by glooperoo » Sat Jul 16, 2005 9:30 pm
I just came across <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/14/national/14cleric.html?pagewanted=print">this story</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> from Thursday's NY Times:<br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><br>July 14, 2005<br>Scholar Is Given Life Sentence in 'Virginia Jihad' Case<br>By ERIC LICHTBLAU<br><br>ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 13 - An influential Muslim scholar, whom prosecutors called a "purveyor of hate and war," <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>was ordered on Wednesday to spend the rest of his life in prison for inciting his young followers in Northern Virginia to wage war against the United States in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>The scholar, Ali al-Timimi, was defiant to the end, telling a federal judge as he was about to be sentenced that he considered himself a "prisoner of conscience" who was being persecuted for his strong Muslim beliefs.<br><br>"I will not admit guilt nor seek the court's mercy," Mr. Timimi told a hushed courtroom filled with more than two dozen Muslims who have rallied around him. "I do this simply because I am innocent."<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>The federal district judge hearing the case, Leonie M. Brinkema, ordered the life sentence grudgingly, saying she was bound by federal guidelines.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>While Judge Brinkema said there was significant evidence that Mr. Timimi had incited his followers toward violence, <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>she said she considered the prison terms mandated by the guidelines under four counts of the conviction to be "very draconian."</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> She said she had no choice but to impose the life sentence after refusing a defense request to set aside the guilty verdicts.<br><br>Mr. Timimi, an Iraqi-American cancer researcher who lectured at a mosque in Northern Virginia and circulated his religious writings on the Internet, is the most prominent Muslim prosecuted in connection with what federal prosecutors have labeled the Virginia jihad network.<br><br>Prosecutors portrayed Mr. Timimi as a spiritual and intellectual leader of the young men in the network, as they traveled to foreign training camps and prepared to wage a holy war in defense of Islam by playing paintball and gathering weapons and explosives.<br><br>Gordon Kromberg, the lead prosecutor in the case for the Justice Department, called Mr. Timimi "a purveyor of hate and war" in court on Wednesday.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>"Al-Timimi hates the United States and calls for its destruction,"</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> Mr. Kromberg said in urging lifelong imprisonment. <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>"He's allowed to do that in this country. He's not allowed to solicit treason. That's what he did. He deserves every day of the time he will serve.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->"<br>....<br><br><hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>Only in today's world can we have the President's top advisor attempting to spin his way out of <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/7/16/104748/906">potentially treasonous acts</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> while at the same time our government lays the ground work for mass arrests (i.e. mass social purging) after the next synthetic "terrorist" attack. Dissenters of the "Don't look at all the clues and evidence pointing towards an abusive power elite. In spite of all the evidence of such a command an control structure, it does not exist" official world-view could be the next target group after the next synthetic "shock to the system". These moves are ominous.<br><br>And what's this? Are the liberty-loving Brits <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article299457.ece<br>">also preparing for an intellectual purge</a><!--EZCODE LINK END-->? <br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><br>New anti-terror laws will target 'indirect incitement' <br>By Ben Russell, Political Correspondent <br>Published: 16 July 2005 <br>Sweeping powers to clamp down on extremists who incite, plan and train for terror acts have been outlined by the Home Office. <br><br>Three new offences will be contained in the Counter-Terrorism Bill, due to be published later this year.<br><br>A new offence of "indirect incitement" to terrorism aimed at restraining firebrand militants will make it a crime to glorify or condone terrorism if the intention is to incite people to take part in attacks.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Legislation outlawing "acts preparatory to terrorism" will make it a crime to plan or prepare for a terror act, including accessing terrorist websites</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->. The offence would also cover people with intent to acquire chemicals or with instructions on how to produce a bomb. A further offence includes banning terrorist training and making it an offence to receive training in terror techniques in Britain or abroad.<br><br>....<br><br>She said direct incitement to carry out terror attacks was already outlawed, but less clear-cut indirect statements would be covered by the new laws. <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>"For example, saying isn't it marvelous this has happened and these people are martyrs - not direct incitement to do something but something that could be construed by someone as giving an endorsement of terrorism."</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>...<br><br><hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>And the building of the <br><br>I always like to attempt to get in the heads and empathize with the various insiders in the Establishment, especially the lower and mid-level individuals that probably don't have access to a huge amount of information that hasn't been filtered through the various institutional methods of censorship. In general I think these mid and lower level insiders deserve the benefit of the doubt because, being a news-junkie myself that has enjoyed poring over various new sources for years, I can testify to the pretty compelling sales pitch that our MSM media provides for the official "there are no men behind the curtains, except when we're <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00F12FB3B5F0C728DDDAE0894DC404482">forced to admit there are</a><!--EZCODE LINK END-->, in which case they are still well meaning elites, in spite of whatever ideological differences you may have with them" world-view. <br><br>But with all the events since the London Bombings, most especially the flood of reports on the US and European governmental power grab and the whispers of all these anomalies with the bombings (not to mention the years of 9/11-related whispers that grow louder by the day), I am finding my ability to understand those that still whole-heartedly subscribe to the official world view increasingly strained. It's just becoming too painfully blatant that there is a move afoot (whether it's coordinated or not) to create the kind of Orwellian police state we've been warned about for years. <br><br>I <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>do</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> suspect that a number of insiders that may not have seen our nation head down the fascist path in the past <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>are</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> beginning to wake up. This is really more of a leap of faith on my part, but it seems like the increasing rate of people waking up would have to include a number of insiders. But once someone gets to the point where they can accept our society's ability to accept Big Lies (spun by an Establishment that prefers not to be seen) and enters that delicate stage where they aren't sure what's real and what's not, we inevitably run into the problem that so much of the suppressed evidence of just who the puppet-masters are and their whole crazy history is just so far removed by the "reality" we've been living in our whole lives that it becomes impossible to accept that "everyone might be wrong", because accepting <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>that</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> implies the need to also absorb all evidence that points towards the seemingly batshit crazy world-view of elites with a penchant for strange occultism and bouts of utter monstrosity. That's just going to be too big a leap for a lot of well-intentioned, reasonable people. Our sense of what is real and what is and isn't possible can only shift so far at a given time and even those that accept the possibility that they were sold some Big Lies can still conclude that we simply can't be sold REALLY Big Lies. Official Reality has too much plausible deniability for many people to toss it away without an intense internal struggle. <br><br>So, when those of us in the "official world-view" skeptic community try to engage the general public, I think it could be worth making the point that we are not asking for the public to believe any particular alternate world-view. There is plenty of room for disagreement with that (I sure don't know what exactly is what these days). Instead, what we are asking for is an open-minded re-examination of the official-world view, and an acknowledgment of the ability of the institutions that run our society (the government, the media, academia, etc) to work together to shape and reinforce that officially sanctioned reality. We are asking for is an acknowledgment that Big Lies can and are sold to the public, Big Lies that anyone that subscribes to the official world view necessarily believes. Basically, we are asking for a kind of Reality Truth movement, but one that starts with a recognition that "Truth" is not the property of any individual or group and it's most especially not the property of those with authority, regardless of what they say. "Truth" is really one of those unattainable driving ideals that should guide our attempts to understand our world (and yes, I recognize the irony of asserting as a basic truth that truth is not anyone's property <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :p --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/tongue.gif ALT=":p"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> ). <br><br>And so if you agree with that general statement that "Truth" is an ideal to strive for, and if you agree that we are living in a world than has been sold a number of Big Lies as "Truth", and if you agree that humility in our own sense of truth is a must when it comes to our world at large, than why don't you join and help shape a growing Reality Truth Movement that simply starts off with the public determining what's <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>not</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> true, and leaves the search for what <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>is</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> true up to each of us individually (and humbly working together in the spirit of uncovering the truths of our world, no matter what they may be) by envisioning and creating a world with a commitment true free speech (in all areas of society), true freedom of thought, and an honest, sober assessment, to the best of our ability, of our nation's true history, warts and all. If we stick to something like that, and genuinely embrace that kind of spirit of humility and exploration, we might be able to more effectively use the opportunities that dark times like these days provide for a world in the middle of a reality crisis. And that, truly, would be a good thing <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :b --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/tongue.gif ALT=":b"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i></i>
