When I found out Fight for the Future needed help with their campaign against a new bill called PROTECT-IP, I had to take a little time away from Everything is a Remix Part 4 and produce the video above. PROTECT-IP is the latest piece of legislation aiming to chip away at your online rights in the name of protecting the entertainment industry’s business model. It’s legislation that won’t work, will give us yet more lawsuits, and will make the net worse.

Whether you lean right and hate business regulation, lean left and hate censorship, or lean neither way but hate useless legislation, PROTECT-IP is a bill everyone should oppose. I encourage you to head over to Fight For the Future and contact congress.

http://fightforthefuture.org/pipa

This video shows the first wave of Occupy Wall Street demonstrators who marched from Zuccotti Park and Washington Square Park up to Times Square. This is the last block of the march, video was shot between 6th and 7th Ave on 46th Street.

Occupy Wall Street March on and Occupation of Times Square – 2011.10.15 – Day 29 #OWS #USDOR #OccupyWallSt

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

On September 11, 2010, the 9th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center towers by radical Islamic terrorists, I had the opportunity to attend a pro-Islam / pro-mosque / anti-bigot demonstration close to Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan. I feel I shouldn’t have to explain all of the bullshit that has been going on related to the proposed Islamic Community Center construction near Ground Zero as it’s been all over the news for weeks. My opinion on the topic is that in America people can build buildings on private property for whatever legal purpose they deem fit. This includes building any building near Ground Zero. Please see Ron Paul’s article below which is far more eloquent than I can ever be. The video above was shot during the march as thousands of true patriots marched against the bigotry and hatred currently being spread by people wrapping themselves in the flag and claiming (falsely) to be patriots.

Demagoguing the Mosque and Islam
By Ron Paul – Published 08/23/10

Left and the Right Demagogue Mosque, Islam

Is the controversy over building a mosque near ground zero a grand distraction or a grand opportunity? Or is it, once again, grandiose demagoguery?

It has been said, “Nero fiddled while Rome burned.” Are we not overly preoccupied with this controversy, now being used in various ways by grandstanding politicians? It looks to me like the politicians are “fiddling while the economy burns.”

The debate should have provided the conservative defenders of property rights with a perfect example of how the right to own property also protects the 1st Amendment rights of assembly and religion by supporting the building of the mosque.

Instead, we hear lip service given to the property rights position while demanding that the need to be “sensitive” requires an all-out assault on the building of a mosque, several blocks from “ground zero.”

Just think of what might (not) have happened if the whole issue had been ignored and the national debate stuck with war, peace, and prosperity. There certainly would have been a lot less emotionalism on both sides. The fact that so much attention has been given the mosque debate, raises the question of just why and driven by whom?

In my opinion it has come from the neo-conservatives who demand continual war in the Middle East and Central Asia and are compelled to constantly justify it.

They never miss a chance to use hatred toward Muslims to rally support for the ill conceived preventative wars. A select quote from soldiers from in Afghanistan and Iraq expressing concern over the mosque is pure propaganda and an affront to their bravery and sacrifice.

The claim is that we are in the Middle East to protect our liberties is misleading. To continue this charade, millions of Muslims are indicted and we are obligated to rescue them from their religious and political leaders. And, we’re supposed to believe that abusing our liberties here at home and pursuing unconstitutional wars overseas will solve our problems.

The nineteen suicide bombers didn’t come from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan or Iran. Fifteen came from our ally Saudi Arabia, a country that harbors strong American resentment, yet we invade and occupy Iraq where no al Qaeda existed prior to 9/11.

Many fellow conservatives say they understand the property rights and 1st Amendment issues and don’t want a legal ban on building the mosque. They just want everybody to be “sensitive” and force, through public pressure, cancellation of the mosque construction.

This sentiment seems to confirm that Islam itself is to be made the issue, and radical religious Islamic views were the only reasons for 9/11. If it became known that 9/11 resulted in part from a desire to retaliate against what many Muslims saw as American aggression and occupation, the need to demonize Islam would be difficult if not impossible.

There is no doubt that a small portion of radical, angry Islamists do want to kill us but the question remains, what exactly motivates this hatred?

If Islam is further discredited by making the building of the mosque the issue, then the false justification for our wars in the Middle East will continue to be acceptable.

The justification to ban the mosque is no more rational than banning a soccer field in the same place because all the suicide bombers loved to play soccer.

Conservatives are once again, unfortunately, failing to defend private property rights, a policy we claim to cherish. In addition conservatives missed a chance to challenge the hypocrisy of the left which now claims they defend property rights of Muslims, yet rarely if ever, the property rights of American private businesses.

Defending the controversial use of property should be no more difficult than defending the 1st Amendment principle of defending controversial speech. But many conservatives and liberals do not want to diminish the hatred for Islam — the driving emotion that keeps us in the wars in the Middle East and Central Asia.

It is repeatedly said that 64% of the people, after listening to the political demagogues, don’t want the mosque to be built. What would we do if 75% of the people insist that no more Catholic churches be built in New York City? The point being is that majorities can become oppressors of minority rights as well as individual dictators. Statistics of support are irrelevant when it comes to the purpose of government in a free society — protecting liberty.

The outcry over the building of the mosque, near ground zero, implies that Islam alone was responsible for the 9/11 attacks. According to those who are condemning the building of the mosque, the nineteen suicide terrorists on 9/11 spoke for all Muslims. This is like blaming all Christians for the wars of aggression and occupation because some Christians supported the neo-conservatives’ aggressive wars.

The House Speaker is now treading on a slippery slope by demanding an investigation — a bold rejection of property rights, 1st Amendment rights, and the Rule of Law — in order to look tough against Islam.

This is all about hate and Islamaphobia.

We now have an epidemic of “sunshine patriots” on both the right and the left who are all for freedom, as long as there’s no controversy and nobody is offended.

Political demagoguery rules when truth and liberty are ignored.
Source: http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=1077

I’ve been pushing my representative Nydia Velazquez (D-NY 12th District) to support H.R. 1207: Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 for several weeks now. I’ve made phone calls, tonight I wrote a letter. That letter is below:

Dear Rep. Velazquez,

I won’t bore you with a form letter. I am writing today to ask you co-sponsor HR 1207 to allow the G.A.O. to audit the Federal Reserve.

As a member of the financial services committee you are in a unique position to help further President Obama’s promise of transparency and vote in this bi-partisan issue. This bill has over 200 sponsors from both sides of the isle, and is now being considered by your committee for further action.

There is no logical reason why the Federal Reserve shouldn’t be audited by Congress. Your efforts in supporting this important legislation would go a long way in proving to your constituents that you not only hold the Federal Reserve to the same standard as you do your constituents, but it would also show that you believe in transparency. Anything less than support for this resolution suggests that you are in favor of secrecy and a lack of accountability to the people who pay the bills. We pay the tab; we have a right to know where our money is going.

If you are not going to support HR 1207, I would appreciate a letter from your office with the reasoning behind your decision, so that I may further understand all sides of this issue. At this point I see no logical reason why this shouldn’t be supported by all members of congress.

Thank you for your time and consideration in this very important matter. We have a historical opportunity to change this country for the better, and I hope we can make it happen.

-Concerned constituent in NYC

I encourage everyone to contact their members of congress and ask that hey support H.R. 1207. There are currently over 200 cosponsors as of today (June 9, 2009), both Democrats and Republicans.

Everyone should watch the episode of Frontline: Inside the Meltdown that aired Feb 17, 2009.  It gives a great chronological of what lead up to our current economic crisis.  What really gets me, is how there were certain people (think Ron Paul) saying that this event would happen back in 2007 or earlier, yet they  are and were ridiculed for sounding the warnings about an imminent disaster.  Hindsight may be 20/20 as the old saying goes, but it does not make any difference if you don’t learn from the experience.

We will continue to see the same problems over the next few years, only worse.  As I write this, the DOW sits at 7495(!!!) and people continue to lose their jobs, homes, and savings.  Yesterday our new President Obama has signed into law another bailout bill, and by the market’s reactions, it is probably not going to help.  Many of the same people who’ve gotten us into this mess in the first place are still in positions of power in both government and private industry.  The fools in the US Government continue to give $BILLIONS$ (In reality it’s now in the $$TRILLIONS$$) to their old pals in the private sector that caused this mess through greed and corruption. Now millions of American tax payers for generations to come will suffer the consequences, while these greedy bastards continue to live the good life.

There are many people who feel they have the solution to our problems.  Truth is, nobody knows what the best fix will be, but I can tell you printing money and giving it away to the same people who fucked us in the first place, is not the solution.  Harder times are on the horizon.

Please enjoy the episode of PBS’ Frontline: Inside the Meltdown.  Encourage others to see and understand how this mess has happened, and continue to educate those close to you.

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