Beyond Common Sense Newsletter
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Issue Number 2

CONTENTS

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RANDOM SHOTS #111

Copyright (c) 1999 By Ray Thomas

DEATH SENTENCE? FORGET IT: I used to be a staunch supporter of the death penalty in most capital cases such as murder, rape, etc. But as I grow more and more experienced with the excesses of the criminal justice system and the way it can be used to promote the political fortunes of all concerned with it -- except the accused -- I became more and more convinced that so long as we have a death penalty, we are going to put more and more innocent people to death on weak, or false evidence.

Case in point: Calvin Johnson of Jonesboro, Georgia, who is the 61st inmate exonerated by DNA testing and freed when DNA proved he could not have committed the rape for which he has served 16 years of a life sentence. He was freed by the efforts of the Innocence Project, a group of lawyers and law students who are getting verdicts reversed all over the country in cases where people were wrongly convicted, by using DNA evidence. The Innocence Project is best known (to me, anyway) for their work in reversing many (and probably all, ultimately) of the convictions of innocent people in the Wenatchee, Washington Witch Hunt. This is where "authorities" used coercive tactics, lies, "Star-chamber" style questioning of children and adults, and many other tricks to get people to plead guilty to child sex abuse in wholesale numbers. They would sometimes file thousands of charges against a suspect, based on "estimated" numbers of times they were supposed to have "raped" the children, and then reduce it to one charge if the "confessed" and pleaded guilty.

Johnson was convicted by an all white jury after being charged with two rapes in close proximity by witnesses who couldn't identify his face by police in an obvious attempt to clear as many rape cases as possible on his back. He was acquitted in a second rape they charged him with by a jury of whites and blacks. (Source: Associated Press, June 17, 1999)

KATIE BAR THE DOOR! I'm getting downright scared. When the cop in your rearview mirror is just as likely to rob you as protect you, there's something to be scared of. The RICO laws have turned a large percentage of police and police agencies in this country into bandits who don't stop you to enforce the law, but to see how much money they can take from you. They call it "probable drug money" even if there is no evidence whatsoever that you have ever had anything to do with drugs.

It is of particular concern to people like me who are routinely a "burr under the saddle" of politicians, local and national, whom they might wish to either silence or discredit. How easy it would be for them to tell a police unit to "stalk" me or other people doing the same thing I do, stop them on spurious "probable cause," search their car and, if no dope can be found, to provide it themselves. This is so common they even have a name for it. They call it "seeding." And don't even think that can't happen. It is a lot more common than you think. Now it has been made easier by the ruling of the Supreme Court that a policeman no longer needs to get your permission OR a warrant before searching your car if he "believes" you to be carrying contraband.

Who decides whether or not his "belief" is real or just an excuse to stop you and make a criminal out of you, or to just take whatever money you have, or even your car, based on nothing more than the policeman's unsupported word that you might be carrying contraband. On his "feeling" rather than on evidence.

So with this decision by an activist Supreme Court, it will be "Katie bar the door!" There will be an immediate upsurge in police stopping, searching, and confiscating money and property from innocent people they "think" might have contraband. The money and property will go to increase the budgets of the police agencies involved, and in some jurisdictions, the policemen themselves get a "cut" of the loot.

IS ATLAS SHRUGGING? Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" was based on the idea of a strike by the "men of the mind." By those who created all the new wealth (profit) by their productive work and their original ideas going on strike and refusing to use their talents for the benefit of a society that only punishes them for it (a la Bill Gates). Now we start hearing about such things as the developer of the new post office in Nederland, Colorado leaving the building partly finished and disappearing. Is Atlas Shrugging? (Source: "Denver Rocky Mountain News" June 22, 1999)

MORE LIBERAL DISTORTIONS: Charles Roos, retired political editor of, and columnist for the "Denver Rocky Mountain News," mused thusly in a recent column: "If a criminal doesn't rob a bank because he thinks some customer might be carrying a concealed gun, isn't he even less likely to do so if he knows some customer is carrying a gun?"

This is the point Denver Mayor Wellington Webb's man Anthony Hudson tried to make about there being an armed police officer at Columbine and it making no difference. But they both forget that it is the not knowing if someone might be armed, and who was, and wasn't armed that would prevent them. If they know someone is armed, they would take that into account in their planning and make sure to "Take out" that person first to neutralize them. They tried that with the armed policeman at Columbine and it was only due to his alertness and skill that he was not one of the very first victims. On the other hand, if the principal, who told of peeking around a corner and watching one of the killers pump bullets into a room, had been armed and able to put a couple into the kid's head from behind, he might have saved some lives. And that's because the killers had no way of knowing if he was armed, which is the only reason he was able to get in a position behind them. They knew there was likely no one except that policeman at the school who was armed.

The laws keeping guns out of schools assured them that they had a school full of unarmed victims. Whenever you announce that there are no guns allowed in a place, you might as well extend a gold-engraved invitation to those who would do violence there. You're saying: "We're unarmed. Come and kill us. We won't be able to stop you."

And, Roos' denials notwithstanding, he and his liberal friends are responsible for such atrocities as Columbine because they do just that when they take the means for self-defense away from honest people. The blood is on their hands.

HONEST POLITICIAN? I've got to commend Andrew Hudson, Denver Mayor Wellington Webb's public relations man, for telling the truth. I don't know how often he does it, but when he asked me to stop sending him copies of my "Forced Altruism List" on topics I have attempted to discuss with him, he said candidly: "I don't read them anyway, and you're wasting your time." I always thought it was an "article of faith" for a politician to at least want to make you think he at least reads what you send, even if he does ignore it. So it's surprising for a politician to truthfully say he "doesn't read it." Of course, this is the same politician who refused to answer my simple question about how he expected a criminal, who doesn't obey laws, to obey a gun law and called the question "stupid." So I'm beginning to wonder how good a politician he is.

"AT THE GOVERNMENT'S EXPENSE..." Since when is it that when states have their powers recognized by the Supreme Court, it is "at the government's expense?" Last I heard, whenever the federal government usurps another power it's "at the state's expense" because the states and the people retained all powers not specifically ceded to the federal government. Apparently, that's not the way the Associated Press sees it because the recent Supreme Court vote recognizing that a state had rights that the feds couldn't usurp was described thus: "The Supreme Court's 5-4 commitment to giving states more power at the federal government's expense grew even more intense in its 1998-99 term." Talk about twisting the news! (Source: The Associated Press, June 26, 1999)

RESTRAINING ORDERS: One of the BIG problems I have with the anti-gun laws is that they bar people against which have been issued restraining orders from carrying, or even owning a gun. This is how the looters increase the power of their "laws," by allowing more and more people to be "defined" as being affected. All it takes for a restraining order to be issued against a person is someone's unsupported word that he or she is a danger. Nothing else. And the person it is issued against can no longer have anything to do with guns.

It's the same way with the new "Child Abuse Databases" the feds are forcing on the states with the threat of the loss of millions of dollars in welfare funds. Anybody can be placed on that list, just on the unsupported word of a social worker or policeman. And once you're on, it takes an "Act of God" to get you off. They're insidious, and they continue to "creep up on you," day by day. You have to stay alert and tell everybody you can about their depredations, and work to get them changed. It's the only way outside of armed rebellion.

"The creators and producers move the world -- and the moochers and looters feed upon them and hate them for it." (Paraphrase from Atlas Shrugged, page ii)

Other Articles

Definitions:
In order to understand politics, you need to understand how we, and the collectivists define the words we use. When we're debating them, they're sometimes using the same words we use, but they have a very different meaning. This list tells you what we mean when we use words, and in many cases, what they mean.

(The) Hegelian Principle:
The principle described here is the single scam that has been the most effective for the power seekers in their efforts to gain total power over everybody. It has been so successful for them in fact, it could be said that its use is alone responsible for their continual move toward a totalitarian government in spite of the supposed "gains" of the opposition in recent years. If you read no other report you've found here, you must read this one. It will open your eyes to the fact that every new "crisis" about which the press beats the drums is a preface to a new law or regulation to "draw the noose tighter" around your neck.

Information Central:
There are many important articles of enduring importance in the "Information Central" section on my personal web site. Many of them have not been published elsewhere.yet. Others are written by others and are used here by permission. They're posted alphabetically by subject so you can find an article on just about any subject in which you have an interest.

"It is an absolute that if you produce more than you consume in your lifetime, you're a producer. If you consume more than you produce, you're a moocher or a looter." (Ray Thomas)

Information Sources

The "Child Protector Watch":
This is a web site/free newsletter that keeps the spotlight on the Child Protective Services, who are "out of control" in their quest to take over control of our children so we can't object when they teach them collectivism as an ideal in school. Click the link to go there and read the current issue.

Free Web Building Help
Most people don't need all the fancy "bells and whistles" on a web site which make them expensive. A simple design will do the job.

The" Forced Altruism Scam":
This is the "parent" web site for this newsletter. It details how the power seekers are using "forced altruism" as a tool to force the producer of new wealth to work for the betterment of moochers who will not work for their own betterment. How they have convinced Americans that "We are our brother's keeper" so that they can take from the producer at the point of a gun and give to the moocher to buy the votes to keep the power seekers in power over the rest of us.

Archives:

Number 1:
Feature Article: Fiction: A Waste of Time? About the contention of a caller on a Salt Lake City talk show I was guesting on that nobody should read fiction because it's a "waste of time." Random Shots #111: "And They Wonder Why." About the liberals wondering why fewer people are going to church while they "drive a wedge" between people and religion; "Ban Cars!" After a man purposely ran over some children why aren't the "anti-gun" types screaming to ban cars? "Woman Kills Home Invader" Another story you won't read about much in the press, since it's about a person who used a legal gun in self-defense; Celebrating Freedom (Not!) By P. Campbell. Celebrating our freedom on July 4th by remembering all the things we're not free to do. Other Articles: Links to other articles of interest; Classified Advertising: Where we trade ads with other publishers; Information Sources: Links to other sites of interest; Archives: Where all back issues are listed with a direct link to each.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. Ref.: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

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SWEEPSTAKES NEWSLETTER: Explains where and how to enter the country's largest and best sweepstakes. A monthly publication of over 30 sweepstakes each issue. Also has a lot of creative ideas for making money at home. For a sample copy send $2.00 to: MARTIN PUBLICATIONS, Box #86, Marseilles, IL 61341. (TF)

ARE YOUR CHILDREN SAFE…FROM THE GOVERNMENT? If you have children or grandchildren, or even know anybody who does, you need to read this Comprehensive Report. "Target: Your Child" tells you how your children have been targeted as "pawns in the game" by people in the government who want complete control over what is taught them in school without interference from you, their parents. The object of the "child protectors" is to destroy all parental authority and vest it in a government agency. To accomplish that, they'll lie, cheat, frame people and send innocents to prison for many years, and destroy families whether they're guilty or not. They just want the power to teach your children their values instead of yours. Send $3.95 to RAY THOMAS, Box 16247, Denver, CO 80216-0247 and you'll get a copy by return mail. If you think it's a crock after reading this report and researching the facts, just send it back in saleable condition for a full refund, any time.

"THE INTER CIRCLE": An organization that can be of immeasurable help in building a mail order business. It is billed as "The Organization for Ethical Entrepreneurs." You get FREE advertising in their snail mail newsletter and in their Directory. You also get a beautiful membership certificate, access to their entire membership list, and monthly updates on that in their monthly newsletter. If nothing else, it's a "Goldmine" of contact names, both for straight mail order and email order. I counted about 38 names in just the last issue with email addresses. Send for free details to: objective@briefcase.com

CAN YOU LIVE 120 YEARS? The human body is designed to last 120 years or more. Unfortunately, we usually die a lot earlier than that because of a mineral deficiency. To find out why, and learn where you can get ionic minerals to help keep you alive, and even make money helping others do the same, go to the "Stay Alive Longer" web site: http:/www.freeyellow.com/members2/stayalive.

What is sexual harassment? Anything the "victim" or the "enforcer" says it is. Subjective laws allow them to decide just what constitutes breaking the law so they can turn anything into sexual harassment, at will. (Ray Thomas)

This newsletter is FREE. To subscribe or unsubscribe to the "Alert List" that notifies you when a new issue is available go to: http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/beyondcommonsense and follow the directions. Published and Copyright © 1999 by Ray Thomas, P. O. Box 16247, Denver, CO 80216-0247. Phone: 720-351-3674.

Email: raythomas101@hotmail.com

Publishers and List Moderators: Reprint rights are hereby granted so long as you reprint this publication completely with no editing. The best way to reproduce it in email is to just create a link to it in email if your email program permits it.

Reprinting specific articles under my byline: May be done so long as the copyright indicia and contact information is intact and no changes are made in the text.

Reprinting of specific articles under someone else's byline: you must ask them for permission . There is contact information with each article.

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