American Buddhist Net

Associated Press
Last update: July 24, 2008

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate John McCain is scheduled to meet with the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, on Friday in Colorado.

The two will meet in Aspen, where the Dalai Lama plans to address a symposium on Tibetan culture and its impact on global issues, the McCain campaign said Thursday.

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Dalai Lama to visit Japan in November: Buddhist group

UPDATE: The NATIONAL ENQUIRER is revealing new details about the political scoop we broke yesterday - the secret meeting between Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards and Rielle Hunter.

A team of ENQUIRER reporters caught the married ex-senator visiting his mistress and secret love child late Monday night at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles hotel.

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Good work, but that's just most of the ones we know of, and only about 1/10 of the actual total. ABN
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By Emily Bazelon, Kara Hadge, Dahlia Lithwick, and Chris Wilson
Posted Thursday, July 24, 2008, at 6:55 AM ET

Each scandal is represented by a colored circle that encompasses the people who are implicated. As it's easy to see, many of the players here are mixed up in two, three, or more of the alleged crimes. Hence all the overlapping circles (Venn-diagram heaven!).

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Why do US citizens continue to put up with such terrible government? Especially when it is possible to change it legally and without violence? Why does the ACLU have to fight so hard and long to obtain a few redacted documents that should never have been secret in the first place? Why do the majority of Americans have to beg Congress (to no avail) to end the wars or impeach the president? Why is our system so incredibly inefficient and unresponsive to the very citizens it is charged to serve? I admire David Swanson, the ACLU, and thousands of other activists. But what is the point of endlessly fighting against a system that is so corrupt it can never been expected to work as it is now fashioned? Why not put some energy, real energy, into expanding the US legislature to include millions of qualified citizens? The "representatives" we have now are little more than professional game-players who are compromised by money, machine-politics, special interests, and personal ambition. Why not replace them with millions of qualified citizens who will be empowered to propose, write, revise, and vote on legislation through a computer network? Government is very much an information system. If you change the system such that it gets better input, you will get better output. It is within the power of US citizens to work for real change by amending the US Constitution in such a way that Congress can be expanded to include millions of qualified citizens. Here is one way to start thinking about it: Rethinking the USA. ABN
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The documents show the use of "national security" as a shield to protect government officials from embarrassment, criticism and possibly prosecution.

7/24/2008

NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today obtained three redacted documents related to the Bush administration's brutal interrogation policies, including a previously withheld Justice Department memo authorizing the CIA's use of torture. The government was ordered to turn over the documents in response to an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit brought in 2004 by the ACLU and other organizations seeking records on the treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody overseas.

"These documents supply further evidence, if any were needed, that the Justice Department authorized the CIA to torture prisoners in its custody," said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project. "The Justice Department twisted the law, and in some cases ignored it altogether, in order to permit interrogators to use barbaric methods that the U.S. once prosecuted as war crimes."

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Swanson sees the problem--that we do not have representative government in the USA. When will he see that there can be no change until we change the system? It CAN be done legally and non-violently. We need a new system that does away with fake "leaders" and fake "representatives" who do almost nothing for the good of the country. This CAN be done by expanding Congress to include millions of qualified citizens (like David Swanson himself). Swanson's analysis of the problem is excellent, and we still need to have people doing what he is doing, but really why should citizens be expected to fawn and beg at the feet of Congressional "representatives" just to maybe get them to sort of pretend to do what they were elected to do? The old formula of "the people" taking action to "force" Congress or "the government" to do the right thing almost never works; it just siphons off energy or redirects it toward the latest new face promising big "changes." If you want REAL change, start thinking about how to Constitutionally change the system we now have. ABN
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I believe this is good news. 44% realize that the problems with the US system are so bad, it can no longer fix itself. Then what to do? Clearly, change the system. That is not such a radical idea. Here's one plan for starters: Rethinking the USA. Rather than spend all of our time endlessly analyzing the game as it is played now, we would do much better to put real energy into devising a new way to run the USA. A way based on the essence of the American Constitution but upgraded to account for modern problems using technology we already possess (and know works in other settings). This could all be done legally and non-violently and would produce a system that would actually work for the best interests of US citizens. ABN
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Survey finds 18% would support a secessionist effort in their state

...I believe the United States' system is broken and cannot be fixed by traditional two-party politics and elections:

Agree--44%

Disagree--53%

Not sure--3%

By The Associated Press
Wednesday, Jul 23, 2008 - 08:53:50 pm CDT

OMAHA — Humane society workers have found 117 cats, a raccoon and a rabbit in a north Omaha house.

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Kurt Nimmo
Infowars
July 23, 2008

In a landmark and impromptu interview today on the Alex Jones Show, music icon and genuine American hero Willie Nelson addressed the impending attack against Iran and Dennis Kucinich’s article of impeachment, scheduled to go before the House Judiciary Committee on Friday.

Calling in from a music tour venue in Council Bluff, Iowa, Willie stated that George Bush and his neocon minions cannot be allowed to get away with fraudulently invading Iraq and engaging in mass murder without “even a slap on the wrist.” Impeachment, according to Nelson, is a “minor way” to deal with crimes of such a horrific magnitude. However, supporting Kucinich’s brave and tenacious effort in the House of Representatives “might slow the guy down” in regard to the planned invasion of Iran, tentatively set for either September or October, according to numerous insiders and experts.

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...Anonymous communications have an important place in our political and social discourse. The Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that the right to anonymous free speech is protected by the First Amendment. A much-cited 1995 Supreme Court ruling in McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission reads:

Protections for anonymous speech are vital to democratic discourse. Allowing dissenters to shield their identities frees them to express critical, minority views . . . Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. . . . It thus exemplifies the purpose behind the Bill of Rights, and of the First Amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation . . . at the hand of an intolerant society.

The tradition of anonymous speech is older than the United States. Founders Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay wrote the Federalist Papers under the pseudonym "Publius," and "the Federal Farmer" spoke up in rebuttal. The US Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized rights to speak anonymously derived from the First Amendment.

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Anonymous speech is an essential part of First Amendment rights. Here's a link to the website in question: MPD Enforcer 2.0. ABN
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Site popular with citizens, officers

By Amos Maki (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal
Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin and the city of Memphis have filed a lawsuit to learn who operates a blog harshly critical of Godwin and his department.

The lawsuit asks AOL to produce all information related to the identity of an e-mail address linked to MPD Enforcer 2.0, a blog popular with police officers that has been extremely critical of police leadership at 201 Poplar.

"In what could be a landmark case of privacy and the 1st Amendment," the anonymous bloggers write on the site, "Godwin has illegally used his position and the City of Memphis as a ram to ruin the Constitution of the United States.

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Jul 22nd, 2008
By Amanda

On yesterday’s edition of The 700 Club, Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson sharply criticized the 'moderate tone' the Bush administration has allegedly taken toward Iran and its nuclear weapons program. Robertson advocated that Israel look out for the 'survival of its nation' and 'make some kind of a strike' against Iranian nuclear facilities. He also predicted that it will likely happen before the 2008 elections:

"But nevertheless, I think we can look in the next few months for Israel to make a strike — possibly before the next election — because I think George Bush — to use the term an 'amber light' — he’s given the amber, the yellow light, saying, 'Caution, but go ahead.'"

Watch it:

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Using Bombs to Stave Off War

The prosecution has taken an existing law and applied it where it was never intended to be used. We agree that the case should be thrown out. Also, is there really such a big need for punishment? Drew has surely suffered extreme remorse over her awful behavior, and certainly never meant to cause what happened. ABN
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By Peter Whoriskey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 24, 2008; Page D01

The lawyer for a Missouri mother accused of creating a fake MySpace page to harass a 13-year-old girl is arguing that charges should be tossed out of court because if she is guilty, then so are millions of Internet users every day.

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Pat Schneider — 7/22/2008 5:46 pm

The Dalai Lama in a private audience Tuesday thanked Madison city leaders for embracing the local Tibetan community and urged their continued opposition as local political leaders to political oppression around the world.

"You people are really showing your concern for those people who have lost freedom, and I appreciate that," said the temporal and spiritual leader of Tibet, who is presenting a series of talks and Buddhist teachings during a six-day visit to Madison.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and 17 members of the City Council met with the Dalai Lama in an intimate sitting room at the Alliant Energy Center Coliseum. Each exchanged a silk scarf with the Dalai Lama, a Buddhist symbol of pure intention.

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7/23/2008, 2:15 p.m. PDT
The Associated Press

BAKER CITY, Ore. (AP) — An attempt to remove the prayer that opens many Baker City Council meetings didn't have a prayer.

Councilors were deluged Tuesday night by speakers opposed to the move and were against sending the matter to the voters.

In the end, councilors voted unanimously to remove a reference about whether prayers should be sectarian from the nonbinding council invocation guidelines.

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By Jamie Kenny | The Olympian's Board of Contributors • Published July 23, 2008

School is out for the summer, but I still want to learn.

I went on a field trip with my daughter in June. While we were waiting outside the Seattle Museum of Flight, security informed me that the gentlemen in the burgundy robes were from a very high order of Buddhist monks. Some kids were excited to see the "Dalai Lama" with real body guards and snapped photos with cameras and cell phones. During lunch I was asked, "What is a Dalai Lama?"

After time to think, I compared the Dalai Lama for Buddhists to the pope for Catholics.

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Rebecca French will become the new director of the University at Buffalo's Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy at the law school Aug. 16.

French succeeds Lynn Mather, a UB law and political science professor, who headed the Baldy Center since 2002.

An international authority in law and anthropology, French has done research on the Buddhist legal system of Tibet and was instrumental in bringing the Dalai Lama, the exiled Buddhist leader in Tibet, to UB in September 2006.

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San Francisco City Council regained access to its own computer network today after Mayor Gavin Newsom convinced network administrator Terry Childs to give them the passwords.

By John Oates for The Register.

Childs is in jail until he can raise $5m in bail. He is accused of blocking all access to the city's network and routers by resetting passwords. He initially refused to cough up the new password. But on Monday afternoon Newsom visited him in jail and persuaded him to hand over the necessary passwords.

After initial confusion, the passwords worked and city officials once again had access to their own network. Childs is accused also of installing hardware on the network to enable remote access.

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23rd July 2008

Aliens have contacted humans several times but governments have hidden the truth for 60 years, the sixth man to walk on the moon has claimed.

Apollo 14 astronaut Dr Edgar Mitchell, said he was aware of many UFO visits to Earth during his career with NASA but each one was covered up.

Dr Mitchell, 77, said during a radio interview that sources at the space agency who had had contact with aliens described the beings as 'little people who look strange to us.'

He said supposedly real-life ET's were similar to the traditional image of a small frame, large eyes and head.

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23 Jul 2008

State police arrested a man, who was said to have the highest ever-recorded blood alcohol level of 0.491 percent that should have caused him death.

Stanley Kobierowski, a 34-year-old man of North Providence got arrested after crashing into a highway message board on Interstate 95 in Providence. When police stopped him, the man could hardly move to get out of the car then he grabbed the car to oppose his being taken out of it. Police had to carry him to the nearest lane and back to their barracks, the report says.

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According to digital camera metadata the image was taken on Feb 9, 2003 03:49:25. The 6 Aug 2004 is also mentioned in relation to this photo. The facial wiring is clearly non-medical. The location of the detainee is unknown, possibly the US Bagram Theater Internment Facility in Afghanistan. Although there is a resemblance to the US Taliban supporter John Walker Lindh, the connection is superficial. The negative image to the right was created by Wikileaks to draw attention to certain regions of the photo on the left. Wikileaks staff have verified that the photograph came from a US military computer network.

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More than 20 years after being tortured into giving confessions by Chicago police officers, dozens of black men remain behind bars.

By Jessica Pupovac, AlterNet. Posted July 23, 2008

Michael Tillman was 20, with a 3-year-old daughter and an infant son, when he was brought into the Area 2 police station on Chicago's South Side for questioning. His mother, Jean Tillman, says that although he had gotten into some trouble with the law as a youngster, he had been on the straight-and-narrow, working as a janitor and paying his bills, since he and his girlfriend had their first child. That was July 22, 1986.

He hasn't been home since.

Tillman is one of at least 24 African-American men that the People's Law Office in Chicago claims are still serving sentences for crimes they say they confessed to only after enduring hours of torture at the hands of Chicago police officers under Commander Jon Burge between 1972 and 1992. Although 10 of Burge's victims have been pardoned or given new trials after their illegally obtained confessions were exposed, the vast majority of the 100-plus cases have yet to be reviewed by the state of Illinois. Those men have either served out their sentences, died in custody or, like Tillman, continue to live their lives behind bars, hoping that one day they will have a fair trial.

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Monaghan has done important work. Please carefully read his lede paragraph below, then follow the link for more detail and backup info. Then ask yourself, how can this be? The NTSB has officially stated that it has no records showing "how wreckage recovered from the 4 aircraft ... was positively identified... or even if such wreckage was positively identified at all." Now add to this stunning information the fact that there are not even any photos of the wreckage of Flight #93, which is said to have disappeared into a hole in the ground in Pennsylvania. Presumably, it was pulled out of the hole, but its parts were never identified and it was never photographed? Or they were but there are no records? We relentlessly pursue a man with a fourth-grade education, interrogating him for six years, but cannot or will not release such common and basic crash information as part numbers and photographs? ABN
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Aidan Monaghan on Wed, 07/23/2008 - 6:41am.

Within a July 18, 2008 Freedom of Information Act response from the National Transportation Safety Board, the NTSB indicates that it possesses no records indicating how wreckage recovered from the 4 aircraft used during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 was positively identified as belonging to the 4 planes reportedly hijacked that day or even if such wreckage was positively identified at all.

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Trial based on serious contradiction between conflicting US motives

June 23, 2008

Several major US newspapers are running headlines similar to the one in the LA Times--Bin Laden's driver knew 9/11 target, lawyer says. At first glance, this implies that he knew that bin Laden was targeting the Twin Towers before 9/11.

But then a few paragraphs into the story we learn that Morris indicated at a news conference later that the eavesdropping occurred after Sept. 11, not before.

Oddly, the LA Times drops the story at that point and veers into a discussion of Hamdan's arrest, leaving out a really big piece of testimony that was carried by Reuters: "If they hadn't shot down the fourth plane it would've hit the dome," Stone, a Navy officer, said in his opening remarks.

What?

Jul 22, 2008
By Askia Muhammad

THE WHITE HOUSE (FinalCall.com) - When militant Native American activists captured Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay, reclaiming it as Indian land more than 30 years ago, the group was referred to in the local White-media as “Red Muslims,” hoping that linking them with not-well-spoken-of Nation of Islam “Black Muslims” would tarnish their reputation.

They continued to organize, and in 1978 marched 3,600 miles from Alcatraz, arriving in Washington 40,000 strong to protect Native rights and sovereignty.

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LINK TO COVER