UK scrambles to explain SAS Libya blunder: News24: World: News

Where is James Bond when you need him?
UK scrambles to explain SAS Libya blunder: News24: World: News

UK scrambles to explain SAS Libya blunder

Frankly, I don't think they need James Bond. What is needed and what is wanted may be different.

China: Tibet won't fall apart if Dalai Lama dies | Stuff.co.nz

China: Tibet won't fall apart if Dalai Lama dies | Stuff.co.nz
the order was conveyed verbally, as is often the case with official directives that the government does not wish to defend or explain.

Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee will Vote on Castle Doctrine Bill on Monday, March 7

This Monday, March 7, the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee will vote on important legislation. Introduced by state Representative Scott Perry (R-92), House Bill 40 (Castle Doctrine legislation) would permit law-abiding citizens to use force, including deadly force, against an attacker in their home and any place outside of their home where they have a legal right to be.  If enacted into law, it would also protect individuals from civil lawsuits by the attacker or the attacker's family when force is used. 

In 2010, both the state House and Senate overwhelming passed this important self-defense legislation, which was vetoed by anti-gun Governor Ed Rendell before he left office.

Please contact members of the House Judiciary Committee today and urge them to support a Pennsylvanians right to self-defense by voting for HB 40. Contact information for the House Judiciary Committee can be found on thw web at http://www.NRAILA.org.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Here is how some ask for money for a cause -- at the end.

Parker: Don't take RWC away - the-press | Stuff.co.nz

Those who will be missing the NFL next fall can turn a lonely eye to Rubgy.

Parker: Don't take RWC away - the-press | Stuff.co.nz

Christchurch is ''utterly'' committed to holding its Rugby World Cup matches, despite the damage wreaked on the city by last week's earthquake, Mayor Bob Parker says.

Questions have been raised about whether the city will be able to host the event, given predictions that it may take months to get essential services up and running following last week's 6.3-magnitude quake.

Christchurch is scheduled to host five pool games and two quarterfinals in the Cup which begins on September 9, 2011.

The comments in the article are interesting. They want to bring in cruise ships to give housing to the guest when the world cup for Rugby comes. But why wait. Thousands are without homes and safe sleeping quarters now. Bring in the ships to Christchurch now and then you'd have some support for the tourists in the months to come.

In other news, icebergs now cover a quarter of the 5km by 2km Tasman Lake, which is about 200km west of Christchurch on New Zealand's South Island.

Harpers hits a home run with story on Julian Heicklen

Splendid job!

The Obstinate Dr. Heicklen
By Scott Horton

The New York Times reports on the case of Julian P. Heicklen, a 78-year-old retired chemistry professor from New Jersey, who now faces federal criminal charges. What has the mild-mannered Dr. Heicklen done?

Since 2009, Mr. Heicklen has stood [at 500 Pearl Street in Manhattan] and at courthouse entrances elsewhere and handed out pamphlets encouraging jurors to ignore the law if they disagree with it, and to render verdicts based on conscience. That concept, called jury nullification, is highly controversial, and courts are hostile to it. But federal prosecutors have now taken the unusual step of having Mr. Heicklen indicted on a charge that his distributing of such pamphlets at the courthouse entrance violates a law against jury tampering.

Federal prosecutors in New York have reached the alarming decision that informing individuals on the street in front of the courthouse (some of whom may be en route to serve on a jury pool) about the doctrine of jury nullification is a criminal act. Their view would find no sympathy among the authors of America’s constitutional system.

Jury nullification has a long and noble history in America. William Penn’s trial in 1671 is often taken as the first textbook case illustrating the doctrine. Charged with “breaching the King’s peace” (more or less the charge that prosecutors previously tried against Heicklen) because he convened a gathering of Quakers in London, jurors were charged to convict Penn. They steadfastly refused. There was no doubt that Penn had broken the law. The jurors’ quarrel was rather with the prosecutors who brought the charges and the judge who ran the court, whom they viewed as instruments of repression, and with the law itself, which, as it was being applied, was manifestly unjust. In the end Penn and the jurors all went to prison, but the injustice of the entire process belongs to the chain of events that presaged the American Revolution and led the nation’s founders to embrace nullification.

At the sedition trial of journalist John Peter Zenger in 1735, Andrew Hamilton recounted the story of the Penn trial to a New York jury and admonished them that whatever the law and facts, they had the right to acquit Zenger if they held that to be the just result. They followed his advice in an outcome that laid the foundation for American press freedom.

America’s Founding Fathers made their case to juries arguing for nullification. John Adams, when defending John Hancock in 1771, insisted that the juror has not merely the “right” but actually the “duty to find the verdict according to his own best understanding, judgment, and conscience, though in direct opposition to the direction of the court” and its understanding of the law. Conscience should serve as a safety valve, he argued, against unjust laws, or against just laws, unjustly applied.

Since then, jury nullification has been used to block the prosecution of those who helped slaves flee captivity or who simply offered them education; to free those who faced prosecution for resisting military service in unpopular wars or whose conscience forbade them to bear arms; and to end the prosecution of women who sought abortions and the doctors who served them. In the December 1926 issue of Harper’s Magazine, Walter Lippmann made the case for the use of jury nullification to address some of the extreme prosecutions resulting from the Volstead Act. In the December 1995 issue, Paul Butler argued that minorities should use jury nullification to press social issues.

The “controversy” relates not to nullification as a doctrine but to a far narrower issue: can the jurors be told that they have this right? Prosecutors and judges detest this notion because it strikes at the core of their power to interpret and guide the application of the law. No doubt about it: nullification makes their lives difficult. Consider the recent dilemma of prosecutors and judges in Montana, unable to find a pool of jurors willing to convict anyone for possession of marijuana, no matter the evidence.

Julian Heicklen’s conduct is remarkably like that of the seventeenth century pamphleteers whose obstinate insistence on rights and fair process belongs to the animating background of the American Revolution. Consider the case of John Lilburne, for instance, who was repeatedly arrested and tried for distributing pamphlets articulating a vision of natural rights and whose stout defiance of prosecutors and judges led directly to the notion of the right of confrontation and the exclusion of secret evidence. Consciously or not, Heicklen even embraces their tactics—like Lilburne and early dissenters, he kept his silence in response to questioning from the bench. Heicklen is just the sort of defendant that jurors in days gone by would have recognized as a victim of persecution and would have acquitted. And the federal prosecutors, no doubt aware of this fact, are eager to keep his case before a judge who shares their belief that jurors must be kept ignorant of the existence of the doctrine of jury nullification.

Shortly before his death, Thomas Jefferson noted with disdain that judges were working hard to bury jury nullification. It reflected a pernicious “slide into toryism,” he remarked in a letter to James Madison in 1826. In Jefferson’s view, judges and prosecutors who rejected the jury’s right of nullification were betraying the values of the Constitution and instead embracing those of the British Crown. “They suppose themselves… Whigs, because they no longer know what Whigism or republicanism means.” The fundamental question to put to the “tory” prosecutors who have brought the Heicklen case is simple: what about the First Amendment?

More students to be sought for after-school programs - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

More students to be sought for after-school programs - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Board member Thomas Sumpter said the planned reduction is "inconsistent" with the district's plans to improve and expand arts education.

This is GREAT to have a board member question a policy and do something about it. Well done.

Julian's progress report

Hi Tyranny Fighters: (date unsure)

1. Homeland Security Criminal Case in New York

Since my second letter to Attorney General Eric Holder the following have occurred:

I have been invited to speak at the Harvard University Law School. by William F. Weld Professor of Law at Harvard Law School Charles Nesson.  I will be at Harvard University on March 28 and 29, 2011.  

I have accepted an invitation from the New York Lawyers Guild to meet with its members.  No date has been set yet.

The Federal Defender's Office of the U. S. District Court has several people working on my case under the direction of Attorney Sabrina Shrock.  They have just purchased my new book entitled "The Non-Trials."

An attorney from Florida has entered the case on my behalf.

The American Civil Liberties Union has not indicated any interest in my arrests.

The American Jury Institute has disaffiliated itself from me, terminated my membership, and returned my dues for 2011.

2. Robin Hood

Robin Hood is a human rights group headquartered in Formosa (Taiwan).  It has submitted a request to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to become an intervener in my criminal case in Newark.  It intends to submit a habeas corpus brief on my behalf to the U. S. District Court of New Jersey in Newark, NJ.  In addition it is contacting me about other civil liberty cases in the New Jersey area. It has taken an interest in the case of Chris Busche, who is incarcerated in Essex County.  Tyranny Fighter Joseph Dunsay is helping Chris.  If you are interested in helping Chris, contact Joseph Dunsay, and send copies to me and Paul Mass.  E-mail addresses are:

Joseph Dunsay: josephdunsay2009@gmail.com

Paul Maas: drpaulmaas@gmail.com

3. Florida Tour

I will arrive in Fort Lauderdale, FL on Tuesday, March 8, at 1:47 pm.  Bruce Toski (Spartacus) will meet me at the airport, and be my chaperone for my stay in Fort Lauderdale.  His e-mail address is: agent007@doitnow.com. We will proceed to the Broward County courthouse in Fort Lauderdale for a Fully Informed Jury distribution from about 3:00 to 5:00 pm. Please join us if you can.

On Wednesday, March 9, 2011, He and I will spend the day distributing literature at both the county and federal courthouses in Fort Lauderdale.  Again you are invited to join us.

Wednesday evening I will give a talk about the war on drugs at the Broward County Libertarian Party monthly meeting.  It is my 79th birthday.  There will be "surprise" party.  You are commanded to appear, so that you can surprise me.  Contact Don Sheldon (E-mail: donaldsheldon@gmail.com), the President of the Broward County Libertarian Party, for details.  My new book will be on sale at a discounted price.

On Thursday March 10th, I will drive to Orlando where, on Friday, March 11, at approximately noon I, and anyone who wishes to join me, will distribute FIJA material at the Orange County Courthouse, 425 N. Orange Avenue, Orlando, Florida 32801.  Chief Judge Blevin Perry, Jr. issued an  ORDER forbidding the distribution of jury information literature on or near public court property.  Distributors of literature may be arrested and found in contempt of court.  Contact Mark Schmidter (E-mail: mschmidter@gmail.com) for details.  

The ACLU of Florida has filed a legal challenge to Judge Perry's ORDER. Cooperating Attorney Lawrence G. Walters and ACLU of Florida lawyers Randall Marshall and Maria Kayanan are asking the Fifth District Court of Appeals to vacate the January 31, 2011 order that bans the distribution of materials, oral protest, education, or counseling "intended to influence summoned jurors on any matters" which is, or may be pending before that individual as a juror.

I have no definite plans for the rest of the weekend, as I may be in jail.  When released I plan to travel to any of the cities listed below if other Tyranny Fighters in those locations will join me:

Jacksonville, Gainesville, Tallahassee, Tampa, and Clearwater, FL, as well as Atlanta, GA and Montgomery, AL.

On Friday through Sunday, March 18–20, I will attend the Save America Foundation Convention, where I will sell and sign my book.

On Tuesday, March 22, I will leave from Tampa to return to my home in NJ.  For those of you who may wish to contact me in Florida, my cell phone number is 814–880–9308.

4. LWRN Radio Broadcasts at www.lwrn.net

February 5, 2011

Robert Frommer, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, discusses some recent law suits prosecuted by the Institute. I discussed the showdown that is coming between the people of the United States and their government.  I also reported on blatant incidents of kidnapping by the Keene, NH courts.  

February 12, 2011

I interviewed Mark Schmidter about his jury nullification outreach in Florida and separately interviews with Pete Eyre on his recent arrest and detainment after wearing a hat in Keene, NH district court as well as the subsequent imprisonment of Adam Mueller for contempt of court.

February 19, 2011

Roger Roots, a lawyer and member of the Advisory board of the american Jury Institute discussed jury nullification.

February 26, 2011

Pastor William Temple, Chairman of the Freedom Fest 2011 National Tea Party Nominating Convention being readied for Kansas City in October, discussed his entry into politics and religion.

March 5, 2011

John Chambers, Founder of the Save America Foundation discussed the coming collapse of the economies, global financial systems, and currencies

around the world.

March 12, 2011

I will discuss the nullification of the U. S. Constitution, the transformation of U. S. courts to courts of inquisition, and the possibilities of reclaiming a free society.

5. Future Activities

The Coalition for Medical Marijuana of New Jersey usually holds its monthly public meeting on the second Tuesday at 7:00 pm  in the Lawrence Township Library (Mercer County) Room #1.

Campaign for Liberty of Orange County will hold its monthly meeting on Thursday evening, March 10, 2011.

The Save America Foundation Convention will be held in Tampa, Fl from March 18–20, 2011.  

6. Suggested Books

A new book, "The Non-Trials" by Julian Heicklen, Ishi Press (2011) discusses his arrest at the Isaiah Wall in Manhattan, NY, in 2007 and the subsequent legal activity. It is now available for $25.95 at amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and probably other booksellers. Chapter V is a discussion of jury nullification.  You should read it and also the Regas brief at:

http://1215.org/lawnotes/lawnotes/jurytamp.htm

I am planning on a book tour for 2011 and am available for book sales and/or speeches at any conventions.  Let me know if your organization is interested.  Books will be available for sale at a discounted price at the Save America Foundation National Convention in Tampa, FL from March 18–20.

"Actual Innocence" by Barry Scheck, PeterNeufeld (co-founders of The Innocence Project), and Jim Dwyer (a writer for the New York times), a Signet book (2001).

"Ordinary Injustice" by Amy Bach, Henry Holt and Co. (2009).  Amy Bach is an attorney and journalist who spent eight years investigating the widespread courtroom failures that each day upend lives across America.

Michael Badnarik gives a course about the U. S. Constitution using his book "Good to be King."

  Mike Benoit has written a book entitled "Sham and Shame of the Federal Income Tax."  You can purchase it directly from him for five dollars.  His E-mail address is in the header of this E-mail.

At some unspecified future date each of you will have a quiz by the U. S. courts on the material in these books.  Failing that quiz will lead to a long prison sentence.

7. Warning

You should know that the Federal Protective Service, and possibly the FBI, is intercepting my E-mails.  Another violation of our civil liberties.  Be prudent if you write to me.

However a U. S. court recently has ruled that  If the government wants to see your emails stored by an Internet service provider, they first will have to get a warrant.  See:

http://www.allgov.com/Top_Stories/ViewNews/US_Court_Rules_Warrants_Needed_to_Spy_on_Emails_101216

THE PRICE OF FREEDOM IS ETERNAL VIGILANCE

THE PRICE OF JUSTICE IS ETERNAL PUBLICITY

Yours in freedom and justice—Julian

Athletic Business: Study Probes Criminal Records of College Football Players

Athletic Business Newswire - Study Probes Criminal Records of College Football Players

Pitt didn't do well in this evaluation. When there are more arrests than wins, it isn't good.

But this article plants the problem on that of the 'recruit.' Those in the NCAA and those at the various universities are seeking to do criminal background checks on the recruits. Fellows, the problems are those that happen when the recruits are STUDENT ATHLETES. Too many of the problems happen as these college kids are in college -- not before they arrive there.

To talk about the screening process for recruits is to talk about the pimple on the ass of the elephant. Talk about the behavior of the players when they are in the program. Worry about that. Worry less about getting the criminal history from those in the community for kids that are NOT in the program and worry more about making sure that there are no criminal activities of those on the teams and on the staffs. Then talk about sharing that data with the community at large.

Finally, I'd love to see a the probe of college football players measured against the athletes of other sports. Are the volleyball players and club sports participants getting into less trouble?

I don't expect everyone to be perfect. But let's not only compare the thugs that wear helmets and take drugs with aggressive side effects at one college town with those of another.

In other news, what about the guy getting cut from BYU's basketball team?