My friend Tom Feeley is in Big trouble. He runs the web site informationclearinghouse.info which updates "news you won't find in the corporate media" every day. The site is strongly anti-war.I can't see anything about this on ICH yet. If anyone has more info, please let me know. This is outrageous.
Tom has gotten his share of death threats over the years, but what happened this week is a lot more serious.
Two days ago, Tom's wife found three well dressed men in their kitchen. The man who did all the talking, told Tom's wife (I won't give her name) that Tom must "Stop what he is doing on the Internet, NOW!" As crazy as it sounds, he pulled back his lapel and showed her a gun of some kind which she could not identify. Like I said, Tom has been threatened before, but nothing like this. 4 years ago, he was in a parking lot at Long's Drug store in Southern California and when he tried to open his door to get out, a man in a car next to him opened his door at precisely the same time which prevented Tom from getting out. Then, a 40-ish year old man got out of the passenger side of the vehicle and approached Tom saying, "You need to stop what you are doing on the web".
Tom said the man was overweight and had his shirt untucked. Tom was taken aback, but (after collecting himself said) "What the fuck? Who do you think you are telling me what I can do?"
The man answered, "Tom, I'm just giving you some good advice. You should take my advice, Tom."
This is all I know about the incident. Since, then, there have been occassional death threats, but nothing like what happened on Sunday. Tom's wife is hysterical and has not returned to the house since the incident. She contacted the FBI but the FBI said their was nothing they could do. Tom and his wife separated recently after a 30 year marraige, so he is publishing from a different location.
The well-dressed man told Tom's wife that he knew where her son lived, what line of work he was in, and how many children he had.
Last night, Tom's son and a friend cruised the neighborhood where his mother lives to see if anything strange was going on. They came across two men in a car a half-block from their mother's home using their laptops at roughly 12:30 AM. When Tom's son and friend approached them, the car sped off. Tom, does not know whether this is connected to his situation, but it is definitely suspicious.
I talked to Tom this morning and he is getting by, but he's clearly upset. I do not know his plans, but I know he is ditching his cell phone and (I assume) will have to go underground as much as possible. He plans to keep publishing.
I'll tell you this about Tom Feeley; he is no bullshitter. He is the "real deal" and completely committed to exposing the mob that is presently running our country. He does not understand why, (as he says) "They are reaching down SO far to get someone who just runs web site". But, the truth is, they are. Someone wants him to "shut up" and they apparently have the muscle to do it. He knows he is in danger.
I will probably only hear from Tom infrequently from this point on. But I will update information as I get it. Tom, knows some of the best writers on the Internet---many of them speak out regularly and forcefully on issues of civil liberties and war. Anything they can do to draw attention to Tom's situation will greatly improve his chances of getting through this ordeal safely. Beyond that, I have no idea of what can be done to help.
Mike Whitney
Tom Feeley is a hero, and ICH is a daily must-read, but he is hardly the only source of such information. Take him out of the game and others will fill the space, I guarantee it.
OTOH the top story at ICH right now is pretty scary too: Steve Watson cites a top Law Professor saying Counter Terrorism Czar Told Me There Is Going To Be An i-9/11 And An i-Patriot Act:
Amazing revelations have emerged concerning already existing government plans to overhaul the way the internet functions in order to apply much greater restrictions and control over the web.A friend is making backups of my blogs. Things are suddenly looking very wierd indeed.
Lawrence Lessig, a respected Law Professor from Stanford University told an audience at this years Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference in Half Moon Bay, California, that “There’s going to be an i-9/11 event” which will act as a catalyst for a radical reworking of the law pertaining to the internet.
Lessig also revealed that he had learned, during a dinner with former government Counter Terrorism Czar Richard Clarke, that there is already in existence a cyber equivalent of the Patriot Act, an “i-Patriot Act” if you will, and that the Justice Department is waiting for a cyber terrorism event in order to implement its provisions.
I've spent quite a few hours over the last week looking into all this anthrax stuff and it is clear to me that (1) Ivins is not the lone killer presented by the FBI's flimsy evidence, (2) the FBI don't really give a shit whether you believe their story or not, (3) the anthrax attacks were a concerted effort by the neocon crazies to push through the Patriot Act.
Of course that means the same people were behind 911 as well, which is becoming all too obvious - is that why they are preparing to act?
Are we now going to see why they wanted the Patriot Act, and how they view the rule of Law is this "new post-911 world"? Bush's USA has crossed to "the dark side", as Dick Cheney called it. Anything is permissible as long as there's a shady threat used to justify it.
Regular readers will know that I do not write in these terms. But right now I am beginning to feel a very real sense of trepidation.
