I never thought I would join the Army ...
Mood:  not sure
Now Playing: By Army Spc. Marc Hall
Topic: WAR
By Army Spc. Marc Hall
February 20, 1010

*"I was made to train without a weapon due to the song and my ongoing
counseling. However, during that time...I felt a surprising sense of peace
for the first time."*

I never thought that I would join the Army only to one day be incarcerated
by the Army. I have never been to jail in my life, until now. The Army is
charging me with Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice,
?communicating threats? towards my chain of command. Yet I was only
communicating how I felt about what I have experienced in the Army and how I
felt about the Army?s ?Stop-loss? policy. That policy meant that I could not
leave the Army when I was supposed to, and after I had already served in
Iraq for 14 months.

I guess this all started with a hard core ?rap? song I made about the Army?s
very unpopular ?Stop-loss? policy back in July 2009. Like any ?rap? or rock
song, I was expressing my freedom of expression under the US Constitution.
Being that the Army?s ?Stop-loss? policy was a Pentagon decision from what I
had heard on the news, I decided to send a copy of my song directly to the
Pentagon.

I don?t know if anyone at the Pentagon listened to my song, but somebody in
Washington DC mailed the package back to my chain of command. My First
Sergeant called me into his office to discuss it. I explained that the rap
was a freedom of expression thing. It was not a physical threat, nor any
kind of threat whatsoever. I explained that it was just hip hop. He told me
that he kind of liked the song, that it sounded good.

1st Sgt Chrysler and Capt Cross, our company commander at B-CO 2-7 IN [Bravo
Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment] at that time, just
recommended me for mental counseling and evaluation. I attended mental
counseling at the behavioral health clinic on Ft. Stewart from late July
2009 through November 2009. I had about four visits to the clinic, but I
couldn?t attend all the appointments because we were always training in the
field. In the end this counseling still left me feeling the same way about
Army life, ?stop-loss? and war in general.

I spoke to our chaplain and told him my feelings, including all of the
domestic things I had gone through with my estranged spouse and my
three-year-old daughter over the last four years. I let him hear the
?Stop-loss? song and I explained that he shouldn?t take anything in the song
personally. He said he liked the song but wished it was not ?gangster?.

[image: marc hall]Later, when we trained in the field in Georgia and at the
National Training Center (NTC) in California, I was made to train without a
weapon due to the song and my ongoing counseling. However, during that time
of training without a weapon I felt a surprising sense of peace for the
first time.

At NTC, in October 2009, I spoke again to our chaplain after attending
services one night. I explained to him how I still felt hurt by the Army
policies. He replied that my chain of command had already ?forgiven? me
about the song. But that didn?t really help me with what I was going through
and trying to deal with.

After we came back from NTC, in November 2009, I got to go on leave. I
thought maybe two weeks leave would do me some good. But during my leave,
from November 21 to December 7, a deep depression sunk into me. I just
wanted to be alone. I did not want to be around people. I stayed at home
alone. My friends and family were worried that I had turned my phone off. I
did not feel like talking to people. I barely made it to my mother?s house
for Thanksgiving. I thought about all the depressing things that brought me
to this state of mind. I thought about how it all pertained to war. I
thought about the times I spoke to the chaplain at basic training at Ft.
Knox, and the legal assistant at Ft. Stewart, about my divorce and the
safety of my daughter and my rights as a father, and how neither of them
could help me. I thought about ?Stop-loss? more and more. I started drinking
hard every day to help me forget the hurt and pain I was feeling. I thought
about how war brought me to this war, and the war I would have to face to
remove myself from the presence of war in order to keep my sanity.

When I returned to Ft. Stewart, on December 7, 2009, I really felt from that
point on that I did not belong there. I realized that I was not fit for war
anymore. I was burnt out and war was the cause of it. I was feeling a little
unstable and shaky and I didn?t know what to do about it. The very thought
of holding and being around a loaded weapon again gave me the chills. I did
not know who my enemies were anymore.

About a week later I spoke to my commanding officer, Captain Wynn of F-CO
BSB, about how I am still feeling. I explained to him that I felt a little
unstable, angry and depressed about war and how unfit I was for war. I said
I did not want to get anybody hurt in this war?being that my battle buddies
might have to depend on me. I did not want to be a misfortune to anybody. I
explained that I had made an official I.G. complaint (with the Army
Investigator General) about the treatment I felt I had not received from my
last visit to behavioral health, and the unfair treatment and words that
came from my direct NCOs. Behavioral health just rushed me out the door and
left all decisions up to my chain of command to decide if I was fit or not.

I know my behavior health treatments were pushed aside so that 2-7 IN could
have more bodies for this deployment. I believe that this was not fair to
me, and it?s not fair to my battle buddies to put a troubled solder on the
battlefield knowing that I still have issues.

Capt. Wynn got me in to speak to the Lt. Colonel about my mental state. I
tried to explain about the indirect way I might hurt other soldiers in
uniform due to how I was burnt out. But he took it as a threat, basically
read me my rights, and put me in the Liberty County Jail in Hinesville,
Georgia.

I realize now how going to war can bring unwanted results. Now I sit in jail
at the hands and mercy of our US Government vs. little old Marc A. Hall on a
charge that was not a threat before, but all of a sudden became a threat
now. I communicated an extended need for mental evaluation?not a threat.

The negative sworn statements used to jail me are false. One of the Soldiers
who wrote a negative statement told me that same day that he did so because
he thought it was a way to ?help me out? as he knew what I was going
through. Another Soldier who wrote a statement said that I was ?his hero?
because I stood up for what I believed. These negative statements were also
the results of jokes that my battle buddies said about me?and I had played
along with them at the time when the jokes were presented?while passing long
boring hours at the NTC in California. I do appreciate the ?help? guys, but
the Army is now saying that talk were real threats, and now they have me in
confinement awaiting court martial.

I have to say that I have never been so humiliated in my entire life. I?m in
jail with and next to people who have committed real crimes, including
murder. And I?m in here for trying to get real treatment, voicing my
feelings, and for asserting freedom of expression through my art.

Sincerely,
Marc A Hall
------------------------------

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   <http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/content/view/21/26/>
------------------------------

Womens Day
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: March 8 International Day

Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of International Women's Day

Federal Reserve - Banks - PBS video - Fraud on America
Now Playing: watch this video
Topic: FAILURE by the GOVERNMENT

Introduction to how Banks and Wall Street Fraud set up a shell game to take your home...click below to view 30 minute video...

http://www.winningwave.com/

A topic I seen on Venezuela Indy media
Mood:  accident prone
Now Playing: Google -Data retention and thoughts on their practices - link is from venezuela
Topic: MEDIA

To Flip Off the police is not illegal
Mood:  mischievious
Now Playing: Free Speech ...its all in the finger.... and legal to do
Topic: CIVIL RIGHTS

When Robert J. Ekas decided to exercise his right to free speech, he didn't open his mouth.

He hoisted his middle finger.

His single-digit protests, aimed at Clackamas County sheriff's deputies last year, resulted in verbal showdowns, traffic tickets and, ultimately, a federal lawsuit.

Giving a police officer the finger may be a rude and ill-advised gesture, but it is not against the law, legal experts say.

"The U.S. Supreme Court has consistently held that speech may not be prohibited simply because some may find it offensive," said Ira P. Robbins, a law professor from American University in Washington, D.C. "Virtually every time someone is arrested for this, assuming there's no other criminal behavior ... the case is either dismissed before trial or the person is convicted at trial and wins on appeal."

Ekas, who represents himself, sued the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office and three of its employees, seeking corrective action and unspecified damages. Assistant County Counsel Edward S. McGlone III declined comment on the lawsuit.

Ekas, 46, a retired Silicon Valley systems analyst turned mathematician who lives in the Clackamas area, claims the traffic stops were acts of retaliation that violated his First and Fourth Amendment rights. He also wants the court to rule that the Sheriff's Office fails to discipline employees who "chill citizens' ... free speech rights."

Ekas gave the finger to a deputy in July 2007 while driving near Clackamas Town Center, according to the lawsuit. With the deputy in pursuit, Ekas said he opened his sunroof and again extended a middle finger. The deputy turned on his flashing lights. Ekas stopped and was cited for an illegal lane change and improper display of license plates. He was acquitted of the charges.

In August 2007, Ekas flipped off another deputy. Ekas again was detained but not issued a citation. He claims he was harassed and intimidated by the deputy and a sergeant who was dispatched after Ekas requested a supervisor be sent to the scene.

Ekas said his actions are a political statement and a protest of police violence.

"They kill unarmed people. That bothers me," Ekas said of police officers. He cited the deaths of James P. Chasse Jr. and Aaron Campbell at the hands of Portland police and the fatal shooting of Fouad Kaady by Clackamas County officers.

"What I am expressing is the right to dissent. That is to say, 'Look, the policies that you've implemented ... the things you've done in our community are offensive to me. Here's my response to that offense,'" Ekas said.

"I did it because I have the right to do it," Ekas said. "We all have that right, and we all need to test it. Otherwise we'll lose it."

Ekas's method of expressing himself has a long history.

The ancient Romans called it "digitus impudicus" -- the impudent finger.

Police have been known to retaliate with traffic tickets or making arrests for disorderly conduct, but criminal charges are routinely dismissed. Criminal law "generally aims to protect persons, property, or the state from serious harm. But use of the middle finger simply does not raise these concerns in most situations," Robbins wrote in a law review article, "Digitus Impudicus: The Middle Finger and the Law."

A Pittsburgh man, David Hackbart, won a $50,000 settlement last year after being cited for disorderly conduct for flipping off an officer. The charge was "retaliatory" and violated his constitutional rights, a federal judge ruled.

The officer's "response to Hackbart's exercise of his First Amendment right" was to charge him with a crime, said U.S. District Judge David Cercone.

In West Linn, Police Chief Terry Timeus took a more diplomatic approach.

After a man's run-ins with police escalated from giving officers the finger to following them on patrol, accusing them of retaliation and shining his headlights on them during traffic stops, Timeus stepped in to try to defuse the situation.

The police chief met with the man and told him the pattern of confrontation and harassment "isn't going to accomplish anything."

Reached at his home, the man said he suffers from anxiety and depression and asked not to be identified. He acknowledged his history of confrontation and grievances with police but said he wanted to move on.

"Chief Timeus has made a difference," the man said, "and I don't want to jeopardize that."

-- Steve Mayes

Relax Listen Think
Mood:  sharp
Now Playing: RELAX
Topic: SMILE SMILE SMILE

Tuesday, February 23, 2010 (original date of posting)

PEACE CAMP DEMANDS THAT PRESIDENT OBAMA MEET WITH A PEACE COUNCIL

And the Peace of the Action Coalition
http://www.PeaceoftheAction.org

For more coverage of this event will be on my website "Joe Anybody goes to DC"

http://zebra3report.tripod.com/friends/

No Pay - No Play - Portland Indy Media is off line for a short while ?
Mood:  irritated
Now Playing: PIMC website is down YIKES!!!!
Topic: MEDIA

Portland Indy Medai website has not been showing up all morning on 3.2.10

This is killing me

I was told we needed to pay the bill ...(and we did pay, so I was informed) ....Now we all have to wait for the site to come back>

 WOW! just like that!!! Poof! No Indy Media 

Here is a screenshot that is what is now showing

All morning it was just a pure white page with no text, now it looks like the screenshot picture below taken at 11:30 AM on 3.2.10

 

 

 

Police cover up - report on the shooting of civilians during Katrina in 2005
Mood:  don't ask
Now Playing: Former New Orleans Detective Pleads Guilty in Katrina Shooting Cover-up
Topic: FAILURE by the GOVERNMENT

Former New Orleans Detective Pleads Guilty in Katrina Shooting Cover-up

by A.C. Thompson

Get The Lobbiest Out - California's new beta ballot experiment
Mood:  incredulous
Now Playing: A test of a fair election in California, with lobbiest out of the way
Topic: BIG MONEY PLAYERS

 

A report from MOTHER JONES

February 26, 2010

 

THIS WEEK IN THE BLOGOSPHERE

A Neat Little Ballot Experiment in California

There's an interesting initiative on the California ballot this June. It's called the California Fair Elections Act, and it's an attempt to get voters to approve public funding of statewide campaigns.

But that's not why it's interesting. Public campaign funding is hardly a fresh idea after all. The basic idea behind Proposition 15 isn't that fresh, either. In a nutshell, it would require all state-registered lobbyists to pay an annual fee of $350, which supporters estimate would raise about $2 million per year. (This is a funding mechanism that, if not interesting, is certainly cheeky: The idea of making lobbyists pay the bill for a system that would undermine the influence of lobbyists is, at the very least, sort of a delicious irony.)

Candidates who want access to this money would first have to raise five dollars from at least 7,500 registered voters. Candidates who do this would receive enough money from the CFEA fund to run a statewide campaign, but only if they agree not to raise money from any other source. This is designed to eliminate the need to raise money from special interests, and it's similar to public funding laws passed in other states, including Arizona.

But that's still not why I find Proposition 15 sort of fascinating. What's new and different about it is that it's basically a beta test. It applies only to one office—secretary of state—and only to the elections in 2014 and 2018. On January 1 of the following year, it automatically disappears for good unless voters decide they like it and want to extend it.

I'm generally not a fan of ballot initiatives. They tend to be badly written, they've long since been captured by wealthy corporate interests, and they routinely expend money that doesn't exist. Proposition 15 falls into none of those traps, but what really makes it appealing to me is that I like the idea of short-term experiments. If Prop 15 fails, not much harm is done. If it works, it will have proven itself in the toughest arena of all: real life. It's a small-bore way of allowing voters to find out if they like the idea before committing themselves to a sweeping and permanent change. We could use more initiatives like this.