2007 Archives

Radhanatha and Sulochana

Blythe CA

January, 2007

GBC Statement Regarding Accusations Against Radhanatha Swami

BY: GBC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Jan 10, INDIA (DANDAVATS) New discussions have recently been going on about criminal activities that took place in New Vrindavana in the 1980s. These events were thoroughly investigated by the United States Attorney's Office, which contains some of the finest attorneys in the country, and several individuals were prosecuted and convicted. The case has now been closed for almost two decades.

The GBC is not a legal or law enforcement agency. It is an ecclesiastical body that lacks the resources to match the ability of the federal government to deal with these matters. All it can do is refer such matters to the appropriate legal authorities. We can simply state below the facts of the case as we understand them:

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) spent several years investigating the Sulocana case, and other serious legal problems with the New Vrindavana community. These were conducted in tandem with the United States Attorney in West Virginia.

In addition, the Los Angeles Police Department investigated the murder of Sulocana dasa as a California state case, and they also gave evidence in the federal case. Law officers from West Virginia were also involved.

There were two federal trials and a major grand jury hearing regarding Kirtanananda dasa. Tirtha dasa was also tried, both in California and West Virginia. (Kirtanananda served a lengthy prison term. Tirtha is still in prison.) These extensive government investigations and trials contained nothing to substantiate the allegations brought forward by Janmastami dasa against Radhanath Swami.

There were no charges of any kind brought against Radhanath Swami. This was despite the fact that as part of the overall investigation Radhanath Swami was interrogated by the Western Region FBI Director, LAPD investigators, federal prosecutors, and two grand juries. He was cleared by all these agencies of any involvement in wrongdoing.

A week ago, on January 3rd, 2007, Michael Stein, United States Attorney and the lead federal prosecutor for the case, after hearing the recent allegations from Janmastami dasa, stated:

"We looked at everyone in New Vrindavana, particularly those higher on the ring. Radhanath Swami could have been an influence [in this crime] but he wasn't."

Stein went on to say that there was no evidence whatsoever that Radhanath Swami had any involvement in the crime and that Radhanath Swami was never considered a defendant. When asked, he said there was no question of further investigations based on the allegations of Janmastami. US Attorney Stein concluded by saying that he personally "vouched for" Radhanath Swami's credibility.

Given the above, the GBC finds no reasons to take these allegations seriously. The GBC recommends that any person in possession of newly discovered evidence regarding the New Vrindavana events present such information to the U.S. Attorney's Office or other appropriate legal agency. If any subsequent investigation might ensue, the GBC will fully cooperate with it.

Finally, the GBC asked Radhanath Swami if he would like to make a statement regarding these allegations. He wrote:

"I do not have the time, health, or energy to get into Internet debates, and as I'm trying to be a Vaishnava, I'm reluctant to defend myself from such assaults of character.

"But for the purpose of clarification, my comments are as follows":

"In 1993 New Vrindavana community members were informed about the spiritual problems Kirtanananda Swami was having. Janmastami dasa was furious, and told me that Kirtanananda Swami was the perfect acarya, and that anything said about him was all vicious lies. He said he held me responsible for being the leader of a conspiracy against Kirtanananda Swami and that I would be 'destroyed.' Since then he has repeatedly threatened me and other members of the New Vrindavana community.

"As far as what Janmastami dasa has written on the Internet, every single allegation against me is totally false. I was not involved in any criminal activity."

"On a personal note, I have nothing against Janmastami Prabhu and only wish the best for him."

Your servant,

Radhanath Swami

Your servants,

ISKCON GBC Executive Committee

ISKCON and Kazakhstan Crisis

Parker AZ

February 12, 2007

Media Release ISKCON Communications

HINDUS BRACING FOR NEXT ROUND OF ATTACKS

Kazakhstan continues aggression against minorities, ignores international outcry

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: February 5, 2007

Contact: Vineet Chander (201) 925-4973; vineet@iskcon.com

Almaty: Impervious to international outcry, government officials in the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan have intensified their attacks against members of the Hare Krishna religion, a Vaishnava Hindu tradition. A local court ordered more homes belonging to the Krishna devotees to be demolished, the Associated Press reported, threatening to leave more families homeless in freezing temperatures at any moment.

The latest court ruling, sanctioning the government to confiscate the Krishna land without compensation, came as a shock to members of the community. According to a January 31 report by Forum 18, a religious rights watchdog group, the decision was rendered after the judge told Hare Krishna chairperson Viktor Golous that the case would be postponed and that he could leave. Incredulously, after Golous left the court, the judge ruled against him in his absence. Such questionable judicial practices have led many to conclude that the Hindus are being denied due process and targeted because of their faith.

"The issue at dispute has less to do with property rights than with the right of people living in Kazakhstan to exercise their religion freely," International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights Executive Director Aaron Rhodes stated in an open letter. "Since the dispute started, Kazakh authorities have been reluctant to deal with the issue in a fair and unbiased manner."

MORE...

The court order is the next step in what human rights organizations have labeled a land grab by government officials against a religious minority. In November 2006, several busloads of riot police and two bulldozers demolished thirteen homes owned by members of the Hare Krishna religion.

The surprise attack evoked outrage from the worldwide Hindu community, and elicited statements of concern from the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. In the United Kingdom, Parliament passed an Early Day Motion condemning the harassment of Hindus in Kazakhstan and calling upon Kazakh President Nazarbayev to intervene. British Prime Minister Tony Blair echoed Parliament members' concerns during his Question Time, assuring them that he would continue to push the Kazakhstan government to protect religious rights.

Kazakhstan's mistreatment of Hindus and other religious minorities was a key reason the country was refused its bid to chair the OSCE in 2009.

"[S]tate sponsored action has been focused upon members of the Hare Krishna community in a manner that suggests they have been targeted on the basis of their religious affiliation," the OSCE Advisory Council on Freedom of Religion or Belief said in a statement they released, adding that it "calls upon the Kazakh authorities to halt any further demolitions and to extend immediate humanitarian assistance to those whose homes have been destroyed."

In light of the Kazakh government's latest moves against the Krishna community, that call seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

For more information about the persecution of religious minorities in Kazakhstan visit:

Backgrounder ISKCON Communications

The following are excerpts from statements raising concerns about the Kazakhstan government's aggression against the Hare Krishna community in Almaty.

"The embassy has several concerns regarding the legal basis for the actions against the Hare Krishna community. Regardless of the merits of the underlying case, the forceful eviction of homeowners in freezing temperatures and the destruction of their possessions, contradicted principles of due process and fairness. The embassy urges the Karasai district authorities to refrain from any further aggressive actions against the Hare Krishnas, and to work toward a fair, lawful, and peaceful resolution of the ongoing legal dispute."

(U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan)

From the information available to the Advisory Council, it appears that state sponsored action has been focused upon members of the Hare Krishna community in a manner that suggests they have been targeted on the basis of their religious affiliation. In the view of the Advisory Council, this raises serious issues regarding the enjoyment of the freedom of religion and belief by members of the Hare Krishna community in Kazakhstan."

The OSCE Advisory Council on Freedom of Religion or Belief

Recent steps against the Hare Krishnas and members of other religious communities indicate that the government of Kazakhstan, regrettably, is moving in the wrong direction with regard to respecting the universal right to freedom of religion or belief. This action against the Hare Krishna community is the latest in a series of developments over the past two years that signal a retreat from Kazakhstan's previously positive record of respect for the right to religious freedom."

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom

"While President Nazarbayev's initiative to bring world religions together to promote tolerance is laudable, his government’s harsh treatment of small and independent groups displays a sad absence of tolerance. In short, I do not believe these actions befit a country that would be a leader of nations. I urge President Nazarbayev and the Government of Kazakhstan to end these practices, withdraw the court cases to seize the Hare Krishna’s land, and ensure that all individuals are compensated for their lost property."

The Hon. Christopher H. Smith, New Jersey

That this House, prior to the visit of the President of Kazakhstan, condemns the harassment of and discrimination against Hindu minorities in Kazakhstan… and further calls upon the President to order the Karasai District Hakimat to have all cases against the Kazakh Hindus withdrawn...and to stop harassment of Hindus in Kazakhstan."

The United Kingdom Parliament, Early Day Motion No. 140

Open Letter to Senator John McCain R Arizona

Mendocino CA

March 28, 2007

Dear Senator McCain,

3-28-07

I am writing you to call your attention to the CONTINUED DIRE CIRCUMSTANCES CONCERNING THE CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT.

THIS IS CONCERNING YOUR STATUS AS AN ARIZONA SENATOR AND 2008 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE.

FROM FEBRUARY 12 ONWARD TO THE 20TH WATER AND OTHER CONSUMER GOODS IN STORES FROM LAKE HAVASU TO PARKER WERE CONTAMINATED.

I COULD NOT PURCHASE FOOD FROM A RESTAURANT NOR CLOTHING FROM A STORE. ALL MOTELS AND HOUSING WERE BEING SPRAYED.

THE SHERIFFS OF MOHAVE AND PIMA COUNTY SHOULD BE PROSECUTED. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY CHERTOFF SHOULD BE CONTACTED AS WELL AS ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALEZ.

The Colorado River and now the Sacramento area are seriously contaminated. One can not even use clean tap water at a public facility as restaurant or park.

The air in Parker Az and Earp Ca on 2-11-07 and 3-11-07 were the worst I have experienced in 20 years.

One would suffer minor chemical burns.

(The area of LAKE AND MENDOCINO ARE ALSO AFFECTED.)

I have no choice but to travel through Northern California. Besides the human cost,I would argue that Mendocino’s abalone fields and Sonoma's wineries will perish from their world class status.

I have attempted to wash my possessions of these chemicals and it is futile.

An interesting facet of this event is LAPD is attempting to portray me as gay bisexual.

THEY ARE THE MOST DAMAGING EVENT IN LGBT HISTORY.

THE COUNTRY HAS MARCHED OFF TO CULTURE WAR AS THE NAZIS DID TO THE JEWS.

I ARGUE NO VIOLENCE BUT CRIMINAL AND CIVIL PROCEDURES TO REMEDY THE SANITIZATION OF HISTORY.

WITHIN DAYS OF THESE EVENT ACTS AS A CHILD PUTTING HAND SANITIZER IN A LIBRARIAN'S BEVERAGE HOLDER AND THE EXPLODING OF CHLORINE BOMBS HAS OCCURRED IN BHAGDAD.

THE LAST TIME I LIVED IN MENDOCINO WAS JUST BEFORE 9-11 OCCURRED.

All of these events forces me to reconsider if your candidacy and others is legitimate or just the emergence of a PERFECT DICTATOR.

I urge you to take IMMEDIATE ACTION.

THIS IS REALITY.

Thank you for your consideration.

David Nollmeyer

Open Letter to Humboldt DA Gallegos

Garberville CA

April 7, 2007

Humboldt County District Attorney,

4-04-07

I am writing you today to protest the systematic violation of my protected constitutional state rights.

I have entered Garberville at 3:55 pm 0n the 3rd of April. I was dropped adjacent to the Sherwood Motel. I walked the length Redwood Drive and proceeded west out of town.

The population is antisocial deindividuated mob.

There is a prima facie chemical assault ongoing in Humboldt County.

This level of intensity began on 2-12-07 in Earp CA Parker AZ.

The Colorado River was contaminated up to Laughlin NV.

I am in the process of complaining to the authorities.

Clear Lake is despoiled. A diver has perished of the Mendocino Coast near where I was camping.

The aerial spraying from autos will cause low grade chemical burns on the skin.

I am arguing that LAPD members as "Gay Militia" are acting out of jurisdiction under the guise of mutual aid.

I am a lifelong heterosexual who practices a Gaudiya Vaishnavism.

I do not do drugs, alcohol, or gamble.

This includes ganja or marijuana.

I am being framed as biker read as GANG MEMBER.

The most likely reference for this would past associates from high school who may or may not have joined the Pagan Gang of Kent County Delaware.

IF YOUR ARE NOT WILLING TO STAND UP TO THESE ELEMENT IS THIS COUNTY YOU SHOULD QUIT YOUR JOB.

PERSONS WHO FEEL EMPOWERED BY GANG AFFILIATIONS, DRUG DEALING OR WORKING WITH ROGUE ELEMENTS OF THE POLICE SHOULD BE CUT DOWN.

THE SLAMMING OF CAR DOORS AS A NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF UNCONSTITUTIONAL BEHAVIOR.

TODAY IS THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE KILLING OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

PLEASE READ THIS MEMO AS A COMPLAINT.

Thank your for consideration.

David Nollmeyer

Open Letter to Secretary of State Rice

Garberville CA

April 19, 2007

Dear Secretary of State Rice,

4-19-07

I am writing you because I believe you have an interest in Human Rights.

The United States is violating both federal and international law in despoiling the environment.

As the lead diplomat for this country you should show more than deep concern for the duplicity in concrete actions in this country and this departments mission.

You by law are a sworn official and you loyalty should be to this nation's people not a circle of persons who are will not recognize real history.

The situation here in Northern CA is hard to believe. All flowing water is being despoiled. Please contact any authority possible.

FBI

4-19-07

The deterioration here in Redway CA on the Eel River has slightly improved. Actors realize that this small population center is also going to be damaged bilaterally as forces attempt to isolate me.

Unfortunately today is Hitler’s birthday and anniversary of the Columbine High School attacks.

4-17-07

The situation in Northern CA is untenable. Yesterday on the other side of the country 33 persons were killed. Yesterday was also my father John Albert Nollmeyer's birthday now deceased.

I am writing to you out of deep concern due to the negligence/and or criminality in the contamination of the environment from 2-12-07 in Earp CA and Parker AZ.

The Colorado River was completely contaminated by an acidic mixture. This is no exaggeration.

By 2-21-07 I traveled through to Blythe CA and the Laughlin NV. The Colorado River was polluted.

From late February Sacramento was contaminated. I traveled north through Cache Creek. A deputy dropped me off at the Colusa County Line. The creek has been polluted and is ruined now.

Clear Lake was polluted to the touch. I traveled to Mendocino County. I camped out near Caspar Beach.

One day after I left a diver perished off the Mendocino headlands about three miles south of where I was. The Pacific Ocean was so polluted I would bath and still do without dunking my head.

The Eel River has been contaminated from 4-03-07 to my knowledge. I am now on such south Redway California.

THIS AGENCY IS DE FACTO OR CRIMINAL IN NOT INVESTIGATING AND PROSECUTING THESE EVENTS.

LAPD CA AND THE DELAWARE STATE POLICE SHOULD BE CONTACTED AFTER LOCAL SHERIFFS.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.

DAVID NOLLMEYER

Religious Persecution Stoning to Death

Flagstaff AZ

May 7, 2007

Internet video shows 17 year old Iraqi Kurd Du'a Khalil Aswad being stoned by a group of men until she dies, all because she fell in love with a boy of a different religion.

Baghdad, May 4: A 17 year old girl has been stoned to death in Iraq because she loved a teenage boy of the wrong religion.

As a horrifying video of the stoning went out on the Internet, the British arm of Amnesty International condemned the death of Du'a Khalil Aswad as "an abhorrent murder" and demanded that her killers be brought to justice.

Reports from Iraq said a local security force witnessed the incident, but did nothing to try to stop it. Now her boyfriend is in hiding in fear for his life.

Aswad, a member of a minority Kurdish religious group called Yezidi, was condemned to death as an "honour killing" by other men in her family and hardline religious leaders because of her relationship with the Sunni Muslim boy.

They said she had shamed herself and her family when she failed to return home one night. Some reports suggested she had converted to Islam to be closer to her boyfriend.

Aswad had taken shelter in the house of a Yezidi tribal leader in Bashika, a predominantly Kurdish town near the northern capital, Mosul.

A large crowd watched as eight or nine men stormed the house and dragged Aswad into the street. There they hurled stones at her for half an hour until she was dead. The stoning happened last month, but only came to light on Wednesday with the release of the Internet video. It is feared her death has triggered a retaliatory attack. Last week 23 Yezidi workmen were forced off a bus traveling from Mosulto Bashika by a group of Sunni gunmen and summarily shot dead.

An Amnesty International spokesman in London said they receive frequent reports of honour crimes from Iraq. Most victims are women and girls who are considered by male relatives to have shamed their families by immoral behaviour.

Daily Mail

Printed from www.mangalorean.com

Letter to United Nations on Jurisdiction

Flagstaff AZ

May 7, 2007

This is a return from the United Nations confirming that the correct jurisdiction is in the United States. This was originally received when I was in Holbrook AZ a few days earlier.

Dear Mr. Nollmeyer,

After careful consideration of the contents of your complaint, we sincerely regret having to inform you that the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is not in a position to assist you in the matter you raise.

The Human Rights Committee cannot examine petitions alleging violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) unless the State is also a party to the Optional Protocol (OP). The United States of America are not a State party to the Optional Protocol.

For information about the procedures for the examination of individual petitions on human rights violations, please consult our website:

www.ohchr.org, (direct link http://www.ohchr.org/english/about/publications/docs/fs7.htm). If you have difficulty accessing our website, please write to the OHCHR, Information Office PW-RS-011, 1211 Geneva 10, and ask for Human Rights Fact Sheets Nos. 7, 12, 15 and 17.

Yours sincerely,

The Petitions Unit

Open Letter To Hillary Clinton

Big Pine CA

June 12, 2007

Senator Clinton, I am writing you to request in the simplest of terms that you resign from your Senate seat and the 2008 Presidential Campaign. Since June 17, 2007, exactly the 200th anniversary of the United States Constitution de facto law enforcement have engaged in an open Systematic Human Rights Event.

I have been held under SEVERE ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE, CHEMICAL ASSAULT, HARASSMENT BASICALLY BY INFORMANTS WHO LAY IN WAIT AND SLAM DOORS, AND OTHER FORMS OF BEHAVIOR THAT HAVE A VERY HIGH PROPENSITY TO SPREAD DISEASE.

Another component of this abuse is GAY BAITING AND THE USE OF RED HERRING/STRAWMAN ARGUMENTS. I AM A LIFELONG HETEROSEXUAL WHO HAS NEVER ENGAGED IN ANY FORM OF LGBT BEHAVIOR.

There is a subcomponent of this operation ongoing named Radhanatha. There is no clean surface water in the Owens Valley in California. The watershed from Lake Mono downward is chemically contaminated and all products in stores have been sprayed by caustic chemicals.

Your overture of Universal Health Care are as fraudulent as the real history of your husband President Bill Clinton's eight years of presidency were.

The situation is so bogus that LAPD, the leader's will state that my uncle write my work. This is the culture of a de facto informant system purging other informants.

You call for immediate prosecution and then resign.

Thank you for your consideration.

David Nollmeyer

Big Pine CA 6-08-07

Born 8-03-1961

Roswell NM

Open Letter To President Bush

Big Pine CA

June 12, 2007

An Open Letter to President George W. Bush

President Bush, since your election in November of 2000, your range of leadership has been continuation of a Perfect Dictator. On June 17, 1987, the 200th anniversary of the United States Constitution, a de facto system of electronic surveillance, chemical assaults (scorched earth) and intimidation of opposition began with then President Reagan.

This event was lead by a cell of Gay Militant Officers of Los Angeles Police Department California. They have further escalated the chemical assaults from February 13, 2007 from Parker, Arizona and Earp, California to chemical contaminate ALL SURFACE WATER AS RIVERS AND LAKES.

THIS WILL ALSO INCLUDE ALL TAP WATER IN BUILDING IF I ATTEMPT TO ENTER.

Your incompetence on issue as Human Rights has lead to a clear deterioration in your administration, the Republican Party, and the demonization of neo conservatism. The jurisprudence by Alberto Gonzales has such facing a vote of no confidence. Abuses at Abu Grahib, Guantanamo Bay, and Special Renditions have appalled Religious conservatives as well as human rights groups.

Simply substituting corrupt and incompetent members of your staff will not shield you historically and possible criminally.

Today in the Republican Party Scooter Libby awaits sentencing, Rep. Cunningham and Ney are in prison. Tom Delay awaits trial. Rep Jerry Lewis, who is my representative has already spent $1 million dollars for lawyers in the Abramhoff investigation.

I am requesting that you end your charade as a Legal Leader and submit your self and record for prosecution. This statement applies equally well to your father President George H. W. Bush and President Clinton.

David Nollmeyer

6-01-07

Big Pine CA

Human Rights Watch Assails Gonzales

Big Pine CA

June 12, 2007

Open Letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales

Alberto Gonzales

Attorney General of the United States

U.S. Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20530-0001

April 5, 2006

Attorney General Gonzales:

The 2006 Defense Authorization Act, passed by Congress in January 2006, contains new provisions clarifying that all individuals acting under the color of U.S. law categorically are prohibited from engaging in or authorizing cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees in U.S. custody. These provisions were passed by Congress to rectify lack of clarity in regard to detention and interrogation techniques, and to prevent conduct that is prohibited by international law and illegal under domestic criminal law.

We are now writing to urge you to issue a clear public statement about specific legal standards applicable to detention and interrogation of detainees overseas, under this legislation and other existing laws. Such a statement is necessary because, notwithstanding the 2006 Defense Authorization Act, you and other administration officials have not yet made clear statements about the specific legal standards applicable to the detention and interrogation of detainees in U.S. custody overseas. We are concerned that this lack of clarity continues to lead to confusion about the legality of specific interrogation techniques.

We are particularly concerned about your continuing failure to issue clear statements about illegal interrogation techniques, and especially your failure to state that "waterboarding" a technique that induces the effects of being killed by drowning constitutes torture, and thus is illegal. We urge you to make such a statement now.

The Convention Against Torture prohibits practices that constitute the intentional infliction of "severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental." The federal torture statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2340A, similarly prohibits acts outside the United States that are specifically intended to cause "severe physical or mental pain or suffering."

Waterboarding is torture. It causes severe physical suffering in the form of reflexive choking, gagging, and the feeling of suffocation. It may cause severe pain in some cases. If uninterrupted, waterboarding will cause death by suffocation. It is also foreseeable that waterboarding, by producing an experience of drowning, will cause severe mental pain and suffering. The technique is a form of mock execution by suffocation with water. The process incapacitates the victim from drawing breath, and causes panic, distress, and terror of imminent death. Many victims of waterboarding suffer prolonged mental harm for years and even decades afterward.

Waterboarding, when used against people captured in the context of war, may also amount to a war crime as defined under the federal war crimes statute 18 U.S.C. § 2441, which criminalizes grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions (in international armed conflicts), and violations of Article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions (in non international armed conflicts). Waterboarding is also an assault, and thus violates the federal assault statute, 18 U.S.C. § 113, when it occurs in the "special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States," a jurisdictional area which includes government installations overseas. In cases involving the U.S. armed forces, waterboarding also amounts to assault, and cruelty and maltreatment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Under the laws of the land, U.S. personnel who order or take part in waterboarding are committing criminal acts torture, assault, and war crimes which are punishable as felony offenses. The Department of Justice should clarify this to all U.S. personnel, and prosecute violations of the law.

We have no doubt that if a captured American were subjected to waterboarding, the U.S. government would condemn this as torture and demand or seek prosecution.

We also urge you to clarify the legality of other abusive interrogation techniques, such as subjection to extreme temperatures, forced standing, binding in stress positions, and severe sleep deprivation. These techniques, like waterboarding, cause physical and mental suffering and are illegal under domestic and international law. At minimum, these techniques amount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, categorically prohibited under the 2006 Defense Authorization Act; and they violate U.S. obligations under international human rights and humanitarian laws, including the Convention Against Torture and the Geneva Conventions. Depending on how they are used, these and other abusive techniques can amount to torture, potentially prosecutable under the U.S. torture and war crimes statutes. The U.S. State Department has condemned numerous other countries for utilizing these techniques, in many cases stating that the techniques amount to torture.

As the Attorney General, you have the responsibility to speak clearly on matters of the legal standards for detention and interrogation of prisoners, and as the executive branch's chief legal officer, you are obliged to enforce U.S. laws.

Moreover, you owe it to U.S. military and security personnel, including those who authorize and conduct interrogations, to specify accurately that the techniques described above are not legal. This is vitally important because personnel who rely on advice to the contrary place themselves in legal peril.

We sincerely hope that you will uphold the legal standards discussed above, and make efforts to articulate them clearly and publicly.

Signed,

Richard Abel, UCLA School of Law

Bruce Ackerman, Yale University

Catherine Adcock Admay, Duke University

Madelaine Adelman, Arizona State University

Jose E. Alvarez, Columbia Law School (former attorney adviser, Department of State)

Paul Amar, University of California Santa Barbara

Fran Ansley, University of Tennessee College of Law

Michael Avery, Suffolk Law School

Amy Bartholomew, Carleton University

Katherine Beckett, University of Washington

George Bisharat, Hastings College of the Law

Christopher L. Blakesley, William S. Boyd School of Law UNLV

Gary Blasi, Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law

John Charles Boger, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

David Bowker, adjunct, Cardozo Law School (former attorney adviser, Department of State)

Alice C. Briggs, Franklin Pierce Law Center

John Brigham, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Peter Brooks, University of Virginia

Rosa Brooks, University of Virginia

William T. Burke, University of Washington School of Law

William Burke White, University of Pennsylvania School of Law

Kitty Calavita, University of California Irvine

Henry (Chip) Carey, Georgia State University

Anupam Chander, University of California Davis

Oscar G. Chase, New York University Law School

Kathleen Clark, Washington University

Cornell W. Clayton, Washington State University

Marjorie Cohn, Thomas Jefferson School of Law

David Cole, Georgetown University Law Center

John Comaroff, University of Chicago

Michael Comiskey, Pennsylvania State University

Marianne Constable, University of California Berkeley

Don Crowley, University of Idaho

Scott Cummings, UCLA School of Law

Eve Darian Smith, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Benjamin Davis, University of Toledo College of Law

Stephen F. Diamond, Santa Clara University School of Law

Hilal Elver, University of California Santa Barbara

Richard Falk, Princeton University and University of California Santa Barbara

Thomas G. Field, Jr. Franklin Pierce Law Center

Gregory H. Fox, Wayne State University Law School

Lawrence M. Friedman, Stanford University

Michael Froomkin, University of Miami School of Law

David R. Ginsburg, UCLA School of Law

Angelina Snodgrass Godoy, University of Washington

Leslie F. Goldstein, University of Delaware

Kenneth W. Graham, Jr., UCLA Law School

David Greenberg, New York University

Lisa Hajjar, University of California Santa Barbara

Joel F. Handler, UCLA School of Law

Hendrik Hartog, Princeton University

Lynne Henderson, University of Nevada Las Vegas

William O. Hennessey, Franklin Pierce Law Center

Richard A. Hesse, Franklin Pierce Law Center

Elisabeth Hilbink, University of Minnesota

Jennifer L. Hochschild, Harvard University

Scott Horton, Adjunct, Columbia Law School

Derek Jinks, University of Texas School of Law

Jerry Kang, UCLA School of Law

Lisa A. Kelly, University of Washington School of Law

Heinz Klug, University of Wisconsin

Itzchak E. Kornfeld, Drexel University

Ariana R. Levinson, UCLA School of Law

Sanford Levinson, University of Texas Law School

Robert Justin Lipkin, Widener University School of Law

Lynn M. LoPucki, UCLA School of Law

David Luban, Georgetown University Law Center

Deborah Maranville, University of Washington School of Law

Ann Elizabeth Mayer, University of Pennsylvania

Jamie Mayerfeld, University of Washington

Joel Migdal, University of Washington

Martha Minow, Harvard Law School

William W. Monning, Monterrey College of Law

Kathleen M. Moore, University of California Santa Barbara

Forrest S. Mosten, UCLA School of Law

Ken Mott, Gettysburg College

Stephen R. Munzer, UCLA School of Law

Jyoti Nanda, UCLA School of Law

Smita Narula, New York University School of Law

Julie Novkov, University of Oregon

Frances Olsen, UCLA School of Law

John Orcutt, Franklin Pierce Law Center

Arzoo Osanloo, University of Washington

Jordan J. Paust, University of Houston

William P. Quigley, Loyola University, New Orleans

Christopher J. Peters, Wayne State University Law School

Judith Resnik, Yale Law School

Sandra L. Rierson, Thomas Jefferson School of Law

Brad R. Roth, Wayne State University

Gary Rowe, UCLA School of Law

Austin Sarat, Amherst College

Margaret L. Satterthwaite, New York University School of Law

Stuart A. Scheingold, University of Washington

Kim Lane Scheppele, Woodrow Wilson School and Princeton University

Benjamin N. Schiff, Oberlin College

David Schultz, Hamline University

Robert A. Sedler, Wayne State University

Barry Shanks, Franklin Pierce Law Center

Anne Marie Slaughter, Dean, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University

Charles Anthony Smith, University of Miami

Eunice Son, UCLA School of Law

Susan Sterett, University of Denver

Jacqueline Stevens, University of California Santa Barbara

Katherine Stone, UCLA School of Law

Steven Tauber, University of South Florida

Samuel. C. Thompson, Jr, UCLA School of Law

Beth Van Schaack, Santa Clara University School of Law

Andrew Strauss, Widener University School of Law

Stephen I. Vladeck, University of Miami School of Law

Richard Weisberg, Cardozo Law School

Deborah M. Weissman, University of North Carolina School of Law

Burns H. Weston, University of Iowa and Vermont Law School

Adam Winkler, UCLA School of Law

Maryann Zavez, Vermont Law School

Richard O. Zerbe Jr., University of Washington

The Retirement of The Fly

Big Pine CA

June 12, 2007

The retirement of The Fly will have an impact on American and World History for lifetimes. It will take a Marshall Plan to recover and pay the costs of his activities. The authorities as the president, governors, judges, and police chiefs are to numerous to cite that are negligent.

In his megalomania The Fly believed that he could lead an attack on President Reagan and create a LGBT victim figure of myself while aiding the LGBT movement.

The Fly clearly is the most damaging figure in LGBT history and surely law enforcement. The Fly basically wished to recruit gay militants.

All my writing is in opposition to such. In The Machinery of Torture these persons have played a strong role and may end up as scapegoats. At the present many persons are undereducated and of low social status to begin.

If one adds substance abuse, petty crime, and obesity, you have a culture of failure. Are all the informants LGBT? No but they are more proximate in behavior to The Fly.

One has to consider the impact of systematic institutionalization of torture. The groundwork of this mission was not small in size or time of preparation. The 1930s have been mentioned as a point of origination at Cambridge Law School, UK.

The situation is clearly worse than perceivable. I am beginning to email more assertively as this event has substantive amounts of facts to place my name in the record.

At the state level California, Delaware, and Maryland are first with Arizona and Nevada next.

Kazakh Authorities Demolish Properties

Big Pine CA

June, 2007

By BB Govinda Swami

Karasai District Authorities Destroy Another 12 Houses in Hare Krishna Community

On the morning of June 15, 2007, authorities of the Karasai District demolished another 12 houses of the followers of the Society for Krishna Consciousness.

The court executors were accompanied by one bus of policemen and one bus of laborers, an ambulance, the fire squad, and two earth excavators. The group arrived at the community at 7 AM. The police blocked all entrances to the community.

The timing of this "operation" was chosen to exclude the presence of reporters and persons from international and human rights organizations. However, Ninel Fokina, Director of the Almaty Helsinki Committee was informed and issued an emergency appeal to the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kazakhstan to OSCE and to the Kazakh Foreign Minister M. Tazhin. The attempt to find out who was in charge of the operation and to see any documents were unsuccessful. However two leaders of the demolition squad were identified as the senior court executor of the Karasai district, A. Baichapanov, and executor S. Baimukhanov.

Several minutes after the beginning of the operation the Hakim of Zhetysu village, B.S. Akhmettayev, appeared on the spot. Immaculately dressed in a business suit, with a sledgehammer in hands, he was resolutely walked toward the demolition site. However, when he noticed that he was being photographed, the Hakim immediately threw his sledgehammer to the bushes.

The Hakim, Akhmettayev, categorically refused to speak with the reporters and introduced himself as a worker.

The demolition of the homes began simultaneously in different areas of the summer colony. While the earth excavators were demolishing houses in one part of the village, workers destroyed the houses with sledgehammers and crowbars in another part. The earth excavators completed the work by leveling the houses with the ground.

The owners of some homes were absent as they had not been informed of the demolition. Their belongings were left lying on the street.

The demolition was performed with lightning speed. By 10 AM everything was finished. 12 houses of the faithful were completely destroyed.

All of the hearings regarding these cases were conducted without informing the owners of the court sessions. Thus, none of the owners had the chance to defend their case. After the first instance was lost, the court executives did not present the rulings to the members until after the period to appeal had expired. Thus the process of appeal to the second instance court could not be followed.

The members of Society for Krishna Consciousness are gravely concerned that their temple will be destroyed next.

On June 5, 2007, the Society received orders from the Karasai District Hakim B. Kutpanov to demolish all buildings at the farm, including the temple.

Kutpanov stated that if the faithful did not destroy their houses in 10 days that it would be done by force. The term expired on June 15 and thus the thus the faithful are fearful the farm buildings, including the temple, would also be demolished.

The temple remains under the threat of destruction. The temple, the cowshed and other buildings on the territory of the community may be destroyed at any moment.

Press service of RO Society for Krishna Consciousness in Kazakhstan tel. +7 3272 969719, mobile tel. +7 701 7407943 Email: info@kazakhkrishna.com

See pictures of the events of June 15:

http://www.kazakhkrishna.com/en-fotoarchive/

Visit www.kazakhkrishna.com to see the tragedy of the Hare Krishna community in Kazakhstan.

Video in English: http://www.kazakhkrishna.com/en-video/4.html

Video in Russian:http://www.kazakhkrishna.com/ru-video/3.html

Open Letter to Hillary Clinton

Big Pine CA

September 3, 2007

Senator Clinton in comments made in Portsmouth, NH stated that one of her goals as president was to "work within the system;" and the other was not act like such does not exist. The system in question is the Constitution. Clinton is clearly signaling that she wishes to continue the White Lie begun by Reagan, continued by both Bush and her husband, and now highly escalated by President Bush.

The totalitarian isolation of myself clearly also is a successful attack on citizenship and the substantiative rights actually contained the Bill of Rights. Number 8 clearly states that "There shall be no cruel and unusual treatment."

There is no rational manner to explain President Bush's misgivings or condone hers.

By using severe electronic surveillance, chemical assault, and arranging for the average person to harass me, this country is no more than clamoring for the tyrant.

Hillary Clinton and her propaganda machinery headed by Doctor Howard Dean, have to reexamine their push for Universal Health Care. Is this because by abusing the Constitutional Rights of everyone they will be so sick and congenitively injured the government will have no remedy but free health services?

Is Senator Clinton a legitimate candidate or a wolf in sheep's clothing?

Al Gore is now High Priest of the environmental movement. I don't believe that any participants in this cult have thought it prudent to question his activities in the destruction of the environment.

I am in Big Pine CA. There is no uncontaminated surface water. The Owens River is completely contaminated. The wheat field behind me is contaminated from the water.

The Environment and Sustainability

Big Pine CA

September 17, 2007

As living entities we are open systems to the environment. We must take inputs as air, food, and water and subsequently leave byproducts as carbon dioxide and other waste. The human culture is escalating a hedonistic calculus which is the benefit cost ratio. Any consideration of a sustainable equilibrium is disregarded for the obtainment of immediate pleasure.

This culture is a poor support for using a war by other means approach as contaminating the environment to degrade the quality of life so a more conventional war could not be fought. Also vulnerable at a lower level is sustainable economy.

Polluting water supplies eliminates an element essential to all life. Our surface water supplies as drinking water are easily plundered as is seen here in the Eastern High Sierras and the Colorado River Valley. Millions of persons depend on groundwater, lakes, rivers, and streams to drink and farm. There is also the industrial consideration to be deliberated.

If these resources are contaminated there is no homeland security only a mockery of justice and tyranny.

Any culture begins at the individual level. Yes it would be very difficult to discern who smoked the first cigarette and radiated the behavior. What is discernible is that there are sworn officials who are capacitated to ensure that our environment is clean and safe.

In the United States the environment front is a sham with the concrete living space the unequivocal truth. I believe in global warming spending much of my summers in the high desert where 100+ degree days are normative and increasing. None of the last four presidential administrations have produced any legitimate effort in the face of widespread environmental despoliation.

President Bush and his three predecessors have to legally taken to the task Alan Greenspan has written a book critical about economics and war. War for profit is piracy. The economic paradigm is part of Strategic Security but also reflects the moral degradation of economics over philosophy.

Has any economist calculated the damage from manufacturing polluted goods? Selling such to the Chinese only begs retaliation. The damage to United States prestige and corporate history has collapsed into a strongman maker taker posture.

We are poor stewards of our environment and the rights that protect our living space as well as ourselves. We are bankrupting the future as an informant nation.

The charlatan posturing of the 2008 Presidential Candidates only focuses and highlights the oligopolistic collusion of a Perfect Dictator.

Supra Irrationality

Big Pine CA

October 2, 2007

Bhakta David Nollmeyer

Supra Irrationality or Irrationalism is an emergent subject pertaining to the philosophical orientation or psychological equilibrium of individual and collective actors at the international, national, and local levels. There is a direct but inverse relationship to Super Rationality which is a game theory Prisoner's Dilemma approach. Here two supra rationality players by logic and reason will choose to cooperate exactly to the betterment of each.

Supra Irrationality will give demonstrable explanations to acts that appear to be fragmented and disjointed. Here there is usually a dissymmetry of information and power and control. One actor wishes to further one's benefit usually by deception, force, and or coercion. This is also true for the punishment or degradation of another player. The concept of under the color of law is invoked. Usually there is some predetermined plan or goal that is wished to be implemented. Herein the use of the word supra is clarified. There is usually an external system that is irrational that is dictating this mode of consciousness to a subordinate dependent party. If it is an individual or group the fatalistic higher party is invented or has ceased operating and the fatalistic dependent relationship continued to justify psychic content and activities.

The concept of Higher Structural Levels of Cognition and the Culture of Impunity have to be considered.

At all levels of a system or hierarchy the following are true.

In Prisoner's Dilemma Supra Irrationality is never optimal.

In this approach two or more players always choose defect. As in simple Prisoner's Dilemma the prosecutor will always use betrayal against two other players. Here is where the Supra Irrationality has it's decisive distinction the principle of the descending operation is wrong, immoral, or illegal.

In a phenomenological perspective of an individual player it may be marginal in the short run.

The belief is that continued defection will yield the greatest benefit.

The direct implication here is of morality, leadership, the color of authority, and the setting especially of where one system is attempting to transform another to it's interest. The theories of deontology and consequentialism are in conflict. Supra Irrationalism has a marginal advantage to occur in benefit cost ratio where an individual or minority can be sacrificed for the majority or whole. This is an opening that irrationalist actors would seek to exploit. Conversely antinomianism or lawless in the name of God is also a probability. This will have direct impact on theories of war, genocide, and international relations.

In a simple truth table if in a hierarchical set of ten elements in column p as true and b false; it is possible for a controller to engage two subordinate players in Prisoner's Dilemma to choose all ten b or false choices. This would invert the system. It is possible that if there were ten players one as the controller would be wishing to implicate a status quo in a hierarchy.

There is a direct implication here in eternal law with revisionist philosophy or state or police control over philosophy.

The tradition of Tibetan Buddhism is for the Dalai Lama and astrologers to ascertain the next leader from those qualified candidates wishing to reincarnate. The youth picked by the present Dalai Lama has disappeared. The Chinese government through it's astrological selection has begun picking the next Dalai Lama.

The Hare Krishna Movement in the particularity of ISKCON has experienced heavy entrapment from the police with nine of the eleven diksa gurus originally authorized haven fell. One Kirtanananda Maharaja pleaded guilty to RICO related charges and served about seven years in prison while rejecting allegations in a devotee murder.

Kirtanananda Maharaja had lead a syncretist breakaway movement where sannyasis wore Franciscan robes and were called abbots in New Vrndavana West Virginia.

Ramesvara Maharaja was the guru in Los Angeles, California and was removed for having illicit relations with a minor. A guru war was the setting for this intervention.

This has an implication here in RICO prosecutions and claims of illegal entrapment. There is also the legal question of handing off cases to other officials whom do not know if something illegal has occurred.

A child molester who has violated a youth will create an array of illogic as to why the youth must be murdered. The youth in many instances is the only direct witness. In lieu of this an hierarchy of extortive threats to their life, family, friends, or pets often follows.

The classic stoning or the story of The Lottery clearly illustrates the concept of Supra Irrationality as it attempts to transform, systematize, and institutionalize a process and structure.

The simple story of The Lottery or a Stoning provides as excellent model as to how Supra Irrationality attempts to organize agents and thinking in a system and controls such. Here formal fallacies of reason as the converse and reverse converse accident unfold.

Number 4 picks up a stone and threatens Number 3 in that he must pick up a stone and threaten Number 2. Number 3 agrees and Number 2 is approached. Number 4 and 3 now approach Number 2 and threaten such that he must approach Number 1. Number 3's argument is that he must or Number 4 will stone him. Number 1 is approached and threatened. He attempts to stone Number 4 and is killed by Number 4, 3, and 2.

Here in a basic format we observe a circular folly of under the color of law or authority. There are also Racketeered Influenced Behaviors as intimidation of a witness, extortion, blackmail, hostaging, and murder that can be introduced.

An Open Letter To Fred Thompson R Tennessee

Big Pine CA

October 10, 2007

The Republican Debate two days previous that was also the official entry for participation by Fred Thompson only demonstrates the corrupt nature of both International and American political culture.

The United States is undergoing catastrophic environmental despoliation. This is most severe in Inyo Mono Counties of CA, along the AZ CA border region of the Colorado River, and the entire coast from Oregon to at least Los Angeles.

I am a foil for this breach of Homeland Security which is being carried out by LAPD. This unit is collapsing with a Gay Militia that wishes to isolate and destroy the environment. I am a social conservative who advocates traditional heterosexual marriage. The original target appears to be Ronald Reagan.

Fred Thompson's appearance contrary to conventional media punditry, reveals that he like the other candidates are consistently abusing power to institutionalize the concrete destruction of natural persons and the environment.

For a sworn official Fred Thompson does not appear in the least to be concerned with upholding the Constitution.

America has been clamoring for tyranny. The human rights community and spiritual missions too, are content to be externalizing economic concerns over substantiative moral and economic concerns which are necessities not luxuries.

Soon perhaps before it is too late someone or a group may emerge to restore order.

This someone or group is not Fred Thompson or the 2008 Candidates.

Nobel Prize for Al Gore: Collusion in Historical Sanitization

Cambria CA

October 24, 2007

The awarding of a Nobel Peace Prize to Albert Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), headed by Indian scientist Dr RK Pachauri is collusion in the sanitization of history.

Albert Gore was Vice President over of one thumping eras in American and World History from 1993 to early 2001. During this tine period I was and still am held under conditions of chemical assault and scorched earth. In 1992 I was living in San Diego, California which is now undergoing fierce Santa Ana winds and catastrophic wildfires.

The air at every night was contaminated with numerous chemicals including acids.

To perpetuate his fictitious life as an environmentalist one can not the following from his official website. The text in question is the new offering by Al Gore.

The Assault on Reason

A visionary analysis of how the politics of fear, secrecy, cronyism, and blind faith has combined with the degradation of the public sphere to create an environment dangerously hostile to reason.

Mr. Gore in acknowledging his award stated:

I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. This award is even more meaningful because I have the honor of sharing it with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world's pre eminent scientific body devoted to improving our understanding of the climate crisis, a group whose members have worked tirelessly and selflessly for many years. We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level.

Below is an example of political theater and the Trojan Horse Syndrome of using environmentalism to front a platform of various issues which are externalities. Should these speakers be regarded as objective authorities free from An Assault On Reason as Gore now claims.

The following small selection is only part of the co option of environmentalists themselves to weaken living space to totalitarian forces which use externalities like the environment to marginalize or even kill off populations.

Al Gore is truly a leading figure in Convergent Totalitarianism and Fatalism and Dependency rather than world leadership. Concrete history refutes his Academy Award and Nobel Prize. Both The Academy that gives out awards for film and the Nobel Peace Prize should be taken to task for cowardliness and cronyism, not for advancing Peace.

Judge Michael Mukasey Should Not Be Attorney General

Cambria CA

November 3, 2007

What appeared to be a less than acrimonious vetting for United States Attorney General became heated when the Bush nominee was questioned regarding torture and specifically waterboarding. This tactic comprises of inversion of the detainee and pretending to insert one's head into a bucket of water to extract information during interrogation. I find the ticking time bomb scenario poor support or backing for torture.

Here in Cambria, California while this theatre goes on in Washington DC there is a huge problem with the culture of impunity and looking the other way while acts of harassment are committed with police and authorities looking the other way. If one would stick one's hand in Santa Ynez Creek that runs through the village it would burn one's hand. All the food in stores is likewise contaminated. President Bush Attorney General Gonzalez et al. inclusive of the Democrat Senators Feinstein and Boxer have recognized the abuse here which is concrete not a future scenario.

Senator Feinstein is on the Judiciary Committee and has stated she supports Judge Mukasey. This is an act of folly that will be part of the folly of errors that will haunt the inheritance of this country and the world.

Sociopaths Lack Guardian Angel

Cambria CA

November 8, 2007

Kathleen Fackelmann

Leading nativistic criminologist Adrian Raine of University of Pennsylvania after analyzing research on 1400 persons stated that killers and antisocial people are more likely to have abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex. This location in forehead is involved in making moral decisions.

"The prefrontal cortex is like the guardian angel of behavior," stated Raine.

Guido Frank, a University of Colorado Denver researcher argues that after analysis of brain scans of aggressive teenage males that abnormalities in the amygdala may also be prevalent.

These preliminary findings according to Raine are the strongest to link abnormalities in the brain to violent behavior. Raine also states that proving brain damage that predisposes one to violence may not be excusable in court.

Raine stated, "We must protect society."

State Sponsored Terror and Single Issue Group

Cambria CA

November 12, 2007

The concept of a Single Issue Terror Group is becoming a disturbing concept that is focusing in a constraining but positive manner my opposition to the ongoing attack in the United States. LAPD are avenging LGBT History and are ill equipped to perform any positive activities other than destroy the United States. Both public and civilian populations are informant based and complicit. A scapegoating purge will most likely attempt to wash the hands of dead presidents as Ronald Reagan. Due to time and logistic constraints the following is edited from:

A Military Guide to Terrorism in the Twenty First Century August 15, 2005

Motivation Categories

Motivation categories describe terrorist groups in terms of their ultimate goals or objectives. While political or religious ideologies will determine the how of the conflict, and the sort of society that will arise from a successful conclusion, motivation is the what what the endstate or measure of success is.

Social

Often particular social policies or issues will be so contentious that they will incite extremist behavior and terrorism. Frequently this is referred to as single issue or special interest terrorism. Some issues that have produced terrorist activities in the United States and other countries are:

Animal rights

Abortion

Ecology environment

Minority rights

Networked Structure

Terrorists are now increasingly part of far more indistinct and broader system of networks than previously experienced. Groups based on religious or single issue motives lack a specific political or nationalistic agenda; they therefore have less need for a hierarchical structure to coordinate the achievement of their goals. Instead, they can depend and even thrive on loose affiliation with like minded groups or individuals from a variety of locations. General goals and targets are announced, and individuals or cells are expected to use flexibility and initiative to conduct the necessary action.

Basic Concepts

Networks consist of nodes. A node may be an individual, a cell, another networked organization, or a hierarchical organization. They may also consist of parts of other organizations, even governments, which are acting in ways that can be exploited to achieve the network's organizational goals.

The effectiveness of a networked organization is dependent on several things. The network achieves longterm organizational effectiveness when the nodes share a unifying ideology, common goals or mutual interests. When there is failure to accept the overall goals of the organization, pieces of the network will drop out. This is less catastrophic than a splintering within a hierarchical group.

Another difficulty for network organizations not sharing a unifying ideology is that nodes can pursue objectives or take actions that do not meet the goals of the organization, or are actually counterproductive. In this instance, the independence of nodes fails to develop synergy between their activities or contribute to common objectives.

Networks distribute the responsibility for operations, and provide redundancies for key functions. The various cells need not contact or coordinate with other cells except for those essential to a particular operation or function. The avoidance of unnecessary coordination or command approval for action provides deniability to the leadership and enhances operational security.

Networks are not necessarily dependent on the latest information technology for their effect. The organizational structure and the flow of information inside the organization are the defining aspects of networks. While information technology can make networks more effective, low tech means such as couriers and landline telephones can enable networks to operate effectively in certain circumstances.

Hub or Star and Wheel

Nodes communicate with one central node. The central node need not be the leader or decision maker for the network. A variation of the hub is a wheel design where the outer nodes communicate with one or two other outer nodes in addition to the hub. A wheel configuration is a common feature of a financial or economic network.

Government Affiliation Categories

Categorizing terrorist groups by their affiliation with governments provides indications of their means for intelligence, operations, and access to types of weapons. U.S. joint doctrine identifies three affiliations: non state supported, state supported, and state directed terrorist groups.

Non state supported. These are terrorist groups that operate autonomously, receiving no significant support from any government.

State supported. These are groups that generally operate independently but receive support from one or more governments.

State directed. These groups operate as an agent of a government and receive substantial intelligence, logistic, and operational support from the sponsoring government.

Secret Executions in Nigeria

Cambria CA

December 26, 2007

December 17, 2007

Amnesty International has revealed that secret executions have taken place in Nigeria's prisons.

Despite the country's recent assurances that no one has been executed there in years, Amnesty International has uncovered evidence of at least seven executions in the last two years. It is feared that more may have taken place.

All those executed were hanged. They were all convicted in a Kano state court and their death warrants were signed by the current Kano state governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau.

Kenneth Ekhone and Auwalu Musa were executed on 30 May 2006, after being convicted by a Robbery and Firearms Tribunal. They did not have lawyers throughout the proceedings, nor were they given an opportunity to appeal against the judgments. Until his death, Auwalu Musa denied he had anything to do with the crime.

On 15 November 2007, a Nigerian government representative at the UN spoke about the death penalty in Nigeria. He stated: "Punishment only comes after exhaustive legal and judicial processes, including recourse to the supreme court of the land… It is thus on record that we have not carried out any capital punishment in recent years in Nigeria."

Approximately 700 prisoners are estimated to be on death row in Nigeria. More than 200 inmates have been on death row for over ten years, some for over 25 years. Until now, it had been widely assumed that no executions had taken place since 2002.

The Nigerian government has been misleading the international community about the taking of human life. It must now come clean on it's death penalty record.

Amnesty International calls for an immediate moratorium on all executions in Nigeria.