ETERNAL VIGILANCE

America's Spy Software Scandal, Courtesy of the U.S. Department of Justice
by Michelle Malkin (July 9, 2003)

Summary: Inslaw deserves to be compensated. More importantly, the American people deserve to know the truth: Did government greed and bureaucratic hubris lead to a wholesale sellout of our national security?

[www.CapitalismMagazine.com] Did Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden have access to a U.S. computer tracking program that enabled them to monitor our intelligence-gathering efforts and financial transactions? If so, who is responsible for allowing the program to fall into their hands? And who else among America's enemies might have access to the tracking system?

It's an explosive spy software scandal that no one in official Washington wants to investigate.

This complex, tangled story began two decades ago, when a tiny private company called Inslaw Inc. developed a software package to help U.S. attorneys' offices in large urban districts keep tabs on their criminal prosecutors' caseloads. The program, dubbed the Prosecutor's Management Information System (PROMIS), was effective and popular. It allowed a prosecutor to locate defendants and witnesses, track motions and monitor ongoing investigations. In 1982, Inslaw won a large Justice Department contract to implement the system nationwide.

In the meantime, Inslaw also developed privately owned enhancements to PROMIS. Despite contractual guarantees of Inslaw's proprietary rights to the enhanced version of PROMIS, the Justice Department essentially commandeered the improved program for its own uses without paying for it. Inslaw was forced into bankruptcy and began an endless fight with the Justice Department to recoup its losses.

In the course of their court battles, Inslaw founder Bill Hamilton and his wife innocently stumbled upon shocking national security revelations. Former Attorney General Ed Meese, the Hamiltons concluded, had conspired to force Inslaw into bankruptcy so that an old Meese crony, California businessman Earl Brian, could take over the company's assets. The Hamiltons obtained information through sworn affidavits of several individuals that suggested Meese, Brian, high-ranking Justice Department official Peter Videnieks and others wanted to modify and distribute the enhanced PROMIS software with "back-door" capabilities for covert intelligence operations.

Sound preposterous?

In 1987, a federal judge blasted the Justice Department for stealing PROMIS. The government, Judge George Bason said, stole Inslaw's software through "trickery, fraud, and deceit" with "contempt for both the law and any principle of fair dealing." The House Judiciary Committee also found in 1992 that there was "strong evidence" the Justice Department had conspired to steal the PROMIS program. An internal Justice Department memo made public by the committee revealed that the Justice Department had secretly turned over a copy of PROMIS to the Israeli government.

An extensive four-part series by Insight magazine reporter Kelly Patricia O'Meara retraced a lengthy investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police two years ago, which "uncovered a network involving friend and foe alike that may be using PROMIS and systems like it for a variety of illegal activities worldwide."

In June 2001, Jerry Seper of The Washington Times reported that former FBI agent and convicted spy Robert Hanssen sold an enhanced version of PROMIS for $2 million to Russian crime figures, who in turn are suspected of selling a black-market version of it to Osama bin Laden.

More recently, the International Currency Review, a London-based financial newsletter, reportedly obtained Iraqi intelligence documents alleging that PROMIS came into Saddam Hussein's possession under the Bush I administration. The publication's editor says the documents were owned by Hussein's half-brother, Barzan al Takriti.

And last week, British news outlets suggested that the resignation of top Bush terrorism intelligence official Paul Redmond was tied to his investigation of Hanssen and the PROMIS theft. The Department of Homeland Security claims that Redmond, a legendary spy catcher who came out of retirement to take the Bush administration position and had served only three months, left for "health reasons."

The odor of a cover-up is unmistakable. To this day, the Justice Department, FBI and other government agencies continue to insist that they have never possessed or used any pirated version of PROMIS. Career Justice officials who oversaw the theft of the Hamiltons' software program in the 1980s remain in place today. And according to my sources, the 9-11 Commission created by President Bush has declined to investigate this spy software fiasco and its possible role in facilitating the terrorist attacks on America.

Inslaw deserves to be compensated. More importantly, the American people deserve to know the truth: Did government greed and bureaucratic hubris lead to a wholesale sellout of our national security? The Bush White House's credibility is on the line.



About the Author: Malkin is a graduate of Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. She lives with her husband in North Bethesda, Md.

Sigma Chi party outrages Latinos

by Aaron Levine
September 17, 2003

Members of the (Duke) University's Latino community are furious over Sigma Chi fraternity's "Viva Mexico" party, held last Saturday night.

The concerned students and faculty said they see the party--which included invitations in the form of expired green cards and a "border control" at the door--as derogatory towards Mexicans and Latinos, and as a continuing example of how Latinos are marginalized on campus and beyond.

"It isn't just this one weekend; it isn't just Sigma Chi. I've been here three years and this is the straw that broke the camel's back," said Omar Rashid, a joint-MDJD candidate and president of the Duke Hispanic/Latino Law Student Association.

To some, the party seemed innocent and well-intentioned.

In an e-mail, Sigma Chi president Marc Mattioli wrote that the event was "designed to be a light-hearted representation of the Mexican tourism scene." Still, Mattioli said his fraternity takes responsibility for its actions.

"We are fully aware that mistakes were made in the presentation of our party and we are taking steps internally to make sure that this situation does not arise again," he wrote. "We are very apologetic to the Latino community at Duke and any others that found offense in our actions."

Sandra Sanchez, president of Lambda Pi Chi sorority, said that she had not spoken with anyone from Sigma Chi, but felt that whatever their reasoning, certain respectful decisions should have been made.

"Even if [the party] were meant to be fun, they should have thought about the consequences," Sanchez said.

This is not the first time that Latino students have spoken out against social events they viewed as belittling to the Latino community. In October 1994, members of Mi Gente requested that Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and Pi Beta Phi sorority change the name of its annual "South of the Border" mixer, noting that the name of the event used derogatory stereotypes.

Sanchez said she hoped the Latino community would make a formal request to have Sigma Chi held responsible in the greek system. "They should be held accountable for their acts and how they portray greek life," she said.

Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, said that bad judgment on the part of Sigma Chi did not necessarily warrant a judicial response.

"Being stupid is not necessarily a violation," he said.

Moneta added that his office is reviewing its own registration process so it can ask better questions to avoid registering events that could be inappropriate. "We have to be able to anticipate when events could be controversial or inappropriate and use our advisory role to help. We don't want to strong-arm students," Moneta said.

Although he pointed out that his staff was not aware that some ideas for the party had grown more offensive, Moneta said, "If we had pointed out to Sigma Chi that this event could have been [deemed] inappropriate, they would have changed [the event]."

Latino community members met Monday to decide what actions to take in response to the party, and wrote a letter to the editor of The Chronicle, which runs today on page 14.

Rumors have circulated since the party about the existence of a fraternity-sanctioned and -sold tee-shirt that represented Mexicans in a derogatory manner. The rumor was discredited, although the idea had been discussed among Sigma Chi members, eventually being struck down in favor of a dancing jalapeño holding a bottle, fraternity officials said.

"As a Latino and first generation American, I am even more disheartened by the ramifications of our party," Mattioli said. "I feel that I have let down members of both the Latino and greek communities. Nonetheless, I think my own actions and the actions of Sigma Chi in general will show this to be a momentary lapse in judgment and not a true indication of the values of our members."

Mattioli also sent a note to Mi Gente co-president Sara Hudson, who said she appreciated the gesture.

"There isn't a personal vendetta with Sigma Chi... people really do want to talk to them," Hudson said.

Hudson stressed the importance of open discussion in developing a greater understanding of the Latino community.

"The ignorance is where people don't see [the party] as an issue, [while] many people do see this as an issue. That's where you really need the discussion," she said. "People don't see how this is really important."

Hudson added that a Mi Gente meeting, open to all members of the community, is scheduled for this coming weekend, and the party and its ramifications will likely be addressed.

Todd Adams, assistant dean for greek life, said the chapter recognizes the event was planned with poor judgment, and that it does not reflect on the brotherhood itself.

"As a Duke greek community we are committed to creating dialogue and community as a whole," Adams said, pointing to the various multicultural- and diversity-themed programming greek organizations plan regularly. "It reminds us that we have a lot more work to do on behalf of a genuinely accepting campus environment."

The Slow Awakening of George W.

by Patrick J. Buchanan
September 17, 2003

© 2003 Creators Syndicate, Inc.


Last July, U.S. Trade Representative Bob Zoellick delivered a halftime pep talk to dispirited globalists, thrown on the defensive by the hemorrhaging of U.S. manufacturing jobs.

"What ... a surprise," Zoellick railed at his troops, "to see that the proponents of [free trade] ... have so often abandoned the debate to the economic isolationists and purveyors of fright and retreat."

But by September, Zoellick's own boss seemed to be drifting toward the camp of the "economic isolationists and purveyors of fright."

At a rally in Ohio, which has lost 160,000 manufacturing jobs since mid-2000, President Bush railed: "We've lost thousands of manufacturing jobs because production moved overseas. ... America must send a message overseas – say, look, we expect there to be a fair playing field when it comes to trade."

Yes, friends, at long last, we have their attention.

What's behind this radically revised presidential rhetoric? It is this: U.S. manufacturing jobs are vanishing, and unless he turns it around, Bush's presidency may vanish along with them.

The numbers are breathtaking. Manufacturing jobs have been disappearing for 37 straight months. Not since the Depression have we lost production jobs three years in a row. Since 2000, one in every six manufacturing jobs, 2.7 million, has disappeared. These jobs paid an average wage of $54,000.

Unfortunately for President Bush, while he has a good heart, he was horribly miseducated at Harvard. He simply cannot comprehend that it is free-trade globalism that is destroying U.S. manufacturing jobs, and may yet destroy his presidency.

The serial killer of manufacturing jobs is imports, which are now equal to almost 15 percent of GDP, four times the level they held between 1860 and 1960. What has caused this flood of imports? The trade deals that people like Robert Zoellick negotiate and George W. Bush celebrates.

Consider the numbers.

In July alone, the United States exported $86.1 billion in goods and services. But we imported $126.5 billion, for a trade deficit of $40.4 billion. The total trade deficit for 2003 is estimated at between $480 billion and $500 billion. But the deficit in goods will run closer to $550 billion.

The president's father and Bill Clinton contended that every $1 billion in exports created 20,000 jobs. Thus, a $550 billion trade deficit kills 11 million production and manufacturing jobs.

Say goodbye to blue-collar America.

What is the Bush prescription for curing this metastasizing cancer? In Ohio, he declared, "See, we in America believe we can compete with anybody, just so long as the rules are fair, and we intend to keep the rules fair."

How, Mr. President?

Consider the nation that runs the largest trade surplus with us. In July, we bought $13.4 billion in goods from China and sold China $2.1 billion. U.S. imports from China this year should come in around $160 billion, and U.S. exports to China at $25 billion.

We will thus buy 10 percent of the entire GDP of China, while she buys 0.25 percent of the GDP of the United States. Is this "fair trade"? But how does Bush propose to close this exploding deficit? How can he?

Where a U.S. manufacturing worker may cost $53,000 a year, a factory in China – with $53,000 and using the same machinery and technology as a U.S. factory – can employ 25 reliable, intelligent, hardworking Chinese at $1 an hour.

If you force U.S. businessmen to pay kids who sweep the floor a $5-an-hour minimum wage, while their rivals pay highly skilled Chinese workers $1 an hour, how do you square that with the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection of the laws?

Does the president, when he goes on about keeping "the rules fair," mean he will insist that China start paying its skilled workers $25 an hour and subject their factories to the same payroll taxes, wage-and-hour laws, OSHA inspections and environmental rules as ours?

Beijing will tell him to go fly a kite, Made in China.

It is absurd to think we can force foreign nations to accept U.S. rules and regulations on production and American standards on wages and benefits. And why should foreign nations comply, when – with their present policies and laws – they are looting our industrial base and walking away with our inheritance?

The men who have custody today of what was once the most awesome manufacturing base the world had ever seen are ideologues, impervious to argument or evidence. Like the socialists of Eastern Europe, zealots like Zoellick are beyond retraining. They are uneducable. They have to go. The sooner they do, the sooner we can get about rebuilding the self-sufficient and sovereign America they gave away.

INSIDE THE AMERICAN NEW WORLD ORDER SYSTEM
September 7, 2002
By S.R. Shearer

"... Nichts ist schwerer und nichts erfordert mehr Charakter, als sich in offenem Gegensatz zu seiner Zeit zu befinden und laut zu sagen: Nein!"

[Nothing is more difficult, and nothing requires more character than to find oneself in open opposition to one's time (and those one loves) and to say loudly: No!]

- Kurt Tucholsky, Germany, 1934

[A good deal of the information for this article was derived from Michael Parenti's insightful book, Against Empire, published by City Lights Books in San Francisco. Please see www.citylights.com for a listing of Parenti's other books and articles. ]

AMERICA
I SIT A QUEEN!

Rev. 18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I SIT A QUEEN, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

INTRODUCTION

The Bible speaks of a great "Latter Day" nation that shall rise up at the "end of the age;" a nation that will glorify herself as a dazzlingly beautiful QUEEN (Rev. 18:7), but a nation that the Bible says is -

"... DREADFUL and TERRIBLE, and STRONG EXCEEDINGLY with great iron teeth: that DEVOURS and BRAKES IN PIECES, and stamps the residue (i.e., those who remain) with its feet ..." (Daniel 7:7)

Isaiah describes this nation as an "OVERFLOWING SCOURGE" (Is. 28:18) - and the Bible goes on to say that this "BEAST-NATION" (Dan. 7:7) will gain mastery over the entire earth and establish a ONE-WORLD EMPIRE that will bring ruin and poverty to the peoples and nations of the world. [For a detailed Scriptural identification of this great "Latter Day" nation, please see our article, "In Search of Babylon What Does the Bible Say?"]

WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT HERE?

A one-world empire that will dominate the earth and bring it under its control? - one that the Bible says will be "DREADFUL!" "TERRIBLE!" "STRONG EXCEEDINGLY!" - and one that "DEVOURS" and "BRAKES IN PIECES!" What nation is that? - Mozambique? Zambia? Costa Rica? The answer is obvious to anyone outside American Christian circles, proving once again that -

"... the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light." (Luke 16:8)

Come on now, can there be any doubt that it's America? What other nation today can even come close to such a description? For example, Thomas Donnelly, Deputy Executive Director of the Project for the New American Century, writing for the magazine, Foreign Affairs [a CFR publication], writes:

"THE FACT OF A (ONE-WORLD) AMERICAN EMPIRE IS HARDLY DEBATED THESE DAYS. Even those who fear and oppose it - in this country, the libertarian right and the remnants of the new left; abroad, a variety of voices from Paris to Baghdad to Beijing - define international politics almost entirely in relation to U.S. power, and especially U.S. military power. The 'unipolar moment' has become a unipolar decade and, with a little effort and a little wisdom, it COULD LAST MUCH LONGER."

[Please see our article, "The New American Imperialism."]

WHAT DO WE MEAN WHEN WE SPEAK OF EMPIRES?

The word "empire" is derived from the word "imperialism," which Michael Parenti describes as -

"... a process whereby the dominant politico-economic interests of one nation EXPROPRIATE for their own enrichment the land, labor, raw materials, and markets of another people."

Think about that! - imperialism is the process whereby one nation ROBS, LOOTS, STEALS, and PILLAGES the land, labor, raw materials, and markets of another nation. And isn't that exactly what America is doing in Nicaragua, Brazil, Costa Rica, Argentina, Angola, Nigeria, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, ad nauseum? That's certainly what the great majority of people in those nations think - but I suppose they're all wrong, and Americans are right in thinking that they are only being "little angels" in these countries - and that the only purpose their multinational corporations are there for is to "uplift" these people economically and bring them "the blessings of democracy?" If you think that, I have a life-time membership in the Flat Earth Society I would like to sell you!

[Please see our article, "The American Empire: The Corporate/Pentagon/CIA/Missionary Archipelago."]

Moreover, the form of imperialism that the United States practices today is a particularly vile and cruel kind - "CAPITALIST IMPERIALISM." Parenti explains:

"Imperialism (itself) is older than capitalism. The Persian, Macedonian, Roman, and Mongol empires all existed centuries before the ... Rockefellers (and the DuPonts). Emperors and conquistadors were interested mostly in plunder and tribute, gold and glory ...

"Capitalist imperialism differs from these earlier forms in the way it SYSTEMATICALLY accumulates capital through the ORGANIZED exploitation of labor and the penetration of overseas markets. Capitalist imperialism invests in other countries, dominating their economies, cultures, and political life, and integrating (their) structures into an international system of CAPITAL ACCUMULATION."

GETTING BEYOND PAVLOV

Unfortunately, when most Christians hear the words "IMPERIALISM" and "CAPITALISM" employed in this kind of pejorative sense, they immediately reject all talk connected to these concepts as nothing more than "socialist blather," and that's the end of it insofar as they are concerned! - AND THAT KIND OF RESPONSE BY MOST CHRISTIANS IS NO ACCIDENT!

The fact is, American Christians have been carefully trained by their religious leaders (most of whom are little more than boot-lickers to the economic Right - fawners and toadies to the rich like D. James Kennedy, Robert Schueller, Tim LaHaye, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Charles Stanley, etc.) - to react precisely in this kind of unthinking manner; and so much so that over the years their reaction has become almost PAVLOVIAN!

But maybe Christians had better get beyond such Pavlovian responses, recognize the possibility that they have been cynically "PROGRAMMED" to react in this fashion, and seriously consider the question why they've been trained to respond in this way: That maybe - just maybe - they've been TRICKED to act as unthinking flunkies to the economic elites in COMPLETE CONTRAVENTION to the teachings of the New Testament. It's something to think about! - after all, the Bible says concerning the rich (i.e., the economic elites):

"... THEY THAT WILL BE RICH FALL INTO TEMPTATION AND A SNARE, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which DROWN MEN IN DESTRUCTION AND PERDITION.

"For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." (1 Tim. 6:9-10)

SANCTIFYING GREED AS A MORAL IMPERATIVE

TRICKED! - that's exactly what has happened to Christians in this country! - they've been "programmed" as sycophants to the elites! They've been suckered into the perverse notion that spiritual success with God can be measured by the material things they possess, and in "buying off" on that notion, American Christians have somehow or other "bought into" a belief system purveyed by the elites THAT HALLOWS THE HUMAN QUEST FOR PROSPERITY, AND SANCTIFIES GREED AS A MORAL IMPERATIVE.

[Please see our article, "Capitalism And Christianity."]

Of course, it isn't as if the Scriptures had not anticipated this condition of things at the "end of the age" - i.e., this perverse alliance between the church and the elites of this world. It has - in the figure of a woman (the church) riding a beast (the state; specifically, the economic elites of America's "New World Order System"). [Please see Chapter 15 of the Antipas Papers, "The Woman Of Revelation 17."]

A WOMAN RIDING A BEAST AND CEASELESSLY SEARCHING OUT THE WORLD FOR WAYS, as Parenti puts it, FOR "MAKING ... MONEY IN ORDER TO MAKE STILL MORE MONEY" - that's what the "end of the age" is all about. If you once understand that, you are close to understanding everything there is to know about the "end of days."

THE UNHOLY TRINITY

At the very heart of America's New World Order System is the unholy trinity of (1) the World Bank, (2) the World Trade Organization (WTO - i.e., the GATT system) and (3) the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - ALL AMERICAN-CONTROLLED INSTITUTIONS DESPITE THEIR INTERNATIONALIST FACADE.

OF COURSE, LURKING IN THE BACKGROUND IS THE UBIQUITOUS AND LOOMING PRESENCE OF THE U.S. MILITARY READY TO POUNCE ON ANY NATION OR GROUP OF NATIONS FOOLISH ENOUGH TO CHALLENGE THE AUTHORITY OF THESE GLOBALIST INSTITUTIONS

It is precisely this "coterie of pernicious institutions" - i.e., the World Bank, the WTO, and the IMF (backed up, of course, by the guns of the American military) - that creates and maintains the economic environment necessary to make the American New World Order System work.

THE RACKET THAT UNDERGIRDS
THE NEW WORLD ORDER SYSTEM

The "RACKET" - and that's exactly what it is - that this system is based upon approximates the same kind of loan-sharking racket redevelopment agencies use to get control of properties slated for genteel, yuppie-land "redevelopment" projects in places like Georgetown in Washington D.C., or business redevelopment projects in Manhattan; for instance, in Lower Manhattan where the World Trade Center was built.

The first part of this kind of "redevelopment" scheme entails, naturally enough, getting control of the property slated for "redevelopment" by evicting or dispossessing the current owners. Often this involves sending in unscrupulous loan sharks offering residents money in the form of loans - loans that most of these people would never qualify for in a million years. Once the residents "buy off" on these loans, they're hooked.

Inevitably - because of their poverty - most of them begin falling behind on their payments. Now under most conditions, one would think that this is not something the banks would want - but in this case, that's EXACTLY what they want. The banks will then offer to refinance the loans - at higher interest rates, of course - and while this eliminates the immediate pressure on the borrowers, it inevitably leads to greater pressure down the road - until, finally, they are forced into DEFAULT, at which time the bank seizes the property and evicts the occupants.

THE RACKET AS IT IS APPLIED
TO "HOOK" THE THIRD WORLD

In the 1970s and early '80s a loan racket analogous to the one described above was pressed on Third World countries by private American banks like Citibank, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Morgan, Chase, etc. So massive was the effort that when finance ministers of these various nations occasionally met in Washington D.C. for conferences, they were literally accosted on the street by loan hawkers from one bank or another. Indeed, on the short walk between the Shoreham and Sheraton hotels the finance minister from one poor Latin American republic was stopped by five separate loan officers all hawking loans at high interest rates for projects of dubious value. One former Latin American minister of finance recalls how -

[Please see our article, "Globalism, Free Trade, Illuminism & The 'Interantional Moneyed Elite'."]

"... the bankers tried to corner me at conferences to offer me loans. They wouldn’t leave me alone ... It’s terribly tempting to borrow money ..."

THE TRAP IS SPRUNG - ENTER THE WORLD BANK

By the mid-'80s most of the Third World nations that had accepted these loans were beginning to reach a point where they were in danger of default. It's then that the private banks passed the baton to the World Bank (the first member of the "unholy trinity" in America's New World Order System), AND THE TRAP WAS SPRUNG! - and it was a very elegant trap indeed.

The World Bank offered to loan money to "bail out" the Third World. Now one needs to be clear here about what these loans by the World Bank to the debtor nations were (are) really all about. To hear the mainstream press tell it, one would think that the money being loaned is going to help the poor in these countries. NOT SO! The money is being loaned so that the various debtor nations can continue to service the "INTEREST" on their original loans from the PRIVATE banks that loaned the money in the first place.

So it's NOT the poor in these countries that are benefiting from the money loaned by the World Bank, but the PRIVATE BANKS - Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citibank, Morgan, etc. - AND THE EXTENT TO WHICH THESE PRIVATE BANKS ARE BENEFITING IS ENOUGH TO TAKE ONE'S BREATH AWAY! The interest on the loans coupled with the "conditions of repayment" are structured in such a way that the original amount borrowed is paid back over and over and over again. It's like borrowing money from the Mafia. One never gets out from under the crushing burden of these loans. Naturally, the private banks love it - IT IS A