OpEdNews - Diary: Craig Roberts: YOUR LOCAL POLICE FORCE HAS BEEN MILITARIZED

"With local police forces now armed beyond the standard of US heavy infantry, police forces have been retrained "to vaporize, not Mirandize," to use a phrase from Reagan administration defense official Lawrence Korb. This leaves the public at the mercy of brutal actions based on bad police information from paid informers."

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DIANE'S NEWS CLIPS begins here :)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> Excerpted from: http://www.counterpunch.org YOUR LOCAL POLICE FORCE HAS BEEN MILITARIZED

THE EMPIRE TURNS ITS GUNS ON THE CITIZENRY by Paul Craig Roberts In recent years American police forces have called out SWAT teams 40,000 or more times annually. Last year did you read in your newspaper or hear on TV news of 110 hostage or terrorist events each day? No. What then were the SWAT teams doing? They were serving routine warrants to people who posed no danger to the police or to the public. ....................snip....................... Today 17,000 local police forces are equipped with such military equipment as Blackhawk helicopters, machine guns, grenade launchers, battering rams, explosives, chemical sprays, body armor, night vision, rappelling gear and armored vehicles. Some have tanks. In 1999, the New York Times reported that a retired police chief in New Haven, Connecticut, told the newspaper, "I was offered tanks, bazookas, anything I wanted." Balklo reports that in 1997, for example, police departments received 1.2 million pieces of military equipment. With local police forces now armed beyond the standard of US heavy infantry, police forces have been retrained "to vaporize, not Mirandize," to use a phrase from Reagan administration defense official Lawrence Korb. This leaves the public at the mercy of brutal actions based on bad police information from paid informers. ....................snip....................... SWAT teams serve warrants by breaking into homes and apartments at night while people are sleeping, often using stun grenades and other devices to disorient the occupants. As much of the police's drug information comes from professional informers known as "snitches" who tip off police for cash rewards, dropped charges, and reduced sentences, names and addresses are often pulled out of a hat. Balko provides details for 135 tragic cases of mistaken addresses. SWAT teams are not held accountable for their tragic mistakes and gratuitous brutality. Police killings got so bad in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for example, that the city hired criminologist Sam Walker to conduct an investigation of police tactics. Killings by police were "off the charts," Walker found, because the SWAT team "had an organizational culture that led them to escalate situations upward rather then de-escalating." The mind-set of militarized SWAT teams is geared to "taking out" or killing the suspect-- thus, the many deaths from SWAT team utilization. Many innocent people are killed in night time SWAT team entries, because they don't realize that it is the police who have broken into their homes. They believe they are confronted by dangerous criminals, and when they try to defend themselves they are shot down by the police. [snip] Full article : http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts01242007.html _________________________________ Excerpted from: http://www.truthout.org Marilyn Clement | Bush's Health Care Conspiracy http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/012407HB.shtml "As I thought about the president's speech Tuesday night, I imagined his handlers sitting together, joking conspiratorially about how to twist the issues and help the president's plummeting popularity. How could his handlers sneak through more support for his primary agenda, and that of right-wing fiscal conservatives, to decrease entitlements to Social Security and Medicare and transfer more of the people's tax money into Wall Street - while couching this scheme in the language of 'health care for all?'" asks Marilyn Clement. --- Kerr-McGee Is Found Liable in Lawsuit Over Oil Royalties http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012407S.shtml A federal jury in Denver agreed Tuesday with a former top auditor for the Interior Department that the Kerr-McGee Corporation had cheated the government out of millions of dollars in royalties on oil it produced in publicly owned coastal waters. The decision is a vindication for the auditor, Bobby L. Maxwell. He became a whistleblower and sued Kerr-McGee as a private citizen after top officials at the Interior Department ORDERED HIM TO DROP HIS AUDIT FINDINGS. --- Greg Palast | Off the Rails http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012407D.shtml Greg Palast writes: "There was that tongue again. When the president lies, he's got this weird nervous tick: He sticks the tip of his tongue out between his lips. Like a little boy who knows he's fibbing. Like a snake licking a rat. In his State of the Union tonight the president did his tongue thing 124 times - my kids kept count." --- William Rivers Pitt | The Tiniest President http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012407A.shtml William Rivers Pitt writes: "There was, to be sure, keen public interest directed at Bush's audience for the speech, mostly focused on the woman sitting behind and above him. The mere presence of Nancy Pelosi in that high place, along with the majority crowd of Democrats arrayed across the floor below, at least partially explained the lemon-pucker grimace worn by Vice President Cheney throughout the evening." --- Pioneering US Renewable Energy Lab Is Neglected http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/012407EC.shtml Funding for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the primary national laboratory for developing renewable fuels, is actually less than it was when the Bush administration took office. The lab's fitful history reflects a basic truth: Americans may have a growing love affair with renewables, with cutting oil imports, and with conserving energy, but it's a fickle one. --- Patricia Schroeder | Why Hillary Is Ready http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/012407WA.shtml "I've been asked, as one who has thrown her own hat in that particular ring, what advice I'd give to Hillary Clinton now that she's announced her candidacy," says Patricia Schroeder. "But Hillary probably knows more about running for president of the United States than anybody on the planet." --- Prosecutor Seeks Conspiracy Charge Against DeLay http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012407J.shtml The prosecution of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay could be stalled for weeks or even months while Texas's highest criminal court decides whether a dismissed conspiracy charge against him should be reinstated. --- Arlen Parsa | Iranians Oppose US "Pro-Democracy" Efforts http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012407F.shtml Arlen Parsa writes, "Dissidents claim America's policy is doing more harm than good, and Iranian people will pay the price." --- General Calls Iraq Situation "Dire" http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012407L.shtml Lt. General David Petraeus said that the military's new approach will be for American and Iraqi military units to remain in areas they have cleared, providing a "persistent presence" that will allow Iraqi civilian leaders to make the political deals and compromises necessary for long-term stability. --- Henry Pelifian | The Iraq War and Crony Democracy http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012407N.shtml Henry Pelifian asks: "Is it plausible for Americans to ask, Were the corporations that Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld had close relationships with a factor in the decision-making process to attack Iraq, since many of these companies secured multimillion or multibillion-dollar government contracts as a result of the Iraq War? Were government contracts directly relating to the Iraq War signed with companies with Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld connections prior to the attack on Iraq, and is this a conflict of interest?" --- Bush's Oil Stockpile Plan Could Raise Prices http://snipurl.com/189wp --- Lebanon's Political Crisis Deepens http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012407O.shtml Burning barricades cast a black pall over Lebanon's deepening political crisis Tuesday, as the Hezbollah-led opposition sharply escalated its campaign to topple the Western-backed government with a nationwide general strike prompting fears of renewed civil war. --- Educators Assail No Child Left Behind http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012407M.shtml Colorado teachers, principals and administrators overwhelmingly say the federal education law No Child Left Behind is unrealistic and underfunded, according to a survey conducted by Senator Ken Salazar's office. --- US Continues Bombing of Somalia http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012407E.shtml A US Air Force AC-130 gunship staged an airstrike in southern Somalia on Monday, the second such attack this month, US officials said Tuesday. Word of the new attack came the same day as a long line of Ethiopian artillery, armored vehicles and trucks loaded with soldiers rolled toward the edges of Mogadishu, beginning a withdrawal from a fragile capital that many residents fear will now slip further into chaos. --- Senate Panel Votes Against Bush on Iraq http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012407R.shtml The Democratic-controlled Senate Foreign Relations Committee dismissed President Bush's plans to increase troops strength in Iraq on Wednesday as "not in the national interest," an unusual wartime repudiation of the commander in chief. --- Former CIA Official Testifies Against Libby http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012407U.shtml [snip] a former CIA associate deputy director, became the second prosecution witness at Libby's perjury trial to say he had disclosed information about CIA officer Valerie Plame to Libby weeks before Libby claims he learned her identity from a journalist. --- Mercury Found in All Fish Tested in the West http://snipurl.com/189wv _________________________________ BUSH BUMPER STICKER: What Part of "Bush Lied" Don't You Understand? _________________________________ NOTE from Diane: Here's an excerpt from Bush's State of the Union; interesting implications -- can you say: NAZIFICATION OF AMERICA?

"One of the first steps we can take together is to add to the ranks of our military so that the American Armed Forces are ready for all the challenges ahead. Tonight I ask the Congress to authorize an increase in the size of our active Army and Marine Corps by 92,000 in the next five years. A second task we can take on together is to design and ESTABLISH A VOLUNTEER CIVILIAN RESERVE CORPS. Such a corps would function MUCH LIKE OUR MILITARY RESERVE. It would ease the burden on the Armed Forces by allowing us to hire civilians with critical skills to serve on missions abroad WHEN AMERICA needs them. And it would give people across America who do not wear the uniform A CHANCE TO SERVE IN THE DEFINING STRUGGLE OF OUR TIME.

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[NEWSDISSECTOR] State of the Bush, State of Denial http://www.newsdissector.com/blog/2007/01/24/state-of-the-bush-state-of-denial/ _________________________________ .ron corvuswire@verizon.net What happened when Democrats in Congress cut off funding for the Vietnam War? EXCERPT: "Historians have directly attributed the fall of Saigon in 1975 to the cessation of American aid. Without the necessary funds, South Vietnam found it logistically and financially impossible to defeat the North Vietnamese army. Moreover, the withdrawal of aid encouraged North Vietnam to begin an effective military offensive against South Vietnam. Given the monetary and military investment in Vietnam, former Assistant Secretary of State Richard Armitage compared the American withdrawal to "a pregnant lady, abandoned by her lover to face her fate." 2 Historian Lewis Fanning went so far as to say that "it was not the Hanoi communists who won the war, but rather the American Congress that lost it." http://hnn.us/articles/31400.html ----- The Kucinich Plan: Swap U.S. Troops for U.N. Troops 2:03 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS6JyiAt0xg ** http://www.youtube.com/kucinich1 | http://www.kucinich.us ** http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/01/16/how_to_defu... ** http://snipurl.com/18900 ----- How To De-Fund The Escalation http://snipurl.com/1890e ----- VIDEO of Florida Police Cutting Down, Destroying and Removing Homeless Tents http://snipurl.com/1890l ----- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS6JyiAt0xg _________________________________ The dark side of the craft beer boom is that many brewers have a good product and customer base, but no success. Small volume brewers are struggling to sell their handmade beers in an indifferent market that is still dominated by a handful of giant companies and entangled by a web of anti-competitive state and federal laws, reported Inside Bay Area. Full Story : http://www.insidebayarea.com/business/ci_5056898 ----- ARS scientists are using orange cauliflower to identify genes and define molecular mechanisms that regulate nutrients in plant-based foods. The research may make a huge impact on vitamin A deficiency, which has been reported to affect some 250 million children worldwide. http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2007/070117.htm _________________________________ Submitted by: http://dakersting@earthlink.net Jetman (for real) A genuine "must see." http://www.jet-man.com/actuel_eng.html _________________________________ http://www.rafahtoday.org | http://www.underreported.com | http://english.irib.ir/ _________________________________ FRUSTRATED BY WORD'S MENUS? HERE'S AN EASY FIX Ernie in Tampa, FL, wrote to vent about Microsoft Word. He's confounded by the menus. He has problems finding commands on them. And, sometimes options appear or disappear from the menus. Many people share your frustration, Ernie. But, Microsoft isn't trying to make things difficult for you. Word's migrating menus are intended to make your work easier. The commands you use frequently migrate to the top of the menu. All other commands are hidden. If you keep a menu open for a few seconds, the rest of the commands will appear. Or you can click the double arrow at the bottom of the menu to display the entire list of commands. If you don't like this, you can turn the migrating menus off. Just right-click a blank gray area beside the menu bar. On the pop-up list, select Customize. Open the Options tab and select "Always show full menus." Click Close. When you click on a menu in the future, you'll see a full list of commands. Things will be different in Word 2007...should you upgrade? > http://snipurl.com/17ye1 If you don't like Word, there are alternatives. Try Openoffice.org > http://snipurl.com/17ye3 or Google Docs and Spreadsheets. > http://snipurl.com/17yeh Be sure to listen to me Monday through Friday. Use my map to find me near you http://www.komando.com/listen/index.aspx _________________________________ eHEALTHY NEWS The One Item You MUST Bring When Traveling, Especially Internationally - This 'supplement' could literally save your life if you pick up a bad infection like traveler's diarrhea. http://tinyurl.com/hopap ----- Is Your Grocery Store Running Out of Organic Foods? - Great news, the increase in demand for organic food will most surely increase availability and decrease price. http://snipurl.com/185qx ----- Properly Adjusting Your Car Mirrors - Do you really know the best position of your car mirrors to decrease your risks of accidents? http://snipurl.com/185r2 _________________________________ VIDEO: 2 Chinese Boys _ Jessica Simpson's | They're at it again! Amazing! | 3:21 http://www.pawky.com/video/02d730B4543d _________________________________ NationalGeographic.com http://lava.nationalgeographic.com/pod/ _________________________________ NASA Astronomy picture of the day http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html _________________________________ The reluctance to put away childish things may be a requirement of genius. ~ Rebecca Pepper Sinkler _________________________________ Link to: Diane's News Clips http://www.opednews.com/author/author2300.html?entry=diary