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Tuesday, March 15, 2016

FEDS ENLIST SCHOOLS IN WAR ON "EXTREMIST" CHILDREN

FEDS ENLIST SCHOOLS IN WAR ON "EXTREMIST" CHILDREN 
BY ALEX NEWMAN
SEE: http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/education/item/22745-feds-enlist-schools-in-war-on-extremist-childrenrepublished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

In one of its most Orwellian schemes to date, the Obama administration is taking a page from Communist East Germany's infamous Stasi by asking school teachers to start spying on American students so “extremists” can be reported to the FBI and other law-enforcement agencies. Among others in the federal government's cross-hairs: pro-life activists, anarchists, environmentalists, animal-rights activists, Muslims, religious students critical of “Western corruption,” constitutionalists, and even children who simply criticize or question authorities too much.
In a January 2016 unclassified FBI document about “preventing violent extremism in schools,” the FBI comes across as paranoiacs imagining that there are “extremist” children hiding under every bed. “High school students are ideal targets for recruitment by violent extremists seeking support for their radical ideologies,” claims the agency, which has become increasingly politicized under the Obama administration. “High schools must remain vigilant in educating their students about catalysts that drive violent extremism and the potential consequences of embracing extremist beliefs.” It claims there is a "very fine line" between protected speech and thought crimes.
Much of the document sounds unhinged and downright preposterous. For example, the document frets about “violent propaganda,” suggesting the federal government now believes free speech can somehow be violent. The FBI scheme also warns that children are supposedly “embracing violent extremism by maintaining biases towards others due to their race, religion, or sexual orientation.” In other words, mere disapproval of homosexuality, Islam, and more can now considered “extremism,” and the Obama FBI wants schools and teachers to join the war on such “extremism.” In Communist East Germany, the murderous dictatorship and its “State Security” agency, known as the Stasi, were also infamous for using teachers as snitches in addition to their brainwashing duties.  
The Obama FBI warns schools that “more youth” are supposedly ready to “embrace extremist ideologies.” Some of them even “view hatred” as an “acceptable outlet for their grievances.” Why the FBI believes its job description includes students' ideologies, biases, or hatreds is not made clear in the document, despite the ham-handed effort to equate “ideologies” the government dislikes — such as “anti-government views” and"abortion [pro-life] extremism" — with terrorism and violence. The Obama administration has previously claimed that returning veterans, constitutionalists, pro-life activists, liberty lovers, people suspicious of federal authority, anti-immigration activists, Ron Paul supporters, and others are extremists or even potential terrorists, too.
Of course, as The New American reported in 2014, much of the “terrorism” that does exist in the United States today is actually attributable directly to the FBI. Indeed, the U.S. government often manufactures and creates the alleged “terrorism threats” it purports to be fighting, in some cases even prodding mentally challenged dupes into bogus “plots” that authorities concocted in the first place. A report by Human Rights Watch and Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute found that almost every high-profile domestic terror case across America between the September 11 attacks and the 2014 report featured the “direct involvement” of government agents or informants. In some cases, virtually the entire “terrorism” plot — from start to finish — was actually led and financed by government operatives.
Those troubling facts aside, the Obama FBI claims to be “committed” to helping schools with “extremism.” Among other ways to address it, the agency calls for enhancing “student social and emotional well-being,” code words for sending in swarms of tax-funded psychiatrists and psychologists. The document also pushes more “information sharing” on American children between government agencies, as if not enough of that was going on. It seeks to “deter youth from embracing extremist ideologies,” too, with “extremist ideologies” defined by the same federal bureaucracies packed full of anti-Constitution extremists.
If finding extremism is the goal, though, a good place to start would be the Obama administration. Obama, of course, famously launched his political career in the home of confessed communist terrorist Bill Ayers, whose Castro-backed terror group, the Weather Underground, murdered police officers and bombed multiple federal facilities. According to the FBI's Larry Grathwohl, who infiltrated the terrorist group, the Weathermen, as they were called, were hoping to round up and exterminate millions of “counter-revolutionaries” with help from the regimes in Cuba, Moscow, Beijing, and more. Now that is violent extremism. But that is not the sort of extremism the Obama FBI wants teachers to seek out.    
Meanwhile, the Obama administration continues to shower weapons and money on violent extremist dictatorships and U.S.-designated terror groups across the Middle East and worldwide. From a deliberate plan to create an Islamist principality in Eastern Syria (now known as ISIS) to unlawfully supporting multiple communist and Islamist terror groups officially designated as banned terrorist organizations by the U.S. government, Obama has violated multiple federal terror laws under various pretexts.
Ironically, the FBI's definition of “violent extremism” in the document —  “encouraging, condoning, justifying, or supporting the commission of a violent act to achieve political, ideological, religious, social or economic goals” — could quite properly be applied to dozens of actions perpetrated by the Obama administration, maybe more. From arming jihadists in Syria and bombing Libya to smithereens in an alliance with al-Qaeda without congressional approval, to admittedly arming the communist PKK, al-Qaeda, and even Mexican drug cartels in Operation Fast and Furious, Obama has flagrantly and repeatedly defied federal terror laws. An everyday citizen would be in prison for a long time.
But instead of investigating those clear, admitted federal crimes, the FBI apparently prefers to focus on schoolkids who question government or disagree with homosexuality.    
The FBI does pretend to be inclusive in its search for extremists in schools. It claims to be looking for movements “including but not limited to white supremacists, animal rights and eco-terrorists, and anti-government or radical separatist groups.” So-called “violations,” the document continues, include “hate-based activities.” It was not clear when the FBI imagines that “hate” became a crime. And while it may sound nice to persecute haters, the document itself suggests that the sort of “hate” the Obama administration is seeking out involves, among others elements, “biases” against “sexual orientation.”
In short, Christians with a biblical worldview who disagree with the notion of a homosexual “marriage” are in the cross-hairs. The far-left Southern Poverty Law Center, which praises communist terrorist Bill Ayers on its website and works with tentacles of the Obama administration, regularly labels mainstream Christian groups as “hate groups” for their religious beliefs on the sanctity of marriage. And the FBI document is packed with SPLC-style rhetoric, even going so far as to attack the influence of families and parents on their children. It says, for example, that the beliefs of adults who embrace “extremist ideologies” can “permeate family norms, oftentimes influencing children.” If you disagree with Obama's “fundamental transformation” of America, they are looking at you. Aside from parental influence, “unobserved space” and the Internet are both key targets.
When students do display views and attitudes the Obama administration dislikes, the FBI calls on schools to create “intervention” plans in conjunction with federal and state agencies. “An intervention cadre should contain professionals from the local community representing multiple disciplines such as mental health, social workers, law enforcement, school resource officers, faith-based organizations, and/or crisis intervention teams,” the document states. Schools should also report children to law enforcement.  
The news that the FBI was conscripting teachers in their hunt for “extremist” children made headlines worldwide. In the United States, across media outlets ranging from Alternet on the far-left to alternative liberty-minded sources such as Infowars, commentators slammed the FBI's scheme as an assault on civil liberties and common sense. Even media outlets backed and controlled by authoritarian-minded governments — Kremlin-run news services, for example, and even media controlled by Iran's mullahs — seized on the document to paint the U.S. government as increasingly unhinged and totalitarian.
Critics from across the political spectrum also blasted the FBI plot. Anti-“Islamophobia” author Arun Kundnani, for example, slammed the government for drawing on “the junk science of radicalization models” and noted that the document “dangerously blurs the distinction between legitimate ideological expression and violent criminal actions.” ACLU staff attorney Hugh Handeyside with the left-wing outfit's national security project, meanwhile, said that “broadening the definition of violent extremism to include a range of belief-driven violence underscores that the FBI is diving head-first into community spying.” “Framing this conduct as ‘concerning behavior’ doesn’t conceal the fact that the FBI is policing students’ thoughts and trying to predict the future based on those thoughts,” Handeyside added. Kurt Nimmo at Infowars, citing whistle-blowers from the intelligence community, highlighted the parallels between the increasingly extreme tactics and machinations of the U.S. government and those used by the brutal communist dictatorship that terrorized East Germany for generations.
Even more extreme “extremism” scheming is happening in the United Kingdom, where authorities are telling teachers to report students with negative views on homosexuality to police and social services. More recently, U.K. authorities, as part of their war on so-called “non-violent extremism,” launched a crackdown on homeschooling families and even Christian Sunday schools, which must now register with the government. Prime Minster David Cameron even asked the United Nations — primarily composed of extremist non-democratic governments of various varieties, such as communist, socialist, Islamist, and military dictatorships — to help wage a global jihad on what he called “non-violent extremism.” Obama and the UN teamed up to launch a planetary war on “ideologies,” too.
In the United States, virtually everyone with an opinion has been declared a potential terrorist or extremist by the Obama administration in recent years. The U.S. Defense Department was even caught teaching U.S. troops that Evangelicals, Catholics, and Orthodox Jews were “religious extremists” like al-Qaeda and Hamas. And now, the discredited SPLC, widely criticized as an “anti-Christian hate group” or a money-making scam, is working with Obama's new domestic “terror” czar to target conservatives, Christians, libertarians, constitutionalists, and others the SPLC hates. The SPLC's propaganda was also cited in 2012 by a convicted anti-Christian terrorist who attempted to slaughter employees at the pro-family Family Research Council. 
Buried within all of the extreme rhetoric urging schools to wage war on ideologies the government does not like, there may be some information that might be useful, perhaps. However, the document paints a picture of a federal government that is totally out of control, suggesting that assaults on liberty, privacy, thought crimes, and people who disagree with out-of-control government will soon accelerate without concerted action to rein in Washington, D.C.
Schools and all Americans should reject the Obama administration's fear-mongering and extremism. Instead, parents and concerned citizens should work to educate others about the dangers of totalitarian government, and hold officials accountable to the U.S. Constitution they all swore to uphold.
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U.S. RANCHERS ON BORDER PLEAD FOR HELP AMID ONSLAUGHT

U.S. RANCHERS ON BORDER PLEAD FOR HELP AMID ONSLAUGHT 
BY ALEX NEWMAN
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

Hundreds of distraught ranchers and other citizens living near the increasingly dangerous U.S.-Mexico border met with elected officials in the small town of Animas, New Mexico, last week to share their horror stories of lawlessness and plead for proper border security. Despite bogus claims by politicians and the Obama administration about the southern border region allegedly being “secure,” those speaking at the summit blasted the “invasion” and said the security situation was spiraling out of control. It is time for serious action, local citizens said.
Smugglers and other criminals are pouring across the often undefended border, residents explained, jeopardizing their livelihoods and even their lives — not to mention national security. Some of the speakers had even lost loved ones in the lawlessness. And despite years of pleading with federal and state officials for help, residents, activists, and ranchers sounded exasperated, saying their pleas had gone unanswered so far. More boots on the ground are needed, locals said. At least one retired lawman suggested that sheriffs deputize citizens. Some attendees even called for deploying troops to the border. 
 Inspiring the meeting, according to attendees quoted in media reports, was the kidnapping of a local American ranch hand. The victim reportedly happened upon a caravan of drug runners from the other side of the border while working on a cattle ranch in New Mexico's “Bootheel” region along the border with Mexico. Tricia Elbrock, co-owner of the company that employs the kidnapping victim, was quoted in the Albuquerque Journal recounting what happened in December of last year.
“They kidnapped him, tied him up, threw all our tools out and fittings and loaded our company vehicle with all the drugs,” Elbrock explained. “They waited 'til dark to leave the ranch. They needed him to help guide them through to the highway.... This is still pretty raw. We got him back safe. They did rough him up, but we got him back. It’s a mess. I don’t know what to tell you. We have got to have help down here.” The FBI is investigating.
At the meeting, the wife and son of Robert Krentz, a prominent Arizona rancher murdered by a suspected illegal border crosser on his own property, also spoke out. “Fifteen-hundred people have been killed by illegal immigrants since Rob was killed,” Krentz's widow Sue was quoted as saying in media reports. “My message is we need to secure the border. We don't need to create new laws, we need to enforce the ones we have.... We are now witnessing brutal mob behavior and many have no intent to assimilate into the community.”
So far, the government has ignored the desperate pleas for help. “When we asked for better security on the border, we were told security is not to be expected,” Sue continued. “Families on the border — our lives are expendable.” She also displayed a T-shirt after the meeting that was covered with the names and dates of Americans killed by illegal immigrants. “Let's never have more names on a Stolen Lives Quilt or the back of a T-shirt,” she was quoted as saying. “Stop this invasion!”
Robert Krentz, Sue's husband, was murdered in March of 2010 after ranching on the Krentz ranch since 1977. The family had been ranching in the area since the 19th century, according to reports. He was shot and killed after going out and reporting having seen an immigrant in need of assistance — a common occurrence in the area. While law enforcement initially suspected an illegal immigrant of the slaying, investigations later suggested a smuggler could have been responsible.
Frank Krentz, the murder victim's son, told attendees at the meeting that the family used to help out immigrants in trouble on their ranch. “We approached them as Christians, even after we had our house broken into, our vehicles and things stolen, our waterline broken,” the younger Krentz was quoted as saying by Arizona Range News. “But after losing my father, all that has changed. We don't put ourselves in situations where we risk getting hurt.”
“This is a problem that needs more attention than what is given to it,” Frank also said.
Others speaking out at the townhall-style meeting included fellow ranchers who warned of similar problems and called for more Border Patrol agents to be placed along the border, where in the area the agents are often stationed dozens of miles from the border. One speaker also asked that ranchers and residents be notified when there are incidents in their area, because it exposes their homes to danger when criminals are fleeing to elude capture. Also sounding the alarm was a veterinarian, who warned about the health implications for livestock, the economy, and even humans of not being able to properly test people coming across the border for diseases.   
A video that was played highlighted some of the numbers involved, underscoring the enormity of the problem. According to the video, more than 1.5 million pounds of marijuana and cocaine were seized by the U.S. Border Patrol in 2015 in the area. That same year, more than 330,000 Mexican citizens and almost 150,000 “other than Mexicans” were apprehended. That includes more than a few coming from nations known for major problems with terrorism, tyranny, and anti-American hatred.
The meeting, which took place in Animas less than 50 miles away from the border, featured the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association. More than 500 people attended, including local, state, and federal officials, according to media reports. The main goal was to get elected officials to pay attention to the situation, realize the urgency of doing something, and taking serious action, including by putting more agents on the border.
“The folks down there have never gotten any relief from illegal crossings,” New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association Executive Director Caren Cowan was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. “And things have ramped up. These people are desperate. They are absolutely desperate.” Previous cries for help and meetings have not resulted in assistance. “We have had countless meetings with government agencies over the years, and I say this with all due respect, all we hear about is what they are trying to do and nothing gets done,” Cowan added.
Law-enforcement advocate and Homeland Security expert Andy Ramirez, a border-security expert who has testified on the issue before Congress, noted that the problems discussed at the latest meeting are nothing new. “There is no real change from a decade ago when the Bootheel [region of New Mexico] was overrun and Gov. [Bill] Richardson had to call out the National Guard,” he said. “Problem is you have corruption and that was always a weak border zone as I testified back in the day. But this is how it has been under successive administrations.”
He also said the problem originated in Washington, D.C., far from those affected most by it. “Who is most responsible for putting the civilians through this? David Aguilar who, as then-chief of the Border Patrol and later Acting CBP Commissioner before retiring, ultimately destroyed the Border Patrol,” Ramirez added. “Agents put their lives on the line but continue to get no help from DC. Who suffers? Civilians, especially along that line of death and corruption.”
Other experts echoed those concerns, telling The New American that meeting attendees supported the Border Patrol and realized the problems were coming from on high. “One thing that stood out at the meeting was how the people supported the rank and file Border Patrol officers,” said Rick Dalton, vice president of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA), who spoke at the meeting. “These ranchers and farmers know that it's the administration that handcuffs these brave and good public servants, basically guaranteeing failure in the job of securing the border.”
Dalton, a retired lawman, also emphasized that border sheriffs have the authority to enforce immigration laws, “and of course the criminal laws that apply to the activities of the cartels and human smugglers.” He urged the audience at the meeting to pressure their elected sheriffs to help out. “Because of the distances that must be covered, law enforcement help is often an hour or more away,” he added. “Sheriffs can deputize some of the people, giving them the authority to make arrests, though this can be a very dangerous situation, with the way the illegals are armed and equipped.”
“I also urged the people to vet their sheriffs and make sure to elect Constitutional ones,” Dalton explained.
Despite claims from politicians in Washington, D.C., it is clear that the border is nowhere close to what a reasonable person would describe as “secure.” That is by design, of course. But the people suffering on the front lines of that are only the first to be victimized. If Congress does not get serious about demanding the enforcement of federal laws on border security, all of America will face the consequences, too. It is time to restore law and order on the border.   
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