PEERS: WantToKnow.info List 13/04/2007

PEERS: WantToKnow.info List 13/04/2007

This
message
is available online at http://www.WantToKnow.info/070413newsfbicrimespoisonpetfoods

Dear friends,

Thank
you for the tremendous response which caused AOL to remove the two-week
old block on emails mentioning WantToKnow.info. Blocking emails of those
who spam is certainly legitimate and necessary, but we have never sent
spam, and more importantly, there is no legal basis for blocking any
mention of a website in emails as they did with us. We believe it
is a violation of first amendment rights of free speech for an email
service provider to block mention of any website. For my recent
message to AOL addressing this issue and their rather pathetic response,
click
here or see the bottom half of this email. Thanks again for all your
help and support in pressuring AOL to remove the block.

Below
are one-paragraph excerpts of important news articles you may have missed.
These news articles include revealing information on AOL censorship,
poison pet food, FBI crimes, a blind man reaching the summit of Everest,
and more. Each excerpt is taken verbatim from the major media website
listed at the link provided. If any link fails to function, click
here. Key sentences are highlighted for those with limited
time. By choosing to educate ourselves and to spread
the word, we can and will build a brighter
future.

With
best wishes,
Fred
Burks for PEERS and the WantToKnow.info Team

Former language
interpreter for Presidents Bush and Clinton

The FBI ... has turned its back on thousands of
white-collar crimes

April 11, 2007, Seattle
Post-Intelligencer (One of Seattle's two leading
newspapers)

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/311046_fbiterror11.html

Thousands
of white-collar criminals across the country are no longer being prosecuted
in federal court -- and, in many cases, not at all -- leaving a trail of
frustrated victims and potentially billions of dollars in fraud and theft
losses. It is the untold story of the Bush administration's
massive restructuring of the FBI after the terrorism attacks of 9/11.

Five-and-a-half years later, the White House and the Justice Department
have failed to replace at least 2,400 agents transferred to
counterterrorism squads, leaving far fewer agents on the trail of identity
thieves, con artists, hatemongers and other criminals. The hidden cost: a
dramatic plunge in FBI investigations and case referrals in many of the
crimes that the bureau has traditionally fought, including sophisticated
fraud, embezzlement schemes and civil rights violations. In 2005, the
bureau brought slightly more than 20,000 cases to federal prosecutors,
compared with about 31,000 in 2000 -- a 34 percent drop. White-collar
crime investigations by the bureau have plummeted in recent years. In
2005, the FBI sent prosecutors 3,500 cases -- a fraction of the more than
10,000 cases assigned to agents in 2000. Civil rights investigations,
which include hate crimes and police abuse, have continued a steady
decline since the late 1990s. FBI agents pursued 65 percent fewer cases in
2005 than they did in 2000. Large numbers of FBI agents also were
transferred out of violent-crime programs. The gaps created by the Bush
administration's war on terrorism are troubling to criminal justice
experts, police chiefs -- even many current and former FBI officials and
agents.

Note:
For an article on how the FBI knowingly allowed innocent people to be
sentenced to death, click
here.

Bigger than you think: The story behind the pet
food recall

April 3, 2007, San Francisco
Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2007/04/03/petscol.DTL

The March
16 recall of 91 pet food products manufactured by Menu Foods wasn't big
news at first. Early coverage reported only 10-15 cats and dogs dying.
I'm a contributing editor for a nationally syndicated pet feature ... and
all of us there have close ties to the veterinary profession. What we
were hearing from veterinarians wasn't matching what we were hearing on
the news. Although ... Menu Foods started getting complaints as early as
December 2006, FDA records state the company received their first report of
a food-related pet death on February 20. One week later, on February 27,
Menu started testing the suspect foods. Three days later, on March 3, the
first cat in the trial died of acute kidney failure. Nearly one month
passed from the date Menu got its first report of a death to the date it
issued the recall. At that point, Menu had seen a 35 percent death rate in
their test-lab cats. We started a database for people to report their dead
or sick pets. As of March 31, the number of deaths alone was at 2,797. Pet
owners were encouraged to report deaths and illness to the FDA. But ...
there was no place on the agency's Web site to do so. The FDA kept
confirming a number it had to have known was only the tip of the iceberg.
It prevented veterinarians from having the information they needed to
treat their patients. It allowed the media to repeat a
misleadingly low number ... preventing a lot of people from really
grasping the scope and implication of the problem. An import alert buried
on the FDA Web site ... identified the Chinese company that is the source
of the contaminated gluten -- gluten that is now known to be sold not only
for use in animal feed, but in human food products, too.

Note:
If you want to understand how the FDA sometimes works to support big
industry at the expense of our health (and in this case the health of our
pets), the entire article is a big eye-opener. Click here for more.

Army's conquer by cannabis plan

April 8, 2007, San Francisco
Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/08/INGG3P14MD1.DTL

The
U.S. Army, in a search for "nonlethal incapacitating agents," tested
cannabis-based drugs on GI volunteers throughout the 1960s according to
Dr. James Ketchum, the psychiatrist who led the classified research
program at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland. Ketchum retired as a
colonel in 1976. He has written a memoir, "Chemical Warfare: Secrets
Almost Forgotten," in which he describes experiments conducted at Edgewood
and defends the Army's ethical standards. In a talk to the Society of
Cannabis Clinicians in Los Angeles last month, Ketchum recounted to 20
doctors the Army's experiments with cannabinoid drugs. Only a small
fraction of Ketchum's work at Edgewood involved THC derivatives. Ketchum
says he was motivated to write his memoir because the media has conflated
the ethical, scientific drug studies conducted by the Army on knowing
volunteers with the kinky, unsafe drug studies conducted by the CIA on
unwitting civilians. "None, to my knowledge, returned home with a
significant injury or illness attributable to chemical exposure," Ketchum
says. "Nevertheless, years later, a few former volunteers did claim that
the testing had caused them to suffer from some malady." Those claims came
from subjects exposed to agents other than EA 2233, he says.

Note:
Though the Army may have been somewhat more ethical than the CIA, why has
the media had so little coverage of these unethical programs to develop
mind control capabilities. For more information on secret mind control
programs based on 18,000 pages of declassified government documents, click here.

Fat 'counters vitamin C benefits'

April 8, 2007, BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6510479.stm

In
laboratory experiments, a team at the University of Glasgow simulated what
happens in the human stomach. They found vitamin C (ascorbic acid)
mopped up potential cancer-causing compounds that are made when saliva and
food mixes with stomach acid. But when they added fat to the mix,
the ascorbic acid could no longer convert the hazardous compounds into
safe ones. Antioxidants like ascorbic acid protect against the formation
of (carcinogenic) nitrosocompounds by converting the nitrosating species
into nitric oxide. However, when fat is present, it reacts with the nitric
oxide to reform nitrosating species, the scientists found. Bridget Aisbitt,
nutrition scientist for the British Nutrition Foundation, said: ...
"This research is interesting." She said fat-compatible antioxidants
in the body, such as beta-carotene, could also neutralise the
nitrosocompounds. This is another reason to underline the importance of a
healthy balanced diet where meals high in fat should not be frequent and
five portions of fruit and vegetables - our main source of vitamin C - are
eaten each day.

Note:
Why isn't it being widely reported the Vitatmin C and beta-carotene are
effective cancer fighters? For a possible answer by one of the top
physicians in the U.S., click here.

A third 'will refuse ID checks'

April 4, 2007, BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6526225.stm

One in
three people are expected not to cooperate with identity card checks, Home
Office papers from 2004 suggest. The working assumptions were revealed in
the documents published by the Department for Work and Pensions under the
Freedom of Information laws. They show that the assumption was
that the cards, due to be introduced on a voluntary basis from 2008, would
become compulsory to own - though not carry - in 2014. Lib Dem MP
Mark Oaten had asked for the information to be made public when he was the
party's home affairs spokesman in 2004. The department had resisted his
request, which came under the Freedom of Information Act. But the
department was ordered to release the data by the Information Commissioner
- a decision which was subsequently backed by the Information Tribunal.

Note:
Why do you think the government was so keen on keeping this information
secret? For more, click here.

Profile: Gary McKinnon

April 3, 2007, BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4715612.stm

Gary
McKinnon has lost his appeal against extradition to the US on hacking
charges. To hear the US government tell it, Gary McKinnon is a dangerous
man, and should be extradited back to America to stand trial. One
US prosecutor has accused him of committing "the biggest military computer
hack of all time". But Mr McKinnon has said his motives were harmless and
innocent. He was, he says, simply looking for information on
UFOs. If found guilty, Mr McKinnon could face decades in US jail,
and fines of close to $2m. Mr McKinnon said that ... he never acted with
malicious intent. But he did admit that he hacked into dozens of US
government computer systems. In fact, he calmly detailed just how easy it
was to access extremely sensitive information. But for some, his method of
hacking is not nearly so interesting as his reason for doing it. Mr
McKinnon told the BBC that he is convinced that the United States
government is withholding critical information about Unidentified Flying
Objects. His supporters say that instead of prosecuting him, the US
government should thank him for pointing out massive computer security
lapses. As for his quest to find evidence of a UFO cover-up, Mr McKinnon
has said that he found some circumstantial evidence online ... including
what he said are photos with what he speculated were alien spacecraft
airbrushed out of the picture.

Note:
For inspiring, reliable information on the UFO cover-up, see our two-page
summary available
here.

Libraries for Africa

July 12, 2006, CBS News San Francisco
Affiliate

http://cbs5.com/jeffersonawards/local_story_193173818.html

An
industrious group of sixth graders is packing box after box with books ...
all headed to Africa, for children whose educational experience is worlds
apart. Student Emily Moreton says, "I've learned that a lot of kids in
Africa don't have a lot of books to read." Classmate Josh Totte adds, "The
places they learn -- they don't all have buildings. Sometimes they just
gather around a tree." Two years ago, [Chris Bradshaw] and her family took
a vacation to Africa. That's when the African Library Project was born. "I
asked them if they had ever thought about having a library and they said,
'we've always wanted a library, but we didn't know how to make it
happen,'" she explains. Now her all-volunteer network partners with
schools and organizations that handle the collecting and shipping. In
Africa, Peace Corps volunteers help identify communities interested in
sustaining a library, then work with local officials to set them up with
books shipped from the U.S. So far, the African Library Project
has completed work on 29 libraries. Twenty more are under development.
Twenty thousand books have been donated by fourteen American
schools. And countless lessons are learned each day on both
sides. "There are many, many places that are poor, but Africa is getting
poorer," says Chris. "It's poorer now than it was 25 years ago and it's
the only place in the world that is like that." She believes books provide
the tools for change. Her dream is to one day provide books written in
native African languages... a chapter she'll write when there's more
money. "I got sick of feeling overwhelmed," she says. "I wanted to dig in
and do it and this was something I could do and I know it's making a huge
difference."

Note:
For more on this most inspiring project, see their website at http://www.africanlibraryproject.org.

Re: PEERS: WantToKnow.info List 13/04/2007 Ven 13 Avr - 9:51 par mihou

Older Articles Recently Discovered [url=][/url]

FBI let innocents get death
sentences

November 22, 2003, Sydney Morning
Herald (Australia's leading newspaper)

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/11/21/1069027333534.html

The FBI
used murderers as informants in Boston for three decades, even allowing
innocent men to be sentenced to death to protect the secret operation, a
government report has found. The FBI's policy "must be considered one of
the greatest failures in the history of federal law enforcement" and had
"disastrous consequences", the report by the House Committee on Government
Reform said. More than 20 people were murdered by FBI informants in
Boston from 1965, often with the help of FBI agents, it said. But no FBI
agent or official has ever been disciplined. The FBI's policy of
using murderers grew out of a belated effort by a former director, J.
Edgar Hoover, to go after the Mafia, which Hoover had earlier denied even
existed. In the early 1960s, the bureau began recruiting underworld
informers in its new campaign. The report focuses heavily on one episode,
the 1965 murder of Edward Deegan, a small-time hoodlum who was killed by
Jimmy Flemmi and Joseph Barboza, who had just been recruited by an FBI
agent in Boston. The FBI knew the two men were the killers because it had
been using an unauthorised wire tap and had heard Flemmi ask the Mafia
boss, Raymond Patriarca, for permission to kill Deegan. A few days later,
Deegan was shot dead. Four men who had nothing to do with the killing were
tried and convicted, with two sentenced to death and two to life in prison.
Two of the men died in prison and two had their sentences commuted and were
freed after serving 30 years behind bars. Hoover was kept fully informed
about this murder and the wrongful convictions, the report said.

Tapes Depict Proposal to Thwart Bomb Used in
Trade Center Blast

October 28, 1993, New York
Times

http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F00617FE3A5C0C7B8EDDA90994DB494D81

Law-enforcement
officials were told that terrorists were building a bomb that was
eventually used to blow up the World Trade Center. The informer
was to have helped the plotters build the bomb and supply the fake powder,
but the plan was called off by an F.B.I. supervisor who had other ideas
about how the informer, Emad A. Salem, should be used. The
account, which is given in the transcript of hundreds of hours of tape
recordings Mr. Salem secretly made of his talks with law-enforcement
agents, portrays the authorities as in a far better position than
previously known to foil the Feb. 26 bombing of New York City's tallest
towers. The explosion left six people dead, more than 1,000 injured and
damages in excess of half a billion dollars. The transcript quotes Mr.
Salem as saying that he wanted to complain to F.B.I. headquarters in
Washington about the bureau's failure to stop the bombing, but was
dissuaded by an agent identified as John Anticev. "He said, I don't think
that the New York people would like the things out of the New York office
to go to Washington, D.C." Another agent ... does not dispute Mr. Salem's
account, but rather, appears to agree with it. Other Salem tapes and
transcripts were being withheld pending Government review, of "security
and other issues." William M. Kunstler, a defense lawyer in the case,
accused the Government this week of improper delay in handing over all the
material. The transcripts he had seen, he said, "were filled with all sorts
of Government misconduct." But citing the judge's order, he said he could
not provide any details.

Note:
If the above link fails, click
here. For a two-minute CBS News clip the same day giving more
information on this little-known story, click
here.

NIH Scientist Says He's Paid To Do
Nothing

July 4, 2003, Washington
Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A6791-2003Jul3

Edward
McSweegan ... has an office in Bethesda, a job title -- health scientist
administrator -- and an annual salary of about $100,000. What McSweegan
says he does not have -- and has not had for the last seven years -- is
any real work. He was hired by the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases in 1988, but says his bosses transferred the research
grants he administered to other workers eight years later, leaving him
with occasional tasks more suitable for a typist or "gofer." McSweegan
used to be NIH's program officer for Lyme disease but was removed from the
post in June 1995 after a dispute over his repeated criticism of a
politically influential support group for sufferers and his allegations
that NIH had been too accommodating of the group. He had publicly
described the Lyme Disease Foundation as "wacko" because he disagreed with
its theories about the disease. The dispute led to his suspension without
pay for two weeks for insubordination. According to NIH, McSweegan is
director of the U.S.-Indo Vaccine Action Program, and has traveled to
countries such as Russia representing the agency. He has also "produced
reports and other work products." But McSweegan said he has never been
told he was director of the program. McSweegan said he struggles to fill
his eight-hour workdays by reading, exercising and writing fiction. He has
self-published a bioterrorism thriller and a science fiction novel.
But he says his six-page job description is the ultimate work of
creative writing and describes his position as "a bizarre, surreal
situation -- part Orwell, part Kafka and part Dilbert."

This war on terrorism is bogus

September 6, 2003, The Guardian
(One of the U.K.'s leading newspapers)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1036571,00.html

The
neoconservative think tank, Project for the New American Century (PNAC)
[wrote "Rebuilding America's Defenses"] a year before 9/11. [It]
justifies the creation of a "worldwide command and control system". This
is a blueprint for US world domination. It provides a much better
explanation of what actually happened before, during and after 9/11 than
the global war on terrorism thesis [which] is being used ... as bogus
cover for achieving wider US strategic geopolitical objectives. 9/11
offered an extremely convenient pretext to put the PNAC plan into action.
Plans for military action against Afghanistan and Iraq were in hand well
before 9/11. Some have seen ... the 9/11 attacks as creating an invaluable
pretext for attacking Afghanistan in a war that had clearly already been
well planned in advance. There is a possible precedent for this. The US
national archives reveal that President Roosevelt used exactly this
approach in relation to Pearl Harbor. The ensuing national outrage
persuaded a reluctant US public to join the second world war. Similarly
the PNAC blueprint ... states that the process of transforming the US into
"tomorrow's dominant force" is likely to be a long one in the absence of
"some catastrophic and catalyzing event - like a new Pearl Harbor". The
9/11 attacks allowed the US to press the "go" button for a strategy in
accordance with the PNAC agenda which it would otherwise have been
politically impossible to implement. The "global war on terrorism"
has the hallmarks of a political myth propagated to pave the way for a
wholly different agenda - the US goal of world hegemony.

Note:
This op-ed by Michael Meacher, UK Environment Minister from May 1997 to
June 2003, is a remarkable statement by a high governmental official of
the suspicions which surround the true origins of the events of 9/11. For
lots more reliable information on this important issue, click here.

Blind To Failure

June 18, 2001, Time Magazine (Cover
story)

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1000120.html

Scaling
Everest requires the enthusiasm and boosterism of a physical-education
teacher combined with the survival instinct of a Green Beret. You have to
want that summit. Erik Weihenmayer, 33, wasn't just another yuppie
trekker. Blind since he was 13 ... he began attacking mountains in
his early 20s. For Erik ... excelling as an athlete was the
result of accepting his disability rather than denying it." Climbing with
Erik isn't that different from climbing with a sighted mountaineer. You
wear a bell on your pack, and he follows the sound ... using his
custom-made climbing poles to feel his way along the trail. His climbing
partners shout out helpful descriptions: "Death fall 2 ft. to your right!"
Almost 90% of Everest climbers fail to reach the summit. Many--at least 165
since 1953--never come home at all. When Erik and the team began the final
ascent from Camp 4 ... they had been on the mountain for two months ...
getting used to the altitude and socking away enough equipment [before
they made the final, successful] summit push. "He was the heart and
soul of our team," says Eric Alexander. "The guy's spirit won't let you
quit." It could be called the most successful Everest expedition
ever, and not just because of Erik's participation. A record 19
climbers from the N.F.B. team summited, including the oldest man ever to
climb Everest--64-year-old Sherman Bull. Perhaps the point is really that
there is no way to put what Erik has done in perspective because no one has
ever done anything like it. It is a unique achievement, one that in the
truest sense pushes the limits of what man is capable of.

Note:
Don't miss the entire inspiring story at the link above. For an inspiring
video of Erik in Peru, click here.

Special Note: It appears that the FDA is attempting to
increase regulation of complimentary and alternative medicine (including
even juices used for juice therapy!). To learn more and sign a petition
protesting this move, click here and here.
For a very good 21-minute video on the 9/11 cover-up titled "The Third
Stage," click
here. For a description of how a six-year-old girl was arrested and
handcuffed by police for throwing a temper tantrum in school, click
here. For an informative five-minute ABC news clip on the power elite
gathering Bohemian Grove reported in 1981, click here. And
for those interested in the May 1st Global Love Day activities officially
supported by over 100 states and
localities, click
here.

[url=][/url]

AOL Censorship of WantToKnow.info: Update

Below are
the email exchanges I have had with AOL about the block placed on emails
which mentioned WantToKnow.info listed in sequential order. As it stands
now, the representative who originally told me to "rest assured"
that this was caused by a complaint has bowed out and referred me to the
AOL legal department. I've sent them a message, but have yet to receive a
reply. Email addresses have been removed to protect privacy.

[url=][/url]

Sent:
Monday, April 9, 2007 5:20 PM

Subject: Re: AOL Operations Ticket 1380785
created

Dear
AOL Postmaster,

Thanks for your email. Anthony in your support center was very
helpful in
dealing with our problem today when I called him at 4 PM. I just
wanted to
add a few comments in order to help resolve our issue.

I am the executive director of a small nonprofit named PEERS
(http://www.peerservice.org),
which manages several websites and email
lists. We have over 4,000 subscribers to our email lists.
The subscription
process for all of our email lists is double opt-in, so that after
subscribing, each new subscriber is sent an email and must confirm
that they
indeed want to subscribe before they are added to our subscriber
database. This is to avoid any unintentional or unwanted
subscriptions, and to avoid
any accusations of spam. We also have instructions on how to
unsubscribe
from the list at both the top and bottom of every email we send
out.

Approximately 10% or 400 of our 4,000 subscribers use AOL for their
email
service. We send out emails to our main email list every four days
on
average. We never send out any emails to those who are not
subscribed and
never engage in any activity which would be considered spam.

A short while ago, we discovered that our subscribers who used AOL
for their
email service stopped receiving our emails. After contacting about a
dozen
of these subscribers, all agreed that the last email they received
from us
was on 3/24/07. None of them received the next email we sent on
3/28/07, nor
have they received any of the emails we have sent since. Thus it
appears
this problem began sometime between 3/24 and 3/28.

Re: PEERS: WantToKnow.info List 13/04/2007 Ven 13 Avr - 9:52 par mihou

After running a variety of tests with a number of our subscribers
who use
AOL, we discovered that though they, as AOL users, could send out
email with
the URL of one of our websites - WantToKnow.info - mentioned in the
email,
anyone who was not an AOL user who tried to send an email to an AOL
user
which included the term "WantToKnow.info" anywhere in the message
found that
their email was blocked and returned with a 554 error message. So it
appears
for some reason that a block or filter has been placed on the term
WantToKnow.info for emails from non-AOL users to AOL users.

I understand that if several AOL users were to make a complaint
about our
website, it might be blocked. I would like to recommend that
before a block
is placed on any website like this, you contact the website first to
see if
there might be a legitimate reason or resolution to the problem
being
mentioned by AOL users who have made a complaint. Otherwise, it
appears that
you are censoring that website.

I cannot imagine any reason any AOL users would complain about our
work
other than political, as our website does deal with political
issues. We've
received many emails of support from our AOL users for our work, so
the vast
majority very much support us. If they don't like our work, it is
very easy
to unsubscribe, as mentioned above. Because of what happened, I have
to
wonder if we are either being censored by AOL for our political
work, or
if a group of people who do not like our work have staged a
complaint
campaign with AOL to get us black listed. You could avoid
accusations of
censorship by communicating with any website before blocking
it.

After calling your support desk today, Anthony checked your system
and could
find no block of the WantToKnow.info URL. Yet we've had confirmation
from
over 40 people who are not AOL users that all emails they send to
AOL users
which mention WantToKnow.info in the text are returned unsent with a
554
error message. We would very much appreciate your help in resolving
this
matter and letting us know what we might do to avoid this problem in
the
future. Thanks much for you help, and please let us know if you need
any
further information.

With best wishes,

Fred Burks

Executive Director of PEERS (http://www.peerservice.org)

Sent:

Tuesday, April 10, 2007 8:55 AM

Subject: 554 Transaction Failed HVU:B1 RT#1380785

Hello,

I am contacting you regarding the ticket you opened with AOL

concerning a mail delivery issue.

As I understand, you are receiving 554 HVU:B1 bounce messages when

trying to email AOL members. In order to assist in resolving your

delivery issue, I will need to see an exact copy of the email receiving

the HVU:B1 bounce. Please send the email to [deleted].

Additionally, please include the ticket number when responding. As soon as

I am able to find the offending URL, I will immediately get back to

you.

Thank you,

Jon

AOL Postmaster

[url=][/url]

Sent:

Tuesday, April 10, 2007 7:34:28 P.M.

Subject: Re: 554 Transaction Failed HVU:B1

RT#1380785

Dear Jon,

Thanks for

getting back to us on our problem of being blocked by AOL. Our

ticket number is 1380785 and reference number is 171054229. We

are very clear that the "offending URL" was our website WantToKnow.info.

We did extensive testing both with our AOL subscribers and non-AOL

subscribers. You will find a description of this in the case notes. We

have had dozens of supporters call and email AOL asking that the website

be unblocked. WantToKnow.info is a website which exposes major

corruption and many (including myself) suspect that our website may have

been blocked for political reasons.

It appears

that the block was lifted this morning, as our emails are now getting

through. If you can tell us who initiated the block and why, it
would help greatly to dispel the claims of political motivation behind
the blocking. I would also highly recommend that you contact a

website before blacklisting it, so that the website has an opportunity to

defend itself against any claim before such censorship is instituted. I

would really appreciate knowing why this block was placed and even when

it was then lifted today. As you requested, I included below a copy

of a 554 bounce message on an email which mentioned our website. Thanks

so much for your help and this, and you have a good day.

With best

wishes,

Fred Burks

PEERS Executive Director

[url=][/url]

Sent:

Wednesday, April 11, 2007 7:54 AM

Subject: Re: 554 Transaction Failed HVU:B1

RT#1380785

Hi

Fred,

You
can rest assured, your website was blocked for complaints.

As such, I highly recommend you set up a complaint feedback loop and

remove any AOL.com address that reports spam against your

mailings.

http://postmaster.aol.com/tools/fbl.html

Thanks,

Jon

[url=][/url]

Sent:

Thursday, April 12, 2007 7:59 AM

Subject: Jon, question about AOL and censorship,

ticket number: 1380785

Hi

Jon,

AOL

ticket number: 1380785, AOL reference number: 171054229

Thanks

for getting back to me. I'm afraid that your invitation to "rest

assured" that AOL's blocking of WantToKnow.info was the

result of complaints does not in the least assure me. I don't know you,

and I don't know that you aren't being deceived by your superiors on

this. So how can I just trust and accept what you say as being true? If

you can give me solid evidence that it was not politically motivated, I

will certainly consider it.

Taking this

a step deeper, I am convinced that blocking all emails which mention

a designated website is not only unethical, it is illegal. Websites don't

send out spam. Spam is generated through email. AOL certainly would be

within its rights legally and ethically to block all email addresses from

a website known to be generating spam, but only the emails. What gives

AOL the right to block all emails sent by the general public which

mention a particular website, as you did with WantToKnow.info?

This has nothing to do with spam. I suspect the spam
claim is being used as an excuse to disguise
censorship.

What's

more, AOL doesn't even attempt to contact the website being

blocked to give an opportunity for the suspected website to

explain what is happening. It is even more egregious when -- as in the

case of WantToKnow.info -- the website and associated emails

lists have never engaged in practices which would be considered

spamming. Our email lists use a double opt-in subscription process, and

we include information on how to unsubscribe from our lists at both

the top and bottom of every email sent. This is above and beyond what is

required to avoid being labeled as spam.

AOL's practice of
blocking any mention of websites in emails sent by the general public
is clearly censorship. It is not only unethical, but I believe
it could be shown to be illegal, as it prohibits the free flow of
information in a democratic society. This could easily be proven

to be an infringement on the free speech rights of the public guaranteed

under the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution. On what legal grounds

did AOL have the right to block all emails from anyone in the public

mentioning our website, WantToKnow.info? I would very much appreciate an

answer to these questions.

Many of

us suspect that this is one of those shady areas through which certain

individuals and groups with ulterior motives are able to exert

censorship under the guise of stopping spam. We all know that there are

many people and groups at all levels of industry and government who

place their own interests above the interests of the public. Some

of these could easily leverage their influence to cause public

services like AOL to accuse someone of being a spammer, and with

this excuse block any mention of their website in emails sent by

the public. In fact, accusations of spam should be dealt with by blocking

the spam emails and not blocking any mention of the website.

This clearly amounts to deceptive use (blocking websites) of a

legitimate function (blocking spam) and thus blocks free speech. I am

very interested in your comments and the comments of your superiors on

this.

By the

way, thank you, Jon, for the information on the complaint loop. I

have signed up for that. I am hopeful that this website blocking will not

happen again to us. If it does, I will most certainly consider working

with EFF to see if we can present a legal case against AOL for this

unethical and illegal practice. I highly recommend that you pass
on my recommendation to your superiors to stop this illegal blocking of
websites. I invite you to join me in calling on AOL to do what

is right here.

And if

you have any solid evidence of why I should "rest assured" that this was

not politically motivated, I welcome it. AOL's block of WantToKnow.info was

instituted shortly after we sent out one of our most important, yet

most politically sensitive emails (see http://www.WantToKnow.info/financialbankingcoverup).

That seems a very unusual coincidence to me. Thanks for your time, and

you have a good day.

With best

wishes,

Fred Burks

PEERS Executive Director and manager of WantToKnow.info website

[url=][/url]

Sent:

Thursday, April 12, 2007 11:43 AM

Subject: RE: Jon, question about AOL and censorship,

ticket number: 1380785

Hi

Fred,

At
this point, I need to take myself out of this thread. If

you have any questions, I direct you to our legal department. http://legal.web.aol.com/

Thanks,

Jon

[url=][/url]

Note
to WantToKnow.info supporters: For more on how this whole problem

unfolded, click
here. You can continue to help us put pressure on AOL about this by

contacting AOL at AOLLegal@aol.com.

Let's call on AOL to stop this infringement on free speech rights. Feel

free to use any of the language above in your communications. Thanks again

for all your support.

Final Note: WantToKnow.info believes it is important

to balance disturbing cover-up information with inspirational writings

which call us to be all that we can be and to work together for positive

change. Please visit our Inspiration Center at http://www.WantToKnow.info/inspirational

for an abundance of uplifting material.

See our archive of
revealing news articles at http://www.WantToKnow.info/medianewsarticles

Your tax-deductible donations, however large or small, help greatly to

support this important work.

To make a donation by credit card,

check, or money order: http://www.WantToKnow.info/donationswtk

Explore

these empowering websites coordinated by the nonprofit PEERS network:

http://www.momentoflove.org

- Every person in the world has a heart

http://www.WantToKnow.info

- Reliable, verifiable information on major cover-ups

http://www.inspiringcommunity.org

- Building a Global Community for All

http://www.weboflove.org

- Strengthening the Web of Love that interconnects us all

Educational websites promoting transformation through information and

inspiration
[url=][/url]

Re: PEERS: WantToKnow.info List 13/04/2007 par Contenu sponsorisé

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» PEERS: WantToKnow.info List du 10/04/2007
» PEERS: WantToKnow.info List 04/06/2007
» PEERS: WantToKnow.info List 09/10/2007

PEERS: WantToKnow.info List 13/04/2007

PEERS: WantToKnow.info List 13/04/2007 :: Commentaires

PEERS: WantToKnow.info List 13/04/2007

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