Jonathan Mark

———— Forwarded message ————
From: Mike Gravel
Date: Feb 8, 2012
Subject: Report

This report is first and foremost to thank you for your donation and support. It also affords me the opportunity to respond to the email sent to you by Ken Jenkins, George Ripley and Ken Freeland, wherein they make scurrilous and defaming charges against me that they are now spreading through the Internet, Facebook and Twitter.

Before addressing in detail my public statements and my actions with respect to the final disposition of the monies donated through the 9-11CC website to ultimately secure a new Citizens 911 Commission, let me clearly outline the legal status of our volunteer group that included the above mentioned individuals during the entire course of 2011.

In May 2011, Ken Jenkins and George Ripley (Freeland only came aboard in August as a paid employee) were pushing me into a leadership role within the 911 movement that I was reluctant to take on. They went so far as to fill out the government forms that appointed me the Sole Principal and Treasurer of a California Recipient Committee. Either they were not willing to do the tedious work involved or they did not feel prepared or experienced enough to take the idea I had suggested for a new Citizens 911 Commission from the concept stage to that of a legal initiative text that would be acceptable by the appropriate state government entities.

California Recipient Committee

The forms creating the California Recipient Committee called the “Citizens 911 Commission”were filed on May 13, 2011 with the Secretary of State. My name as the ‘Sole Principal and Treasurer‘ is the only name officially associated with the entity in California. I secured an EIN number from the IRS on that basis and opened an account at Wells Fargo. No other names or persons were legally associated with this California entity or its bank account. As the authorized signer who opened the account at Wells Fargo, I made provisions with the bank for Jenkins, Belitsos and Ripley to access the account only to view its activity in real time. Belitsos hired an accountant who I authorized to sign on the account so that she could pay our bills and invoices. She submitted each payment to me for authorization prior to payment. This process of how the donations were handled was never challenged. All of our financial activities were reported on our website. Our accountant resigned in December on my advice and that of her attorney after being repeated threatened with legal action by Jenkins and Ripley for not freezing the account, which she legally could not do.

Under California law a Recipient Committee can raise up to $25,000 (only from U.S. sources) without being required to report the identity of its donors or being required to organize itself into a political organization or corporation. The temporary Recipient Committee model seemed ideal for our purposes, since we had no way of knowing if the 911 Truth Movement would fully support or sufficiently fund the concept of using the direct democracy initiative process to bring about a new 911 investigation.

As a California Recipient Committee, we had no operable bylaws and none were required to be filed by the state. I subsequently drafted Articles and Bylaws in anticipation of creating an IRS C4 corporation, which would have been the next step in our logical growth, going from a working group of volunteers to a legal corporate entity. However, in November, I felt it unwise to incorporate our group and continue our fundraising practice, in view of the fact that we were not able to demonstrate the ability to raise sufficient funds to actually fund a single state initiative. Otherwise we would be raising and using the funds of dedicated donors–essentially milking the fundraising process–to perpetuate payments of self serving fees to our office manager and others and paying the costs of unproductive meetings that were essentially therapy sessions for its participants.

It is very important to understand the legal limited nature of our Committee during the entire course of 2011. We were actually no more than a group of individuals working together on a voluntary basis to realize our goals expressed on our website and in my speeches and media interviews. We pledged to bring about a new Citizens 911 Commission by the legislative actions of citizens voting on state initiatives or on a national initiative if a law making that possible came into being. I spoke of both direct democracy approaches repeatedly, publicly and privately. Both approaches were the basis of the Actionable Plan I wrote for the Citizens 911 Commission.

Initially, our intent was to file an initiative in California. I visited and worked with the attorneys at the State‘s Legislative Council in Sacramento, drafting my concept into a legally acceptable initiative proposal. However, it became obvious that a California initiative campaign was out of the question at this time; it would take several million dollars to qualify an initiative for the ballot and more to wage a viable enactment campaign.

Since we planned no political activity in California and were limited in accepting foreign contributions, it was understood by all those involved (Jenkins, Freeland, Belitsos and Ripley) that we would dissolve the Recipient Committee before the end of the year or face extensive and expensive reporting requirements that were irrelevant to our national and global activities. California law is very clear; at the time of dissolution whatever monies are in the Committee‘s bank account must be donated to a government recognized charity or returned to the donors on a pro rata basis. The purpose of the law is to make sure that monies collected publicly and not reported to a government entity, do not covertly end up in organizations supporting or opposing political candidates or initiatives filed in California.

A pro rata return to donors would have been expensive accounting-wise and of deminimous impact to all but one donor. I chose to donate all the funds in the account to the Democracy Foundation, a 501 c 3 charity recognized under federal law. The Democracy Foundation, which I founded and chaired, is the educational sponsor of the National Initiative (www.NI4D.US), now being reconstituted into the National Citizens Initiative. The NCI, when enacted into law, will empower citizens to make laws in every government jurisdiction of the United States. Obviously, if we were able to enact the National Citizens Initiative, it would provide an excellent process for proposing a federal law creating a new Citizens 911 Commission with federal powers far superior to anything we would expect to secure with a state initiative. Donor funds now being used to advance the enactment NCI are entirely within the scope of the pledges I publicly made to donors.

Oregon and Massachusetts

After foregoing a campaign in California, we looked to more affordable initiative states with politically progressive constituencies. Oregon, Colorado, Ohio, Massachusetts, Alaska, Maine, North and South Dakota were considered. After visiting officials in Ohio, it proved not to be a viable choice. I traveled to Salem, Oregon and worked with their Legislative Council attorneys to improve the text we had developed in California. In Portland I met with a group of 911 Truthers. They were attentive and interested but it was apparent that the group lacked any leaders or any burning desire to undertake a campaign.

I traveled to Alaska and met with a large group of Truthers and discussed the concept with government officials. The group had interest but no viable leadership prepared to secure funding for an initiative. I met with three persons in Colorado, however, nothing matured beyond that contact. In Maine and the Dakotas we could not identify a viable group of Truthers to even approach. The concept of using the initiative to create a new Citizens 911 Commission is a concept somewhat ‘out of the box‘ and many people, even in initiative states, are not all that familiar with the initiative law-making process. This direct democracy legislative innovation was also difficult to get across to the various leaders in the 911 Truth Movement.

Massachusetts was a different story. A group stepped forward led by Richard Aucoin and Richard McCampbell, both experienced initiative campaigners. They filed the initiative text with the Commonwealth‘s Attorney General. She certified the initiative for the ballot on September 7th.. We had until late November to raise the $300,000 to pay for a professional signature gathering contractor. The task was impossible. The campaign had to be halted even in the face of great enthusiasm. The state‘s 911 activists had no choice but to refocus their efforts on the 2014 election cycle.

Our Finances

The following overview of the Committee‘s financial situation is important to understand to appreciate the nature of the dispute. My personal 911 fundraising experience commenced September 2010 when I started traveling and working fulltime on the 911 direct democracy concept. 911 groups at which I spoke would canvas the audiences for donations to pay for my travel expenses. Even at that I had to fund some of my expenses personally.

Once our website was up with my speeches and media interviews explaining the details of my initiative concept, donations began to flow starting in July 2011 and remained encouraging into mid September 2011. The highpoint of our fundraising effort was my trip to Toronto in September 2011.

Donations slowed to a trickle by the end of September and surged again as a result of Manfred Petrick’s blog in Zurich Switzerland, which was influential with the 911 Movement in Europe. Since half of our donations came from foreign sources, it made sense to plan a European tour to meet with and seek more financial support from 911 leaders.

We had the good fortune to have the support of Annie Machon, a globally known outspoken voice for peace and justice issues and a 911 activist personally acquainted with 911 leaders throughout Europe. She organized speaking and media appearances for me in the eight cities we visited. The trip was not a financial success. Nevertheless, I view the trip as worthwhile for the contacts we established through Annie and the fact that it informed me of the 911 situation in Europe. The 911 Truth Movement is as marginalized in Europe by the media and governments as it is in the U.S. The Truthers are there in significant numbers but somewhat discouraged or burnt out.

Surprisingly, there was greater interest on the tour in the National Citizens Initiative process of direct democracy to bring about a new Citizens 911 Commission than the use of state initiatives. I addressed both subjects in all my presentations. 911 leaders arranged for my appearances at Occupy Wall Street encampments in Zurich, Paris and Amsterdam. This experience reinforced my view that this global revolution of the grassroots could well make the National Citizens Initiative an idea whose time has come.

A Realistic Assessment that Led to the Dispute

Putting aside the “he said, she said” arguments that prevail in all disputes or rosy interpretations of non-existent successes, it is important to realistically understand the different opinions that caused the split within the Recipient Committee.

There are two questions of paramount importance that must be addressed in assessing our progress.

1) Are there 911 volunteers in initiative states prepared to file a Citizens 911 Commission initiative and take on the liability of filing government reports? Are there 911 activists in sufficient numbers to wage a viable campaign to bring about the initiative‘s enactment after sufficient petition signatures have been gathered to qualify the
initiative for the ballot?

2) Is there a likelihood of raising sufficient funds to contract with a professional signature gathering company to qualify the initiative? Experience has shown that signature gathering cannot be done by volunteers alone. The minimum cost for such a contract is $300,000 in a politically viable state. This does not address the costs of an enactment campaign within the state once the initiative is qualified. Nor does it consider the overhead costs of a national organization -9-11CC- to oversee and sponsor various state efforts. All told we raised around $85,000 in 2011; and more than half of that has been spent on travel, communications and overhead of the Committee.

By November, it was obvious the Recipient Committee‘s efforts did not come close to satisfactorily answering either question with respect to state activists or sufficient funding. An honest appraisal of what took place in 2011 does not come near the fanciful upbeat report sent to you by the ‘board‘ (Jenkins, Freeland and Ripley). We failed to raise sufficient funds to launch an adequate campaign in any politically acceptable state. Except for Massachusetts we were unable to identify a viable group of 911 activists prepared to undertake an in-state initiative campaign. Additionally and of extreme importance, major leaders and important 911 organizations chose not to endorse the Citizens 911 Commission campaign or help by sharing their membership lists.

Our initial fund raising plans posited securing major angel contributors to kick off our multi-state initiative effort. I relied on the views of Ken Jenkins and Byron Belitsos, both longtime 911 activists, who expected to raise substantial sums from angel donors who they knew personally and who had contributed substantial sums to 911 causes in the past. Their overtures to these contacts were turned down, either due to burnout or a lack of conviction that the Actionable plan would work.

George Ripley indicated in May 2011 that he could and would raise substantial sums. This was not realized. He did travel with me in Massachusetts and was personally very helpful. These early-on cues should have alerted us to the burnout within the 911 community or the lack of confidence in direct democracy. The movement is far from dead but its capacity to embrace and fund innovative strategies is limited and prone to fractious behavior.

This realistic assessment in no way negates the importance of the donations we did receive and used to communicate with the 911 Truth Movement. I would not have been able to travel throughout the U.S. and abroad had it not been for your donations. I did not have the personal financial capacity to do it without your help. I am extremely grateful for your donations and your personal support. I do not feel that we failed you. We raise the visibility of the 911 issue worldwide and as leaders we now have a more realistic assessment of our capabilities and a clearer vision of what we need to do to bring about a new Citizens 911 Commission, which we are pursuing with a new NCI campaign this spring. Your donations made this possible. Thank you.

The Dispute and the Parting of the Ways

Upon my return from Europe on November 11th I reported to the committee that for health reasons and a desire to use my energies more effectively, I had decided to focus on refurbishing the National Initiative into the National Citizens Initiative and thereby capitalize upon the opportunity the Occupy Wall Street revolution offers us. Nevertheless, I was prepared to continue working with the group and to consider funding any reasonable project that kept faith with our pledges to donors. However, suggestions by Ken Jenkins, George Ripley, Ken Freeland (the only paid employee of the group) and Byron Belitsos, who has since resigned from the group, did not seem to go anywhere. One idea was to fund national and local conferences to bring 911 leaders together in hopes of charting a new direction for our Committee; I felt such a conference would amount to violation of our pledges to donors. Only these four and a few others they could influence with bias information took issue with my position. Many more volunteers supported my position, particularly so when all the facts were made known.

My approach to our organizational problem was straightforward and simple (I thought). If we were unable to raise sufficient financial support or muster activists to do state initiatives then maybe we should focus our energies on the other approach that direct democracy offers us, about which I addressed in all of my speeches, interviews and on our website — a national initiative process. Now with the OWS on the global scene, a National Citizens Initiative seemed viable. What followed was a month of interminable discussions leading nowhere except my exhaustion. Despite my age (almost 82) and various health issues, I have worked full-time on this 911 effort since September 2010 without remuneration. I have spent about three of the last fourteen months away from my wife Whitney (almost a month on the initial California trip, two trips to Sacramento, Portland, Anchorage, Cincinnati and Denver, more than two weeks in Massachusetts and more than two weeks in Europe). During the last two trips, I became ill and had to see local doctors.

My supposed friends on the Committee wanted me to continue to be their spokesperson making speeches and traveling the world explaining the direct democracy concept. They wanted to use my reputation to raise money; then they wanted to control those monies by a process which sounds ‘democratic‘ but, in effect, holds my reputation and responsibilities to donors and supporters hostage to their decisions and judgments and most dangerously: even when they are wrong.

From mid November to December 18, we met in conference once or twice a week, going on for many hours, discussing and arguing over our different interpretation of the facts. I spent more than 10 hours in discussion with Jenkins alone. During these debates, I was subjected to insults–being charged with a lack of integrity is the most modest of the charges. The effect of this was pushing me further and further away from any possible accommodation of ever working together.

By December 18, I concluded that the only intelligent solution was to go our separate ways. They could form their own organization, do their own fundraising and pursue their vision. I was free to do the same.

However, they wanted to take control of the remaining funds of the Recipient Committee (around $30,000). This was not possible under California law nor was it possible morally because of the pledges I had made to donors. It was my statements that had raised these funds and it was my responsible to see to their proper use.

An Objective Judgment of the Dispute

The best way for an objective observer to judge the right or wrong of a dispute like this is to judge the conduct of the disputants. If the ‘board‘ (Jenkins, Freeland and Ripley) are truly committed to the cause of using direct democracy to bring about a new Citizens 911 Commission, then one would have expected them to do their best to limit knowledge of the split and minimize the disruptive effects of the conflict on the 911 Truth Movement by letting everyone to quietly go their separate ways.

Their conduct has been just the opposite. They are publicizing the dispute far and wide and spreading falsehoods with no purpose other than to damage my reputation, all because I chose to deny them the opportunity to hold my reputation hostage.

For my case, I have chosen not to address or discuss the dispute with anyone except in response to statements and charges that are addressed directly to me or brought to my attention by persons who want to know my side of the story.

The sentences in the email they sent you–informing the proper legal authorities regarding this unauthorized removal of funds from our Campaign. An official investigation should soon be underway–is the same threat they made to me back in December. Now, they are making it more subtlety, inferring some illegality on my part and spreading this to the Internet through uninformed, irresponsible blogs. This charge is ludicrous and borders on libel. Their ugly campaign to damage my character has the real effect of damaging the entire 911 Truth Movement and themselves personally.

It is emotionally disturbing to experience their viciousness toward me since I once considered them friends. I think Rudyard Kipling describes the situation best in his poem “If“: “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you;….you’ll be a man my son!”

National Citizens Initiative

In my judgment, the initiative process of direct democracy is the only way we will ever be able to enact a new Citizens 911 Commission, at
this point in our history. It goes without saying that if we can improve on this initiative process, as I am attempting to do by launching a new campaign this spring to enact the National Citizens Initiative, then it obviously improves the likelihood of citizens creating a new Citizens 911 Commission, since the 911 issue will be one of the political issues featured in the campaign.

This last year, one event has changes the dynamics of all socially progressive cause-groups: the global protests of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement. An important part of their agenda is the creation of a new commission to investigate the events surrounding 911. It is my hope to persuade OWS with our campaign that direct democracy is the only way to bring about the agenda they are protesting about. Existing funds in the Democracy Foundation and the new funds from the dissolved Citizens 911 Commission Recipient Committee are being used to prepare for a spring campaign to educate OWS about direct democracy and to persuade them to vote and help others vote to enact the National Citizens Initiative into law.

I am also in contact with C100, the organization of student body presidents in colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad who indicate an interest in participating in our campaign this spring.

The process to enact the National Citizens Initiative can be undertaken in any country where citizens are allowed to vote. As a result of my recent tour of Europe, there is substantial interest to pursue a National Citizens Initiative in Switzerland and in Denmark. These countries with the proper support could see the enactment of a National Citizens Initiative within a year. Such a success would have a very favorable impact on the American enactment campaign.

Please feel free to share with me your views about my actions. The 911CC.org website is indisposed by the confusions of the dispute. However we will have a new site up later this month, which I will communicate to you, permitting you to evaluate the new campaign, to address political issues like 911 in different languages, to register, to vote, and of course to contribute if you share our vision.

Thank you. Sincerely Mike

Mike Gravel US Senate 1969-1981
http://www.mikegravel.us; 9-11cc.com
nationalinitiative.us or NI4D.US

29 September 2011 – Youtube – Flyby News
Senator Mike Gravel Interview
Part 1 of 8 – Watch on Youtube – 9-20-2011
Full length (88 minute) program is available in high
resolution at Greenfield Community Television
More information at FN-wordpress link!

03 February 2012 – NI4D.US – Mike Gravel
What is the National Initiative for Democracy?

03 February 2012 – 9-11cc – (temporarily down)
Citizens 9/11 Commission
This is a new initiative that uses the prevailing ballot
box, to establish a truly independent commission to
pursue justice regarding the events of September 11.

“Man is deeply vulnerable when faced with overwhelming evil.
Instead of consolidating his energy to fight it,
he wastes valuable time and effort puzzling over it,
insisting it is not, cannot possibly be, what it seems.”

- Konnilyn G. Feig

Hitler’s Death Camps: The Sanity Of Madness P. 444 (1979)

-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Speech in Memphis, April 3, 1968,
on the day before he was assassinated.

Notes: My friend Tonya on facebook wrote: “I’m thinking of the King quote I posted the other day. I try to remind myself of it when I get the rolled eyes, the heavy sighs, the angry comments, the attitudes, people yelling at me furiously from their car windows, the two women who stormed out of meetings because I had the audacity to suggest that animals’suffering & lives matter (and one has a cat whom she loves and whom I’m quite sure she would never boil alive–go figure), the guy in the semi truck who liked to have never stopped screaming, the hatefulness, the “if you don’t like it here in the U.S., leave” crap, etc. The quote? “Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.” –Martin Luther King, Jr.” The following is about the day after Martin Luther King was assassinated. I posted this in an issue in 2008. Following that story and poem are updated resources for honoring a soul speaking-living truth before power.

It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence
in this world; it’s nonviolence or nonexistence.
That is where we are today.

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

FREE AT LAST-

The day after Martin Luther King, Jr. died
By Jonathan Mark
April 3, 2008

April 5th 1968 was a strange day. I felt in a fog going along Ocean Parkway to Church Avenue to take the bus to school. The fleeting memories of trolleys were now replaced by puffs of diesel smoke; we all have to learn to hold our breath sometimes I figured. My mind rambled along with the bus with images blurred by television news. The assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded me of the JFK assassination. What was going to happen now to the debate between Malcolm X and Reverend King, and with the Vietnam War escalating, it could make any kid uncertain about a future.

School seemed too normal at first, but before long fire bells rang, which sprung us into action; we were quickly led out of school. While passing through campus word spread faster than fire – a smoke bomb was detonated in the ventilation system. We wondered if school would resume, but something unusual occurred. On the same side of Flatbush Avenue as the school remained only Black students, all other races, crossed the street. It was hard to resist; I reluctantly crossed, but yearned to convey my feelings of loss to my friends and football teammates.

Across the street I found that I did not belong there either. Some racist remarks (half under breath) were all I needed to take off, and crossed the Avenue diagonally to give myself space from both groups. I found a comfortable car to lean on, and was thankful to be alone with thoughts drifting on the nonviolent struggle. When I looked up I saw an enormous group rounding the corner. It was another mass of students coming in my direction. At first I thought they must be coming from the Bedford Avenue side of campus, but the numbers were too great. An army of students approached, I did not know what to do. A wrong move could spark violence. I stayed where I was by the curb, which was about five yards from where the marchers passed in front of me. Some were astonished, curious, smiling, seeing me there. I noticed BOYS high lettering on some jackets. We played this team from Bedford-Stuyvesant and got crushed to put it simply. But to me it made sense to hold a demonstration at our multiracial school the day after a special civil rights leader and Reverend was assassinated.

Thousands passed with no incident, but then one student arched in my direction. I didn’t want to resist, so I closed my eyes as he came upon me, his right arm crossed my face, but with my adrenaline pumping I felt no pain; but great relief to see my assailant continue strolling down the sidewalk. But then, I almost jumped out of my skin; this big black guy from my side grabbed my arm. Wow, it was Kenny Wright, my football team captain and best tackling linebacker I ever knew, and a friend. He seemed urgent in asking me what happened, did I do anything? “No” and before I could say another word, he pulled me and said to follow him. I was so thankful for being with a friend that I was slow in realizing the danger I was entering. Ken walked quickly leading into the large group of accumulating students in front of the Erasmus Hall gates. I started having my doubts, especially when thousands closed in around us. There was a strange silence that took over.

With Ken at our sides I faced the same student who struck me. I could see the look of his surprise, shock, and curiosity. After a pause, with tension building, Ken simply said, ‘He’s an okay dude.’ We sustained eye contact. I felt humble, open, and empty. After a while his eyes brightened, he relaxed, and put out his hand. I slapped him five and a burst of relief “all right” sounds rippled through us all. I went around the inner part of this circle sharing fives, feeling elated, tension broken, and when I came around to Ken, he said it would be best if I left. I understood there was a need for this group to unite in its own identity. I thanked Ken and headed home. Nothing violent followed from what I heard, while many cities erupted into violence that day. At Erasmus Hall the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. was with us. Kenneth Wright graduated that year and the next season his brother Frank and I were co-captains of the team. It was our best year too, 6-wins 1-loss, and we learned from a coach that often told us that what we learned on the football field could be used throughout life.

Recently I learned that on the night of 4 April 1968, Robert F. Kennedy addressed a crowd in Indianapolis, Indiana. He said, “My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He wrote: ‘In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.’What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black.”

FREE AT LAST

Can a seed wither into the dust of despair
and if truth than be neglected, then tell me, why?
Can a man speaking out with righteousness really die;
was not Martin Luther King Jr. wise?

My life is inspired by a few and to these I congratulate and continue
to breathe the air and receive its gifts, nourishing the cells with a spiritual lift.

But when confusion enters into the night
we must go to the center of love not fright,
for in ideals of freedom we will last forever, in realms of wisdom,
loving one another.

Life is thus, a series of attitudes, bringing peace war or feuds,
but by keeping the dignity of what is right,
we cannot be discouraged by a brother’s soulful flight.

“He who learns must suffer
And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget
Falls drop by drop upon the heart,
And in our own despair, against our will,
Comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God. “

– Agamemnon

This was quoted by Robert F Kennedy in his speech announcing the
assassination of Martin Luther King on 4 April 1968; and the epitaph
his family inscribed on his grave marker in Arlington National Cemetery.

Resource Links

16 January 2012 – Democracy Now! – War and Peace
Martin Luther King, Jr. in His Own Words

16 September 2009 – Youtube – samueltube1
Masters Of War
Written By Bob Dylan
Performed by Sam Bradley

13 January 2012 – Democracy Now! – War and Peace
Two Years After Devastating Earthquake, Haiti’s Re-
building Weighed Down by Legacy of Foreign Meddling
13 January 2012
On Eve of MLK Day, Michelle Alexander & Randall
Robinson on the Mass Incarceration of Black America

10 January 2012 – Democracy Now! – War and Peace
Guantánamo Exclusive: Former Chief Prosecutor,
Ex-Prisoner Call on Obama to Close Prison
10 January 2012
NDAA: Obama Signs Law Restricting Transfer
of Prisoners and Expands Indefinite Detention

09 January 2012 – Democracy Now! – William Hartung
Drones, Asia and Cyber War: Pentagon Shifts
Priorities; Budget Still Exceeds Bush Era
07 January 2012 – Youtube – LedaOhio5
Warning Graphic Footage!

03 January 2012 – World Socialist – Patrick Martin
Obama signs police state legislation

29 March 2010 – Democracy Now! – Amy Goodman
Tavis Smiley on Rev. Martin Luther King
and His Opposition to the Vietnam War

March 31, 2010 PBS aired Tavis Smiley’s
MLK: A Call to Conscience

11 March 2010 – Democracy Now!
Legal Scholar Michelle Alexander on
“The New Jim Crow:
Mass Incarceration
in the Age of Colorblindness”

05 January 2011 – Democracy Now – War and Peace Report
DNA Evidence Frees Texas
Prisoner After 30 Years
FN Resource:
Human Rights and A Nation
Behind Bars: the buried
talents of a population.

Transforming Health-care and Criminal Justice
Not-for-Profit Healthcare and Prisons good for USA!

“When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds
of despair, and when our nights become darker than a
thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a
creative force in this universe, working to pull down
the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able
to make a way out of no way and transform dark
yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize
the arc of the moral universe is long
but it bends toward justice.”

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

The views expressed herein are writers’own and not necessarily of Flyby News.
Fair Use Policy that describes use of copyrighted material is at FlybyNews.com.
Feedback for story suggestions and networking Flyby News is appreciated.
You can write to the editor by email: – flybynews(at}hughes{dot)net-

Flyby News is educational and nonviolent in focus,
and has supported critical campaigns for a healthy
environment, human rights, justice, and nonviolence,
since the launch of NASA’s Cassini space probe in 1997.

News Fit to Transmit in the Post Cassini Flyby Era

= = = www.FlybyNews.com = = =

Editor’s Notes: As usual we are loaded down with critical breaking news that present a dismal future, except, too, there is evidence of miraculous resistance and possibilities. This is going to be quite a year. Flyby News plans to report on the militarization of space and other concerns for life’s survival until at least December 21, 2012. Until then we remain half-optimistic for a miracle turnaround for humanity to survive this Century. The events of September 11, 2001 is a modern day “Big Lie.” This phrase was coined by Adolph Hitler is a propaganda technique for a lie so “colossal” that no one would believe that someone “could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.” Hitler exclaimed that the technique was used by Jews to unfairly blame Germany’s loss in World War I. Yet the bigger lie follows the money trail leading to those financing both sides of world wars, those crafting atomic bomb development, star wars, intelligence infiltration, coup d’etat assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The deceptions go deep..

Breaking news articles in this issue cover NASA’s 2012 lunar orbits, which for some poorly explained reason (to save money) ‘took them 30 times longer to reach the moon than the Apollo astronauts, who [supposedly] took a direct three-day flight.’I am still waiting for an astronaut to get through the Van Allen belts. No one has come close since the claimed Apollo missions. In 1998 when a Shuttle attempted, it was forced back down after only about 350 miles due to reported radiation that penetrated the astronaut’s protective layers and skull. They could see flashes of light inside one’s head, radiation crossing the retina of the eye. The radiation belt gets most concentrated from 1,000 to 25,000 miles and encircles our planet. This is what enables our atmosphere to be protected. The jerks in the Pentagon actually detonated nuclear bombs around the belts. This sort of intelligence is better at faking reality rather than being honest. This is an understatement. For more information I suggest watching this film, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Moon. It includes mislabeled, unedited, behind-the-scenes footage from NASA showing the crew of Apollo 11 ‘staging a shot of being half-way to the moon’while only in low orbit. Like the evidence of 9/11 truth, there is so much denial and investment in the lies, the truth has a hard time coming out. Nevertheless, truth remains real and the lies get bigger and more obvious.

The good news in this issue has to do with some confirmation that our planet is being visited by much more advanced civilizations. I will re-examine this and other issues by next winter solstice. Also, I encourage you to watch this 90-minute film aired on the History Channel, SECRET ACCESS: UFOs On The Record. It is also available on youtube. The film features in-depth accounts by people who are willing to risk their jobs and reputations to speak out about their extraordinary experiences, such as former Arizona Governor Fife Symington III. At first Symington when Governor acted in a way that ridiculed hundreds or thousands of witnesses of the Phoenix lights. In the film documentary he mentioned regretting taking such actions. In this CNN article Symington wrote: “In 1997, during my second term as governor of Arizona, I saw something that defied logic and challenged my reality. I witnessed a massive delta-shaped, craft silently navigate over Squaw Peak, a mountain range in Phoenix, Arizona. It was truly breathtaking. I was absolutely stunned because I was turning to the west looking for the distant Phoenix Lights. . . As a pilot and a former Air Force Officer, I can definitively say that this craft did not resemble any man-made object I’d ever seen. And it was certainly not high-altitude flares because flares don’t fly in formation. The incident was witnessed by hundreds – if not thousands – of people in Arizona, and my office was besieged with phone calls from very concerned Arizonians. The growing hysteria intensified when the story broke nationally. I decided to lighten the mood of the state by calling a press conference where my chief of staff arrived in an alien costume. We managed to lessen the sense of panic but, at the same time, upset many of my constituents. I would now like to set the record straight. I never meant to ridicule anyone. My office did make inquiries as to the origin of the craft, but to this day they remain unanswered..”

Meanwhile on planet Earth Obama has offered US and world citizens a 2012 new year’s threat by signing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law on New Year’s Eve. Meanwhile the election campaign is being used by the media to continue to confuse and distract the public on the criminal conduct of the US government based on the US Constitution. Note how this interview with a soldier, who is a supporter of Ron Paul and stopping the continuation of US invasion foreign policies, like with Iran. This soldier was stopped in mid-sentence by CNN. One can see how the pro-war media and 2-party system is setting up another controlled US (s)election. This is why FN’s focus is on a grassroots rebellion to overrule the corrupt mis-representative government by a policy of direct democracy as proposed by former Senator Mike Gravel. The Occupy movement has not realized yet the wisdom of such a direct democracy nonviolent action, which takes steps beyond protesting toward an actionable plan. Please help us spread the word on VOTE.org, and also, on the best chance we have for a real investigation on September 11, a Citizens’9/11 Commission Campaign. Thank you for all efforts on such campaigns and forwarding supporting Flyby News. May this be one wonderful year.

“News Fit to Transmit in the Post Cassini Flyby Era”

NASA’s Cassini space probe executed a flyby maneuver around the Earth on 17/18 August 1999. This space ship was traveling at record speeds, around 10 miles per second, carrying more than 72 pounds of highly radioactive plutonium on board. This could have resulted in untold suffering for generations to come. The Press Release, “The FORCE Behind Cassini” explains why NASA might have conducted such a high-risk space mission. Flyby News covers the militarization of space and other concerns for life’s survival in the 21st Century.

 

We plan to report on such news until at least December 21, 2012. Until then we remain half-optimistic for a miracle turnaround for humanity to survive this Century. The events of September 11, 2001 is a modern day “Big Lie.” According to Wikipedia this phrase, coined by Adolph Hitler is a propaganda technique for a lie so “colossal” that no one would believe that someone “could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.” Hitler exclaimed that the technique was used by Jews to unfairly blame Germany’s loss in World War I.’Yet the bigger lie follows the money trail leading to those financing both sides of world wars, those crafting atomic bomb development, star wars, intelligence infiltration, coup d’etat assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The deceptions go deep, some proven, some unproven . . . Gulf of Tonkin deception, nuclear arming of Israel, moon landing hoax, and other areas show the importance of President Eisenhower’s farewell address warning: “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex..” More – Lord of the Rings.

 

The big surprise out of the Cassini Earth flyby was the surfacing of Bart Jordan and evidence of technologically advanced ancient civilizations. Following key resource links just below, see updates on critical breaking news and campaigns from a global perspective. United we cam make a difference. Scroll to the bottom and sign up for occasional email updates. A flyby perspective is vast and fast in coming and going so hang in there with us to activate a new era for a nonviolent world, inspired by nature and love we can help many survive the hell created by humankind with integrity and freedom.

Recent Issues:

• December 21, 2011 – Manning Manhandled * Indefinite Detention
• November 16, 2011 – Occupy Raid – Gravel – Building 7 weekend
• October 27, 2011 – Democracy, architect, freedom’s cost or lost

Scan FN archive issues since 1999

CRITICAL BREAKING NEWS

19 December 2011 – Sacramento Bee – Newswire
14,000 U.S. Deaths Tied to Fukushima Reactor
Disaster Fallout – - – - – Medical Journal Article

26 December 2011 – Rocket News 24 – CLG News
Yakuza’s Debtors Forced to Work at Fukushima..?

22 December 2011 – The Independent – Steve Connor
Too late to contain killer flu science, say experts

22 December 2011 – WantToKnow.info – Jeff Rense
Discovering a Cure for Cancer
Can Be Dangerous to Your Health

20 December 2011 – Washington Post – Common Dreams
Secrecy Defines Obama’s Drone War

20 December 2011 – The Guardian/UK – Common Dreams
Prosecutors Claim Bradley Manning
Wanted to Remove ‘the Fog of War’

16 December 2011 – Graham Nash and James Raymond – Common Dreams
Almost Gone – Graham Nash & James Raymond
Video-Song in Support of Bradley Manning

For updated breaking news, go to:

= = = www.FlybyNews.com = = =

“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts
to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against
injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and
crossing each other from a million different centers
of energy and daring, those ripples build a current
which can sweep down the mightiest walls
of oppression and resistance.”

Robert F. Kennedy
Capetown, June 6th 1966

Editor’s Notes: There is only one earth-sun cycle left for the completion of my 13+ year commitment to report on news in the post Cassini flyby era. Next winter solstice I plan to re-evaluate most everything, especially life’s survival in the 21st Century. Until then I remain half optimistic for some amazing turnaround from the direction we are now headed. Take note for the following critical breaking news articles and link to “Almost Gone”, the video to a recent song by Graham Nash and James Raymond in support of Bradley Manning. I hope by the next issue I will have more on the campaigns of Mike Gravel – VOTE.org and 9-11cc.org – Being a protester is good, but being a citizen demanding one’s freedom in our participating in one’s own governance (according to principles of the US Constitution is better. There seemed to be little reporting on the Occupy Building 7 action of 19, 20 November, 2011. The event happened, photos are posted here at Blog Out Loud, but I could find little additional coverage. If you have more information please send. Thanks to all, especially those supporting whistle-blowers, independent news, awareness, and integrity.

CRITICAL BREAKING NEWS

20 December 2011 – Washington Post – Common Dreams
Secrecy Defines Obama’s Drone War

20 December 2011 – The Guardian/UK – Common Dreams
Prosecutors Claim Bradley Manning
Wanted to Remove ‘the Fog of War’

16 December 2011 – Graham Nash and James Raymond – Common Dreams
Almost Gone – Graham Nash & James Raymond
Video-Song in Support of Bradley Manning

16 December 2011 – Democracy Now! – War and Peace
Bradley Manning Hearing: Alleged Wiki-
Leaks Whistleblower in Military Court,
19 Months After Arrest
16 December 2011
Adrian Lamo, Bradley Manning Informant, Defends
Role in Turning in Alleged WikiLeaks Whistleblower
Glenn Greenwald
Bradley Manning Faces Life Sentence,
While Criminals WikiLeaks Exposed
Have Suffered No Consequences
Glenn Greenwald
Obama Prepares to Authorize Indefinite Detention
of U.S. Citizens for First Time Since McCarthy Era
16 December, 2011
Egyptian Military Kills 14 Protesters, Attacks
Journalists in Brutal Crackdown in Tahrir Square

16 December 2011 – Democracy Now! – War and Peace
U.S. Withdrawal from Iraq: “In Terms of
Destroying Iraq, It’s ‘Mission Accomplished’”

14 December 2011 – AlJazeera – Gregg Carlstrom
Uncertainty looms large
in Iraq as U.S. leaves

13 December 2011 – RT – Gregg Carlstrom
‘US to control Iraq oil always’

15 December 2011 – Information Clearing House – Ralph Nader
Congressional Tyranny, White House Surrender

16 December 2011 – Democracy Now! – War & Peace
Bradley Manning: Famed Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg
on Alleged WikiLeaks Soldier’s 1st Day in Court

13 December 2011 – The Independent (UK) – Steve Connor
Shock as retreat of Arctic sea ice
releases deadly greenhouse gas

05 December 2011 – DailyKos – Bill McKibben
Most Important News Story of the Day/Millennium

13 December 2011 – Democracy Now! – War & Peace
Ex-Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson,
Former Democrat, Launches Third Party
Presidential Bid Against Obama, GOP

06 December 2011 – WantToKnow – Fred Burks
Fukushima Reactor Cores in Full Meltdown,
US Military to Arrest Citizens,
Bailout Corruption

06 December 2011 – Raw Story – Eric W. Dolan
Los Angeles votes to end corporate personhood

06 December 2011 – Inter Press Service – Common Dreams
US Obstinacy at Climate Talks
Destroying Hope, Planet

07 December 2011 – Democracy Now – War & Peace
Nobel-Winning IPCC Chair Rajendra Pachauri Urges
Obama to “Listen to Science” on Global Warming

06 December 2011 – The Guardian/UK – Common Dreams
Austerity Powers Would Usurp
Sovereignty of EU Nations

December, 2011 – Link TV – Glenn Greenwald
With Liberty and Justice for Some

The American Ruling Class
A dramatic, musical, documentary satire on
class in America that attempts to answer
the question ‘Who rules America?’

27 November 2011 – Bloomberg – Bob Ivry, Bradley Keoun and Phil Kuntz
Secret Fed Loans Gave Banks $13 Billion
Undisclosed to Congress

16 November 2011 – Natural News – Ethan A. Huff
War on drugs revealed as total hoax
US military admits to guarding, assisting
lucrative opium trade in Afghanistan

30 November 2011 – Democracy Now! – War and Peace
State Dept. Veteran Peter Van Buren Defies U.S.
Censors to Recount Failed Reconstruction in Iraq
30 November 2011
Occupy Wall Street Camps in Los Angeles,
Philadelphia Dismantled in Massive Police Raids

29 November 2011 – Democracy Now! – War and Peace
Battlefield America: U.S. Citizens Face Indefinite
Military Detention in Defense Bill Before Senate

23 November 2011 – PressTV – Malaysia
Bush, Blair found guilty of war crimes

21 November 2011 – Democracy Now! – War and Peace
Seymour Hersh: Propaganda Used Ahead of Iraq War
Is Now Being Reused over Iran’s Nuke Program
21 November 2011
Tahrir Square Under Attack: 32 Egyptians Killed,
1,750 Injured in Protests Against Military Rule
21 November 2011
UC Davis Student Describes Pepper Spray
Attack on Occupy Campus Protesters

Occupy Student Debt Campaign

10 November 2011 – Youtube – Max Keiser
Senator Mike Gravel
On Occupy and Direct Democracy Evolution!

29 September 2011 – Youtube – Flyby News
Senator Mike Gravel Interview
Part 1 of 8 – Watch on Youtube – 9-20-2011
Full length (88 minute) program is available in high
resolution at Greenfield Community Television
More information at FN-wordpress link!

9/11 Initiative Campaign – Senator Mike Gravel
Citizens 9/11 Commission
This is a new initiative that uses the prevailing ballot
box, to establish a truly independent commission to
pursue justice regarding the events of September 11.
An Actionable Plan for 9/11 Truth and Justice

“When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds
of despair, and when our nights become darker than a
thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a
creative force in this universe, working to pull down
the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able
to make a way out of no way and transform dark
yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize
the arc of the moral universe is long
but it bends toward justice.”

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

For additional poems and quotations, visit:
Life Rhythms poetry blog with Jonathan Mark

KEY NEWS & RESOURCES

Space for Peace & September 11

Energy Pollution’s Impact On Our Environment

Credible Witness – UFO – Disclosure

Flyby News Health and Spiritual Blog

And don’t miss out on
Reports on Bart Jordan and evidence
of advanced pre-ice-age civilizations

Send a friend request for updates, videos, comments
Facebook.com/FlybyNews

For a list serve for discussions and related posts,
including files and fliers for events and more, see:
FlybyNews@YahooGroups

Also, check out:
Flyby News @ WordPress
&
Valley 9/11 Truth
&
FN’s Youtube Channel

The views expressed herein are writers’own and not necessarily of Flyby News.
Fair Use Policy that describes use of copyrighted material is at FlybyNews.com.
Feedback for story suggestions and networking Flyby News is appreciated.
You can write to the editor by email: – flybynews(at}hughes{dot)net-

Flyby News is educational and nonviolent in focus,
and has supported critical campaigns for a healthy
environment, human rights, justice, and nonviolence,
since the launch of NASA’s Cassini space probe in 1997.
News Fit to Transmit in the Post Cassini Flyby Era

= = = www.FlybyNews.com = = =

Fatal Police Shooting Shocks Church

Was Woody Assasinated?

This issue was originally posted on
December 21, 2001

1) Robert “Woody” Woodward ~ Fatal Police Shooting

Editor’s Notes:

For the past few weeks, my work for sustainable energy development and family-related health matters, brought me to southern California. One of the highlights of this trip was in spending real time with Carol Rosin and Jon Cypher at their home and offices for the Institute for Cooperation in Space in Ventura, CA. I met them after a solo walk by the ocean where I watched three pilot whales weave in the Pacific only about 30 yards from shore. Nature reigns in such beauty.

Though funding for the sustainable energy work was missing, it was a good trip, especially to help my mom her during a time when she needed me. And on the airplane on the ride home, after nine months of slowly reading, absorbing, feeling, the revelations in the biography of Crazy Horse: Strange Man of the Oglalas, written in the 1930′s by Mari Sandoz.

Shaken a bit, which I didn’t realize how little, until on the way at Whole Foods market, I learned what happened to my friend, Woody, just before I departed my journey. on December 2nd, 2001, my friend, Robert “Woody” Woodward, was shot dead by police while seeking political asylum in a Church in Brattleboro, Vermont!

I couldn’t help feel but some connection with Woody; and his connection with Crazy Horse, who when arrested and betrayed, struggled with a knife and slain dead.

I attended the memorial service, with a candlelight vigil through town, Brattleboro, Vermont, on December 19 2001. The assembly of friends and community that came to that service demonstrated that Woody was not a dangerous person, and people grieved at their loss of a dear friend and family loved one. But will the truth be revealed, what really happened?

Why would the police,

after only one minute,

open fire, shooting him
seven times, handcuff him,

and deny him immediate

medical assistance?

I had an opportunity to address those at the memorial service. I encouraged anyone who could disclose truth on this case to step forward, to take the advice from Daniel Sheehan, legal counsel for the Pentagon Papers, the Iran-Contra, Three Mile Island, and Karen Silkwood cases: to go public as the best strategy and defense to stand up against injustice. I shared these thoughts, and the following poem to a light beyond darkness.

Death

The unknown journey tells us of lives past,
What’s behind the sky and how long we can last.

Blight and perish, then return Creation to your chore never ending,
Though it appears dim sometimes because the tunnel winds,
But beyond the next bend the illumined mind might find a permeating ray.

O’divine mystery, naked before my thoughts,
Such grandeur and majesty, am I truly worthy?

Embracing life, colors blend, light filters through,
I am what I am.
The only death that came to be was to that of mystery,
As life has a way of renewing and cleansing,
And with the purpose of growth, the spirit will always be unending.

1) Fatal Police Shooting Shocks Church – Was Woody Assasinated?

- – Archive Links at end of article!

Fatal Police Shooting Shocks Church
By DAVID GRAM, Associated Press Writer
December 5, 2001

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (AP) – He went before the congregation just as the service was to begin. Weeping, he asked for help, for “political sanctuary.”

But All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church – which has long welcomed the downtrodden and the mentally ill – couldn’t offer sanctuary to Robert A. Woodward on Sunday.

Gently asked to take a seat or leave, Woodward pulled a knife. Police were called. After making what authorities called threatening moves with the blade, he was gunned down at the altar and died at a hospital.

The police shooting in a church known for its peace activism left the congregation in shock. And it left many of the roughly 10,000 residents of a community known for its left-leaning politics, where a faded “Question Authority” bumper sticker is not an uncommon sight, doing just that. People wanted to know why the officers fired seven shots with their semiautomatic pistols rather than just one, or why they didn’t subdue Woodward with the pepper spray they carry, or just tackle him.

“It appears as though there will have to be a high burden on those who pulled the trigger to show that there were no other means to deal with this situation,” said Benson D. Scotch, director of the Vermont office of the American Civil Liberties Union.

State authorities are investigating the shooting to determine whether it was justified.

It remained a mystery why the 37-year-old man would drive 25 miles from his apartment in Bellows Falls to seek help in a church hidden from the road on a pine-topped knoll – a church where he was a complete stranger.

Woodward’s mother, Joanne Woodward of Bozrah, Conn., told the Brattleboro Reformer that her son had no history of mental problems. And investigators said it appeared he did not have a criminal record.

Woodward, who was single and had no children, worked most recently with foster children at a community mental health organization in Vermont, his mother said.

“I would just like to stress for you that he was a very peaceful person,” she said. “He never would have injured anyone else. He was a loving, caring person and very gentle.”

The West Village Meeting House, a 1970s chalet-style building with brown-stained shingles, is home to both the Unitarian Universalist church and to a Jewish congregation.

Investigators said it was clear when Woodward went into the church that he wanted to be heard. The chief source of the agitation that led to Woodward’s shooting appeared to be that members of the congregation were getting up to leave.

Woodward handed out blank checks with statements written on the backs of them, State’s Attorney Dan Davis said. Davis would not reveal their contents.

As Woodward grew more agitated, someone announced it was time for Sunday school, and the 15 children among the roughly 70 people in the church were escorted out to the parking lot. A congregation member used a cell phone to call police.

A church member began talking with Woodward and placed some cellular phone calls for him. Woodward put his knife away. But when someone suggested that the 15 or 20 members of the congregation who remained leave, Woodward grew angry and pulled out his knife again. Davis said it was a folding knife, with a blade 4 to 5 inches long.

“There was a movement with the knife itself and movements made by Mr. Woodward that the officers perceived as a threat to themselves and-or the congregation,” Davis said on Monday.

Two officers opened fire; a third officer did not shoot.

Norman Hunt, an 85-year-old member of the congregation, said that Woodward did not verbally threaten anyone other than himself.

“He did tell us he was afraid of the police and afraid if they caught him they’d kill him,” Hunt said. “He held a small pocketknife and held it against his right eye and said that rather than being captured he’d kill himself.”

For another posting of this article and others, see:
Woodward shouted about “political assassinations” and “global warming”

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

From the website — “Justice for Woody”

Was Woody Assasinated?

Woody seemed to think so. On the voicemail message from the call that Woody placed to his close friends one can hear
Woody’s voice saying “Political assassination, political assassination, political assassination … global warming,” repeatedly, and “I love you, I love you: help, help, help me, help me” between moans in which one can hear immense agony.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Flyby News Archives Updated Links:

August 14, 2006 – Item 2
Justice for Woody?

This above issue includes an article on Robert Woodward’s family settlement to drop the case of my friend, Woody, who was shot dead less than 2 months following 9/11/01, while seeking political asylum in a Church one minute after police entered the Church and riddled him with seven bullets and denied emergency medical attention.

September 1, 2005 – Item 2
Justice for Woody and family within a year?

August 27, 2005 – Item 3
Justice for Woody Remains Open

August 19, 2005 – Item 5
Robert Woodward’s family seeks justice

May 10, 2004 – Item 3
Woody Case Hearing Report

May 1, 2004 – Item 3
Dangerous Time for Justice in “Woody” Police-Shooting Case

December 8, 2003 – Item 4
Woodward Shooting: Evidence of a Dean Conspiracy?

November 28, 2003 – Item 4
Commemoration of the second anniversary of the death of Robert “Woody” Woodward to be held on December 2, 2003

One-Year Anniversary Since the Shooting — December 2, 2002 – Item 1
Justice eyes Woodward FBI probe

March 20, 2002 – Item 3
The sound of silence
Article by Kathryn Casa, Managing Editor of the Brattleboro Reformer (March 13, 2002)

February 3, 2002 – Item 4
Family Pursues Quest for Truth in Woodward Shooting
Press Release and link for the legal motion

December 29, 2001 – Item 3
Deadly Silence, Questions Remain about Church Shooting of Woody
Why are the policemen who shot Woody still on duty?

Robert “Woody” Woodward was gunned down by Police Officers on December 2, 2001
in the All Soul’s Unitarian Church in Brattleboro, Vermont, while requesting political asylum.

Woody committed no crime, yet he was shot seven times, and medical care, which might have saved Woody’s life, was delayed. For the second anniversary of the tragic events, a group of friends of Woody and concerned citizens conducted a Silent March to call for the end of excessive use of police force, support truth, justice, and accountability for such actions, and most of all, the event will pay tribute to Woody’s life of compassion and social caring. At a press conference after the vigil, a spokesperson for the Justice for Woody organaization released a report that concluded: “..By refusing to pursue the evidence they possessed that Woodward was shot while down and then denied first aid, and instead putting forth a fraudulent homicide investigation, Governor Dean and William Sorrell conspired to obstruct the lawful application of justice in the matter of the police shooting of Robert Woodward.”

For more information on facebook:

Robert “Woody” Woodward:

Remembering him on the 10 Year Anniversary

“The evidence in hand points to the urgent need
for a citizens’ investigation with grand jury powers.”

- U.S. Senator Mike Gravel
(D-Alaska, 1969-1981)

Editor’s Notes: Mike Gravel’s interview with Max Keiser describes an opportunity for direct democracy that can come out of the Occupy Wall Street Movement. Other new links posted at Flyby News and facebook include information on the police raids, likely ordered from the top down, and on the vitally important march and occupation this coming weekend – Occupy Building 7 and more..

15 November 2011 – Democracy Now! – War and Peace
Inside Occupy Wall Street Raid:
Eyewitnesses Describe Arrests,
Beatings as Police Dismantle Camp

AMY GOODMAN:

“..The one thing I was able to pick up from the grounds of Zuccotti Park was a book that had not yet been thrown into the dump truck, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World Revisited. On the back, it says, “When the novel Brave New World” – now an established classic – “first appeared, in 1932, its shocking analysis of a scientific dictatorship seemed a projection into the remote future.” It goes on to say, “However, today the science of thought control has raced far beyond the totalitarian dreams of Hitler and Stalin. Numerous methods for curtailing individual freedoms have been developed, and the pressures to adopt them are increasingly powerful. Here, in one of the most important, fascinating and frightening books of his career, Aldous Huxley scrutinizes these and other threats to humanity and explains why we may find it virtually impossible to resist them. This book is a plea that humanity should educate itself for freedom before it is too late.” Just reading the jacket off of Brave New World Revisited by Aldous Huxley, that was strewn at Zuccotti Park, just missed by the sanitation workers dumping the property of the protesters..”

27 December 2010 – TruthDig – 911blogger – Chris Hedges
2011:
A Brave New Dystopia
Combining two great visions of future dystopia,
Orwell’s “1984″ and Huxley’s “Brave New World”

CRITICAL BREAKING NEWS

November 19th and 20th, 2011
Occupy Building 7
In front of the rebuilt World Trade Center Building 7
DEMAND an investigation into the collapses of
World Trade Center Building 7 and the Twin Towers

10 November 2011 – Youtube – Max Keiser
Senator Mike Gravel
On Occupy and Direct Democracy Evolution!

29 September 2011 – Youtube – Flyby News
Senator Mike Gravel Interview
Part 1 of 8 – Watch on Youtube – 9-20-2011
This video will also be available at GCTV
More information at FN-wordpress link!

9/11 Initiative Campaign – Senator Mike Gravel
Citizens 9/11 Commission
This is a new initiative that uses the prevailing ballot
box, to establish a truly independent commission to
pursue justice regarding the events of September 11.
An Actionable Plan for 9/11 Truth and Justice

19 May 2011 – VIDEO – Oakland Forum
Robert M. Bowman Speech Excerpt
Empowering Citizens to End 9/11 Wars

21 October 2011 – Initiative for Democracy – PDF
A Message from Senator Mike Gravel
to the Occupy Wall Street Movement

Warrior of the Wind

As an Indian child I wept and cried
To feel the hatred, the reason my father died;
I dried my tears as I grew older
And with my bow became bolder..

To protect my mother of this world and of nature,
As buffaloes were slaughtered and the Indian hungered;
The fish gave us strength to survive,
Yet we knew we had to do more to remain alive.

As we struggled the White men kept coming,
Building towns and railroads with sticks
that kept exploding..
Chasing us to grounds that were barren,
Our most sacred lands by strangers were taken.

Some of the younger braves, angered by these maneuvers,
No longer respected the way of peace elder and became warriors.
They hid and ambushed and the numbers of our people grew small,
My family became mourners, it was then I heard a call..

I went to my place beside a flowing brook.
Here it was peaceful and as I sat the water spoke:
“Young brave, warrior of the wind..
Let go and carry the message within.”

There was no need to fear at this place,
But as I opened my heart I felt it shake.
I leaned toward the water, but did not fall,
I flew through the woods to the source of the call.

Here I saw buffalo and the warriors of old,
They sat in a council of peace and here I was told:
“Young brave, true warrior, the fighting is not free,
But you must complete the lessons that will let you see.”

I came back to the brook and felt good,
But was confused as to what I should do.
Then I smelt fire and heard thunder from guns..
Back to my four legged and back to my home.

My mother lay there, with a young one in the ashes of ruin.
My tears bitterly dried by the heat of my village burning.
All friends, women, children lay in darkness..
My confusion and not knowing became like a sickness.

Nothing I could see but anger and scalping.
I rode my pony feverishly attacking.
With others I yelped, burned, and killed
until peace was lost,
I could not return to my place over that hill.

But late one night before sleep a spirit said,
Look above, way above your head
And like at the stream I went with the wind..

Yet sleep overcame my spirit,
In the morning I didn’t remember.
I hopped on Sacred Fire and rode as a warrior.
Charging in a cloud of dust,
my throat struck by a bullet,
Breathing became difficult, I fell
And rolled and rolled; still not breathing I looked up.
Hoofs ran wild, but way, way above my head
I saw clouds opening instead.

I rose to the land of buffalo and friend
And understood why we all had to ascend.
The land we left needs to serve another,
Though the Whites hardly respect the Earth Mother.

They’ll cut the trees, drain the soil, sicken the water,
Their destructive forces will come like a wind of fire.
Yet a cleansing will come to purify all the spreading diseases,
And HO, nature will replenish the Earth with changes.

For peace will be for all kinds of tribes
And for those with the strength to remain alive,
Without tears of rage nor loss of dignity,
But for those that have or will see
Earth and her children living in complete harmony.

By Jonathan Mark
Mitakuye Oyasin – All My Relations
12 July 1978 – Tree-Root Press

For additional poems and quotations, visit:
Life Rhythms poetry blog with Jonathan Mark

The views expressed herein are writers’own and not necessarily of Flyby News.
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Initiative Now In Colorado and North Dakota

Mike Gravel hobnobs with members of Switzerland’s

Occupy movement…watch the video interview here