Live Free Radio Keep Living Free

We are told over and again that Islam is a "religion of peace" yet the US State Department issued worldwide travel alert to Americans traveling "and cautions that 'the potential for further protests and demonstrations, which may turn violent, remains high.'"

I personally think the idea was a moronic and ungodly thing to even talk about doing. Regardless of the fact that it may have resulted in what Pastor Jones wanted and that was to prevent the mosque from being build on ground zero.

If he wanted to take a stand against a religious ideology he was adamantly opposed to, he should have used the book that he wanted to burn to educate people why he had issues with it.

Better yet, he should use the Holy Bible to show why he believed that following the teachings of Christ was the correct path to take.

However, I keep reading that Islam is a "religion of peace", yet so many are dieing for refusing to follow its ideologies and for decimating what it deems to be its holy words.

In the United States we have a fundamental right to worship any god we want or none at all. While I choose to serve the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, others can choose to serve whomever they want. After all, God will ultimately judge us all in the end.

If the Muslims want to build a mosque in NYC near ground zero, it is their right to do so, though most Americans and many Muslims agree that it is in bad taste.

Likewise, if some misguided pastor in Florida wants to burn Korans, than that is his first Amendment right to do so. But the very act of him doing such a thing is diametrically opposite of the message of Love that Gods word teaches.

Stand Up, Speak Up, Live Free

IN THE NEWS

OBAMA NATION

Obama to pitch trio of economic proposals in Ohio
http://bit.ly/avumyA

Obama Did Create 3 Million Jobs — in China
http://bit.ly/aajH63

Obama unveils $50 billion roads, rail and air plan to win votes
http://bit.ly/a8sLZO

Obama’s Hopeless Speech
http://bit.ly/d7uCOv

Obama, Corporate Media Ignore Widespread Health Problems On Gulf Coast
http://bit.ly/9puO3n

POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

State Supreme Court to weigh governor's power to order worker furloughs
http://lat.ms/9T8i9k

GOP proposes renewing tax cuts, freezing spending
http://bit.ly/9fgCFR

Dirty Little Secrets Of WWII
http://bit.ly/cfZSa3

The Milgram Experiment
http://bit.ly/bKeYOF

Inspector general wants hearing with fair judge
http://bit.ly/aRDMGo

Fla. minister: Sept. 11 Quran burn still planned
http://bit.ly/c7KTro

POLICE STATE NEWS

Big Brother in Iowa? School District Monitors Kids' Lunch Choices
http://fxn.ws/aOquG7

Police "Thug In Uniform" Gets Six Months After Cell Assault On Woman
http://bit.ly/dgse9g

Neighbors turning in neighbors
http://bit.ly/as6ds9

Obama Protester Gets Thrown in Jail by UT Police, Have We Become a Police State?
http://bit.ly/aa0RCi

Do fees still apply if driver acquitted of DUI?
http://bit.ly/dyS1wa

Furore over officer who dragged woman into police cell - Home News, U
http://bit.ly/bHY9o4

Man Sets House On Fire, Dies In It, After Losing Home To Homeowners’ Association
http://bit.ly/bcqJZw

REAL ID & PRIVACY NEWS

DMV responds after employee charged with embezzling $300k
http://bit.ly/9JL6qX

Woman's car is sold, she blames DMV mistake
http://bit.ly/aCeULw

ECONOMIC NEWS

As Americans Celebrate Labor Day 2010, U.S. Factories Are Closing In Droves
http://bit.ly/8ohSa1

Roubini's Latest Prediction: More Than 400 Banks Will Fail Even Without Double-Dip Recession
http://bit.ly/9sYsBB

In struggling housing market, buyers and sellers are out of sync
http://bit.ly/9OSlIB

Sellers Cut Prices on 50% of Homes
http://bit.ly/a2EPuW

PUBLIC EDUCATION

Parent-led, home-based education is now bordering on mainstream in the U.S.
http://bit.ly/9IAVCw

Judge cites homeschoolers for violating U.N. mandate
http://bit.ly/ckAwXd

MORAL DECLINE

Pentagon declined to investigate hundreds of purchases of child pornography
http://yhoo.it/b5mKtn

Police track down teenage girl filmed throwing live puppies into a river
http://bit.ly/cxrCsE

Israeli nabbed in 'largest human trafficking case in U.S. history'
http://bit.ly/bcxrDa

HEALTH NEWS

Your dentist may be poisoning your children
http://bit.ly/cwm7pA

Non-stick cookware chemical PFOA linked to high cholesterol in children
http://bit.ly/bCFZ8x

Hallucinogen appears safe, may improve mood among patients with advanced-stage cancer and anxiety
http://bit.ly/aGF1vn

FDA may permit sales of genetically modified salmon in US
http://bit.ly/9h8bmc

Americans drowning in prescription drugs
http://bit.ly/aDIiDS

Diabetes drug Avandia still being prescribed despite heart risk fears
http://bit.ly/dbxJwj

Why not brushing your teeth can kill you
http://bit.ly/aIurBW

Pet product company recalls nearly 75,000 bags of dog treats
http://bit.ly/cxJHCj

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Car hacking goes wireless as modern vehicles open to hacker attacks
http://bit.ly/biclLz

HMRC tax problems quickly tapped by cash hungry hackers
http://bit.ly/aq6uwe

Hackers create 57 000 fake web addresses weekly
http://bit.ly/c6c7or

Hackers Exploit Twitter XSS Flaw
http://bit.ly/ajxeD6

Facebook hackers stealing identities for cash
http://bit.ly/dlCJL2

Network Security Breaches Occur Thanks to Cheap Investments
http://bit.ly/9SiYsA

Britain's phone-hacking scandal: Secrets of the voicemail hackers
http://bit.ly/by6aR1

Cyber Warfare: US Military Hackers and Internet Spies
http://bit.ly/d34iCg

U.K. Defends Handling Of Phone Hacking Scandal
http://n.pr/aPgxnI

Hackers raise cyber security fears in Philippines
http://bit.ly/dBMpOw

Hacker steals $87,000 from Putnam school account
http://bit.ly/9dR4m9

Lord Mandelson and Lord Prescott 'targeted by phone hackers'
http://bit.ly/97kfAA

Cloud computing is easy hacker target | Analysis
http://bit.ly/dkmWEE

Is Your Smartphone Safe From Hackers?
http://bit.ly/9OMELT

by Mark Nestmann
Sovereign Society

If someone could secretly stand behind you and monitor everything you’ve done on your PC, what would they discover about you that you would prefer to keep private? Thanks to new technologies that secretly track everywhere you go on the Internet, that’s an appropriate comparison of the threat you face unless you take advance precautions.

Perhaps you’ve never visited a Web site you wouldn’t want your spouse, your children, your neighbors, or the FBI to know about. Perhaps you really do have “nothing to hide.” But if you do, you’ll want to understand the threat to your privacy – and what you can do to protect yourself.

The centerpiece of this threat is a tracking technology that records what Web sites you visit, what links you click on, and what types of search engine questions you ask. If you’ve entered personal information into applications that use these technologies, that data is stored as well. All of it is written to hidden directories on your hard disk. And there it stays – permanently – unless you know how to delete it.

Usually what’s recorded is innocuous. You might not mind that your hard disk has a record of the movies you’ve rented, the fact that you’re interested in photography, or that you want to take pilot lessons. And you might not object to the fact that the companies that create these hidden directories sell the information. For instance, a company selling photographic supplies would surely be interested in presenting an advertisement for its services to someone with a proven interest in photography.

However, perhaps your interests are a bit more controversial. Or even if they’re not, perhaps someone with access to your PC has less conventional preferences than you. In that event, the data in the hidden directories could possibly come back to haunt you, should your PC ever be compromised – or searched by law enforcement.

Say, for instance, that you – or someone with access to your PC – watch a controversial video on the Internet. Guess what? The Web site serving up the video to your browser most likely plants a tracking beacon on your hard drive, where it stays – potentially, forever. Erasing “cookies” in your browser will NOT delete these beacons!

The largest offender in this regard is probably a program called Adobe Flash Player (AFP). Many Web sites use AFP to deliver audio and visual content. But AFP also creates a hidden directory on your hard disk to track the Web sites you visit, especially those with interactive or multimedia features. Companies that plant the beacons use them to personalize your browsing experience, and also sell the data they contain to direct marketing companies.

Since you can’t delete these files from your browser, the most practical way to deal with them is to install a browser add-on program to manage and delete them. One such program is “Better Privacy,” an add-on for Firefox. You can download it here. I’ve configured Better Privacy to delete all AFP beacons when I shut down my browser.

I also suggest that you configure AFP to minimize tracking altogether. You can adjust its settings using a virtual control panel.

I’ve adjusted the settings on my PC to always deny access to my PC’s camera or microphone, never storing any content, and deleting all records of Web sites I’ve visited that use AFP. Those settings, together with the Better Privacy add-on, seem to have rid my PC of “beacons” – at least those from AFP. These settings limit functionality on some Web sites, but so long as you configure AFP to allow programs to ask you for permission to store content, you can control which ones have access to your PC. When you exit your browser, Better Privacy deletes them.

Incidentally, none of AFP’s tracking software violates any U.S. law; at least none of which I’m aware. And don’t look to the government for help – law enforcement agencies surely find beacons on your PC a highly informative tool to track your Web browsing behavior.

With big business and big government collaborating to invade your online privacy, you have only one resource to depend upon – yourself. So if you don’t want permanent records of your online life residing on your hard drive, don’t call your Congressman for help. You alone must take responsibility for protecting your online privacy.

September 2, 2010

Mark Nestmann is a journalist with more than 20 years of investigative experience and is a charter member of The Sovereign Society’s Council of Experts. He has authored over a dozen books and many additional reports on wealth preservation, privacy and offshore investing. Mark serves as president of his own international consulting firm, The Nestmann Group, Ltd. The Nestmann Group provides international wealth preservation services for high-net worth individuals. Mark is an Associate Member of the American Bar Association (member of subcommittee on Foreign Activities of U.S. Taxpayers, Committee on Taxation) and member of the Society of Professional Journalists. In 2005, he was awarded a Masters of Laws (LL.M) degree in international tax law at the Vienna (Austria) University of Economics and Business Administration.

Copyright © 2010 Mark Nestmann

IN THE NEWS

OBAMA NATION

Obamacare and the Excise Tax
http://bit.ly/9dp3Mt

Obamacare's Leading Edge of Bankruptcy: Early-Retiree Insurance
http://bit.ly/crDSmv

Obamas Missing Trade Stimulus
http://bit.ly/9QgenU

OBAMA CARE

Pawlenty signs executive order to decline 'Obamacare'
http://bit.ly/aH2EBZ

Dems do not want to talk about ObamaCare
http://bit.ly/bRKXLb

People V.US Files Comprehensive Suit on ObamaCare
http://bit.ly/d2W2WR

POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

NEW Movie Coming Out - I Want Your Money
http://bit.ly/9rl7Ng

5,800 dead in Ohio still on voter rolls
http://bit.ly/cCcMRO

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson says she'll repay scholarship funds by week's end
http://bit.ly/aswll7

Logansport is cracking down on illegal signs
http://bit.ly/byfPAh

Winthrop’s marshal doesn’t buy girl’s story, issues littering ticket
http://bit.ly/bqfTrC

Top Russian spy’s body washes up 'after swimming accident’
http://bit.ly/dmk41a

PUBLIC EDUCATION

Big incentive for school attendance: Cash
http://bit.ly/c54dGC

POLICE STATE NEWS

Traffic Cameras Play Bad Cop in Civil Liberties Versus Safety Battle
http://bit.ly/buoB02

School Puts RFID In Children’s Backpacks For GPS Tracking
http://bit.ly/ceJT6n

Officer-involved shooting leaves teen dead
http://bit.ly/do9gY5

Police exempt as laws target distracted drivers
http://bit.ly/bOvD2e

Vin Suprynowicz: It's fine for police to kill people, so long as there's no 'ill will'
http://bit.ly/avD9mU

NC - 8 arrested in high-stakes poker bust
http://bit.ly/cWQcJE

China requires ID to buy mobile phone numbers
http://bit.ly/9EUSxW

ECONOMIC NEWS

Homelessness Up 50% In New York City
http://bit.ly/9Lfn6t

Feds eyeing private money to finance deficit?
http://bit.ly/dcIUSo

Gold Is Surging This Morning, And Within A Rock’s Throw Of A Brand New Record
http://bit.ly/dllUBe

Investors Spooked As Glitch Sends Gold To $3400
http://bit.ly/d8jfHo

Cash-Poor Governments Ditching Public Hospitals
http://bit.ly/b3uswx

Young entrepreneur gets some recognition and some help for college
http://bit.ly/bBM0md

REAL ID & PRIVACY NEWS

MI Secretary of State explains RFID technology used in enhanced drivers license
http://bit.ly/9UuA7r

Reports of DMV computer outages around California are exaggerated, official says
http://bit.ly/ctXCBu

No timetable set for return of VA DMV licensing service
http://bit.ly/9bO1R3

DMV: Still experiencing computer problems
http://bit.ly/bMv3R9

Downed circuit compounds computer problems at DMV
http://bit.ly/9LB3zK

Wyoming IDs receive makeover
http://bit.ly/auhgP2

Welcome Back to School; Here's Your Student REAL ID Card
http://bit.ly/cpZYMR

Immigrant license surge argues for two-tier system
http://bit.ly/d6PEWi

Computer problem halts licenses at Virginia DMV centers
http://bit.ly/aCQ0ng

Boston Tea Party National Committee opposes National ID
http://bit.ly/aRm9jn

Woman says mother's eyes taken in DMV mishap
http://bit.ly/9mwhyn

MASS SHOOTINGS IN NEWS

Police: Gunman inside Discovery building
http://bit.ly/aaYXuW

Environmental Militant Takes Hostages at Discovery Channel Headquarters
http://bit.ly/c92ICJ

TERRORISM USA

Suspicious luggage sparks questioning
http://bit.ly/9V0Jo7

HEALTH NEWS

Why you should NEVER trust labels on food
http://bit.ly/cr2WVZ

India Rejects H1N1 Shots After Vaccines Kill Children
http://bit.ly/c6njrT

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Hackers based in Russia Blamed in Jason's Deli Case
http://bit.ly/bUNb5v

Quantum Hackers Use Lasers to Crack Powerful Encryption Without Leaving a Trace
http://bit.ly/9qxksT

Invisible Bracelet Launches Nationwide Emergency Medical Notification Text Messaging Service
http://bit.ly/dvkMqY

Cars: The next hacking frontier?
http://bit.ly/b9sYfA

Threats Permeate Wi-Fi Hotspots
http://bit.ly/bURvTc

Pentagon breached by foreign hacker
http://bit.ly/cnvD9T

Hackers Steal Army Secrets From South Korea
http://bit.ly/a4D1D2

San Diego, CA, August 25, 2010 -- The most recent total from the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse’s Chronology of Data Breaches shows more than a half billion sensitive records breached since 2005, leaving Americans vulnerable to identity theft.

Employees losing laptop computers, hackers downloading credit card numbers and sensitive personal data accidentally exposed online -- the Chronology of Data Breaches shows hundreds of ways that the personal information of consumers is lost, stolen or exposed.

The Chronology of Data Breaches, a project of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse since 2005, lists incidents involving breached consumer information, such as personal medical records, credit card numbers and Social Security numbers.

The most recent total, published last night, is a wake-up call to consumers who think identity theft can’t happen to them.

The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse estimates that the Chronology shows only a fraction of the total number of data breaches.

"This is a conservative number," says Director Beth Givens, "We generally learn about breaches that garner media attention.
Unfortunately, many do not. And, because many states do not require companies to report data breaches to a central clearinghouse, data breaches occur that we never hear about.
Our Chronology is only a sampling."

Data breaches of sensitive information, especially Social Security and credit card numbers, make consumers vulnerable to identity theft. According to a 2009 Javelin Research & Strategy, individuals are four times more likely to be the victim of identity theft in the year after receiving a data breach notification letter.
https://www.javelinstrategy.com/brochure-158

The recently expanded Chronology provides consumers and researchers the ability to perform rapid searches to identify trends in data breaches. It also allows visitors to look up businesses, agencies and organizations by name.

Unfortunately, consumers cannot completely protect themselves from a data breach. It is up to organizations that collect data on consumers to take the steps to ensure the privacy
and security of the data they collect and maintain.

Visit the Chronology now - http://www.privacyrights.org/data-breach

Try the custom sort feature - http://www.privacyrights.org/data-breach#CP

Learn how to take advantage of the Chronology’s interactive features - http://www.privacyrights.org/data-breach-how-to

Resources:
Open Security Foundation’s DatalossDB http://www.datalossdb.org Office of Inadequate Security http://www.databreaches.net Personal Health Information Privacy http://www.phiprivacy.net National Association for Information Destruction, Inc http://www.naidonline.org

IN THE NEWS

OBAMA NATION NEWS

Obama To Replace Washington On Dollar Bill?
http://bit.ly/cQtOWM

POLITICS & GOVERNMENT NEWS

Alaska GOP Sen. Murkowski in jeopardy
http://bit.ly/ciJIeA

Two GOP attorney general candidates websites attacked, Bondis untouched
http://bit.ly/9J03R8

POLICE STATE NEWS

The Government's New Right to Track Your Every Move With GPS
http://bit.ly/bynIOe

The facial recognition software that will put a name to every photograph in the internet
http://bit.ly/bNJtoQ

4th Amendment Violating Mobile X-Ray Scanners Hit The Streets
http://bit.ly/cHmkZr

After Hurricane Katrina, NOLA cops told to shoot looters
http://bit.ly/d9OLUe

Following EPIC FOIA Lawsuit, US Senators Raise Questions About Retention of Body Scanner Images
http://bit.ly/9nDs2y

EPIC v. DHS (Suspension of Body Scanner Program)
http://bit.ly/9ep3X8

Protesters demand withdrawal of G20 charges
http://bit.ly/autOUz

Pentagon Teaches Kindergarten Kids As U.S. Schools Are Militarized For Martial Law Conditioning
http://bit.ly/dB2cnZ

REAL ID & PRIVACY NEWS

Germany to roll out ID cards with embedded RFID
http://bit.ly/b2lXmX

Ex-DMV Employee Sentenced For Issuing Fake IDs
http://bit.ly/d6DPVc

Universities Endanger Students' Privacy
http://bit.ly/cBOxNN

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Bad flash drive caused worst U.S. military breach
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20014732-245.html

Hackers see opportunities in the cloud
http://bit.ly/c5ec4p

Facebook Uses RFID to Track Users' Locations for Advertising Promotion
http://bit.ly/b1siVO

Facebook "Places" Embeds Privacy Risks, Complicated and Ephemeral Opt-Out Unfair to Users
http://bit.ly/avb7l7

Almost one in four security breaches affected health centers in 2010
http://bit.ly/cFpRnc

Hackers steal iTunes accounts, make bogus purchases
http://bit.ly/clY3wG

Hackers Drain Users PayPal Accounts Through iTunes
http://bit.ly/cbj6Vm

DEF CON Survey Reveals Vast Scale of Cloud Hacking
http://bit.ly/bsQDKP

ECONOMIC NEWS

Home Sales Drop 27 Percent In July And Things Are Only Going To Get Worse For The U.S. Housing Industry
http://bit.ly/8ohSa1

Let the Housing Market Normalize!
http://bit.ly/bJWhlp

Eight Banks Collapse Last Week As Questions Arise On FDIC
http://bit.ly/cXTgBf

HEALTH NEWS

Eggs from Iowa farms could come to table near you
http://yhoo.it/cnoX6f

Electromagnetic pulse can be used to disrupt morality in the human brain
http://bit.ly/aHc0zF

52% Concerned About Safety of Vaccines
http://bit.ly/axhonM

Study Links Chronic Fatigue to Virus Class
http://nyti.ms/ax1JTO

A mind is a terrible thing to waste, Reading is fundamental. Everyone needs a college education to succeed. Of course if the ecconomy is in the toilet, then education will not help your child get a job once they graduate from college.

At least it is not expected to happen for another four years, so those who are just starting their four year degree may be able to get a job when they get out. However those who expect to graduate in the next 3 years will not expect to get a job.

So unless you are independently wealthy and can afford to have your 22 year old child live with you the next four years, just don't let them graduate from college. They should work on their Masters or PHD in their field. Then when the job markets open up, they will be the most qualified applicants for the entry level jobs.

In the past, I had the privilege of hearing people like Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's talk about his less than eighth grade education and how he worked hard since the age of 14 to learn the restaurant business and well you know the rest of the story.

Self education and dedication can work for the right people. In the first Great Depression, some smart restaurateurs would give their patrons free peanuts, all they could eat. The idea was to let them get their fill on salted peanuts which they bought at a great price and then sold them soda at 10 cents instead of 5 cents. The result, they stayed in business.

Americans are resilient and our ingenuity has help to create most of the modern technology used today. Education at liberal universities teaching to help grow corporate agendas may not be the best path for any child.

Perhaps, hard work, self education and a determination to succeed is the past course to take.

IN THE NEWS

OIL SPILL 2010 NEWS

Mississippi Shrimpers Refuse to Trawl, Fearing Oil, Dispersants
http://bit.ly/bPy4WQ

BP oil leak victims face strings on $20bn spill fund
http://bit.ly/bkuTN7

Gulf claims chief says no-sue rule was his idea
http://bit.ly/c0dTZ0

BP accused of withholding oil spill data
http://bit.ly/cjU0Jd

OBAMA NATION NEWS

Does Barack Obama want to be re-elected in 2012?
http://bit.ly/djPF4x

Obama: Congress Should Feel Compelled to Pass Jobs Bill
http://bit.ly/c29tgb

One in five Americans believe President Barack Obama is a Muslim: poll
http://bit.ly/95PZaC

White House says Obama is Christian, prays daily - So It Must Be True LOL!
http://bit.ly/aGLomy

Obamas to begin sixth holiday of the year
http://bit.ly/bDQcaQ

OBAMA CARE NEWS

Uninsured Slow To Sign Up For Coverage
http://bit.ly/bbwXNv

POLICE STATE NEWS

Woman Ticketed For For Driving Too Slow
http://bit.ly/9DJmzO

POLITICS & GOVERNMENT NEWS

Iran unveils bomber drone that aims to deliver peace and friendship
http://bit.ly/9Wg8kA

Pakistani flood victims' anger at US
http://bbc.in/9ZBUwZ

Senators line up to tell U.N. to leave kids alone
http://bit.ly/d2SCEQ

Israeli official declares: 'We're preparing for war'
http://bit.ly/ae5Pc8

Blackwater Founder Gives Statements in Fraud Suit
http://bit.ly/bzu3bs

FDA commissioner says agency needs more authority
http://bit.ly/bhnfYd

Philly requiring bloggers to pay $300 for a business license
http://bit.ly/9ICQ1F

Ground Zero mosque modeled after notorious 9/11 mosque?
http://bit.ly/aC072Y

Gov. Paterson Says Mosque Situation Is Getting "Out Of Hand"
http://bit.ly/cAUuXf

Pension Fraud by New Jersey Is Cited by S.E.C.
http://nyti.ms/9T1Udd

New PA big can get two pensions now
http://bit.ly/atdUK7

Why many Pakistani-Americans aren't sending flood donations home
http://yhoo.it/9ldrea

Sen. Al Franken: We Have a Free Speech Problem
http://huff.to/TwUd6

Probe finds hundreds of cases of mishandled evidence in N. Carolina
http://bit.ly/bJPyPa

ECONOMIC NEWS

Three Devastating Tax Waves Will Destroy Many
http://bit.ly/8YhNVO

Mission City Council approves 'driveway tax' to fund ro
http://bit.ly/bJrvnb

China's nine-day traffic jam stretches 100km
http://yhoo.it/cNde4b

Even Tony Robbins Is Warning That An Economic Collapse Is Coming
http://bit.ly/aq61Pl

This Economy Is Ripping The Dignity Of Millions Of Unemployed Americans To Shreds
http://bit.ly/9zKuae

Low pension return may Soak taxpayers
http://bit.ly/d9GaF1

Unemployment Rates by County 2007- 2010
http://bit.ly/3xsef0

And Now We're Headed For The GREATEST Depression, Says Gerald Celente
http://yhoo.it/9YhYhs

CBO: U.S. faces slow recovery, near-record deficit
http://bit.ly/bxXOQ8

U.S. lawmakers cheer as China steel firm backs out
http://bit.ly/ca8hIC

Some government workers get generous raises despite dismal economy
http://bit.ly/czi1N8

Withdrawls From Retirement Accounts Hit Record High
http://bit.ly/9936Cu

Jobless claims rise to highest level in 9 months
http://bit.ly/bT0f4R

DMV offices closed Friday due to furloughs, California state budget
http://bit.ly/bbg7NJ

Growers: USDA must act, prevent sugar supply issue
http://yhoo.it/duUzxi

2ND AMMENDMENT NEWS

GA judge shoots, kills man breaking into his home
http://bit.ly/dbKmxK

Off-duty cop shoots man who broke into his home, police say
http://bit.ly/bDiizl

HEALTH NEWS

Bedbugs & Empire State Building
http://on.msn.com/c3oMaU

Burger King introduces the 2,500 Calorie Pizza Burger
http://bit.ly/aiEUBw

Genetic Modified Foods - Senate Bill S510
http://bit.ly/aK3d9W

Mystery Illness Strikes Football Team
http://yhoo.it/acH99m

FDA exploits salmonella eggs recall to pursue food sterilization agenda
http://bit.ly/ciwCpe

Pregnant Women Should Avoid Diet Sodas
http://bit.ly/dzvY1O

Seasonal, H1N1 flu vaccine to be combined this fall
http://bit.ly/cJpnfn

My 6 Favorite FAT Lies
http://bit.ly/aTiIJR

IMMIGRATION & BORDER NEWS

Headless, mutilated bodies hung from Mexico bridge
http://bit.ly/chC9Uw

Nearly Half of United States Considering Arizona-Style Immigration Legislation
http://bit.ly/dvTWdE

Fight is on over another Arizona immigration law
http://bit.ly/cOpovW

Justice Department Presses Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Civil Rights Investigation
http://bit.ly/9s7JWe

REAL ID & PRIVACY NEWS

DMV Sends D.C. Resident A Driver's License -- Just Not His
http://bit.ly/bRVTBz

Computers fixed after 3 hour outage today at Nevada DMV offices
http://bit.ly/c270gV

DMV Computers Back Online After Outage
http://bit.ly/9ye5pg

Illegal ID ring smashed in Cleveland
http://bit.ly/9X7YKN

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Irony Police: State Farm releases texting app to curb distracted driving
http://bit.ly/cS6TGU

Scientists Hack Into Cars’ Computers — Control Brakes, Engine
http://bit.ly/b5xnhT

India arrests hacker who exposed electoral fraud
http://bit.ly/cke1pp

Hackers attack colleges website
http://bit.ly/a5eds6

Researcher told Microsoft of Windows apps zero-day bugs 6 months ago
http://bit.ly/ciGNwy

Sci-fi weapon entering real battles
http://bit.ly/9iLuqO

Pentagon takes aim at China cyber threat
http://bit.ly/909KAB

Actress Cameron Diaz Tops List of Search Threats
http://bit.ly/cTuRwR

Rise of hackers behind Intel's $8bn McAfee bid
http://bit.ly/bUANIK

Want to deter hackers? Make password longer
http://bit.ly/8ZigZt

Phone hackers ripping off Kiwi firms
http://bit.ly/aeCMZQ

Hackers set sights on small businesses, households
http://bit.ly/bI5Y4t

Want to deter hackers? Make password longer
http://bit.ly/8ZigZt

School website hacked by global hacker group
http://bit.ly/aOVcEm

DISASTER NEWS

Chile's trapped miners could be stuck until Christmas
http://bit.ly/csKDqQ

CHRISTIANITY NEWS

When sociology students visit Creation Museum
http://bit.ly/dAKS4h

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Quote of the Day: "Even if you don't like drugs, you really, really don't like murder, rape, robbery, and so forth." - Ted Balaker

An important video by Reason.tv and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) succinctly addresses how the War on Drugs cripples police work and endangers children. DownsizeDC.org would like to express our gratitude to Reason's Ted Balaker and LEAP's Neill Franklin for laying out the facts.

We urge you to . . .

* Watch the video
[video:youtubezOHQdKRANA]

* And then tell Congress to watch it too, using our End the Mexican Civil War campaign

You may borrow from or copy this letter . . .

The Mexican government reports that its War on Drugs has killed 28,000 people over the past four years. This ongoing tragedy is undermining Mexico's stability, which is bad news for the United States.

But that's not the only way drug prohibition is hurting us. I urge you to watch this interview with Neill Franklin, the Executive Director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (under 9 minutes) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzOHQdKRANA

The video reveals that the Mexican drug cartels have expanded into 230 U.S. cities. Unsurprisingly, the overwhelming majority of police 911 calls are related to this illegal drug trade. And yet, as our police go from one drug-related 911 call to the next, most violent crimes go unsolved, including . . .

* 60% of rapes
* 73% of robberies
* 88% of auto thefts
* And 37% of murders

Whereas, in 1963, before the War on Drugs, only 9% of murders went unsolved!

Repealing drug prohibition would put an end to narcotics units and place more cops on the street to "do the work that is supposed to be done."

But unsolved crime is not the only danger caused by the Drug War. Our children are particularly at risk . . .

* Criminals don't ask for ID's to verify the age of their customers
* This means that powerful drugs are more available to kids than cigarettes and alcohol
* Criminals don't care about quality control, so the black market substances that lure our kids are more dangerous than they would be if prohibition didn't exist
* And urban, African-American children are at special risk. They are heavily recruited to the drug trade because juvenile offenders get lesser sentences

Whereas in Portugal, which legalized personal drug possession ten years ago . . .

* There was a double-digit drop in drug use by school-age children
* As well as a double-digit drop in AIDS cases
* The stigma has been removed for people seeking treatment
* And there is MORE MONEY for treatment

Even so, President Obama still wants to increase funding for the War on Drugs!

But the facts are clear. Drug prohibition doesn't work. Repeal the federal drug laws. Our communities will be safer and our children will be better off.

END LETTER

You can send your letter through DownsizeDC.org's Educate the Powerful System.

We also urge you to spread this common-sense message to your friends and Digg it on our blog.

James Wilson
Assistant Communications Director
DownsizeDC.org

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