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Working on a video for Human Rights in Cuba and found this report."...Criminal Code offense of "dangerousness," which allows authorities to imprison individuals before they have committed any crime, on the suspicion that they are likely to commit an offense in the future. This "dangerousness" provision is overtly politica...l, defining as "dangerous" any behavior that contradicts Cuba's socialist norms."
What To Do: 1. Pressure your Elected Officials To Inquire about these Individuals. 2. Write Letters to the Cuban Government. 3. Possibly participate with Amnesty International, despite their own socialist leanings, to use their mechanism for his release.
Human Rights Watch Report
123 Pages
Here is one Illustrative Case of Castro's Socialist Repression:
Ramón Velásquez Toranzo
Ramón Velásquez Toranzo set out on his march on December 10, 2006—International Human Rights Day. With him were his wife, Bárbara, and their 18-year-old daughter, Rufina. Each of them carried a sign. The signs read: “respect for human rights,” “freedom for political prisoners,” and “no more repression against the peaceful opposition.” Their goal was to walk the entire length of the island of Cuba, from east to west.
They marched silently. At night, they slept on the sides of roads, in bus stops, or in the homes of people who took them in. After a few days, security officers began trailing them. On the outskirts of Holguín, a group affiliated with the government known as a “rapid response brigade” surrounded them with bats and metal rods. They called Velásquez and his family “mercenaries” and “whores,” and threatened to rape Bárbara and Rufina. Police looked on and did nothing.
Security officials arrested the family as they walked through Holguín. Velásquez was thrown in jail, while his wife and daughter were forcibly returned to their home in Las Tunas. When Velásquez was released four days later, they continued to march west. Twice, cars tried to run them over, and they had to dive off the road to avoid being hit. More brigades taunted them. Security officers threatened them. Still, they kept marching.
They reached Camagüey on January 19, 2007, and were arrested again. Velásquez was held for four days and then taken to a municipal court. That he had not committed a crime did not matter; under Cuba’s “dangerousness” law, individuals can be imprisoned simply when courts determine they are likely to commit a crime in the future.
The state’s only evidence against him was a series of “official warnings” (advertencias oficiales) for being unemployed—issued while he was on his march—which he had never seen before. His lawyer, whom he met five minutes before the trial, defended him vigorously at the outset of the hearing. Then, the judge called a recess and invited the defense lawyer to his quarters. When the lawyer returned, she stopped defending Velásquez and did not speak for the rest of the trial.
The trial lasted less than an hour, and the judge sentenced Velásquez to three years in jail. He was bused to a prison, stripped down to his underwear, and thrown into a solitary confinement cell. The tiny space had no bed—only a concrete floor that flooded with water every time it rained. When his family brought him food to supplement the meager prison rations, guards repeatedly left it outside his cell to rot.
His wife, Bárbara, fell into a deep depression following his incarceration, not leaving her bed for weeks, while his son, René, was fired from his job without warning. His daughter Rufina, who continued to monitor human rights and report on abuses, was subjected to constant surveillance. Authorities warned her that she would suffer the same fate as her father if she did not change her behavior. She eventually fled to the United States, where she lives today. |
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Greece teeters on the edge of total financial collapse with its Sovereign Debt Crisis - which its EU partners are not going to rescue given its complete and fraudulent financial mismagement. Other countries, notably Spain, Portugal and perhaps Ireland, are experiencing similar Sovereign Debt problems in which their debt/deficit rises to a dangerous level of their GDP. In Greece's case, I've read that this is 13.3%. Note: The U.S. Deficit is about 10%.
The French bank's warning was echoed by Mats Persson, Director of the Open Europe think-tank, which campaigns for reforms in Brussels.
He said: 'The eurozone is facing a fully-fledged crisis. The Greece episode has made it painfully clear how flawed the euro project was from the very beginning.
'Even if Greece receives a one-off bailout it would not solve the real problem, which is the huge differences in competitiveness between the eurozone's richest and poorest members.
And in the Socialist Mentality of 'Entitlements are Paid by Somebody Else', we read:
Countries that are highly uncompetitive are normally able to slash interest rates and devalue their currencies to prop up their economies. But this is not possible within the euro, given its one-size-fits-all economic governance. The implication is that weak, peripheral eurozone members will have to suffer years of painful deflation and tumbling living standards, as well as draconian budget cuts, in order to adjust.
Harvard University Professor Martin Feldstein, a long-standing sceptic on the euro, yesterday said the single currency 'isn't working' because member governments have no incentive to keep their public debts under control.
'There's too much incentive for countries to run up big deficits as there's no feedback until a crisis,' he said.
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FBI Arrests Two More in NYC Terrorism Investigation
NEW YORK – Two men linked to an alleged al-Qaida associate accused of a plot to attack New York City with homemade bombs were arrested Friday after one of the men caused a traffic accident while under surveillance.
Obama Orders Dangerous Declassification of Material at HSS
Obama Administration Declassifies Documents at a High Rate which could endager national security.
Attacks Show Al-Qaeda Inspired Groups Target the West
WASHINGTON – From Detroit to Afghanistan, scattered terrorists inspired and equipped by al-Qaida have attacked recently with surprising speed and worldwide reach, challenging the U.S. strategy of slowly and deliberately targeting the terror group's top leaders.
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In a recent interview about the bombing attempt on the Christmas Day flight, Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano said:
NAPOLITANO: What we are focused on is making sure that the air environment remains safe, that people are confident when they travel. And one thing I'd like to point out is that the system worked. Everybody played an important role here. The passengers and crew of the flight took appropriate action.
The System worked insofar as the system requires (a) Dutch filmmaker willing to leap overseats to stomp out a potential bomb and (b) we make sure that all terrorists boarding aircraft have fuses that do not work. Other than that, no problem!
Napolitano's Notable Stupid Remarks:
CROWLEY: I'm sorry, but if he was not improperly screened or properly screened, and yet you want Americans to feel safe on the planes, and so if it was properly screened and he got on anyway with that, it doesn't feel that safe.
NAPOLITANO: Well, you know, it should. This was one individual literally of thousands that fly and thousands of flights every year. And he was stopped before any damage could be done.
FOCUS JANET!
1. Screening is how we keep the bombers off the planes. It did not work.
2. Thousands, or rather hundreds of thousands of individuals fly but he was stopped because of Civilian, untrained intervention and not by personnel who work within the system. This situation is a reptition of United Flight 93 where the Citizen Soldiers (in this case a Dutch visitor!) acted because he could see what was going on in - the narrow aisles of seats preclude passengers - once seated - from looking into the laps or legs of other passengers. That was luck and not the system.
COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT BELOW:
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TOTUS can't engage Iran and support the Freedom Fighters of Iran trying to get freedom, democracy, human rights and more in Iran. But he's trying to work both sides of the fence in a very lame and transparent attempt to play in the Middle East rather than set boundaries for human rights.
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Adapted from Dr.. Peter Hammond's book: Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat Islam is not a religion, nor is it a cult. In its fullest form, it is a complete, total, 100% system of life. Islam has religious, legal, political, economic, social, and military components. The religious component is a beard for all of the other components. Islamization begins when there are sufficient Muslims in a country to agitate for their religious privileges. When politically correct, tolerant, and culturally diverse societies agree to Muslim demands for their religious privileges, some of the other components tend to creep in as well. Here's how it works: As long as the Muslim population remains around or under 2% in any given country, they will be for the most part be regarded as a peace-loving minority, and not as a threat to other citizens. This is the case in: United States -- Muslim 0.6% Australia -- Muslim 1.5% Canada -- Muslim 1.9% China -- Muslim 1.8% Italy -- Muslim 1.5% Norway -- Muslim 1.8% At 2% to 5%, they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups, often with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs. This is happening in: Denmark -- Muslim 2% Germany -- Muslim 3.7% United Kingdom -- Muslim 2.7% Spain -- Muslim 4% Thailand -- Muslim 4.6%
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