Another Effort to Take the Internet Away From the People.

Behind closed doors, in Dallas Texas, trade representatives of big corporations are secretly negotiating a massive trade agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which includes regulations for the Internet – including intellectual property provisions that could potentially "harm online expression, privacy and innovation on the Internet".

This Agreement may be even worse than ACTA as it could tie the hands legislators and create new, international standards for intellectual property enforcement. Internet users and free expression advocates like EFF aren’t allowed in the room and are forbidden from seeing the text, even though U.S. Trade Representatives claim  they have made “extraordinary efforts” to include public stakeholders in negotiations. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Like ACTA, negotiations exclude the public, while welcoming private industry representatives with open arms.

Last week, 32 legal scholars sent a letter to the office of the USTR demanding transparency in the process. Including the release of the text and demand for real participation from civil society, they demanded the immediate release of “reports on US positions and proposals on intellectual property matters that are currently given only to Industry Trade Advisory Committee members under confidentiality agreements.” This is key because there is nothing that could justify the withholding of such reports that simply outline the U.S. position on intellectual property from the public. This is especially true given the fact that the U.S. government’s proposals could impede Congress from engaging in domestic legal reform of legislation regulating IP.

US Congressman Darrell Issa just released the Trans Pacific Partnership Intellectual Property Rights Chapter on KeepTheWebOPEN.com. Only problem is, it's the old 15-month old version. How stupid do they think we are?

Via Public Citizen:

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is being negotiated in secret and the stakes for the 99% couldn't be higher...The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) "free trade" agreement is a stealthy policy being pressed by corporate America, a dream of the 1 percent, that in one blow could:

• offshore millions of jobs,

• free Wall Street and its banksters from oversight,

• reduce Internet freedom,

• ban policies needed to create green jobs and rebuild local economies,

• decrease access to medicine by extending drug company monopolies,

• empower corporations to attack our environmental and health safeguards, such as tobacco control and clean air and water regulations.

Closed-door talks are on-going between the U.S. and Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam; with countries like Japan and China potentially joining later.

600 corporate advisors have access to the text, while the public, Members of Congress, journalists, and civil society are excluded. And so far what we know about what's in there is very scary!

But there's still time to organize to shine a light on the horrors of the TPP and convince our governments to instead pursue policies that benefit the 99% in our countries. Watch this video (you may want to mute) and then take action by signing our petition calling for an end to secrecy in the TPP negotiations.

TPP: Spreading NAFTA to Asia and Chile...Guaranteed to screw you and me.

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As Homeless Rates Escalate in America, Feeding the Homeless is Banned.

50 million Americans live in poverty, yet feeding the homeless is gradually being outlawed across the nation. 

The following are some of the major U.S. cities that have attempted to ban feeding the homeless:

Philadelphia

Mayor Nutter recently banned feeding homeless people in many parts of Philadelphia where homeless people are known to congregate....

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter has announced a ban on the feeding of large numbers of homeless and hungry people at sites on and near the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Mayor Nutter is imposing the ban on all outdoor feedings of large numbers of people on city parkland, including Love Park and the Ben Franklin Parkway, where it is not uncommon for outreach groups to offer free food.

Nutter says the feedings lack both sanitary conditions and dignity.

Orlando

Last June, a group of activists down in Orlando, Florida were arrested by police for feeding the homeless in defiance of a city ordinance....

Over the past week, twelve members of food activist group Food Not Bombs have been arrested in Orlando for giving free food to groups of homeless people in a downtown park. They were acting in defiance of a controversial city ordinance that mandates permits for groups distributing food to large groups in parks within two miles of City Hall. Each group is allowed only two permits per park per year; Food Not Bombs has already exceeded their limit. They set up their meatless buffet in Lake Eola knowing that they would likely be arrested as a result.

Houston

Down in Houston, a group of Christians was recently banned from distributing food to the homeless, and they were told that they probably would not be granted a permit to do so in the future even if they applied for one....

Bobby and Amanda Herring spent more than a year providing food to homeless people in downtown Houston every day. They fed them, left behind no trash and doled out warm meals peacefully without a single crime being committed, Bobby Herring said.

That ended two weeks ago when the city shut down their "Feed a Friend" effort for lack of a permit. And city officials say the couple most likely will not be able to obtain one.

"We don't really know what they want, we just think that they don't want us down there feeding people," said Bobby Herring, a Christian rapper who goes by the stage name Tre9.

Dallas

Dallas has also adopted a law which greatly restricts the ability of individuals and ministries to feed the homeless....

A Dallas-area ministry is suing the city over a food ordinance that restricts the group from giving meals to the homeless.

Courts dismissed Dallas’ request for a summary judgment last week, saying the case, brought up by pastor Don Hart (in video above) may indeed be a violation of free exercise of religion, as protected by the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the blog Religion Clause reported.

In the court filing, the ministry leaders argue that their Christian faith requires them to share meals with the homeless (Jesus did!) and that the requirement that even churches and charities provide toilets, sinks, trained staff and consent of the city keeps them from doing so.

Las Vegas

A few years ago, Las Vegas became the first major U.S. city to specifically pass a law banning the feeding of homeless people....

Las Vegas, whose homeless population has doubled in the past decade to about 12,000 people in and around the city, joins several other cities across the country that have adopted or considered ordinances limiting the distribution of charitable meals in parks. Most have restricted the time and place of such handouts, hoping to discourage homeless people from congregating and, in the view of officials, ruining efforts to beautify downtowns and neighborhoods.

But the Las Vegas ordinance is believed to be the first to explicitly make it an offense to feed “the indigent.”

In New York, the Bloomberg administration is  blocking food donations to all government-run facilities that serve the city’s homeless. Why? Too much salt.

The Bloomberg administration is now taking the term “food police” to new depths, blocking food donations to all government-run facilities that serve the city’s homeless.

In conjunction with a mayoral task force and the Health Department, the Department of Homeless Services recently started enforcing new nutritional rules for food served at city shelters. Since DHS can’t assess the nutritional content of donated food, shelters have to turn away good Samaritans.

For over a decade, Glenn Richter and his wife, Lenore, have led a team of food-delivery volunteers from Ohab Zedek, the Upper West Side Orthodox congregation.

They’ve brought freshly cooked, nutrient-rich surplus foods from synagogue events to homeless facilities in the neighborhood. (Disclosure: I know the food is so tasty because I’ve eaten it — I’m an OZ member.) The practice of donating such surplus food to homeless shelters is common among houses of worship in the city.

DHS Commissioner Seth Diamond says the ban on food donations is consistent with Mayor Bloomberg’s emphasis on improving nutrition for all New Yorkers. A new interagency document controls what can be served at facilities — dictating serving sizes as well as salt, fat and calorie contents, plus fiber minimums and condiment recommendations.

The city also cites food-safety issues with donations, but it’s clear that the real driver behind the ban is the Bloomberg dietary diktats.

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Imagine U.S. Without Texas.

Warning: This is mostly a "rant". If you're easily offended or love the state of Texas, DON'T READ the following.

* A fourth-grade teacher from Texas, asked her students to imagine themselves as AIG employees. She asked them to imagine a situation where they had not directly involved in the deals that ruined the company, but were left to clean up the mess. She asked them to imagine having to pay back money they felt they had earned. She asked them to imagine themselves and their families receiving death threats.

One boy raised his hand and asked if they could write notes to tell them it's going to be okay.

The teacher said they could and the class wrote sympathy notes to all the top executives.

According to employee Patrick O'Neil, who responded on behalf of AIG, this act of kindness made the executives break down and cry.

"There were more than a few moist eyes and tight throats. To have reached out to us in such a heartfelt way is really a testament to your individual and collective humanity."

In addition, Gerry Pasciucco, the current leader of AIG-FP, also wrote to say that the "gesture had deeply touched his battered staff."

It's clear that this group of elites who participated in causing the collapse of our financial markets are only concerned about one thing, themselves. This act only convinced them further that they are the ones to be pitied.

Imagine if this teacher, had, instead, explained how the behavior of this company, not only contributed to leaving tax payers with an enormous debt, that they will have to pay, but that billions of people around the world are suffering, and will continue suffering as the ripple effects of this crisis continue to billow outward.

It is estimated that ten million additional people will die of starvation around the world because of this crisis. That doesn't account for the numerous people who will descend into a deeper poverty. What about their sympathy notes?

And what happened to Texas' - the death penalty capital of the country - hard line ultra punitive politics that drive its tougher than tough system of law and order? Obviously, this "off with their heads" mentality only applies to the little people...the people who can't defend themselves. These people, the recipients of this outpouring of compassion can more than defend themselves, so they're above the law, in the eyes of Texas, anyway.

It's too bad Texas is so big, because without this "magnificent" state, our nation's map would resemble the bottom-toothless smile of the Calgary Flames's power forward, Todd Bertuzzi and we can't have that. So, despite its severe flaws, we can't let Texas secede.

Anyway, how could this country go on without the Dallas Cowboys? As much as I "loathe" Texas, I love the Dallas Cowboys.

* Although, my feelings about Texas (although I hear Austin, TX is a pretty cool place) and this situation are real, I do realize this teacher's actions do not represent the state of Texas, and that maybe's she's right...when children show compassion...it's important to take advantage of that opportunity. I just wish she had provided more options.

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Is Capital Punishment a Preordained Ritual?

At the age of 18-years old, Dominique Green was arrested for the fatal shooting of a man during a robbery, outside of a Texas convenient store. Green admitted to taking part in the robbery but insisted he did not pull the trigger, which was also the testimony of the only independent eyewitness.

Did Dominique Green receive a fair trial?

No. In addition to the only independent eyewitness not identifying Dominique as the killer, the police made a deal with the only white male involved in the robbery at the scene of the crime. The district attorney interfered with any attempts investigators made to interview this man, and he went free, never charged with a single thing. Meanwhile, the other black man present went to prison, and Dominique, alone, was sentenced to death. The testimony of a psychologist - called by the defense - well known for his views that African Americans and Latinos are more prone to violence than others are, sealed his fate.

Dominique’s own mother, repeatedly diagnosed as a schizophrenic with multiple personality disorder, took the stand per the request of Dominique’s “defense”. When asked if she thought her son was capable of murder, she said, “Of course he is, he’s just like me.” Later at the sentencing phase, when she was asked what should be done with him, she said, “You should impose the full extent of the law.”

The widow of the man murdered attended the trial, and said, “This isn’t a trial, this is some kind of preordained ritual where they know exactly how it’s going to come out in the end. This kid has nobody on his side, and he’s not being defended properly.”

One of the sons of the victim, Andre Lastrapes, said,

"I felt it was dirty and the state will have their chance to face a higher authority that is God. The hell with Texas and the justice system. I'm speaking from the heart. I really mean that. Andrew Lastrapes was my daddy in the first place. I forgave Dominique. I know God has a place for Dominique in heaven. I know the person I met doesn't deserve to die. He became close to me and I pray that he goes to Heaven."

Green was convicted of first-degree murder, and sentenced to death by lethal injection. Extraordinarily kind and patient, during his 12 years on death row, he became an inspiration to those around him. Dominique was able to do for others what he could not do for himself. He became a legal expert and was very helpful in getting a number of people off of death row.

In a theological sense, Thomas Cahil, author of, A Saint on Death Row, believes Dominique Green is a saint, because many people who met him in his last years still consider him instrumental in their lives. In some ways their lives were transformed by that meeting, and rather than being dead and gone, they consider him a living presence. A few weeks before he died Dominique wrote and published More than Just a Rosary

Thomas Cahill, in Germany at the time of Dominique Green’s execution, received a call at 2:30 A.M. to tell him Dominique was gone. After he put down the phone, he looked out across the street where an enormous, elaborate gate, made of huge stones, put in place by slaves of the Romans in the second century A.D. stood tall, and he thought of the similarities between the Romans and present day Americans.

“The Romans knew that they owned the world, that they were the greatest…what they didn’t know was that they were extremely cruel. The enjoyed blood sports, the gladiators in the ring, poor devils being eaten by wild beasts…but they never let themselves know how cruel they were and I have to say, that I feel the Americans have replaced the Romans as the great leaders of the world who also hid from themselves their own cruelty.” -- Thomas Cahill

Dominique Green's Final Words:

"I am not angry, but I am disappointed that I was denied justice. But I am happy that I was afforded you all as family and friends. You all have been there for me; it's a miracle. I love you...I am not as strong as I thought I was going to be. But I guess it only hurts for a little while. You all are my family. Please keep my memory alive."

There are still jurisdictions in this country that do not have Public Defender offices. In those areas, any lawyer, regardless of the type of law he specializes - real estate, divorce, etc. - may be drafted or conscripted to handle, for example, every 6th, 10th or 15th case. In addition, there are jurisdictions where there is a limit on the amount of money that court appointed lawyers may receive. For example, in Mississippi - $1,000 is the maximum doled out for death penalty cases.

In another case, in Houston TX, Calvin Burdine's trial only lasted 16 hours. His lawyer, Joe Frank Cannon - ten of his clients were sentenced to death - fell asleep every afternoon during Burdine's death penalty trial. The prosecutor urged the jury to kill him because "sending a gay man to prison would be like setting a kid loose in a candy store" (There are restrictions for injecting race into a trial but no such restrictions exist when it comes to homosexuality). Responding to Burdine's lawyer napping, the Chief Criminal Judge said: “The constitution says you have a right to a lawyer but the constitution doesn’t say the lawyer has to be awake”

For almost 20 years, Burdine struggled for legal recognition of what should be obvious to anyone: that a sleeping lawyer is no lawyer at all. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held that that was no reason to set aside Burdine's conviction. Finally, on June 7, 2003, the United States Court of Appeals, considering the issue on habeas corpus, disagreed, by a vote of 9 to 5.

These two cases are not rare, especially in the state of Texas. As Thomas Cahill said, well known for his knowledge of ancient civilizations, capital punishment in America is akin to human sacrifice.

"I don't think the death penalty has anything to do with justice. All of us are going through this incredible national drama where bankers and hedge fund managers have stolen everything from everybody. I wonder how many of them will go to prison. Very, very few, and outside of someone like Bernie Madoff, maybe no one. Why is that? Because they can afford good lawyers. So, why do we sacrifice the poor and minorities on this altar, which is basically an altar of human sacrifice. It's like something out of prehistoric times." -- Thomas Cahill

The Innocence Project has found that "one in eight juries makes the wrong decision – by convicting an innocent person."

"It is the deed that teaches, not the name we give it. Murder and capital punishment are not opposites that cancel one another, but similars that breed their kind." ~George Bernard Shaw, Maxims for Revolutionists

"So long as governments set the example of killing their enemies, private citizens will occasionally kill theirs." ~Elbert Hubbard

Links:
Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Texas Abolition Blog
But in Texas, we sometimes execute accomplices...

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