Thursday, August 19, 2010

The erosion of civil liberties-I got a taste!

This letter waas sent to the Irish Independent
late Thursday evening.

The erosion of civil liberties-I got a taste!



On Wednesday eve I flew into Cork from Amsterdam at 9:20.

I am an Irish citizen, and proud of that. My ancestors were

forced to migrate. I was born and grew up in America.



I had three Irish grandparents and became an Irish citizen in 1995

or 1996. My ex-wife, and children are also Irish citizens and live here.



Our family moved to Ireland in June 1997, and after completing a BCL

and an LLB at UCC I moved to the Netherlands in August 2006 to pursue

an L.L.M. I was coming back to live again.



After I got my baggage a customs officer took my

Irish passport, and asked me to follow him.



He went into an office and came out within minutes.

He brought me to a metal table to search my belongings.

That did not bother me; it happens. I came from Amsterdam.

It was my turn; I thought.



However, his first question to me was ‘The purpose

of my visit?’



Then, how long did I intend to stay here?



He asked if I have a job? I am a Marine Corps veteran

of the Vietnam War and have disability income, and will

do okay in law and writing. A long time coming. That’s what war

does to young boys. He asked how long I was in Vietnam.



He then asked where was I staying? Do I have friends here? I said yes.



He asked ‘Who are they, and where do they live?’

I stopped after one name, and like an Irish politician at a

Tribunal said I don’t remember. To my shock, I later realized

that my mobile had been on 'record' at a point; it has a mind of its own.



Have airport customs, or the Irish government ever heard of ‘The Free

Movement of Persons’ as guaranteed under EU law?



This was none of his, (or U.S. Customs business), or whoever directs an

Irish customs officer to ask such questions. He was a nice man, and I

hold no ill will for the ‘fishing expedition.’



But, we live in a country where the CIA has flown detainees to torture camps

after a ‘pit stop’ here. Rendition is what the Gestapo did! And our government

co-operates. So, these things happen.



I have been under surveillance before for anti-war activity in the U.S. in

the 1970s. And, after I was in a takeover of the Statue of Liberty by Vietnam

Veterans Against the War (all charges dropped) I lost jobs-the FBI. So, I

know what harassment is. I know it wasn’t a drug search because

my body was not frisked!



I will write and speak against the wars of aggression conducted by my

country, and will speak out to my dying breath. I do not apologize for that.

Because, I have seen the truth of war.



I have been under surveillance before for anti-war activity in the U.S. in

the 1970s. And, after I was in a takeover of the Statue of Liberty by Vietnam

Veterans Against the War in 1976 (all charges dropped). I lost jobs-the FBI.

I discovered phone taps, and more. So, I know what harassment is. But, I will not

Be intimidated.



I want an answer from this government, and the customs office as to why

they were asking me questions reserved for non-EU nationals. Do airport

Customs officers normally ask such questions of persons with an Irish passport?

I think not!



Paul Meuse

Kinlay House(temporarily)

085-1137110

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

U.S. Urges Allies to Crack Down on WikiLeaks

A longer version of this is being sent to the Pentagon

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-08-10/a-western-crackdown-on-wikileaks/?cid=hp:mainpromo2

U.S. Urges Allies to Crack Down on WikiLeaks
by Philip Sheno access date Tues. 10 Aug. 2010


The Obama administration has asked Britain, Germany,
Australia, and other allies to consider criminal charges
against Julian Assange for his Afghan war leaks.
Philip Shenon reports.
--------------------------------------------

Wikileaks is a source of truth. It shows the reality of what our
war criminals...military and political leaders are doing
in the name of freedom, fighting terror etc.

Obama is just carrying out the war policies of our National
Security State(term from Glenn Greenwald).

Central to war is lying and deceit of the masses of people.
But, the U.S. went into Afghanistan, Iraq, et al not just for
oil, but because the real leaders of America (we don't know them)
have launched a World War...for domination.

To the Pentagon, we will not only protect every source
like wikileaks from harm from government thugs or assassins.
We will encourage many more to speak out, and release
evidence of 'War Crimes','Crimes Against Humanity', plans
for aggressive war and more...and cover-ups of the above.

For if anything, what the release of documents has shown
is the extent of criminal behaviour, and cover-ups by our
leaders...and no new investigation into these events.
What our leaders plan to do is make an example of Bradley
Manning. They aren't investigating the crimes that have
been revealed. To the Pentagon, the only crime is that
Someone LEAKED THE TRUTH.

To the Pentagon: You rely on us...that is the people who
join and are trained by you to handle your secure
communications (Read: evidence of your crimes and
cover-ups) We will develop our own underground railroad
as was done in the U.S.A. in the 19th Century.

To the Pentagon, you are corrupt, war criminals, and
resistance to the last breath is what is needed to stop
the American-Hitler-like war machine.

On September 11th, 2001 a horrible crime was committed
from within. This makes these wars illegal.

To the Pentagon, White House, CIA, NSA et al your
reliance on technology is your weakness.

We will resist.

We will resist,

And we will never, ever give up until every CIA torturer,
the lawyers, mercenaries, generals and admirals, and war
profiteers, bankers oil men, are in the criminal dock.
We have no choice, but to resist, and to remake this world
into a better place. It will be better when the people
rise up and put you in the criminal dock!!

We must fight against what our military is doing without fear.

Paul Meuse
Marine Vietnam grunt

The following is an excerpt from a speech given by
Major-General Smedley D. Butler, USMC (A by Two-Time
Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient)


'WAR is a racket. It always has been.

It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable,
surely the most vicious. It is the only one international
in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned
in dollars and the losses in lives.

A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not
what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small "inside"
group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of
the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few
people make huge fortunes.' So said Major General Smedley D. Butler
in the 1930s.

I spent thirty- three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country's most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle- man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.

I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all the members of the military profession, I never had a thought of my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service.

I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912 (where have I heard that name before?). I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.

During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.'
---------------------------------------
One theme that runs through the writings and speeches
of General Butler is the wars caused by the Bankers and
Oil men.

That's what war is all about-massive profits...$$$ on the
one hand:

'How many of these war millionaires shouldered a rifle? How many of them dug a trench? How many of them knew what it meant to go hungry in a rat-infested dug-out? How many of them spent sleepless, frightened nights, ducking shells and shrapnel and machine gun bullets? How many of them parried a bayonet thrust of an enemy? How many of them were wounded or killed in battle?

Out of war nations acquire additional territory, if they are victorious. They just take it. This newly acquired territory promptly is exploited by the few – the selfsame few who wrung dollars out of blood in the war. The general public shoulders the bill.

And what is this bill?

This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations.

For a great many years, as a soldier, I had a suspicion that war was a racket; not until I retired to civil life did I fully realize it. Now that I see the international war clouds gathering, as they are today, I must face it and speak out.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

The Burqa Ban in France

This is a letter sent to The Irish Times on Wed.

(To the Editor: I do not expect The Irish Times to print my letter(s),
for as the former Director of the CIA, William Colby
once noted that the CIA has someone [usually on the editorial
board] working for them on any major newspaper of note...so I will
post it in my developing blog:(http://paulmeuse.blogspot.com/)

The Burqa Ban:

The passage of the burqa ban in France
(World News, Tues.13 July 2010) has nothing
to do with 'protecting women’s rights', Mr. Sarkozy.
And, even less to do with ''dignity, equality and transparency,”
Ms. Alliot-Marie.

This is an attack against Muslim people, and their
beliefs everywhere. Since 9/11 the world has witnessed
a steady and concerted effort by Western leaders to demonize
and criminalize a people based upon their religious beliefs or ethnicity.
The last time the results were gas chambers.

But, it starts out with discrimination against those 'others'.

I grew up outside of Boston in the 1950s-60s. My Irish-American
mother was a devout Catholic. She regularly wore a head scarve
to church. The wearing of head covering for women is a part of the
religious traditions of Jews, Christians and Muslims.

I have great respect for Muslim religious practice. Like many in the
West I go to church for funerals and weddings. And, like most Westerners
I pray whenever I buy a lotto ticket...actually, before I buy the ticket.

Will the French authorities be breaking down the doors of Catholic
convents to liberate those poor women from their burqa-like dress.
I doubt it. And, hey, what about the Pope, the Cardinals and
Bishops who daily walk around wearing a burqa-like dress, sans the face
covering.

Like all unjust laws, this one must be vigorously opposed.The author is
a Marine Corps Vietnam veteran.

Paul Meuse
Kloosterstraat 80
2021 VP Haarlem
Netherlands

mobile: 00-31626039363

Friday, June 4, 2010

Murder and Crimes Against Humanity on the high seas

This was sent to the Irish Times on June 3rd, and also the Irish
Independent on June 4, 2010


The Israeli commando attack on the Gaza humanitarian
mission is a clear violation of international law, specifically,
Article 3 (1) (a) (b) (g) and 2 of the Rome Convention for the Suppression of
Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation
of 1988.

Had this type of raid been carried out by Iran we would be at war now.
But, it is carried out by Israel, so the US will do its best to shield Israel
from accountability at the UN.

The Israeli/Zionist attacked EU and other citizens. NATO is bound to
respond...as ships flying the flag of EU countries were attacked.

This is not the first time Israel has committed premeditated murder on the
high seas. On June 8, 1967 the Israeli Air Force deliberately attacked a
US intelligence gathering ship, the USS Liberty about 25 miles of the
Egyptian coast. Then, torpedo boats were sent to finish off the job-I mean
crew. They attack killed 34 US seamen and wounded another 171.

The Israeli's insist they are trying to stop weapons from reaching Hamas.
Hamas is a democratically elected government by the people. Israel receives
it's weapons via ships and planes from the US et al.

Robert Fisk noted that in 1948 the allied powers conducted the 'Berlin
Airlift' to bring in humanitarian supplies to West Berlin. At the same time
one of the greatest ethnic cleansing since WWII occured. The Israeli State,
like America was created by murder, terror and 'ethnic cleansing.'

Israel is an apartheid state, and there is no getting
around that fact. The Zionist government, like the
former apartheid regime must not be given be allowed
to cloak itself with 'respectability.' Apartheid must end.

The Palestinian people have a right under international
law to fight to get their homes, farms, fileds and factories
back. It's called the Right of Self-Determination. They have the
right to use force, but when they do its called terrorism. Cute!
The Palestinians are the resistance.

Their land and homes were stolen from them.
Why is it terrorism to fight back?

Gaza is one big festering concentration camp.
The guards, the jailers- the-IDF- are the descendants of
Holocaust survivors. The Palestinians are paying for the
Holocaust!! And, they had no part in it.

As for casualties, since 2000 less than 200 Israeli children have been killed
by Palestinians. Well over 1,400 Palestinian children have been killed by the
IDF or settlers.

What Israel is doing to the Palestinians in Gaza fits the description
of Article 2 (c) of the Convention on Genocide :'Deliberately inflicting on
the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction
in whole or in part.'

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Check it out:Is the War in Afghanistan Justified by 9/11?' By David Ray Griffin

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25365.htm


Is the War in Afghanistan Justified by 9/11?

By David Ray Griffin

Posted May 03, 2010

“Whereas it is widely recognized that the US-led war in Afghanistan is illegal under international law, because it was never authorized by the UN Security Council, most Americans have believed that it was morally justified as a response to the 9/11 attacks, and many believe it is still justified as a necessary means to prevent another attack originating from that region. My lecture will present evidence showing that both of these beliefs are untrue, so that the 9/11 Truth Movement and more traditional Peace and Anti-War groups should be able to combine forces to oppose this illegal and immoral war.” - David Ray Griffin

David Ray Griffin speaks to a full house in Chicago, IL on April 27, 2010

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Letter sent to Irish Examiner Wed. 28 April 2010

This was a tongue-in-cheek letter sent as a response
to an article stating that Ireland was going to crack
down on people who let their dogs crap in public.

It's about time ('Time to cry foul on dog owners with ‘sting’ operation' April 28, 2010). Let me offer a few suggestions.

Most people successfully train their dogs not to crap in their homes by rubbing their dogs nose in the feces. I believe that this method works just as well on any adult who lets his dog deficate in public. Okay, it make take a few times than it would a dog, but it's sure to work more effectively than a fine. And, the person will learn just like their mutt...it smells and tastes horrible;-)

Finally, this should be done to all politicians, bankers, developers et al responsible for the economic MESS that they have created!
Yours,
Paul Meuse
Haarlem,
Netherlands

Thursday, April 15, 2010

A Joke Making the Rounds in Iceland Today...15 April 2010

I saw this whilst scanning Icelandic newspapers today for coverage
of the volcano:-)



http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=29314&ew_0_a_id=360838

15/04/2010 | 14:48

A Joke Making the Rounds in Iceland Today

Britain: Iceland are you crazy?!?
Why did you send us volcanic ash ?
Our airspace has shut down.

Iceland: What ? That's what you asked for isn't it ?

Britain:NO! We said cash! Cash you dyslexic idiot. CASH!

Iceland: Woooops... \

To the British and Dutch Governments: There is no C in
the Icelandic alphabet, so when you ask for Cash, all
you get is ...