 

Connie mentions Smedley Butler’s book, War is a Racket, which you can read online. 

Cindy Sheehan reports on her trip to stand in solidarity with other mothers in Egypt, which is a dictatorship (Hosni Mubarek has been in power since 1981). Mubarak has been using military tribunals to jail people who have been found innocent by civilian courts.

Cindy’s campaign is in it to win it! Her motto: “People before Politics”.

Granny Warriors—Interview with Linda Hunnicutt

2008 March 24

Linda Hunnicutt is the original Granny Warrior! How she was radicalized through a visit from the government, who wanted to take away Buddy, her companion, on the pretext that he was a monkey. Go figure. Contrary to what people have been led to believe, PETA is not the great benefactor to animals they claim to be.

Linda comments that people seem to have been trained to fear and to call the police rather than deal with their neighbors, an act that can have terrible consequences. “Stop and think,” she says “before you dial the authorities.”

Linda is presently traveling around the country in her RV, meeting people and talking about the issues of freedom. 

She has planned the Freedom Rally, for 15 April 2008 in Washington, D.C. You can print out and circulate a petition to Restore the Constitution. A separate site has more information about the rally itself, along with a link to the online petition.

Linda counsels people to start canning and preserving food: “Make sure you have a 6-month supply, and that you can cook it without using a microwave, or electricity, or even gas.”

Linda points up Michelle Mollman's site, which has a wealth of information about the rally, along with a video she created.

Summer of Love 2008—Augustus Dunning, Jodie Evans of Code Pink

2008 March 21

Augustus Dunning talks about the Summer of Love 2008

Jody Evans, one of the founders of Code Pink, talks about the work being done to end the wars and to empower women.

Jody also mentions Wiser Earth, 

Fourth Corner Exchange—Interview with Francis Ayley and Leah Ayley

2008 March 19

Fourth Corner Exchange—Alternative Money for Alternative Minds—is a Terra Dollar clearing house: it facilitates labor- and value trades between interested parties. Terra Dollars constitute a community currency.

Francis got his start by founding North London LETS—Neighbours exchanging goods and services without using money—one of the largest Local Exchange Trading Systems operating in England today.

Francis says, “We want to do what bank money has never done: to provide a decent monetary system.”

The Fourth Corner Exchange website has a resource page with videos and books that will help people learn more about how the system works. Many of the books in the resource list to the right appear on Fourth Corner's site, so we see agree on their value.

A caller, Tom from New Jersey, directed us to a site with a vidoe of Francis Ayley.

Fourth Corner exchanges are 100% transparent: all trades are completely open.

Paula from Florida called to describe her experience with her audit by the Internal Revenue Service.

Francis’ book list, announced on the webcast:

Video (47 minutes): Money as Debt by Paul Grignon

Book: The Future of Money by Bernard Lietaer

Book: The Grip of Death by Michael Rowbotham

Book: Money by Thomas C. Greco

Book: The Soul of Money by Lynn Twist

Lynn Landes—Voting Security, EcoTalk, Poetry, and more

2008 March 17

Lynn Landes is the publisher of The Landes Report and a freelance journalist who writes about politics, health, and the environment. She's one of the nation’s leading researchers and analysts on voting integrity issues. 

In today's interview, we learn exactly how secure our vote is (it is not) and, acting locally, what we can do about the issue—Citizen Audits.

Lynn particularly mentions the book The Stealing of America by James Collier and Kenneth Collier.

A trenchant observation by Lynn:

Never assume people are telling the truth or are doing their jobs. Check them. Always assume there is another layer of the onion to peel away.

Some featured information: The 1987 Leonard Gates Deposition, by a Cininnati Bell employee describing the participation of his company in hacking into mainframe election computers in cities across the country. She notes:

If you steal by a little bit, it arouses suspicion. If you steal by a lot (the big lie), the results are more believable; you do not automatically trigger a recount.

Melinda: let's write a book Stealing Elections by John Fund, and claim it was found in a donut shop.

Jeff from Idaho points out that Ron Paul supporters have an opportunity to contribute to the campaign by calling every potential committee precinct person in Idaho, please go to Ron Paul Idaho.

Second Summer of Love—Interview with Augustus Dunning, Jane Stillwater, and Carol Jones

2008 March 14

Today, we declare a cessation of hostilities between the Right and the Left, so we can turn to the Neocons, and say, ‘You are the past.’

Our guests include Jane Stillwater, author of Bring Your Own Flak Jacket, and we bring back Augustus Dunning and Carol Jones, who have participated in our show before.

Announcing the Second Summer of Love, Augustus says, ‘Turn on, tune in, opt out.’ Here is your invitation:

[A] Turn on Become a Terra-ist Put back on those love beads that you have hidden in the back of your dresser. Go back to the land, grow and smoke some pot. (By the way, as a sovereign entity you can.) You will never be wealthy, famous, or a rock star, and you shouldn't strive for those things; they are fleeting, transient and shallow Be a rebel, not one of the goyim (thats what the Zionists call us non-Jewish folk—it means cattle) Become farmers and craftsmen, with trades that provide things of real value [B] Tune in Look in the mirror Their power comes from our work and the money it generates. Their power comes from instilling the desire, using their media, for crap you don’t need Your dog does not need a manicure Your cat does not need a psychiatrist You do not need a plasma tv This is not your beautiful house—it is owned by the city of London You need not measure your worth by your wealth or position You need to listen to your heart [C] Opt out Walk away—to a new reality Become legal flesh and blood sovereign entities, that they cannot rule over They orchestrated the bankruptcy in 1933—not me or you They set up the admiralty courts—not me or you They set up the colorable law—not me or you They set up the federal reserve—not me or you They issue the colorable money with no value—not me or you Screw em; they can have it—but they cannot have me or you! We can start a new world order of our own. Never mind the Bullocks Forget all the Internet jibber jabber Opt out; walk off the job, and turn it all off!

The Arabs, the Zionists, and the Neocons need each one of you to 

• Stay at work, 
• Pay taxes, 
• Buy clothing from foreign slave labor manufacturers that wears out and goes out of style in 5 months, 
• Watch entertainment that instills a false sense of personal self and fears with no foundation, and 
• Buy thousands of gallons of gas which has gone from 75 cents per gallon in 1999 to 3.50 per gallon in 8 short years.

The dollar is devalued, The Arabs are stabbing us in the back, The Zionists are controlling your perspective and The Neocons are destroying the economy and having a good laugh at your expense Will you answer their call, or listen to your heart, Siddhartha? I ain’t gonna work on Maggies farm no more—how 'bout you? Announcement Get 300,000 people listed around this country as sovereign entities to do just this, Opt out, (see attached file as part of the package to do this) using a second summer of love festival to achieve the learning phase and bringing back the hippie movement, wrestle the power out of hands of corrupt elected criminals, and pulling it all back to a globe of villages, not a global village. Gathering of the Tribes, 2008 Second Summer of Love—Berkeley, California

The Hippie Movement never died—it went Green!

A festival of Music—Information—Love—Hemp—and Sharing Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out! Learn how to opt out of the Grid system:

Get off the Grids of Power and Money How to become a Sovereign Entity Re-establish the Common Law Take back your communitites Decentralize power Decentralize food—establish local farming, putting nutrition back in food Stop GMO food production

Listen to the theme song, 50 Ways to Find Your Freedom:

The problem is all inside your head, she said to me

The answer is easy if you take it logically

The neocons and zionists don’t want you to be free

There must be fifty ways to save your freedom She said constitutional for the right to just be free

Furthermore, I hope my meaning wont be lost so you can see

You need to become a sovereign entity

There must be fifty ways to save your freedom

Fifty ways to save your freedom Just stay in the sack, Jack

Stay away from the job, Bob

Burn your SUV, Lee

Just get yourself free

Stop buyin that oil, Slick

Don’t listen to Dork and Dick

Stop payin' rent, Kent

And get yourself free

Stop payin' your tax, Max

Throw away that cell, Nell

Stop shopin' at Costco

Just listen to me

Move back to the land, Stan

Get out of Afghanistan

Throw away the key, Lee

And get yourself free

She said it grieves me so to see you loose your rights

I wish there was something I could do for you tonight

I said, I appreciate that and would you show me how to write

About those fifty ways

She said why don't we both just dream them up tonight

And maybe in the morning you'll begin to fight the fight

Then I realized she probably was right

There must be fifty ways to save our freedoms

Fifty ways to save our freedoms

[chorus]

The Lone Star Iconoclast—Interview with W. Leon Smith

2008 March 12

Publisher of the Crawford, Texas weekly, The Lone Star Iconoclast, W. Leon Smith has his newspaper going since 2000. He was catapulted to notoriety in 2004 upon endorsing John Kerry for President, an act that forced him into the ranks of whistleblowers.

In an article dated 25 February 2008, “A Peoples’ History of Crawford”, The Iconoclast features the indy documentary “Crawford”, by David Modigliani, that premiered at the South by Southwest film festival. This must-see film will next show at the AFI Dallas film festival Friday, March 28, 7pm, Saturday, March 28, 10pm, and Friday, April 4, 1pm. See the website for tickets and locations.

A resident of Clifton, Mr. Smith’s family dates to the founding of the Lone Star Republic. He has served as mayor of his town for 5 years and has embodied a local-control, communitarian approach to governance, as illustrated by his novel and humane handling of animal control and a cooperative approach to water resources.

Full disclosure: Melinda is a columnist for The Lone Star Iconoclast. 

Run from the Cure—Interview with Rick Simpson

2008 March 10

My name is Rick Simpson. I have been providing people with Hemp Oil medicines, at no cost, for about 3 years. The results have been nothing short of amazing. Throughout man's history hemp has always been known as the most medicinal plant in the world. Even with this knowledge hemp has always been used as a political and religious football.

To email Rick, write to admin@phoenixtears.ca.

View the video on YouTube: Run from the Cure documents Rick Simpson's work to provide hemp oil to heal illness.

Order the DVD from the Phoenix Tears website

Caller Jeff from Idaho mentions Shirley's Wellness site as a resource and cites the work of Dr. Robert O. Becker, The Body Electric and Cross Currents. He also turned us on to G. Edward Griffin's site World Without Cancer, the Vitamin B17 Story.

Gina de Miranda suggests the site Digital Hemp.

Rick Simpson points to the history of criminalization of hemp by Harry J. Anslinger. 

Rick from Ohio brought to our attention the work of Dr. Johanna Budwig, who is an advocate of the health benefits of Flaxseed Oil. 

American Politics Journal—Interview with Gene Gaudette

2008 March 7

Melinda Pillsbury-Foster and Connie Shannon have a conversation with Gene Gaudette, publisher of the American Politics Journal.

Newsworthy: Ron Paul's announcement 6 March 2008, announcing the “winding down” of his campaign for nomination by the Republican party.

Gene, who aligns himself with the Progressive movement, explores his common ground with the Ron Paul Revolution.

Gene mentions the article on ReadWriteweb.com's site Ron Paul's Success Owed to Basic Psychology

Gene's 3-point program for what to do next:

• Think globally; act locally
• Protect the Internet
• Plan in a chaotic manner

Local action is important and effective. Go on the offensive to solve the problems facing your community. 

Gene discusses the Wikileaks case, where a website was attacked for its whistle-blowing activities.

Caller Mark from Nevada brought to our attention the amusing YouTube video Neocons are Toast. Thanks, Mark!

Legislators: hold their feet to the fire. Gene suggests sending your legislator a copy of The Federalist Papers, to explain to them the checks and balances that are a part of our government.

Great question for presidential candidates: Will you promise to sign into law, legislation banning presidential signing statements?

Interview with Gina de Miranda, Spookbuster

2008 February 15

Gina de Miranda

• Decide what you're going to look for, and about who.
• Decide what search terms will be effective
• Use The Word Menu (Random House)
• Use The Visual Thesaurus to refine search terms
• The Invisible Web (read the guides Berkeley Library)
• Librarian's Index to the Internet
• Metasearch (Metasearch Engines)
• Search Engines

Robert Lackey (RobertLackey.com/)

Example

1. Memos (everybody)

• Visit GigaBlast, which searches via document type
• singingfish (enables searching via document type, e.g., mp3, mp4)
• Government book repository or records depository: 
• gw.edu NSA archives, e.g., photos of Rumsfeldt's meeting with Saddam Hussein and invoices for 
• Databases: excellus, the web detective, 
• pacer is the court system (charges $0.08/page). Search criminal courts records for people summoned as witnesses.

Harry Gart (does not have a means of support, does not add up, they're gone a lot, won't take phone calls in your presence)

• Drivers license number

Can find what car someone is driving.

Deally Koss—people have figured that he is an asset. Website is way too professional for someone supporting themselves via blog. Publicist said “we like the Fascists”. 

Reverse engine for ZIP code and Phone Number (even cell phone). Gina comments, “I am good.”

The Counterculture Haunter—well known. Claiming to be destitute. It did not fit. Clues that he might be an informant. Searched FBI using doc searches. Found a commendation letter. Fifteen-twenty businesses under his own name. Outed himself as Crossdresser. 

Fave: Mario Provaka (Romanian). Search engines that go by string search in a particular document type. 

Offshore search engines (Europe, Asia).

Example from Jerry Defoe: chat room inhabitant trying to disrupt, provocative, profane. Ping the IP: static IP in downtown Manhattan. Jerry: “I knew it was a professional operation.” After Giuliani dropped out of the race, he disappeared.

Gina: “Work it backward. IP address is your internet protocol address. You can Sam Spade (Windows) traces protocols back to their point of origin. Cryptome.org has gov't docs: IP addresses for all the gov't servers. DNSinfo: IP reverse: narrow IP to geographic. Network solutions and run the whois: track down the ISP.

Melinda “Amazing”

Saddam Hussein

Uday's computer. Sidney Blumenthal was stealing from daughter using a keytrapper. Morgan put one on SB's computer. Autumn 2002. Strange email address: to Iraq. SB dialoging for the Clintons: 

Greed

Told Morgan to keep listening

Keystroke trapper: two kinds: software and hardware (disguised).

Sophos antispy software. Sweep the computer for spyware. "Spy software" "anti keylogging"

Encrypt with PGP: translate everything you write into garble.

Root kits: small bkgd program. Slower and slower. If you have a DSL line. Install Port protection software.

Contact info: email: madame_karnak@

Trojan Republican: strange bedfellows.

Offshore (in my book):  

Following the money trail. How do you find out who is benefitting. Freedominfo.org: financial transactions offshore. 

Edgar (SEC website) Form 3: companies fill out before going public: reveals shareholders. Form 8: change in material conditions.

What to do:

• Listen, don't be too quick to categorize
• Remember that there are people who are in the business of selling you down the river

Melinda: be empathic (Abu Graib guard)

Jerry: AT&T capturing everything. Immunity for telecoms

Gina: take a look at your constitution

Dave in Florida, “Also have to be careful because some of the info is not accurate.”

Gina: “Good point. Be exhaustive. Corroborate using several independent sources. E.g., people with bad credit reports are not necessarily bad people. You cannot take a government report and just buy it. I advocate: look for patterns that don't fit together, how they treat people, corroborate.”

Dave: “People grow up and can change for the better.”

Gina: “Men need to get over the idea that they ought to withhold child support if they cannot get visitation. The children still suffer.”

Study: The benefits of a two-parent situation:

G: “Bashing women or bashing men is foolish. It hurts the children.”

D: search for video "Ron Paul's Rally"

J: Government spying for political purposes.

Gina:

• Need to encourage people to think. Most people try to be good. Do not believe what you see on television. Learn to look behind. If you don't want others to believe the worst about you, don't believe the worst of them.

Example: man who worked with a woman who was savaged. He was not indicted, but the news was all over the net, and he lost his job and had to relocate to rebuild his life.

• How people can protect themselves.

Scott: “How about Rick Williams's effort to put truth back in media?” 

Jerry: “Do your research. Beware of IPOs. Caveat emptor.”

Gina: Saw a lot of people lose everything in the Dot bomb, but you meet better people at the bottom...It's ludicrous to judge people by the money they have...Money does not make you good; it makes you rich. 

Gina says:

• How do I keep from people getting the wrong idea about me? Google yourself first. Now is the time to go back and moderate your postings. Go to DejaNews. 
• Call for your credit report. Make sure someone is not using your numbers. 
• Send the letters.
• You are entitled under a 1972 law to go to any government agency and challenge their information. You can write to the FBI and ask for your own letter to placed in your file. Keep both letters, the one with your information and the one requesting that the information be filed.
• Previous employer ReferenceCheck.
• PGP for email. Read your outgoing email before sending.
• Be kind, because the face you show to the world is the face that will be revealed.
• Stay humble.
• If the story sounds too good to be true, think. 
• Who you are is more important that what what you have.

I am starting a website called The Disappeared. We cannot allow to happen here what has happened elsewhere. 

Lady Godiva, Werewolves of the State, and the Soup Kitchen

Protest is in the air and dates for a massive march on Washington DC are now under discussion. One such date is April 15th. There are many good reasons to pick Tax Day for an event or events across the country. The continued existence of the IRS is reason enough but, for me at least, Tax Day brings not just the horror of filing and paying but the delights of what was once the equivalent of a Libertarian High Holiday. Those were days of innocence. The wonderful old days of the early Libertarian Party were certainly varied. We changed the program some every year so that the media would not become jaded, some years featuring vampires sucking out the life's blood of a sad citizen and another year using a real horse and a mostly naked woman with a long blond wig, emulating the ride of Lady Godiva. I think that role was played by Carolyn Treynor in Los Angeles. We always had tax protests even when Ed Crane, the Darth Vader of Cato Institute, expressed the thought that they lacked sophistication. His lackeys and lick spittles nodded ferociously when he scrunched up his face and announced that. The word had been said, right, no tax protests. Now of course we understand for whom he is working so that all makes sense. April 15th became an annual celebration of freedom so it is wonderful to see another generation of activists take up the mantle and the signs and go to work. Massive marches were a little beyond our numbers back then but if the Revolution continues to fulfill its amazing potential for spontaneous, from the grass roots, order then I am sure that tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of Revolutionaries will converge on the White House if the Invisible Hand of Spontaneous Order so moves the Revolution. But even if some more boring date is chosen for the March to End all Marches which will probably be ignored by the MSM, doing local Tax Protests is both fun and worthwhile, especially now. In those Old Days we orchestrated the whole event locally. It usually began with a march to a local Federal Building, but some used City Hall or their state Capitol. We got permits; we found parking. We sent news releases; called the media; did follow-ups. We let them know what to expect and made sure they had places to put the cameras or park their trucks. Speeches were supposed to be short, tight, and punchy but naturally sometimes they wandered on. These were, after all, Libertarians. We also sang protest songs of our own devising. “Who's the leader of the cult who'se screwing you and me? IRS – TAX – SOB UC” Enough of that. The literature always took up the theme. If I had the Lady Godiva flyer I would include it. On one occasion we also pasted condoms to the literature so that is you were going to be screwed at least you would be safe from infection. The next year we did a soup kitchen, handing out bowls of delicious soup to saddened filers. There were ideas that were so outrageous even Libertarians knew they should not be carried out. The more people who are involved in the planning and action the better. March. Sing. Shout. Wave signs. Leaflet. Don't forget your sign-up sheets and include the local website and contact information. Centralization is for lower life forms like bureaucrats. Things are different today. When planning your event remember to educate while entertaining yourselves. Now, we can use tax protests to widen the steadily growing gap between those working for Federal government and state – local governments while educating ourselves and all Americans on the causes for the steady deterioration of our economy. For those stay at home folks, the ones who just can't get there if there is a massive protest in DC, it is also possible to stage simultaneous events across the country that evoke the flavor of those long gone Libertarian Days, bringing them up to date with a few additions. Marching on your state capitol or town hall presents many possibilities for that process to begin. Have a digital money counter that flashes over by the millions. People watch the action. Tie that to what the Federal government is spending on Iraq. Pass out tiny replicas of dollar bills to show the impact of inflation (now those might need a microscope). Innovate. Government costs a lot and no place does it do less for us than that enacted from Washington DC. Unfunded mandates, regulatory intrusion, and other horrifying ugliness from the Feds are causing rising resentment by those in state government. Nothing about government, as presently constituted works. If we had a choice, a real choice, it would already be history. Employees of various local and state governments are growing more aware that their own pay and retirement is at risk. Coalition is built on a common agenda that benefits all parties and freedom is good for all of us. Ron Paul has said he will end the IRS and that is a solution enacted from the Federal level. But there are other ways to skin the cat. How many ways can you leave the Fed, that corporation that substituted a small, tightly controlled business for the union of the states? Along with the exit of the Lakota Republic, staged by Libertarian Russell Means, other entities are now talking about asserting their illegally foreclosed right to leave the United States of America. Among these are Vermont and Texas with murmurings from elsewhere across the nation. That also presents interesting potential themes for education. My kids would have enjoyed dressing up like Indians. Tax Day; it costs more than Christmas and you don't even get a lump of coal. I eagerly await the ideas that will pour forth from the Revolution. It will be fun.