Friday, June 28, 2013

No longer




https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/06/28/18739065.php





No longer

by Ted Rudow III, MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )

Friday Jun 28th, 2013 4:05 PM

Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 California state elections. The proposition was created by opponents of same-sex marriage in advance of the California Supreme Court's previous ruling in In re Marriage Cases" which legalize same-sex marriage, overriding the statute (Proposition 22 in 2000) by ruling it unconstitutional.



The very thing we rebelled about in the Revolutionary War--taxation without representation. It is like the Senate of the U.S., which has only two representatives for each state, regardless of size or population, instead of like the House of Representatives, where the number of representatives is determined by the population of each state.

There the House can counterbalance the Senate and can nullify anything the Senate does, if it doesn't like it. No law can be passed, no money appropriated for anything--without the consent of the House--the true representatives of the people. Is no longer truly representative as it should be, because in the first place, it takes a rich man to be able to run for such an office, and it takes a long-time resident of any state or country to be able to register to vote. The voting process is made so difficult that only the most determined manage to be able to use it--usually those with some political log to roll; largely property owners, or again, the rich, as opposed to the poor; longtime resident property owners, as opposed to the shifting, migratory, labour force.

Ted Rudow III, MA

http://tedriii.blogspot.com/

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Despots’ favourite trick

https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/06/27/18739017.php






Despots’ favourite trick

by Ted Rudow III, MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )

Thursday Jun 27th, 2013 

Maybe it’s because they have such a short attention span and memory. As one journalist commented, a short memory is a great boost to self-esteem. It helps when you can so easily forget the past and tune out reality. In Orwell’s book “1984,” the main character worked for the “ministry of truth,” dedicated to eliminating every vestige of the truth and replacing it with what the government said was truth.





When people fail to pay attention to the truth they are apt to become strongly deluded and believe a lie instead. This has been the favourite trick of despots and dictators throughout the ages. They get people’s minds off their problems and needs and altercations by creating a much more frightening bugaboo, such as an external war or fear of their neighbours, or causing them to focus their fears.



The American government can be amazingly hypocritical when it comes to promoting human rights. Maybe other nations would have a little more respect for the United States if they saw it promoting freedom and human rights and democracy among its allies.

Ted Rudow III, MA



http://tedriii.blogspot.com/

Despots’ favourite trick

The Daily Star



Thursday, June 27, 2013



RSS / Archive

Letters



Home

Newspaper

Frontpage

Backpage

City

Country

World

Business

Sports

Op-Ed

Entertainment

LifeStyle

The Star

Sections

Star Campus

Rising Stars

Tech

Health

Law and Our Rights

Literature

Letters

Science

Politics






Published: Friday, June 28, 2013



Letters to the Editor







Despots’ favourite trick











Ted Rudow III, MA, Encina Ave, Palo Alto, CA

Maybe it’s because they have such a short attention span and memory. As one journalist commented, a short memory is a great boost to self-esteem. It helps when you can so easily forget the past and tune out reality. In Orwell’s book “1984,” the main character worked for the “ministry of truth,” dedicated to eliminating every vestige of the truth and replacing it with what the government said was truth.

When people fail to pay attention to the truth they are apt to become strongly deluded and believe a lie instead. This has been the favourite trick of despots and dictators throughout the ages. They get people’s minds off their problems and needs and altercations by creating a much more frightening bugaboo, such as an external war or fear of their neighbours, or causing them to focus their fears.

The American government can be amazingly hypocritical when it comes to promoting human rights. Maybe other nations would have a little more respect for the United States if they saw it promoting freedom and human rights and democracy among its allies.



The Daily Star. All Rights Reserved.

STAR ARCHIVE



Friday, June 21, 2013

Terrorism that makes no news

The Daily Star
Friday, June 21, 2013

RSS / Archive Letters



Home
Newspaper
Frontpage Backpage City Country World Business Sports Op-Ed Entertainment LifeStyle The Star Sections Tech Health Law and Our
Letters to the Editor

Week's Best

Terrorism that makes no news

Ted Rudow III, MA, Encina Ave, Palo Alto, CA

Terrorists are not always little armed individuals or groups who commit atrocities. The biggest and worst terrorists are nations who commit atrocities with their armies, who wage what they call “war” but which differs from terrorism only in scale, for war is often terrorism on a massive scale, conducted with planes and tanks and bombs and tens of thousands of soldiers.



Yet war is somehow considered more palatable by the world, for it is conducted by national terrorists, while terrorism is condemned because it is conducted by individual terrorists. My heart goes out to each side, and I long to see the senseless killing, maiming and destruction stop.



Israel is the occupying power, for it has driven the Palestinians from their land, it surrounds or occupies their cities, makes use of them as cheap labor, like the slaves of old, and humiliates or slaughters their men, women, and children. Israeli terrorism happens every day in out-of-the-way corners that make no news or no waves.




©2013 The Daily Star. All Rights Reserved.

Owners pushed

The Daily Star




Friday, June 21, 2013



RSS / Archive








Letters

Home

Newspaper

Frontpage

Backpage

City

Country

World



Op-Ed


Letters to the Editor







Owners pushed


Ted Rudow III, MA, Encina Ave, Palo Alto, CA

As celebrities including Tom Cruise and Hugh Jackman celebrated Wal-Mart at its annual meeting last week, workers and activists converged to demand sweeping changes at the company’s U.S. stores and global factories. Around 100 striking workers with the group OUR Wal-Mart arrived in a caravan from across the country to protest what they allege to be retaliation against those seeking to change company practices on wages, safety and unions.



Wal-Mart is one of only a few major retailers that have refused to sign on to the new safety standards after the Dhaka tragedy. Tazreen Fashions fire killed 112 workers and left hundreds injured. And in Rana Plaza, it killed 1,127 and left more than 600 or 700 injured for lifetime. And in that shareholder meeting, they haven’t even given any condolence for those families. They haven’t felt sad. No word for those.





©2013 The Daily Star. All Rights Reserved.











Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Walmart


Contra Costa Times



eEdition / Subscriber Services

Mobile


Mobile Alerts


RSS





News Photo Galleries

Obituaries

Crime & Courts

Bay Area

California

Environment

Nation & World



Politics - Local /State

Politics - National







Publications Contra Costa Times

East County Times

San Ramon Valley Times

Tri-Valley Times

West County Times



Opinion Blogs

Editorials

Letters



Site Web Search by YAHOO!



Peninsula readers' letters: June 15



From Daily News Group readers



mercurynews.com

Posted:   06/14/2013 06:01:51 PM PDT

June 15, 2013 7:9 AM GMTUpdated:   06/15/2013 12:09:48 AM PDT





Walmart



Dear Editor: As celebrities including Tom Cruise and Hugh Jackman celebrated Walmart at its annual meeting last week, workers and activists converged to demand sweeping changes at the company's U.S. stores and global factories. Around 100 striking workers with the group OUR Walmart arrived in a caravan from across the country to protest what they allege to be retaliation against those seeking to change company practices on wages, safety and unions.



Walmart is one of only a few major retailers that have refused to sign on to the new safety standards after the Dhaka tragedy, in which the Tazreen Fashion factory fire killed 112 workers and left hundreds injured. In last week's shareholders meeting, Walmart didn't even give any condolence for those families.



Ted Rudow III,



Palo Alto





Copyright 2012 San Jose Mercury News. All rights reserved.

Syria


http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/06/19/18738703.php





Syria

by Ted Rudow III, MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )

Wednesday Jun 19th, 2013 

Maybe it’s because they have such a short attention span and memory. As one journalist commented, a short memory is a great boost to self-esteem. It helps when you can so easily forget the past and tune out reality. In Orwell’s book “1984,” the main character worked for the “Ministry of Truth,” dedicated to eliminating every vestige of the truth and replacing it with what the government said was truth.



When people fail to pay attention to the truth they are apt to become strongly deluded and believe a lie instead. This has been the favorite trick of despots and dictators throughout the ages. They get people’s minds off their problems and needs and altercations by creating a much more frightening bugaboo, such as an external war or fear of their neighbors, or causing them to focus their fears.

The American government can be amazingly hypocritical when it comes to promoting human rights. Another pointed out that human rights activists in the Middle East say they can’t even use the word “democracy” anymore — it’s become a dirty word because of what people have seen going. Maybe other nations would have a little more respect for the United States if they saw it promoting freedom and human rights and democracy among its allies.

Ted Rudow III, MA



http://tedriii.blogspot.com/

Walmart didn't even give any condolence



MercuryNews.com


eEdition / Subscriber Services

Mobile
Mobile Alerts
RSS









News breaking news

elections

obituaries

crime and courts

bay area news

data center

science

earthquakes

Politics - Local /State

Politics - National

california

nation / world

special reports







Opinion columns

editorials

letters





Publications San Mateo County Times

Palo Alto Daily News

Silicon Valley Community Newspapers:

Campbell Reporter

Cupertino Courier

Fremont Bulletin

Los Gatos Weekly Times

Milpitas Post

Pacifica Tribune

Saratoga News

Sunnyvale Sun

Willow Glen Resident

Rose Garden Resident

Almaden Resident

Cambrian Resident





Site Web Search by YAHOO!





Peninsula POWERED BY


Peninsula readers' letters: June 15



From Daily News Group readers mercurynews.com

Posted:   06/14/2013 06:01:51 PM PDT

June 15, 2013 7:9 AM GMTUpdated:   06/15/2013 12:09:48 AM PDT

Dear Editor: As celebrities including Tom Cruise and Hugh Jackman celebrated Walmart at its annual meeting last week, workers and activists converged to demand sweeping changes at the company's U.S. stores and global factories. Around 100 striking workers with the group OUR Walmart arrived in a caravan from across the country to protest what they allege to be retaliation against those seeking to change company practices on wages, safety and unions.



Walmart is one of only a few major retailers that have refused to sign on to the new safety standards after the Dhaka tragedy, in which the Tazreen Fashion factory fire killed 112 workers and left hundreds injured. In last week's shareholders meeting, Walmart didn't even give any condolence for those families.



Ted Rudow III,



Palo Alto

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Owners pushed

U.S.
Labor & Workers

Owners pushed

by Ted Rudow III, MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )

Thursday Jun 13th, 2013 

As celebrities including Tom Cruise and Hugh Jackman celebrated Wal-Mart at its annual meeting last week, workers and activists converged to demand sweeping changes at the company’s U.S. stores and global factories. Around 100 striking workers with the group OUR Walmart arrived in a caravan from across the country to protest what they allege to be retaliation against those seeking to change company practices on wages, safety and unions.



Wal-Mart is one of only a few major retailers that have refused to sign on to the new safety standards after the Dhaka tragedy. In the fire, in Tazreen Fashion fire, it has killed 112 workers and left hundreds injured. And in Rana Plaza, it killed 1,127 and left more than 600 or 700 injured for lifetime. And in that shareholder meeting, they haven’t even given any condolence for those families. They haven’t felt sad. No word for those.

One worker said,"We didn’t want to go up in the factory this morning, but the management forced us to go up and said there was no problem with the building. Just after that, I sat on my table to work, and the building just collapsed. I couldn’t even leave. I was trapped at my table. Inside at about 9:10 a.m., the building collapsed, and we were trapped inside since then and up to now. It is 10:18 p.m. Eleven hours, we were trapped. We did not want to enter the building, but the owners pushed us to get in and work."



Ted Rudow III, MA





Friday, June 07, 2013

www.PeaceandJustice.org










www.PeaceandJustice.org

www.facebook.com/penin.pjc





Tuesday, June 4, 7:00 PM





OCCUPATION. INTERVENTION. INSURRECTION.



Middle East Update and Analysis





A conversation with

JOEL BEININ

Professor of Middle East History, Stanford University

Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History





TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 7:00 PM

Community Media Center, 900 San Antonio Road, Palo Alto [ MAP]

Free and open to all. Wheelchair accessible.

Click here for full details, including how to watch live online or on TV





Join us as one of the country's top scholars on the Middle East, Joel Beinin, helps us catch up with the ever-changing political landscape of the volatile region. UPDATE: Prof. Beinin has just returned from a trip to Lebanon. Come to the forum and learn the very latest with an eyewitness account.





Israel has just held new elections; what does the outcome tell us? What impact on the region does the continuing bloody warfare in Syria portend? What has happened to Egypt's revolution? And will peace negotiations between Palestine and Israel ever resume ... or lead anywhere? What are your questions? Come to this forum and learn.





Joel Beinin has written or edited nine books. His articles have been published in leading scholarly journals as well as The Nation, Middle East Report, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, Le Monde Diplomatique, and others. He has appeared on Al-Jazeera TV, BBC radio, National Public Radio, and many other TV and radio programs throughout North America, and in France, Egypt, Singapore, and Australia, and has given frequent interviews to the global media. In 2002 he served as President of the Middle East Studies Association of North America.



I phoned up and ask for peace between Palestine and Israel





See those little icons up at the top of this message?



They make it easy to share this email. So go ahead and share!





List your group's event on this calendar! Just go to our calendar page,

click on the "Suggest Event" button, fill out the form.

Easy! And you'll reach 1000's of local activists!





LIKE us on Facebook.





Check out our website ... every day!

You'll find a great daily read in the Pick of the Day,

free online videos, and the community calendar.





Make a contribution. We rely on you.





Suffering innocent Afghans

Friday, June 07, 2013

22:23

RSS

Archive





The Daily Star







Home

Newspaper

Frontpage

Backpage

Metro

National

World

Letters

Business

Budget 2013-14

Sports

Entertainment

LifeStyle

Op-Ed

Editorial



Forum

The Star

Suffering innocent Afghans

LATEST NEWS :

Home



Thursday, June 06, 2013







Letters to the Editor
Suffering innocent Afghans


Ted Rudow III, MA, Encina Ave, Palo Alto, CA



Poor Afghanistan has really suffered, and it’s now suffering worse than ever. The poor, the women, children, and old folks suffer the most because they have so little already and are so needy, so often they don’t survive. And the men go off to fight and often they don’t make it either. War is horrible, so in a way, the U.S. is reaping what it sowed in Afghanistan — war. The Afghans themselves are reaping what they’ve sowed in many ways. Now don’t get me wrong — there are many poor innocents in Afghanistan, and I’m not speaking of them. But the Afghans as a whole have been lawless, ruthless and bloodthirsty for centuries.



So both the U.S. and the Afghans are suffering for their sins, and the longer U.S. keeps up this war, the more they’ll both suffer. Please pray for the innocent, the helpless and needy Afghans, that they can find peace and refuge from the war.

©2013 thedailystar.net. All Rights Reserved













Monday, June 03, 2013

The senseless killing

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/06/03/18737894.php






The senseless killing

by Ted Rudow III, MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )

Monday Jun 3rd, 2013 12:15 PM

Terrorists are not always little armed individuals or groups who commit atrocities. The biggest and worst terrorists are nations who commit atrocities with their armies, who wage what they call “war” but which differs from terrorism only in scale, for war is often terrorism on a massive scale, conducted with planes and tanks and bombs and tens of thousands of soldiers.





Yet war is somehow considered more palatable by the world, for it is conducted by national terrorists, while terrorism is condemned because it is conducted by individual terrorists. My heart goes out to each side, and I long to see the senseless killing, maiming and destruction stop.

Israel is the occupying power, for it has driven the Palestinians from their land, it surrounds or occupies their cities, makes use of them as cheap labor, like the slaves of old, and humiliates or slaughters their men, women, and children. Israeli terrorism is both very evident and very quiet—evident in that it occupies Palestinian lands brazenly, and has for more than sixty years, and quiet in that many little acts of terrorism happen every day in out-of-the-way corners that make no news or no waves.

Ted Rudow III, MA

Give peace chance

//Monday, June 03, 2013

23:25

RSS

Archive




The Daily Star




Home

Newspaper

Frontpage

Backpage

Metro

National

World

Letters

Business

Sports

Entertainment

LifeStyle

Op-Ed

Editorial



Monday, June 03, 2013



Letters to the Editor



‘Let the enemy take over’




Ted Rudow III, MA, Encina Ave, Palo Alto, CA



The ones that send them to war. You would have thought having gone through the horrors of it themselves in the World War I, they would have never done it again. At least the children who had to go through the war, those men that had to go through the hell would never have wanted to send their children into war again, but they did!



But I think this younger generation is fed up with the war. They’ve seen the horrors and heard the wars. I think that they’re just going to flatly refuse to fight, flatly refuse to go to war.How can a leader be a Christian and order billions to be spent on such nightmare armaments? If you refuse to fight, then your enemy has nothing to fight about and there wouldn’t be any wars, if you just flatly refused to fight. The Quakers teach if the enemy wants to take over, let them take over. Give peace chance.













More from The Daily Star





©2013 thedailystar.net. All Rights Reserved

Friday, May 31, 2013

Peace and refuge

Raise the fist com.

Poor Afghanistan has really suffered, and it's now suffering worse than ever. The poor, the women, children, and old folks suffer the most because they have so little already and are so needy, so often they don't survive. And the men go off to fight and often they don't make it either. War is horrible



So in a way, the U.S. is reaping what it sowed in Afghanistan war. The Afghans themselves are reaping what they've sowed in many ways. Now don't get me wrong there are many poor innocents in Afghanistan, and I'm not speaking of them. But the Afghans as a whole have been a lawless bunch of bandits for centuries, ruthless and bloodthirsty.

So both the U.S. and the Afghans are suffering for their sins, and the longer the U.S. keeps up this war, the more they both suffer. Please pray for the innocent, the helpless and needy Afghans, that they can find peace and refuge from the war.

Ted Rudow III, MA



http://tedriii.blogspot.com

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Ruthlessly silenced

Thursday, May 30, 2013

22:38

The Daily Star



Home

Newspaper

Frontpage

Backpage

Metro

National

World

Letters



Op-Ed

Editorial

Sections



Tuesday, May 28, 2013


Letters to the Editor




Ruthlessly silenced











Ted Rudow III, MA, Encina Ave, Palo Alto, CA



U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is heading to Capitol Hill, where he’s expected to be grilled over by the Justice Department’s decision to secretly seize the work, home and cell phone records used by almost a hundred reporters and editors at the Associated Press. Holder defended the move as a necessary step in a criminal probe of leaks of classified information.



It is one more assault in a long series of assault against freedom of information and freedom of the press. And I would, of course, throw in the persecution of Julian Assange at WikiLeaks and Bradley Manning as part of that process. Anyone who challenges the official narrative, who digs out cases of torture, war crimes — which is, of course, what Manning and Assange presented to the American public — is going to be ruthlessly silenced.











©2013 thedailystar.net. All Rights Reserved

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Peace and refuge

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/05/29/18737584.php






Peace and refuge

by Ted Rudow III, MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )

Wednesday May 29th, 2013 

Poor Afghanistan has really suffered, and it’s now suffering worse than ever. The poor, the women, children, and old folks suffer the most because they have so little already and are so needy, so often they don’t survive. And the men go off to fight and often they don’t make it either. War is horrible



So in a way, the U.S. is reaping what it sowed in Afghanistan—war. The Afghans themselves are reaping what they’ve sowed in many ways. Now don’t get me wrong—there are many poor innocents in Afghanistan, and I’m not speaking of them. But the Afghans as a whole have been a lawless bunch of bandits for centuries, ruthless and bloodthirsty.

So both the U.S. and the Afghans are suffering for their sins, and the longer the U.S. keeps up this war, the more they’ll both suffer. Please pray for the innocent, the helpless and needy Afghans, that they can find peace and refuge from the war.

Ted Rudow III, MA



http://tedriii.blogspot.com

Monday, May 27, 2013

Give peace chance

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/05/27/18737460.php






Give peace chance

by Ted Rudow III, MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )

Monday May 27th, 2013 12:03 PM

The ones that send them to war. You would have thought having gone through the horrors of it themselves in the First World War they would have never done it again.

At least the children who had had to go through the war, those men that had to go through the Hell would never have wanted to send their children into war again, but they did! It doesn't seem to take them long to forget the horrors and Hell of war.

Especially their elders, it's their parents who are to blame, the politicians, militarists and greedy rich. Proud politicians, selfish parents. But I think this younger generation is fed up with the war. They've seen the horrors and heard the wars. Some of them have been through the horror or war already, Vietnam and whatnot. I think that they're just going to flatly refuse to fight, flatly refuse to go to war.

How can a leader be a Christian and order billions to be spent on such nightmare armaments? How can he be a Christian and order boys to the battle? That's what the Pacifists teach, the Quakers teach, that it takes two to make a fight. If you refuse to fight, then your enemy has nothing to fight about and there wouldn't be any wars, if you just flatly refused to fight. The Quakers teach if the enemy wants to take over, let them take over. Give peace chance.



Ted Rudow III, MA



http://tedriii.blogspot.com/

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Espionage Act


Raise the fist.com

Espionage Act

by indybay.org Wed May 22 18:43:20 PDT 2013

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is heading to Capitol Hill , where he's expected to be grilled over the Justice Department's decision to secretly seize the work, home and cellphone records used by almost a hundred reporters and editors at the Associated Press. On Tuesday, Holder defended the move as a necessary step in a criminal probe of leaks of classified information.





The use of the Espionage Act, to essentially silence whistleblowers within the government Kiriakou, Drake and others, although Kiriakou went to jail on pled out on another charge the FISA Amendment Act, which allows for warrantless wiretapping, the National Defense Authorization Act, which allows for the stripping of American citizens of due process and indefinite detention. And it is one more assault in a long series of assault against freedom of information and freedom of the press. And I would also, of course, throw in the persecution of Julian Assange at WikiLeaks and Bradley Manning as part of that process.all of these measures to essentially shut down the freedom of information, including the persecution of Assange and Manning, as symptomatic of a reconfiguration of our society into a totalitarian security and surveillance state,



One where anyone who challenges the official narrative, who digs out cases of torture, war crimes which is, of course, what Manning and Assange presented to the American publics going to be ruthlessly silenced.

Ted Rudow III, MA



























11 million households

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/05/26/18737399.php






11 million households

by Ted Rudow III, MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )

Sunday May 26th, 2013

Nearly 10 and 11 million households now have upside-down mortgages, and for the first time ever, mortgage debt is bigger than the total value of homeowner equity [cash invested]—bigger by $836 billion. Even if a small fraction of these borrowers were to default on their mortgages in the near future, either because of negative shocks to borrowers’ ability to pay or due to strategic defaults, it could result in another sharp decline in home prices and impede the ongoing recovery in the housing market.



Out of those 10 million mortgages that are underwater, about 3 million remain “severely underwater,” which means the initial loan-to-value ratio (LTV) is 125% or more (in other words, the value of the mortgage is at least 25% higher than that of the property). While seriously delinquent mortgages (at least 60 days) have declined, the percentage of loans in foreclosure has remained stubbornly high, at about 10% of underwater mortgages.

They spend money they don’t have and they borrow. Where do they get so much cash? How can they buy such fancy cars and big TVs and all this fancy furniture and all these things they’ve got? How can they afford it? They can’t afford it! They buy it on credit. And they’re all in debt up to their ears. Rich people have borrowed themselves into debts that they can never repay. Poor people the same. Middle class people the same. So if the slightest little thing gets out of balance or goes off in any way, the whole thing crashes like a bunch of dominoes!

Ted Rudow III, MA

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Ruthless silencing attack


Contra Costa Times



eEdition / Subscriber Services

Mobile


Mobile Alerts


RSS









News Photo Galleries



Bay Area

Breaking News

California

Data Center

Education

Elections

Environment

Nation & World

Science

Growth

Politics - Local /State

Politics - National







Publications Contra Costa Times

East County Times

San Ramon Valley Times

Tri-Valley Times

West County Times





Opinion Blogs

Editorials

Letters


Site Web Search by YAHOO!






Peninsula readers' letters: May 24



From Daily News Group readers



mercurynews.com

Posted:   05/23/2013 06:17:14 PM PDT

May 24, 2013 5:41 AM GMTUpdated:   05/23/2013 10:41:01 PM PDT





Ruthless silencing attack



Dear Editor: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is heading to Capitol Hill, where he's expected to be grilled over the Justice Department's decision to secretly seize the work, home and cellphone records used by almost 100 reporters and editors at the Associated Press. On Tuesday, Holder defended the move as a necessary step in a criminal probe of leaks of classified information.



We have the Espionage Act to essentially silence whistleblowers within the government, the FISA Amendment Act to allow for warrantless wiretapping, and the National Defense Authorization Act to strip American citizens of due process and indefinite detention; now we have one more assault in a long series of assaults against freedom of information and freedom of the press.



I would also throw in the persecution of Julian Assange at WikiLeaks and Bradley Manning as part of a process to essentially shut down the freedom of information, as symptomatic of a reconfiguration of our society into a totalitarian security and surveillance state. One where anyone who challenges the official narrative, who digs out cases of torture and war crimes -- which is, of course, what Manning and Assange presented to the American public -- is going to be ruthlessly silenced.



Ted Rudow III,



Palo Alto