Entertainer David Lippman Victim of Domestic Spying

Posted on May 6, 2006 | Leave a comment

David Lippman, a musician/actor that tours with his “Shrub” act, has been a victim of U.S. Domestic Spying (see his account below that I received via email). Dave performed here in Salt Lake a few years ago. As the Singing CIA Agent, Dave entertains audiences all over the country with songs like “I Hate Walmart”, Enemy of the Week, Hamburger Hill,Oh Say Can You See?, and The Current Group of Scoundrels.
Dave keeps fans updated with his Shrublog and Shooting from the Lipp.

Dave talked about his experience as being a target of U.S. Domestic Syping on yesterday’s Democracy Now!.

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Friends, I will discuss this legal action today on Democracy Now!, but in the meantime here is the ACLU press release.

FILES SHOW FBI TARGETED FREELANCE JOURNALIST COVERING FTAA MEETINGS IN MIAMI The American Civil Liberties Union Sues the City of Miami Over FTAA Civil Rights Violations FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, May 4, 2006

CONTACTS:
Rosalind Matos, South Florida Staff Counsel, 305-576-2337, ext. 20 Jeanne Baker, Cooperating Attorney for the ACLU, 305-443-1600 Brandon Hensler, Communications Director, 305-576-2337, ext. 16

MIAMIThe American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Greater Miami Chapter, filed a lawsuit today on behalf of freelance journalist David Lippman. Documents obtained by the ACLU indicate that Lippman was under Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) surveillance for being a “kown protestor w/history” as he traveled from his home in North Carolina to Miami to cover the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) protests.

On November 19, 2003, Lippman’s vehicle was searched, seized and damaged by officers from several law enforcement agencies, without probable cause. FBI agents recruited the local officers to break into his vehicle and then, after damaging the vehicle and disturbing the personal possessions he kept within it, to haul away the vehicle and his possessions.
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Climate Change

Posted on May 6, 2006 | Leave a comment

There is evidence that mankind is at fault for accelerated rate of global warming.
For folks who are still sitting on the fence about global warming and climate change, conssider this:

Evidence of climate change

  • Arctic sea ice has shrunk by 2.7 per cent per decade since 1978 and by 7.4 per cent each decade during the summer months.
  • Five of the six warmest years have occurred in the past five years, with 2005 and 1998 being the two warmest years on record.
  • Global average sea levels rose at a rate of about 2mm a year between 1961-2003, and by an average of more than 3mm a year between 1993-2003.
  • Mountain glaciers and polar land ice have in general melted faster than they have formed over the past 40 years.
  • Permafrost temperatures have increased on average and the area covered by seasonally frozen ground has decreased by about 7 per cent over the past 50 years.

    Read more on this issue at The Independent.

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    Today in history

    Posted on May 6, 2006 | Leave a comment

    May 6

    1916
    Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman started the No Conscription League in the U.S. This was prior to American troops’ being sent to Europe in what is known as World War I.
    Read the No-Conscription League Manifesto


    Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman

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    Photo of me and Carmen

    Posted on May 5, 2006 | 2 comments

    Carmen called me today and said she was off work early and she’d like to come visit. So she did! We had a great talk.

    Here is Carmen with me today in front of my house:

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    Nuclear Waste in Utah

    Posted on May 5, 2006 | Leave a comment

    Here are some recent articles on the nuclear waste issue in Utah:

  • Senators Hatch and Bennett are asking the BLM to prevent Private Fuel Storage from building the transfer facility.
  • The BLM has received more than 4,350 mostly negative letters, e-mails, postcards and faxes as it considers whether to grant access across public land to the nuclear waste storage facility in Utah.
  • LDS Church Issues Statement on Nuclear Waste here,
    here, and here.

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    Today in history

    Posted on May 5, 2006 | Leave a comment

    May 5


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    Scare today

    Posted on May 4, 2006 | Leave a comment

    I got a call that Carmen was in the E.R. today with horrible abdominal pain. Of course I thought the worse about the baby.

    The baby is fine, though. It appears the Carmen has a cyst on her ovary (this is the week for ovarian cysts in my family!) that is causing her pain. It’s really tiny and she’s been told she will just have to put up with it until after the baby is born. Poor thing!

    The good news is that it has been determined through an ultrasound at the E.R. that Carmen is 6 weeks 4 days along and while the heartbeat couldn’t yet be detected, it could be seen – amazing! The aniticipated due date is December 24! What a holiday it will be!

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    Speaking of health issues….

    Posted on May 4, 2006 | Leave a comment

    ….The Deseret News has an article this morning about the American Lung Association’s report on Salt Lake Metro Area being the 5th highest in the nation in terms of a particular kind of air pollution.

    The lung association’s “State of the Air: 2006” report gives Utah failing marks concerning the finest particle pollutants, for short periods of high pollution levels.

    The article quotes the director of the Utah Division of Air Quality as disputing that report but admitting that Utahns do have health problems associated with the pollution here. He stated that the report card’s implementation is “uniformly despised” by air quality directors across the country “because of its unscientific criteria it uses.”

    The EPA is proposing new rules for standards that would expose even higher levels of pollution, according to the article. The article does not address what measures should or will be put into place to address this issue.

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    Utah’s Uninsured Population Rising

    Posted on May 4, 2006 | Leave a comment

    Residents in Utah without health insurance increased by 40,000 in one year.

    The ranks of Utah’s uninsured grew by 1 percent between 2004 and 2005, according to a recently released report from the Utah Department of Health.

    There are about 300,000 Utahns without health insurance and 46 million Americans. The latter figure includes about 8 million children. According to the Deseret News article quoted above, Gov. Jon Huntsman has created a working group to study this issue and address the root cause of the alarming fact that so many of us are without health insurance.

    I have been without health insurance for most of the last decade, so I can speak from personal experience to this issue.

    The “root” cause is the profit-making corporate nature of health insurance companies and health care providers, including hospitals and nursing homes.

    Health care is a basic human right. It is addressed and provided for in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document which the U.S. became a signatory in 1948. To wit:

    Article 25.

    (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

    There is no humane reason why so many Americans, and worldwide citizens for that matter, should suffer as a result of not being able to afford health care. It’s a basic human right.

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    Earth Day and Charity Buzz

    Posted on May 4, 2006 | Leave a comment

    The Earth Day Network is the offical earth day organization that promotes Earth Day each year and provides tons of resources to advocate for a healtheir environment.

    EDN is participating in “Charity Buzz” through May 9 in the Third Annual Chevy Chase Earth Day Auction for Healthy Kids, Smart Kids. It’s an online auction where you bid for special rendevous’ with celebrities in whatever it is they are offering. For example, auctioneers can bid on:

  • cooking with Chevy Cahse and his wife
  • playing tennis with Chris Everett
  • a portrait of you painted by Peter Max
  • VIP Tickets and backstage passes to any Dave Matthews Band Concert in the Summer 2006 Tour
  • San Francisco Healthy Foods Trip with Ann Cooper, Chez Panisee and Millenium Restaurant
  • Internship with Tree Hugger.com
  • Luxury travel packages to your favorite destinations: Beverly Hills, Disneyland, African Safari, Costa Rica, New Orleans.
  • And memorabilia from your favorite celebrities: Sir Paul McCartney, Ed Norton, Muhammud Ali, Larry David, Anna Kournikova, and James Blake…

    There are 65 auctions. Charity Buzz is an organize that helps nonprofits prosper by using innovative branding and fund raising strategies.

    You can read more about their principles at:CharityBuzz About us.

    Here is a “snippet” from that page:
    Founded by Coppy Holzman, a recognized pioneer in e-commerce trends, online cause marketing and a senior retail executive with the best brands in the business for over 25 years, the charitybuzz brand embraces the following core principles:

    (only one ishighlighted here)

    We have a social conscience. We strive to present relevant observations and encourage political and social discourse. We will attempt to be non partisan but know that we can never stand on the sidelines regarding the critical social issues of the day. Well placed passion is a virtue and engaged dialogue is a catalyst for positive social and political change.

    It looks like you probably have to be willing to spend some significant bucks for this, but if one has that, it looks like a good thing to do for an organization that helps so many of us around the world plan and implement earth day events and educational activities.

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