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To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (21420)7/2/2003 10:36:50 AM
From: Wharf Rat  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 89467
 
Patriot Act 2 ( see Sec. 103; cancel the election?)

infowars.com

TOTAL POLICE STATE TAKEOVER
The Secret Patriot Act II Destroys What Is Left of American Liberty

A Brief Analysis of the Domestic Security Enhancement Act 2003, Also Known as Patriot Act II
By Alex Jones
www.infowars.com
(Posted Feb 10, 2003)

Congressman Ron Paul (R-Tex) told the Washington Times that no member of Congress was allowed to read the first Patriot Act that was passed by the House on October 27, 2001. The first Patriot Act was universally decried by civil libertarians and Constitutional scholars from across the political spectrum. William Safire, while writing for the New York Times, described the first Patriot Act's powers by saying that President Bush was seizing dictatorial control.

On February 7, 2003 the Center for Public Integrity, a non-partisan public interest think-tank in DC, revealed the full text of the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003. The classified document had been leaked to them by an unnamed source inside the Federal government. The document consisted of a 33-page section by section analysis of the accompanying 87-page bill.

*Note: On February 10, 2003 I discovered that not only was there a house version that had been covertly brought to Hastert, but that many provisions of the now public Patriot Act II had already been introduced as pork barrel riders on Senate Bill S. 22. Dozens of subsections and even the titles of the subsections are identical to those in the House version. This is very important because it catches the Justice Department in a bald-faced lie. The Justice Department claimed that the secret legislation brought into the House was only for study, and that at this time there was no intention to try and pass it. Now upon reading S. 22, it is clear that the leadership of the Senate is fully aware of the Patriot Act II, and have passed these riders out of their committees into the full bill. I spent two hours scanning through S. 22 and, let me tell you, it is a nightmare for anyone who loves liberty. It even contains the Our Lady of Peace Act that registers all gun owners. It bans the private sale of all firearms, creates a Federal ballistics database, and much more.

There are other bills in the Senate that grant the Federal government sweeping powers. S.45 states in section one that the office for State and local government coordination for Homeland Security will no longer just oversee, but that now local cities critical functions will be headed by a Federal director. On Tuesday, February 11th, we noted a story in The Times-Picayune with the headline: Nagin announces major overhaul of City Hall --New Homeland Security office to oversee cops, firemen, emergency agency. The Federal power-grab taking place is widespread and all Americans must mobilize to resist it.

Another interesting bill is S. 16. S. 16 is a smorgasbord of Federal funding and control over local police departments and needs to be examined closely.

S. 89, The Universal National Service Act of 2003 is the hallmark of an authoritarian society. The description of the bill is, "To provide for the common defense by requiring that all young persons in the United States, including women, perform a period of military service of civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, and for other purposes." We have looked at some of the programs that the Federal government has already been setting up for service here in the "homeland" and they include East German-style tattletale squads of every type, which are just basically a super TIPS program. The nightmare goes on and on. Check it out for yourself.

The Patriot Act II bill itself is stamped "Confidential -Not for Distribution." Upon reading the analysis and bill, I was stunned by the scientifically crafted tyranny contained in the legislation. The Justice Department Office of Legislative Affairs admits that they had indeed covertly transmitted a copy of the legislation to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, (R-Il) and the Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney as well as the executive heads of federal law enforcement agencies.

It is important to note that no member of Congress was allowed to see the first Patriot Act before its passage, and that no debate was tolerate by the House and Senate leadership. The intentions of the White House and Speaker Hastert concerning Patriot Act II appear to be a carbon copy replay of the events that led to the unprecedented passage of the first Patriot Act.

There are two glaring areas that need to be looked at concerning this new legislation:

1. The secretive tactics being used by the White House and Speaker Hastert to keep even the existence of this legislation secret would be more at home in Communist China than in the United States. The fact that Dick Cheney publicly managed the steamroller passage of the first Patriot Act, insuring that no one was allowed to read it and publicly threatening members of Congress that if they didn’t vote in favor of it that they would be blamed for the next terrorist attack, is by the White House’s own definition terrorism. The move to clandestinely craft and then bully passage of any legislation by the Executive Branch is clearly an impeachable offence.

2. The second Patriot Act is a mirror image of powers that Julius Caesar and Adolf Hitler gave themselves. Whereas the First Patriot Act only gutted the First, Third, Fourth and Fifth Amendments, and seriously damaged the Seventh and the Tenth, the Second Patriot Act reorganizes the entire Federal government as well as many areas of state government under the dictatorial control of the Justice Department, the Office of Homeland Security and the FEMA NORTHCOM military command. The Domestic Security Enhancement Act 2003, also known as the Second Patriot Act is by its very structure the definition of dictatorship.

I challenge all Americans to study the new Patriot Act and to compare it to the Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence. Ninety percent of the act has nothing to do with terrorism and is instead a giant Federal power-grab with tentacles reaching into every facet of our society. It strips American citizens of all of their rights and grants the government and its private agents total immunity.

Here is a quick thumbnail sketch of just some of the draconian measures encapsulated within this tyrannical legislation:

SECTION 501 (Expatriation of Terrorists) expands the Bush administration’s “enemy combatant” definition to all American citizens who “may” have violated any provision of Section 802 of the first Patriot Act. (Section 802 is the new definition of domestic terrorism, and the definition is “any action that endangers human life that is a violation of any Federal or State law.”) Section 501 of the second Patriot Act directly connects to Section 125 of the same act. The Justice Department boldly claims that the incredibly broad Section 802 of the First USA Patriot Act isn’t broad enough and that a new, unlimited definition of terrorism is needed.

Under Section 501 a US citizen engaging in lawful activities can be grabbed off the street and thrown into a van never to be seen again. The Justice Department states that they can do this because the person “had inferred from conduct” that they were not a US citizen. Remember Section 802 of the First USA Patriot Act states that any violation of Federal or State law can result in the “enemy combatant” terrorist designation.

SECTION 201 of the second Patriot Act makes it a criminal act for any member of the government or any citizen to release any information concerning the incarceration or whereabouts of detainees. It also states that law enforcement does not even have to tell the press who they have arrested and they never have to release the names.

SECTION 301 and 306 (Terrorist Identification Database) set up a national database of “suspected terrorists” and radically expand the database to include anyone associated with suspected terrorist groups and anyone involved in crimes or having supported any group designated as “terrorist.” These sections also set up a national DNA database for anyone on probation or who has been on probation for any crime, and orders State governments to collect the DNA for the Federal government.

SECTION 312 gives immunity to law enforcement engaging in spying operations against the American people and would place substantial restrictions on court injunctions against Federal violations of civil rights across the board.

SECTION 101 will designate individual terrorists as foreign powers and again strip them of all rights under the “enemy combatant” designation.

SECTION 102 states clearly that any information gathering, regardless of whether or not those activities are illegal, can be considered to be clandestine intelligence activities for a foreign power. This makes news gathering illegal.

SECTION 103 allows the Federal government to use wartime martial law powers domestically and internationally without Congress declaring that a state of war exists.

SECTION 106 is bone-chilling in its straightforwardness. It states that broad general warrants by the secret FSIA court (a panel of secret judges set up in a star chamber system that convenes in an undisclosed location) granted under the first Patriot Act are not good enough. It states that government agents must be given immunity for carrying out searches with no prior court approval. This section throws out the entire Fourth Amendment against unreasonable searches and seizures.

SECTION 109 allows secret star chamber courts to issue contemp charges against any individual or corporation who refuses to incriminate themselves or others. This sections annihilate the last vestiges of the Fifth Amendment.

SECTION 110 restates that key police state clauses in the first Patriot Act were not sunsetted and removes the five year sunset clause from other subsections of the first Patriot Act. After all, the media has told us: “this is the New America. Get used to it. This is forever.”

SECTION 111 expands the definition of the “enemy combatant” designation.

SECTION 122 restates the government’s newly announced power of “surveillance without a court order.”

SECTION 123 restates that the government no longer needs warrants and that the investigations can be a giant dragnet-style sweep described in press reports about the Total Information Awareness Network. One passage reads, “thus the focus of domestic surveillance may be less precise than that directed against more conventional types of crime.”

*Note: Over and over again, in subsection after subsection, the second Patriot Act states that its new Soviet-type powers will be used to fight international terrorism, domestic terrorism and other types of crimes. Of course the government has already announced in Section 802 of the first USA Patriot act that any crime is considered domestic terrorism.

SECTION 126 grants the government the right to mine the entire spectrum of public and private sector information from bank records to educational and medical records. This is the enacting law to allow ECHELON and the Total Information Awareness Network to totally break down any and all walls of privacy.

The government states that they must look at everything to “determine” if individuals or groups might have a connection to terrorist groups. As you can now see, you are guilty until proven innocent.

SECTION 127 allows the government to takeover coroners’ and medical examiners’ operations whenever they see fit. See how this is like Bill Clinton’s special medical examiner he had in Arkansas that ruled that people had committed suicide when their arms and legs had been cut off.

SECTION 128 allows the Federal government to place gag orders on Federal and State Grand Juries and to take over the proceedings. It also disallows individuals or organizations to even try to quash a Federal subpoena. So now defending yourself will be a terrorist action.

SECTION 129 destroys any remaining whistleblower protection for Federal agents.

SECTION 202 allows corporations to keep secret their activities with toxic biological, chemical or radiological materials.

SECTION 205 allows top Federal officials to keep all their financial dealings secret, and anyone investigating them can be considered a terrorist. This should be very useful for Dick Cheney to stop anyone investigating Haliburton.

SECTION 303 sets up national DNA database of suspected terrorists. The database will also be used to “stop other unlawful activities.” It will share the information with state, local and foreign agencies for the same purposes.

SECTION 311 federalizes your local police department in the area of information sharing.

SECTION 313 provides liability protection for businesses, especially big businesses that spy on their customers for Homeland Security, violating their privacy agreements. It goes on to say that these are all preventative measures – has anyone seen Minority Report? This is the access hub for the Total Information Awareness Network.

SECTION 321 authorizes foreign governments to spy on the American people and to share information with foreign governments.

SECTION 322 removes Congress from the extradition process and allows officers of the Homeland Security complex to extradite American citizens anywhere they wish. It also allows Homeland Security to secretly take individuals out of foreign countries.

SECTION 402 is titled “Providing Material Support to Terrorism.” The section reads that there is no requirement to show that the individual even had the intent to aid terrorists.

SECTION 403 expands the definition of weapons of mass destruction to include any activity that affects interstate or foreign commerce.

SECTION 404 makes it a crime for a terrorist or “other criminals” to use encryption in the commission of a crime.

SECTION 408 creates “lifetime parole” (basically, slavery) for a whole host of crimes.

SECTION 410 creates no statute of limitations for anyone that engages in terrorist actions or supports terrorists. Remember: any crime is now considered terrorism under the first Patriot Act.

SECTION 411 expands crimes that are punishable by death. Again, they point to Section 802 of the first Patriot Act and state that any terrorist act or support of terrorist act can result in the death penalty.

SECTION 421 increases penalties for terrorist financing. This section states that any type of financial activity connected to terrorism will result to time in prison and $10-50,000 fines per violation.

SECTIONS 427 sets up asset forfeiture provisions for anyone engaging in terrorist activities.

There are many other sections that I did not cover in the interest of time. The American people were shocked by the despotic nature of the first Patriot Act. The second Patriot Act dwarfs all police state legislation in modern world history.

Usually, corrupt governments allow their citizens lots of wonderful rights on paper, while carrying out their jackbooted oppression covertly. From snatch and grab operations to warantless searches, Patriot Act II is an Adolf Hitler wish list.

You can understand why President Bush, Dick Cheney and Dennis Hastert want to keep this legislation secret not just from Congress, but the American people as well. Bill Allison, Managing Editor of the Center for Public Integrity, the group that broke this story, stated on my radio show that it was obvious that they were just waiting for another terrorist attack to opportunistically get this new bill through. He then shocked me with an insightful comment about how the Federal government was crafting this so that they could go after the American people in general. He also agreed that the FBI has been quietly demonizing patriots and Christians and “those who carry around pocket Constitutions.”

I have produced two documentary films and written a book about what really happened on September 11th. The bottom line is this: the military-industrial complex carried the attacks out as a pretext for control. Anyone who doubts this just hasn’t looked at the mountains of hard evidence.

Of course, the current group of white collar criminals in the White House might not care that we’re finding out the details of their next phase. Because, after all, when smallpox gets released, or more buildings start blowing up, the President can stand up there at his lectern suppressing a smirk, squeeze out a tear or two, and tell us that “See I was right. I had to take away your rights to keep you safe. And now it’s your fault that all of these children are dead.” From that point on, anyone who criticizes tyranny will be shouted down by the paid talking head government mouthpieces in the mainstream media.

You have to admit, it’s a beautiful script. Unfortunately, it’s being played out in the real world. If we don’t get the word out that government is using terror to control our lives while doing nothing to stop the terrorists, we will deserve what we get - tyranny. But our children won’t deserve it.

GO TO INFOWARS.COM'S SECRET PATRIOT ACT II SECTION -- CLICK HERE

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To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (21420)7/2/2003 3:14:42 PM
From: stockman_scott  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 89467
 
Great article by Andy Xie on US-China & Asia growth, and new economic structure

Asia Pacific: The Dollar Block Shines

Andy Xie (Hong Kong)

A Liquidity Rally?

Last week, I visited Europe and US-based investors who follow Asian markets. The investor sentiment had clearly shifted from what I had sensed during my last visit three months ago. There were few unqualified bears. Half of the investors that I met with thought that we were seeing a major bear market rally, while the other half thought that a new bull market had begun. Both camps believed that equity markets would go significantly higher by year-end. Most expected a summer consolidation and were prepared to buy into any significant dip.

Most investors recognized the current rally to be liquidity-driven -- an increase in risk appetite had encouraged investors to reduce cash in their portfolios. Fundamentals would have to improve for markets to move higher. Investors with global portfolios were particularly interested in which region would perform above expectation.

The big idea for performance differentiation was currency. Investors believed that a weak dollar would lead to improved economic performance for the dollar block -- China and the US. They held the opposite view during the prior bull market. This is consistent with the current market view that deflation poses a significant risk to the global economy. The economy and currency are negatively correlated during times of deflation and positively correlated during periods of inflation.

Structural Factors to Sustain Dollar Block

I concurred with the views that (1) massive stimulus in the US would trigger a rebound in the global economy and (2) the US and China axis would account for most of the growth in the global economy. I share the view that a weak dollar would contribute to the outperformance of the dollar block. However, I believe that structural factors are playing far more important roles than exchange rates at sustaining the superior economic performance of the dollar block.

1. Exchange rates. The euro-dollar rate has rallied by 10% from the beginning of 2003 and by 20% from the average value in 2002. The strong euro has curtailed the benefits of any US recovery to Europe. The euro zone grew its exports by 18% in dollar terms between 1997 and 2002, while Japan and the US did not grow their exports at all. The euro zone was essentially competing against East Asia ex-Japan for market share through competitive devaluation. The euro revaluation, however, has taken the euro zone out of competition for market share.

Japan’s exports have stagnated since 1994. The US recovery may increase Asian demand for Japan’s capital goods. It would not, however, compete against other Asian economies for export market share. Japan gave up on the market share game when it did not devalue its currency during the Asian Financial Crisis.

2. Europe outsourcing. In addition to exchange rates, two structural factors are helping the dollar block. First, Europe is moving toward outsourcing. Relocation of production capacity from Europe to China has been massive in the past few years. Both pull and push factors are at play. China’s improvements in infrastructure and human capital, its growing domestic market and availability of cheap local financing have been major pull factors. Disillusionment with the pace of structural reform and stagnant local markets at home have been the push factors. In this regard, Europe’s corporate sector is following Japan’s for similar reasons.

China is attracting growth from Europe and Japan, which is helping the US indirectly. The US policy makers should think hard about this. China is the most important force in sustaining US living standard today, in my view. The renminbi peg to the dollar guarantees the US financial stability, even as its balance sheet deteriorates. If one only looks at the bilateral trade balance, it would create a highly distorted picture.

Europe and Japan would certainly experience stagnation in this new world. However, both are experiencing population decline. Their focus is quality of life rather than growth. Their pensioner populations are growing rapidly, requiring cheap imports to sustain living standards. The distribution of growth in the world today is far more logical than what most policy makers believe. Growth is not and should not be the game for Europe and Japan.

3. Spreading China industrialization. Second, China’s industrialization is spreading. Geographically, the Yangtze River delta has come of age. Its contribution to China’s export growth has increased from 27% between 1993 and 1998 to 41% since. Its total exports should exceed Pearl River delta’s exports for the first time this year. This region has a population of about 137 million, about double that of the Pearl River delta.

Domestic private enterprises are prominent in the Yangtze River delta’s development. China’s exports were dominated by enterprises that migrated into China from Hong Kong and Taiwan and, later, by multinational corporations. Chinese private enterprises are joining the picture for the first time. Their exports have more than doubled this year. I believe that this is the most important development in China’s competitiveness. This force would eventually broaden China’s exports to most products in the global economy, in my view.

China-US Axis and Dollar Standard

China’s competitiveness does not result from its currency. Rather, it is due to a combination of rapid productivity growth and massive surplus labor. The latter turns the former into a permanent relative price change. For example, when China reduces the production of motorcycles by 50%, it would lead to a permanent reduction in motor cycle prices relative to, say, oil.

China’s productivity increase represents a permanent relative price change between labor and scarce resources. I believe that this point is widely misunderstood. When one company can make motorcycles in China, thousands would follow. Thus, the value of a motorcycle relative to oil would shift from Japan’s labor cost to China’s. Exchange rate adjustments would not be able to push back this force. As China learns to make more products, it will eventually devalue labor relative to scarce resources in general. This is not an exchange rate issue. If China appreciates its currency, it would lead to reduction in nominal wages, which are determined by global demand for Chinese exports.

The China-US axis is not just due to China pegging its currency to the dollar. It is due to (1) China determining marginal production costs and (2) the US determining selling prices due to its large and open market. The renminbi peg links production cost to selling price. It makes perfect sense. If China floats its currency, the renminbi would still track the dollar, in my view.

The China-US axis causes the Fed monetary stimulus to stay within the dollar block. Commercial banks have cut back cross-border lending. Money now flows around the world via FDI and trade. Because China accounts for most of the marginal increase in global trade and FDI, when the Fed increases money supply, it flows to China and quickly comes back into the US treasury market.

Because the China-US axis is determining both production cost and selling price, the rest of the world is also under pressure to peg its currencies to the dollar. Otherwise, no one would want to accumulate capital in its markets -- the risk would just be too high. When the ECB starts to manipulate the euro-dollar rate, I believe the world will finally complete its transition toward the dollar standard.

The hole in the dollar standard is the US’s vast current-account deficit. The level that the rest of the world pegs to the dollar may experience sudden changes from time to time to address this imbalance. The dollar standard, however, should survive for a long time to come, in my view.

Dollar Block to Outperform in Next Two Quarters

Europe and Japan will underperform in the current global recovery, in my view. They are too removed from the stimulus epicenter. Stock markets have rallied around the world due to an increase in risk appetite. Differentiation in economic growth rates would lead to differentiation in stock market performance in the next two quarters. This is why the dollar-block markets would do better in the coming two quarters, in my view.

Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong represent the most leveraged play on the Fed stimulus. IT stocks have played this role before, as the Fed stimulus mainly inflated IT demand. Property stocks played this role prior to the tech bubble, when cross-border lending was a major force in global capital flows.

Other East Asia economies should benefit from the Fed stimulus via China. The corporate sectors in Hong Kong and Taiwan, for example, are mostly engaged in China, and their markets would benefit from the earnings linkages. Their economies, however, do not benefit much from the Fed stimulus.

Korea’s corporate sector has been successful in selling cars and mobile phones to Chinese consumers at healthy profit margins. Its stock market benefits from the Fed stimulus through its corporate revenue linkages to China, while its economy also benefits, as its corporate profits are still generated using local labor sources.

The natural resource-based economies are closest to the Fed stimulus outside of the China-US axis. China is about increasing employment, which leads to increasing demand for natural resources. Natural resource prices should thus increase when the Fed cuts interest rates.

Conclusion

The China-US axis is redefining how the Fed policy affects global economy and who benefits from it. In my view, financial investors should benefit by following this dominant force in the global economy today.