Bcc: usual suspects ============================================================================ From: "Robert Vogel" <•••@••.•••> To: <•••@••.•••> Subject: Re: Are you Green?... Don't try to fly... Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2003 22:36:11 -0500 Hi Richard, I posted your note to a Green list and got the following response: Bob ------------ Robert Vogel put the "Can Greens Fly" e-mail on the listserve tonight. It had been previously posted to the listserve. I don't object to the double posting--it would be a truly important story if true. However, John Battista posted additional information about this story in response to the original posting, and in the interest of accuracy I'm reposting it. We Greens must have our facts straight if we're to be respected. --Ed DuBrule John Battista's posting (posted 1/9/03): Connecticut Green Party - Part of the GPUS http://www.ctgreens.org/ - http://www.greenpartyus.org/I tried to verify the story that Doug Stuber of the North Carolina Green Party had not been allowed to fly because of his Green Party affiliation. I contacted Gray Newman who is a CC rep from North Carolina. He informed me that this story has been floating around North Carolina for some time and can not be verified. In addition he outlined some good reasons to believe that the story is not true. Under the circumstances I would not pass this on. ---<snip>--- ============== Dear Bob, How strange that people seem to be skeptical when they see the Homeland Security Bill being used for its intended purpose: frightening and harassing opponents of the corporate fascist regime. You might want to forward back to the Greens some of the following information. The last piece is from Stuber himself. rkm ============================================================================ Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2003 14:25:02 -0800 (PST) From: Charles <•••@••.•••> To: "Richard K. Moore" <•••@••.•••> Subject: Re. Unbelievabler and Unbelievabler Amerika.. (fwd) I forwarded your posting about Doug Strueber to Severo Ornstein, a friend who runs a small mail list devoted to political topics. Severo was one of the creators of the ARPANET and co-founder of the CPSR. He posted the story and then followed it up: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2003 10:53:05 -0800 >From: Severo Ornstein <•••@••.•••> To: Recipient List Suppressed: ; Subject: Re. Unbelievabler and Unbelievabler Amerika.. Wondering whether it could really be true, I called Doug Steuber (the Green guy who was prevented from travelling) and left a msg. on his answering machine. He just called back and left a lengthy message on our machine saying that the story is indeed true. A couple of minor details are wrong (the Secret Service guys didn't actually show him the list of "watch" organizations, but he saw it) but the story is essentially accurate. The Nation magazine later verified with the Secret Service that there is such a list or organizations to be watched and that it includes Amnesty International, Greenpeace, the Greens, Earth First, etc. He says he was indeed loud and rowdy, but then, who wouldn't be under the circumstances. If transmissions to this list suddenly cease, you'll know they got to me too. S. ============================================================================ From: •••@••.••• Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2003 11:13:11 EST Subject: Stuber's ordeal To: •••@••.••• Dear Charles- I was detained from flying because of a loud conversation I had with two men I did not even know on "day one." That I was detained the second day due to things that were either misinterpretted or overblown the day before is the hard part of my story. Here is the story: "A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Airport" or "43 hours from hell" Dear Editor: I was trying to make an important trip to gather artists for Henry James Art in Raleigh, NC, USA when I was told (ticket in hand) that I was not allowed to fly out that day. Curiously, I asked "why not" and the answer at Raleigh Durham Airport (RDU) was that, I had yelled, over three rows "Bush is as dumb as a rock." This was part of a conversation with two African American men I had never met, and that included talk of how the CIA polluted downtown America with crack, and how Jerry Falwell used church coffers to buy planes for "Falwell Aviation." Of course, those planes were leased to Frank Clinton, and others, who, against the wishes of congress (which had banned any more funding for the Contra War in Nicaragua) used them (lots of them were DC-3s like the one Hassenfuss got caught in) to run gins to Honduras, and bags of cocaine back to the US. In fact, the Manual Noriega case was SUPPOSED to be tried in Roanoke, VA federal court, but Falwell did not want folks to find out about his connection to "guns south and crack north, " and got the venue switched to Miami. Anyway, they ran "national Guard" guns to Honduras where they were walked across the river to Nicaragua, in exchange for Cocaine, which was turned into the crack that, ever since, has decimated urban America. SO I was denied a flight, but thought I'd come back the next mooring, really early, switch airlines and fly to Paris, to catch a train to Prague form there. Naturally, I went back the next morning, and instead of paying $670 round trip was forced into a $2,600 "same day" fare. I was mad enough about the money, but what happened in the next 24 hours was mind-boggling. So, it was 6am and my first flight wasn't due out until 11:45, so I had plenty of time to kill. At exactly 10:52 am, just before boarding was to begin, I was approached by Officer Stanley (the same policeman I was ushered out of the airport y the day before) and he said he "wanted to talk to me." I went with him, but reminded him that no one had said I could not fly, and that my flight was about to leave. (I also knew that I could make the Air France connection in Atlanta and still make it to Prague in time, as long as I could catch a Delta flight at 1:10pm, so I wasn't too worried yet.) The officer took me into a room and questioned me for one hour. By Noon Stanley introduced me to two gentlemen I will refer to as Secret Service A and Secret Service B ( SS-A and SS-B). Now it's bad enough that the SS will remind Germans of a very bad group during World War II, but here is where the story proves the US is in a "totalitarian capitalist" state of fascism. SS-A and SS-B took full eye-open pictures with a digital camera. They then asked me all the details about my family, where I lived, who I ever knew, what the Greens are up to, etc. etc. At one point I asked if they really believed the Greens were equal to Al Qaeda. Here they made an error. They showed me a document from the Justice department (Ashcroft and friends) that actually DOES show the greens as likely terrorists. Just as likely as Al Qaeda members. Man, I wish I had had a camera to be able to copy THAT document! Sure enough we got out of there at about 12:45, but with enough time to catch the later flight. Here is where the pig-dogs really made me mad. They walked me to the Delta counter and asked that I be given tickets for the flight so I could make my connections. The woman (she is a tall blonde with short hair and works for Delta at RDU) quickly printed out tickets so that I could make the flight, and I was relieved that the SS hadn't stopped me from flying. I was wrong again. By the time I was about to be quickly placed on the flight, officer Stanley ONCE AGAIN ushered me out the door. To be fair, he told me this: "Just go to Greensboro, where they don't know you, and be totally quiet about politics, and you can make it to Europe that way." I felt like I was being yet again set up by this man, but I went to Greensboro anyway. In Greensboro, NC I was told flat out that I could not fly overseas as soon as my passport was swiped. Apparently the SS had moved quickly to shut me down from ANY kind of overseas air travel. (One wonders whether Greens throughout the US are now barred from flying, since our national Co-Chair, Nancy Ogden had already been denied a flight form Maine to Chicago eight months ago.) Not to be denied, I then traveled to Charlotte. This is another hour and a half away, so I've been up for 40 hours, with a 1.5 hour drive ahead. I stocked up on Dr. Pepper and decided I would not be denied. Of course, at Charlotte the same thing: "get this terrorist out of here" was the mode the cops were in. I then drove three hours home (43 hours trying to catch a flight) and crashed hard in bed. It appears that Greens, who have ten key values that include nonviolence, social justice, etc. are considered terrorists by the Ashcroft led Justice Department. I had always speculated that capitalism had gone too far. Now I know for sure. Peace, Doug Stuber •••@••.••• www.absolutearts.com/portfolios/d/dougstuber -- ============================================================================ cyberjournal home page: http://cyberjournal.org "Zen of Global Transformation" home page: http://www.QuayLargo.com/Transformation/ QuayLargo discussion forum: http://www.QuayLargo.com/Transformation/ShowChat/?ScreenName=ShowThreads cj list archives: http://cyberjournal.org/cj/show_archives/?lists=cj newslog list archives: http://cyberjournal.org/cj/show_archives/?lists=newslog subscribe addresses for cj list: •••@••.••• •••@••.••• ============================================================================
