Author Archive | D.J. Pangburn

Freedom of Information Act Does Not Apply to ‘Known Anarchists’

By on January 23, 2011 in News 17
G20 Anarchists

Photo: Kashfi Halford (CC)

Site editor’s note: This post from D.J. Pangburn originally appeared on death + taxes.

Mo Karn, alias of a ‘known anarchist,’ filed a Freedom of Information Act requrest with the Richmond, Virginia police.  The department delivered the documents, now they want them back.

Karn (a member of Richmond Copwatch) and others filed under the Freedom of Information Act to learn police procedures during protests, so that they could better plan and coordinate their efforts in direct action.  According to Karn’s (she is a member of the anarchist collective The Wingnut), the group “wanted to get copies of the police protocols so we could know when the police are breaking their own rules.”

Perfectly legal, it would seem. We should all know when police are breaking their own rules or the law.

However, the documents weren’t merely standard police protocols but homeland security and crowd control guides.… Read the rest

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Remembering JFK’s Assasination As A Death of Democracy

By on November 22, 2010 in News 0

KennedySite editor’s note: This post from DJ Pangburn originally appeared on death + taxes:

The Kennedy assassination and the conspiracies surrounding it are imbued with such meaning for Americans because the distortion radiating in waves almost immediately following the spectacle was the aftershock of a system convulsing in its own death.

I do not use the “death” metaphor in regards to the JFK assassination lightly, for death is no light matter. Follow me through the looking glass.

Oliver Stone taught an entire generation to invoke Cicero’s Senate speech when thinking about any event and the official version of such events, through the voice of the character X (based on Fletcher Prouty) in the movie “JFK.” He taught people that the “how and the who” is all scenery for the public, and the real questions are: why?, who benefits?, and who has the power to cover it up? ”Cui bono?” The greatest thing the filmmaker ever did was to question the motives of the men to whom Americans willingly relinquish power.… Read the rest

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A Modest Proposal to Republicans on How to Trim the Budget

By on November 7, 2010 in News 4

Fire PelosiOriginally posted by D. J. Pangburn on death + taxes:

Dear Republicans,

Without a doubt, you will hold up Reagan as a symbol of fiscal responsibility. Bush 41 lost on the economy and tax increases, Clinton balanced the budget by working with Republicans, and it’s common knowledge that Bush 43 grew the national budget to epic proportions in his time in office — most of it on Defense spending. And he did nothing to balance the budget — which, of course, you already know, as evidenced by your new House Budget Committee Chairmen’s comment on how the 2006 elections were a “repudiation of Republicans who strayed from their principles and got soft on spending and government.”

A closer look at Reagan’s economic maneuvers reveals the budget deficit in 1980 (his first year in office) was $1 trillion and in 1988 it was $3 trillion. Why? Tax cuts and increased spending.… Read the rest

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Oil Profits Soar Even In Crippled Economy

By on November 3, 2010 in News 0

Site editor’s note: This post from DJ Pangburn originally appeared on death + taxes.

What a joy it is to see some businesses doing well as the corpse of capitalism slowly re-animates…

ExxonMobilVery few industries bloom in harsh economic times, but the oil and energy industries are doing just fine. Did anyone expect anything less?

Exxon-Mobil reported a 55% surge in third quarter earnings compared to last year. The U.S. oil giant posted $7.4 billion in earnings, which translates to $1.44 per share. It’s annual revenue rose $13 billion to $95.3 billion, much of the credit going to the demand coming out of China attempting to feed its unstoppable economic engines.

In a statement, ExxonMobil chairman Rex Tillerson commented on Exxon-Mobil’s profits:

“Despite continuing economic uncertainty, we had strong quarterly results and continued to advance our robust investment opportunities.”

Royal Dutch Shell’s quarterly earnings also rose significantly, even as the company divests itself of some of their oil-producing facilities in Nigeria.… Read the rest

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Why You Shouldn’t Vote … Ever

By on October 29, 2010 in News 86

Site editor’s note: This post from DJ Pangburn originally appeared on death + taxes.

What to do if you’re courageous enough to admit the Obama administration and Democrats are full of shit and the Tea Party and Republicans are dangerous and stupid?


Barack Obama the messenger

President Barack Obama soared into the public consciousness with a stirring speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He then took Howard Dean’s example and used the power of the Internet to create a fundraising juggernaut for his historic 2008 Presidential run. With a swiftness not seen since JFK’s political ascendancy, Obama became president and claimed broad power to affect “change” across the country. But Kennedy only had to surmount his Irish Catholic background — Barack Obama had to transcend the fact that he is African-American.

But appearances are, in the final analysis, immaterial. Just as a magician uses scenery and sleight-of-hand to divert the audience’s attention, Barack Obama has used his background, intellect, perceived worldliness and powers of speech to distort the reality field, as I call it (to repurpose Steve Jobs’ “reality-distortion field”).… Read the rest

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