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.