http://www.fff.org/ Daily blog by Jacob G. Hornberger, president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. en-us 2006 Tue, 23 May 2006 12:17:00 EST 91 40 http://www.fff.org http://www.fff.org/images/logo.gif fff@fff.org 1 http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-05-15.asp Jacob Hornberger Under ordinary circumstances, accused terrorist Mohammed Qahtani would be pleased that all criminal charges have been dismissed against him, especially since the Pentagon has alleged that he is one of the many "20th hijackers" on 9/11. But these are not ordinary circumstances given that Qahtani is one of the many foreigners mired in the Pentagon's bizarre "judicial" system at Guantanamo Bay.... Thu, 15 May 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-05-14.asp Jacob Hornberger An increasing number of newspaper articles are reflecting that Latino immigrants nationwide are suffering from the U.S. economic downturn. For example, an article in Tuesday's New York Times entitled "A Tenuous Prosperity Lost" stated, ... Wed, 14 May 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-05-12.asp Jacob Hornberger It seems that the mainstream media might finally be coming to realize that the soaring prices of commodities is not so much due to reduced supplies or increases in demand but instead to the enormous fall in the value of the dollar. ... Mon, 12 May 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-05-09.asp Jacob Hornberger The Framers understood the most important point about the nature of government: It constitutes the biggest threat to the freedom and well-being of the citizenry. Unfortunately, it is a point that has been lost among many modern-day Americans, who have come to view government as their friend, protector, provider, and savior.... Fri, 09 May 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-05-08.asp Jacob Hornberger Apparently not having enough to do to keep illegal immigrants from entering the country, U.S. officials are now also spending their time looking for illegal immigrants leaving the country. According to an article entitled Border Busts Coming and Going in the Los Angeles Times, federal customs and immigration officials are setting up random checkpoints 500 yards from the Mexican border to search vehicles leaving the United States for illegal immigrants, drugs, and other contraband. People who cannot produce their papers are taken into custody and then turned over to the Border Patrol, which then deports a few hours later.... Thu, 08 May 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-05-07.asp Jacob Hornberger Americans ought to pay attention to what Cuban President Raul Castro is doing in Cuba because he is providing them with excellent insights into realities about America's economic system.... Wed, 07 May 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-05-06.asp Jacob Hornberger Last February a federal court in Richmond sentenced a Roman Catholic priest, Rodney L. Rodis, to five years in prison for wire fraud and money laundering arising out of his embezzlement of hundreds of thousands of dollars from church coffers. The state of Virginia has now indicted him for the actual theft of the monies.... Tue, 06 May 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-05-05.asp Jacob Hornberger In an editorial published last Saturday, the Washington Post celebrated the killing of a man in Somalia who the Post said "deserved the label of 'evildoer.'" The man was killed when a U.S. Navy ship fired Tomahawk missiles at a Somali home in which the man was apparently located. The Post said that the missile "killed a vicious militia leader and an al-Qaeda operative.".... Mon, 05 May 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-05-02.asp Jacob Hornberger In his new book "Our Man in Mexico: Winston Scott and the Hidden History of the CIA" by Jefferson Morley, a former Washington Post columnist, Morley delves into an interesting and revealing aspect of the John Kennedy assassination.... Fri, 02 May 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-05-01.asp Jacob Hornberger I just finished reading a very interesting book entitled Our Man in Mexico: Winston Scott and the Hidden History of the CIA by Jefferson Morley. The book is a biography of Winston Scott, the head of the CIA's Mexico City office from 1959 to 1969. Morley is a former columnist for the Washington Post whose articles have also appeared in such publications as the New York Review of Books, Reader's Digest, Slate, and Salon.... Thu, 01 May 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-04-30.asp Jacob Hornberger Just as Eastern European and Russian dissidents who opposed the Soviet Empire's tyrannical system are today celebrated as heroes, so it will be with those Americans who have opposed the Pentagon's system at Guantanamo Bay. Among the heroes will be Air Force Col. Morris Davis, who formerly served as the Defense Department's chief prosecutor for terrorism cases.... Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-04-28.asp Jacob Hornberger One of the principle differences between the Pentagon's military-tribunal system and the U.S. federal-court system for prosecuting accused terrorists involves the presumption of innocence. In the federal-court system, the accused is presumed innocent while in the Pentagon's system, the accused is presumed guilty and treated accordingly.... Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-04-25.asp Jacob Hornberger Ever since invading U.S. troops failed to find those infamous WMDs that Saddam was supposedly about to unleash on the United States, U.S. officials have claimed that their primary objective in invading and occupying Iraq, a predominantly Muslim country, has been an altruistic one: They did it out of love and concern for the Iraqi people, nobly sacrificing more than 4,000 U.S. soldiers, countless Iraqis, and billions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer money for the sake of "democracy" and "freedom."... Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-04-24.asp Jacob Hornberger As I have emphasized before, ever since 9/11 the U.S. government has maintained a criminal-justice system that enables it to treat suspected terrorists in two alternative ways: as criminal defendants in federal district court or as unlawful enemy combatants in the Pentagon's military system. It would be difficult to find a better example of denial of equal protection and a violation of the rule of law than this optional, ad hoc, discretionary power to treat accused terrorists in two completely different ways.... Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-04-23.asp Jacob Hornberger Conservatives are reigning supreme in Afghanistan and the United States, especially in their advancement of censorship.... Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-04-22.asp Jacob Hornberger Ecuador's president Rafael Correa may not be long for this world, both in a political sense and in genuine life-or-death sense. He recently fired his defense minister, army chief of intelligence, and commanders of the army, air force, and joint chiefs.... Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-04-21.asp Jacob Hornberger A front-page article in yesterday's New York Times reminds us of the ominous 1961 warning of President Dwight Eisenhower, a warning that unfortunately the American people decided to ignore. Eisenhower wrote:... Mon, 21 Apr 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-04-18.asp Jacob Hornberger While recently appearing as a guest on a radio talk show on the subject of immigration, a listener called to say, "We already have open borders in this country, as evidenced by the 13 million illegal aliens living here in the United States."... Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-04-17.asp Jacob Hornberger Unfortunately, during his private meeting with President Bush yesterday, it doesn't seem that Pope Benedict repeated the sentiments on the president's war on Iraq that he expressed prior to the president's invasion of Iraq five years ago.... Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-04-16.asp Jacob Hornberger Twenty-six CIA agents are scheduled to go on trial today for kidnapping. Unfortunately, all of them will be tried in absentia because the Bush administration, which has long claimed to be against torture, refuses to send the accused kidnappers to Italy, where the prosecution is taking place.... Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-04-15.asp Jacob Hornberger Ironically, the war on drugs has some interesting parallels with the war on terrorism and sometimes integrates with the war on immigrants.... Tue, 15 Apr 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-04-14.asp Jacob Hornberger Uh, oh! It seems as though U.S. official are preparing the mindsets of the American people to accept a new official enemy in Iraq -- Iran.... Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-04-11.asp Jacob Hornberger Uh, oh! There is a big immigration problem occurring in Italy, specifically with Italian food being served in Italian restaurants. You see, it might not be Italian food after all. Why? Well, that's where the immigration problem comes in. It seems that some of the best Italian restaurants in Italy are being run by -- horror! -- immigrants! What in the world could be worse than that, at least from the perspective of Italians who want genuine Italian food served in their Italian restaurants in Italy?... Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:20:00 EST http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-04-10.asp Jacob Hornberger American colleges and universities are discovering that there's a price to be paid for going on the dole: federal control over their activities.... Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:20:00 EST