The last year and a half of my life has brought about great transformation. Where I used to be a philosophical pessimist bent on arm-chair quarterbacking an ineffective bitch fest, I am now a decided and battle tested foe in the war against American civil liberties, personal privacy and individual freedom. What brought about this change?

Ron Paul.

It was with mixed emotion that I learned of the Ron Paul presidential campaign coming to an official end. On one hand, I have invested so much of my time, blood, sweat and tears as a grassroots activist for his bid for Presidency, and I’m wondering what I can do now that it’s clear that America has made two bad choices. On the other hand, though, I realized quite some time ago that mainstream America was not READY for Ron Paul and that this effort was more about the message than the man or a Presidential seat. It is an effort to steer America off this path of certain financial ruin, to preserve the original intent of our country and to stave off hundreds of powerful elitists that want as much control over mankind as possible.

I have been concerned for some time that this movement of freedom fighters inspired by Ron Paul would fracture into thousands of pieces and eventually and irrevocably be lost until the next great conservative comes along. I was hoping that Ron Paul would steer us in a right direction - a channel to funnel our energy into effectual change based around the principles we love and cherish. Freedom. Peace. Prosperity.

As I have frequently found the case, he and I share consistent concerns. I am happy to announce that Dr. Paul has done it right, yet again. He has announced phase two of his campaign - a much broader and
longer term project - the Campaign for Liberty. Essentially, it is an advocacy group to educate and inform the public, promote our common principles and insure the retention of this amazing network of some of the smartest people in America. There is no doubt there’s something amazing about this group - within 24 hours of the announcement of this new phase, almost 42,000 supporters have joined the new campaign and it’s growing by the minute.  These are numbers that can seriously change things, especially if they are a group that is paying attention, dedicated to the cause, and can focus their energy on the same things at the same time.

If you haven’t done so all ready, please consider joining the campaign. As always, keep learning.

Here’s the official announcement from Ron Paul:

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Something has come to our attention in the US lately…a so-called Trans-National corridor and the formation of what could be called the North American Union (NAU). The mainstream media has largely debunked these ideas as irrelevant conspiracy theories; conjecture by unwarranted kooks. They say the trans-national corridor is simply a highway maintenance project and the NAU, simply unfathomable. Or at least this is what they’d like you to believe.

See, the mainstream media works on the principle that the majority of their viewers will not research the information presented to them…and though this may be true, to a certain degree, I believe we’re in a time where the media is losing their grip on the American people.

After Ron Paul, GOP Presidential candidate, was asked whether he believed in such “conspiracy theories” at the CNN/YouTube debate last month…I took note that many of the organizations involved in said projects changed their public websites and, in one swooping effort, made a point to sweep the idea that there could be a conspiracy under the rug. The word “conspiracy” has been marginalized in our society…it is not often used for it’s true intent; an organized effort towards a common goal. The mainstream media backed this up by running story after story of how kooky people were that believed these things.

Well, I for one am NOT a kook and I’ve seen substantial evidence supporting the existence of such “conspiracies”. This article is by no means a complete documentation of all the available research and you are, of course, encouraged to come to your own conclusions by doing your own research.

As far as the trans-national corridor, you need only watch Canadian television to discover it’s truth:

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Ummmm…wait just a second. What was that? A mid-continent trade corridor, connecting trade markets throughout Canada, the US and Mexico??? Oh, wait, we all know how kooky those Manitoban Legislators are. Who would believe them? Oh, but then there’s the Canamex Corridor Coalition, essentially a lobbyist group for the project, that conveniently removed all mentions of NAFTA from their website after Ron Paul’s debate comments. Oh, wait, and then what’s this…a Mexican company, Cintra Concesiones de Infrastructuras de Transporte, S.A., will be collecting tolls from US citizens that use parts of the freeway?? Hmmmm…looks like there really is a conspiracy.

But what about a North American Union? Lou Dobbs, whom I suppose is a loon too, has reported about it a couple of times. You’d think something like this would be all over the newspapers and television news, but indeed, it wasn’t. Does the question, “Why?” come to mind? There’s a reason for that, too, but it’s outside the scope of this post.

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The phrase “North American Union” is merely a phrase coined to describe similar principles by which the European Union was founded upon, only implemented in North America. It’s precise term is the “Security and Prosperity Partnership” and it’s a formal effort by the countries of North America to create a so-called partnership between the countries.

When one dives deep into the Security and Prosperity Partnership, we find some rather startling facts. While on the surface it might appear like a benign trade agreement…when you realize the scope of the plan and the meaning of their words, it becomes quite apparent that this is an alignment of commerce, military, legislation, regulation and policy. What concerns me most is that neither the Congress or the people voted on this agreement / alignment / union / whatever you call it…it was a private & secret agreement that has been forced down our throats.

The resistance to their plan has been so great, that they’ve taken it upon themselves to put together a myth vs. facts page (archive), where it reads like, “No there is no plan for a NAU,” “No, it won’t infringe on sovereignty,” “No there wasn’t an agreement signed,” no this, no that. It’s quite unimpressive to the inquisitive mind, really. Especially when a click away you can see their latest progress, which clearly shows a discrepancy over many of their supposed “facts” stated on their myths vs. facts page. It’s right out there in the open…an open conspiracy, if you will…that illuminates many additional interests other than just commerce involved in this partnership.

So, it would appear that Ron Paul and the other “kooks” that believe in the existence of this stuff aren’t so crazy after all. We’re just paying attention. I encourage you to look into these things…I believe these issues should be at the forefront of American discussion.

OK, I’ve had enough of reading about people getting tazered by the cops under the most ridiculous of circumstances. Now we have cops killing people with tazers for not speaking English. This needs to stop. This is the third time I’ve had to write about this crap in as many months. (Article one | Article two)

Twenty-four seconds after Canadian police approached Polish immigrant Daniel Dziekanski, police welcomed him to their country by jolting him with a tazer. Minutes later, the man died from the attack. Zofia Cisowski, mother of Daniel, grieves over the loss of her only living family member after spending months saving money to get her son into Canada.

Daniel, seeking a new life in Canada, had spent fifteen hours flying to his new home. As he spoke no English, he had previously arranged to connect with his mother at the airport. He proceeded through post-flight customs and then into a secondary customs check, standard procedure for an immigrant that doesn’t speak English. What happened after that defies explanation.

For ten hours, Dziekanski stayed in the Arrivals Hall trying to connect with his mother. Meanwhile, his mother paced the halls for six hours, trying to locate her son. After repeated attempts by the mother asking airport personnel where her son was, they were unable to locate her son. Eventually, Canadian airport personnel informed Daniel’s mother that he was no longer at the airport. Truth be told, he was probably less than 200 feet away from her. Thanks to nearly impenetrable airport security, the two were unable to see each other and received no assistance from airport security in locating one another.

Daniel, unable to communicate with anyone around him, became increasingly frightened and agitated in the busy Vancouver airport. He became increasingly disoriented and desired only to connect with the familiar, his mother, whom was less than a football field’s length away.

After 10 hours in the airport, police approached Daniel. Exactly what happened in the exchange is not entirely clear, but according to reports, twenty-four seconds after approaching Daniel, the RCMP (police) pulled their tazers in an attempt to disable and handcuff the man. He sustained “a couple shots” from a tazer, lost consciousness moments later and failed to receive medical treatment for at least 12 minutes after the attack. A few minutes later, Daniel died from injuries sustained by the ultra-high voltage tazer gun.

Here’s our security bureaucracy at it’s best - admittedly it’s not in America - but the same kind of thing could happen here just the same. Thanks to zero-tolerance police training and the human immigration process being buried by hundreds of layers of red tape, we have set the stage for killing people, simply because they are unable to speak English. It’s reasonably safe to assume that if the guy could’ve spoken English, the situation would have been quickly diffused, or more likely, never would have occurred.

My heart goes out to Zofia Cisowski, the mother. This never should’ve happened and I grieve for her loss.

What we’re doing here in “the war on terror” is not good. We have to find a better way.

When people find out that I’m an activist and write Congress constantly to share my viewpoints, I am often asked, “What do you write them about?” The answer depends on what I either support or oppose - but usually it’s a combination of facts that I know and an expression of my desires.

A lot of people don’t really know how to write congress or what to say when they’re doing so. You can get contact information for Congress quite easily online - and as far as what to say - whatever’s on your mind and is important to you. You don’t really have to be super eloquent, nor lengthy and you can go through the process of writing “old fashioned” letters, or of course, email, if that’s what you prefer. I choose letters because I like to get paper letters in return…for evidence.

You might be saying to yourself, “I don’t have time to write Congress letters…but I still want to be heard. What can I do?” Well, you can still make a difference. There are many websites promoting online petitions where all you have to do is find what you’re interested in and type your name. These websites have revolutionized the way people communicate with their representatives - it allows a large number of people to get behind a single issue; carrying with it the weight of all the signatory parties.

Since I would like to see more people get active and discover their own voice, I thought it might be helpful to share a number of my favorite letters that I have written. I hope this might inspire others to write their Congress in an effort to share their opinion and perhaps affect change. Just as jury duty is a civic duty and responsibility, so is participating in government and exercising your freedom to voice concerns to that government. This is especially true now that more and more critical legislation is handled by the legislators and never sees the light of a ballot.

For those inspired or interested in the good old fashioned letter writing, this will be a four part series: The first will deal with the potential war on Iran. The second has to do with the Federal Reserve and their decision to stop publishing the M3 data, essentially disguising a large portion of our economy. The third addresses my feeling on Real ID, the new national ID card that will be forced down our throats in 2009. The fourth, and final, covers what I do when I feel like I’m paying too much at the gas pump.

I hope they will both serve to educate and inspire! Happy reading!

April 28th, 2006

The Honorable Cathy McMorris
United States House of Representatives
1708 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4705
(202) 225-2006

Jeff Whiteside
[Contact Informaton Redacted]

Dear Honorable Cathy McMorris,

I would like to express grave concern over the recent stance that our country is taking with the country of Iran. President Bush, Congress and the Department of Defense seem intent on starting World War III. It is quite clear that any action against Iran could bring about great conflict with the countries of Russia and China.

A UN report on November 15th, 2004 stated that all Iranian nuclear materials have been accounted for and there was no evidence of any nuclear weapons program. Reports also say that Iran is “years away from producing nuclear weapons,” yet makes no effort to show they have even begun a nuclear weapons program. Before we go to war with another country, can the American people please have some irrefutable proof that Iran is actually a threat?

Perhaps our government feels that we are ignorant on the subject, but Iran did sign the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty over thirty years ago which provided Iran the right to engage in a nuclear program. The United States also assisted Iran with the necessary education to begin their nuclear program.

The Bush administration has a track record of deceiving the American people about weapons of mass destruction, and it would appear that this latest conflict is no different. Rallying for support of the American people via unjustifiable scare tactics is morally, constitutionally, and fundamentally wrong. I have deep concern over the American policy of going to war based on faulty intelligence, which is effectively creating instability and further exposing America to the risk of terrorist attack.

The populations of Iran, Russia and China outnumber America five to one and starting a conflict with such odds should be a decidedly bad idea. While I do have concern for national security, a war with Iran could severely impact both the security of our nation and the world. I urge you to please help President Bush and Congress to keep a cool head and avoid a war with Iran at all costs.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for any correspondence.

Sincerely,

Jeff Whiteside