campaign-finance law - closing the Loop Holes

The Supreme Court strengthens a weakness on issue ads in the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law. June 26, 2007 WHEN CONGRESS, in the McCain-Feingold law, rightly banned unregulated soft-money contributions to political parties, legitimate political speech suffered collateral damage in the form of a ban on so-called phony issue ads paid for by unions and corporations and aired close to an election. On Monday, the Supreme Court went a good way — but not far enough — toward repairing the damage. By a 5-4 vote, the court ruled that a Wisconsin antiabortion group had a 1st Amendment right to broadcast advertisements in 2004 pressuring two Democratic senators — only one of whom was up for reelection — to allow confirmation votes on President Bush's judicial nominees. The ruling upholds a decision by a lower court that the ads were not phony issue ads.Monday's decision addresses what even some supporters of the law recognized as its constitutional Achilles' heel. Congress was concerned that some issue ads were veiled ads for or against a candidate — as they were. But in creating a net that would remove phony issue ads from the airwaves, McCain-Feingold arguably hauled in genuine issue ads — those designed to affect a legislator's vote, not to reelect (or de-elect) him. Moreover, as the Wisconsin case shows, a given advertisement can be a hybrid of an issue ad and an election ad. And that's not the only problem. Free expression is chilled whenever the government — in the form of the Federal Election Commission or the federal courts — polices the expression of political opinions.Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., in an opinion joined in full by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., offered this test: An issue ad is phony (and subject to a ban) if it is "susceptible of no reasonable interpretation other than as an appeal to vote for or against a specific candidate." Even if the courts erred on the side of free expression, as Roberts would like them to do, this is a green light for case-by-case challenges. A cleaner alternative is offered by the other justices in the majority. Antonin Scalia, joined by Clarence Thomas and Anthony M. Kennedy, would overrule the court's 2003 holding that the issue-ad provisions of McCain-Feingold were constitutional on their face.It's not often that Scalia has the better of a constitutional argument, but he does here. This newspaper, which is owned by a corporation, prizes its freedom to endorse or criticize a candidate right up to election day. We see this as our 1st Amendment right, not a favor bestowed by Congress in excluding newspaper editorials from the ban on "electioneering communications." We can hardly begrudge others the same right.

Michael Yon - Hit, Anbar Province, Iraq

Final Option by Michael Yon "The city of Hit (pronounced “heat”) is a spot of green in the desert on the western bank of the Euphrates. The temperature is steadily rising….. the haze shimmering at about 115°F now. I accompanied LTC Doug Crissman for….. with local in Anbar Province…. Prior to February, Hit was one of the hottest little battlegrounds of the war, with almost daily gun battles, mortars exploding on the bases, and bombs cratering the roads." By Michael Yon (Final Option - Full Article Click Here) A brief overview and review coming soon michael, yon, final, option, mike_final_option Saturday June 2, 2007 - 01:24am (PDT)

The World is Changing

..."Once, I needed a Red team commander for a game in which we were replicating a drug-trafficking scenario. I chose a young private who had been a street gang member, and he was one of the best Red team members I ever encountered. But most Defense Department war games are secret, and the talent pool is limited. Organizers have to fall back on retired military guys like me......" By Gary Anderson Click here to View the entire article by MR. Gary Anderson Our military is adapting to the tactics the enemy is using. Read Mr. Andersons article at LA Times. - Ian Bach Tags: war, games, iraq, afghanistan, gary, anderson

Michael Yon - Ethical Reporting from the Front Lines

The following two (2) quotes are from Mr. Michael Yon’s work featured on Fox News: (Mr. Yon accepts no money from fox, he wishes to bring ethical reporting to the News) "Our soldiers, meaning the soldiers from countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Germany, yes France, and the United States, are better in all aspects but one: The terrorists somehow manage to beat us all in our respective Medias. We may own the air, but terrorists own the airwaves." "Today there are over fifty journalists here. We have an excellent new Commanding General, David Petraeus. A big plan is unfolding that will affect the lives of nearly every person reading this, and many more. Soon the weather will change as a long, hot, grinding, and sticky year begins, but most journalists will spend little time here. When the weather turns hot, most will go home." Here is a link to his latest article on his web site: http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/ernie-is-dead.htm#comment-17540 Michael Yon an Ex Special Force member and now a power in Ethical Reporting. He has a very good Web Blog and Magazine I would like to tell you about and hope you read and support his fresh approach to reporting on the War. He has made a difference and appeared on Fox News recently. The fact is we need regular people to see some real reporting and real News and not the hype we have become so use to. He has some heart warming pictures on his website of the happy faces of young children and other Iraq citizens eager to realize their freedom I vote we help them obtain this. Here is a link to his web site: http://www.michaelyon-online.com/ Mr. Yon is now embedded in Iraq and reporting from the front lines. It is hard work and he can use our support. Being a journalist embedded with a Unit engaged in a war is not a fun life. He has left his family and friends to help the citizns of this world learn the truth. It took him 2 days to email a dozen photos, and he was moved from a trailer to a tent recently. He has some great photos on the Web Site and although he is not a photographer one of his pictures made big news and has helped him reach a wider audience. As he so well put it in one of his writings the news media today has been reporting a one sided view on this war. As he has said so well to his critics, there are War Profiteers but there are also “Peace Profiteers”. We have all seen the Medias reliance on making money off this War by reporting the bad things. Bad things make News organizations money, "Big money". It has distorted the public view of reality and twist truths into lies. Many terrorist videos make it on television and this is wrong. Let’s all give this brave man three cheers and support his efforts. If you have the means please donate to his web site. he does not get any money from the Fox Corp. He is doing this out of a frustration in the media today, and the lack of ethical reporting. If you have a Blog, I hope you will include this info. We desperately need a change in reporting. If you want to make a change please help. You can report suspect terrorist web sites to the web host such as Yahoo who responds fast to suspect terror sites. I have personally shut down many sites this way. I hope others will help report suspect terrorist or abusive sites, as I can not do it alone. Also I would like to suggest sending soccer balls for the children in Iraq. Iraqis love soccer, this can help show them we care about them. Thanks, Ian Bach Tags: iraq, war, afghanistan, michael,

More Links on Afghanistan

Two months ago I saw a special on PBS about Afghanistan and the Treasures that the Brave Afghan people saved from destruction by the Taliban. The special included info about the gold treasure (this was priceless history from about 500 AD), it also included the giant Buddha that may be safely hidden under the sands of time near where the two giant Buddha had been destroyed by the Taliban, and the national Film Archive that the Taliban attempted to burn all films but the people at the film archive saved the negatives and kept them hidden, knowing if they were found the Taliban would burn them with the film history of Afghanistan. There was also a short bit about Ahmed Shah Massoud. The part about Ahem Shah Massoud was of particular interest to me [from a military tactics aspect] and I researched it heavily. Here are some links…..Ian Bach http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/places/countries/country_afghanistan.html http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0311/feature2/

After seeing this PBS special I felt a deep connection to the freedom loving Afghan people. Here is a short video (not related to the PBS special but still good). http://ianbach.com/ahmed-shah-massoud/afghanistan.wmv. I am trying now to find the time to make a small file or files of the 1 hour PBS special.

When I began researching into the life of Ahmed Shah Massoud also known as the “Lion of Panjshir”, I was sad to see such a potential military ally killed by the Taliban two days before 911. See the info I found at: http://www.ianbach.com/ahmed-shah-massoud/

Raffaele Ciriello (deceased) a photo journalists’ last interview with Mr. Massoud. http://www.raffaeleciriello.com/site/pw/sto/46.0010massudeng.arc.html After much research into Afghanistan and Ahmed Massoud, I knew I wanted to help. I began to find and shut down web sites of terrorists. I also began to influence various new media organizations that they must report more on the good things we are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Later I put comments that would lead to awareness on issues within and outside of Iraq and Afghanistan.

After reviewing methods of counterinsurgency by Roger Trinquier, I found out where we need to focus our efforts. I am working to create public awareness now on various aspects that we can and need to change on how we wage war and how we interact with local citizens and local insurgents. I have found a reason to wake up in the morning. This is now my full time job and I will not stop. I make no money from this, nor do I wish to. I wish to bring hope to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the World. I continue to influence various News Media organizations and push them to report on the issues that the American public and the World is must know so they can make informed choices.

Update 4-15-2007 Note: when I wrote this I was aware our military had been changing tactics to match the situation, but I did not know how well nor how through/complete it has been. Let me inform you it has changed and will continue to. Our military, Iraqs army and police retrain even if they have been in Iraq on 2 , 3 or 4 Tours of duty. We regulary retrain our men now.

Click link here to here Americas counterinsurgency expert John Nagl speak about this.

Tags: treasure, iraq, afghan, afghanistan, ahmed, shah, massoud, afghanistan Friday March 23, 2007 - 03:03pm (PDT)

Backlash loosens al-Qaeda's hold on Pakistan's border

"Since Monday tribal fighters have been engaged in a full-blooded battle with Islamist fighters from Uzbekistan, who have been living in Waziristan since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001. Both sides have used artillery, rockets and gunfire." "The Uzbeks are led by Tahir Yuldashev, an Islamist who was once a close associate of Osama bin Laden. The combat centered on a remote valley about 12 miles west of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan. The government claimed that up to 135 people had been killed, at least half of them Uzbeks. But a tribal source from Wana told the Guardian only 60 bodies had been accounted for." As reported by the Guardien This is proof that the Terrorists don't understand locals will get frustrated and stand up against them. - Ian Bach http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,,2040552,00.html Tags: afghanistan, iraq, pakistan, insurgents, al-qaeda Friday March 23, 2007 - 01:57pm (PDT)

IED and bomb detection

Several People have shown a great interest in this area so I have compiled the best resources I could find. I hope I can find more LOW TECH methods and will include same ASAP. If you have any ideas please send them to me. Low Tech Detection Methods Silly String used to detect trip wires? Cool idea!!! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16079446/ R2087 Canine IED Detection and Human Scent Tracking Technical Support Working Group (TSWG) Combating Terrorism Technology Support Office (CTTSO) BAA 05-Q-4782 https://www.bids.tswg.gov/TSWG/bids.nsf/0/562CDFAECB3EEAFE85257291004AF313/$F... The Office of the Vice President for Research Virginia Tech http://www.research.vt.edu/funding/ou/prev/ou031805.html (Looks like I wasn’t the only one to think about use of dogs!!! Dogs have 1,000 times greater smell then humans. When humans smell chicken soup we smell soup, when a dog smells chicken soup they smell every ingredient even the spices each individual one! We kill dogs every day by the thousands in shelters. We could determine which are best to detect bombs, deploying them to theaters of operation, training them, and implement a useful tool into our arsenal.)

High Tech and Low Tech Special Operations Technology http://www.special-operations-technology.com/article.cfm?DocID=1129 Methods for IED reconnaissance and detection Armor, Sept-Oct, 2004 by Christopher J. Shepherd This is an interesting document but needs to be updated to include more methods of detection, and safer methods. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PAB/is_5_113/ai_n6355286 Xytrans is actively engaged in developing innovative solutions for IED Detection. Xytrans has leveraged our proven strengths in passive and active MMW sensor development and detection techniques, originally designed for the military, to provide innovative solutions to this very challenging problem. http://www.xytrans.com/6-market-ied.html Washington Post - Fighting Roadside Bombs: Low-Tech, High-Tech, Toy Box http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/28/AR2006072801462_2.html Overview My research has shown that most detection programs are focusing on High tech Solutions that take longer to create and implement. We should are learn to be resourceful and create low tech solutions that are easy and fast to implement. I will continue to try and find as many low tech methods and I will update this issue soon. Ian Bach Update: 3-24-07 I am working to contact the silly sting lady and have her work on sending remote control 4 WD cars also!! A fun way to take out a IED. These won’t be too effective but may work to attract an insurgents attention thinking it may be more then a remote car? Also these range in price form $10-$50 for a decent 4WD vehicle. Attaching items to make them even more useful should be easy. In other cases of battlefield improvisation in Iraq, U.S. soldiers have bolted scrap metal to Humvees in what has come to be known as "Hillbilly Armor." Medics use tampons to plug bullet holes in the wounded until they can be patched up.