Boston Globe columnist Derrick Z. Jackson tells us why Blacks oppose War in Iraq. He makes some very good points.

....The reasons are obvious. African-Americans are 12 percent of the general population but make up 21 percent of military personnel and 30 percent of Army enlistees. They made up 23 percent of the troops sent to the 1991 Gulf War. The Department of Defense recently attempted to downplay those disproportionate percentages, reporting that African-Americans were more likely to be in administrative and support jobs and therefore were less likely than white soldiers to be killed on the front lines. White soldiers made up 71 percent of the troops in the 1991 Gulf War but suffered 76 percent of the deaths.

That ignores why African-Americans go into the service in the first place. Many of them are refugees from a job and collegiate environment that is disproportionately hostile to them. President Bush recently stoked the hostility by filing a brief to the Supreme Court opposing the University of Michigan's affirmative action program.

That alone is enough to make African-Americans wonder whether they are about to relive bad history. Time after time, war after war, African-Americans fought and died for the nation's agenda only to see the nation ignore or reject their issues. Black folks fought in the Revolution and slavery lasted nearly another century. Black soldiers were promised land after the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812 and never got it.

In the Civil War, African-Americans, then 14 percent of the population, were 20 percent of the Union casualties. Yet segregation and second-class opportunities were the rule for almost another century. Black folks fought in World War I in the hopes of winning full citizenship. They were rewarded with white race riots. Participation in World War II and Korea further emboldened African-Americans to protest for desegregation in the military, public accommodations, school desegregation, and voting rights.

But Americans took so long to become disgusted with the lynchings and disenfranchisement of the '40s, '50s, and early '60s that the hypocrisy could not be contained. There was Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1968 lament ''for the poor of America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home and death and corruption in Vietnam.'' There was Muhammad Ali's ''I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong'' because, as he said, ''no Viet Cong ever called me nigger.'' There were the riots.

A new Protest Song!

Published on Wednesday, February 26, 2003 by CommonDreams.org
The Ballad of the Ochre Berets by Jerry & Joe Long
(Sung to the tune of 'The Ballad Of The Green Berets')

William Bennett
On TV
Defines our war
And pockets his fee

Richard Perle
Claims deaths will be few
In his think tank
That's certainly true

Gaffney Gingrich
Lieberman Lott
Never fought in Nam
Preferred not to get shot

Today Bill Kristol
Says "Do Iraq"
But when duty called
He didn't call back

Remained in college
To defer
A chance to serve
For a term paper

100 excuses
They'd make that day
Till their draft boards let
Them run away

Rove hurt his back
Cheney was too fat
Will's eyes were poor
DeLay's feet were flat

Rush couldn't risk
Hyperextending a knee
If forced to wade
A rice paddy

But put a microphone
Upon their chest
And they'll explain
Why combat's best

Can America stay
The land of the free
And remain the home
Of hypocrisy?

Jerry Long (JerryBeggar@aol.com) and his brother Joe are known as the satirists the Sturdy Beggars.

Skippy says, "if you couldn't get through to your senators or the white house today for the virtual march, don't give up! try again on thursday! the message will mean just as much!"

He's right, of course.

Here's more about the phone jamming.

Clearly, this is going to become a pattern. First the bong sellers' websites, now a bootlegger's. Be careful where you go online--think of Sitemeter and how it discloses the ISP and timezone and other details of your visitors to you...once the "redirect to DOJ" instruction goes in, that and more information about you will become known to the Government. This is a twisted new policy--we hope the websitewoners contest it in court. It's one thing to seize an asset under the forfeiture laws--or to attempt to shut down online businesses that may be breaking a law, like paraphernalia outlets, but where does Ashcroft come off taking private property and redirecting its customer base to government agents?

The U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday it had seized a rogue Web site that offered information on bootlegged video games and movies, as the owner faces sentencing for copyright violations.

The site remained available to many Internet users hours after the announcement, but Justice Department officials said they would gain complete control as Internet traffic computers were updated to reflect its new address.

Justice said it had taken over the Web site (http://www.isonews.com) after its owner pleaded guilty to selling computer chips that would enable users to play bootleg video games on Microsoft Corp. Xbox consoles, a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act....

ISO News, which claimed up to 140,000 hits each day, does not contain illegal copies of video games, software and movies, but instead features message boards where Internet users can trade tips about such "warez."

The article mentions that the owner agreed to turnover the website, and that he pleaded guilty, avoiding trial. We don't have any inside informtion, but reading between the lines, we don't see a voluntary surrender--we see the Government demanding the turnover of the website as part of the plea bargain--no website, no deal. If that's the case, it's a "seizure" in our view--just like the seizures yesterday of the bong sellers' websites.

Via Atrios, we come across Josh Marshall's Talking Points today on Dennis Kucinich --the former mayor of Cleveland who has decided to run for President. It seems Mr. Kucinich has had some dubious racial politics early in his career--or at least some that need explaining.

Basically, in the early days -- before he was running citywide, let alone nationwide -- Kucinich's political schtick was posing as the champion of the 'forgotten' white ethnic voters over against the rising force of black political power. Sort of a great white hope type, or great Slavic hope, if you will.

The source article is in Cleveland Magazine, and you can read a copy here. If the site is down due to traffic, try the cached version here.

A 30 second tv ad will begin airing Thursday spoofing the Nick and Norm ads of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy that push the theme that marijuana funds terrorists.

The ad spots are sponsored by the Marijuana Policy Project.

In the spoof, Nick tells Norm the marijuana trade supports violence only because marijuana is illegal. "If I buy a beer, that doesn't support terror, because beer is legal, right?" Nick asks. When Norm agrees, Nick concludes, "So what you're saying is if we make marijuana legal and regulate it like beer, it wouldn't support violence."

The ads will run on CBS, ABC and Fox affiliates in DC through March 7. Cost for airtime: $20k.

You can watch the commercials here. For more about the ad campaign, go here.

Bump and update: The Judge has denied the defense request for disclosure of details of the FISA wiretaps and bugs.

Via Cursor, here is some earlier coverage of the case.

Posted earlier today:

It's been a while since we've heard about the five defendants in the Portland Oregon terror case. Four of the defendants are alleged to have traveled to China in late 2001 with the intent of getting to Afghanistan to join the Taliban and al-Qaeda in the fight against the U.S. The fifth defendant, who is the ex-wife of another of the suspects, allegedly wired money to her ex-husband to support the group's efforts. A sixth defendant is a fugitive.

The case is in the news today, as a two-day motions hearing is wrapping up.

A federal judge ordered federal prosecutors Tuesday to reveal how much they paid an informant who recorded evidence during a terrorism investigation that led to the arrest of five Portland residents. U.S. District Judge Robert Jones also ordered U.S. Attorney Charles Gorder to reveal whether Khalid Ibrahim Mostafa, an Egyptian-born mechanic, had worked as an informant before and for which law enforcement agencies.

The defense also sought files from Guantanamo Bay prisoners. Although the Judge denied the request, he asked the prosecutors to assure him that no evidence obtained from the Guantanamo detainees would be brought into court. Another important defense challenge is underway in the case.

Defense attorneys plan to challenge evidence collected under the warrants issued by the ultra-secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court, or ``spy court.'' The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was passed in 1978 as a way to fight Cold War espionage. Attorneys are also challenging aspects of the USA Patriot Act, which was passed in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. It expanded the spy court's power.

The use of secret surveillance permeates the case.

The case built slowly beginning shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, when several men were spotted wearing robes and turbans and target practicing in a gravel pit in Skamania County, Wash.

That prompted round-the-clock surveillance by FBI teams, in part using 36 ultrasecret warrants handed down by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court.

The disputed evidence includes the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants. Also presented as evidence in the case were 7,500 pages of FBI reports and 75 compact disks containing recorded conversations a government informant had with Battle and Ford.

More of our earlier coverage of this case is here and here.

Say hello to Fourth Amendment.com by our good friend and fellow criminal defense lawyer John Wesley Hall.

John is the author of the textbook Search and Seizure (3rd. Ed. 2000) and this site has the updated supplements to the text.

We prodded John to include a blog on his site last December in Key West at the NORML legal seminar where we both were speaking, and we're very glad he took our suggestion.

What all does the site have? "Case updates with news and views on the law of search and seizure and arrest and detention, including the Fourth Amendment and state law."

John is also the author of Professional Responsibility of the Criminal Lawyer, 2d Ed. (West)

Terry Jones, founding member of Monty Python, writes that like President Bush, he's losing patience. [link via criminal defense attorney Dennis Roberts, Oakland, CA)

LA Police Chief William Bratton slammed the internal police department Rampart probe and called for an outside investigation.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California lauded Bratton's call for an outside review. Director Ramona Ripston said the ACLU has been pressing for years to get an independent investigation. ``This issue is too important to be swept under the rug,'' Ripston said. ``At stake is nothing more than the department's credibility and prospects for regaining the community's trust.''

Having a police department investigate its own misconduct makes no sense. Bratton is making the right call, and Rick Caruso, head of the Police Commission, is wisely supporting him. The LA Times has more.

The case against the Florida professor charged with terrorism crimes treads new ground under the Patriot Act

The landmark legal case against Tampa, Fla., university professor Sami al-Arian will provide the first showcase for the unprecedented powers Congress granted the FBI and the Justice Department after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Al-Arian and seven others are charged with conspiracy to commit murder via suicide attacks in Israel and the Palestinian areas, racketeering and money laundering - charges they strongly deny. Al-Arian contends he was indicted because of his pro-Palestinian views.

What makes the al-Arian prosecution a test case is the collaboration between federal agents gathering foreign intelligence and prosecutors bringing domestic criminal charges. Before the passage of the Patriot Act, that wasn't permitted under Justice Department guidelines.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 created the secret court that reviews FBI requests to investigate suspected "agents of a foreign power" operating in the United States who are believed to be spying or fostering international terrorist activities.

The law was influenced by past abuses when intelligence gathering powers were used to spy on political enemies. For more than two decades, Justice Department officials erected a wall that kept the intelligence gathering side of the FBI separate from the criminal investigative side.

Weeks after Sept. 11, Congress passed the USA Patriot Act, which dismantled the wall, removing many of the barriers that limited the amount of classified national security information that could be used in a criminal case.

Stay tuned on this one.

Actor Robert Blake's preliminary hearing in his murder case begins today. But that's not where he'll be talking. Instead, Blake will be talking tonight on 20/20 when he is interviewed by Barbra Walters.

Blake has some stiff competition tonight. At the same time, CBS's 48 Hours Investigates will be interviewing Robert Chambers, of New York "Preppy Murder" fame, who was released from prison last week after serving his full 15 year sentence.

We'll be watching Chambers.