The Torch of
Eric Shine
A Sighting from The Catbird Seat
~ o ~
From: "Eric Shine" <apollonianrain@verizon.net>
To: "Karl W. B. Schwarz" <kw.schwarz@worldnet.att.net>, jackie@sweetliberty.com, "Phil Jayhan" <phillipjayhan@yahoo.com>, "George T. Pinkine" <gtpinkine@hotmail.com>, "Mary Schneider" <mary@maryschneider.us>, "mary abel" <marykabel2003@yahoo.com>, Sisyphus1285@cs.com, danny@rbnlive.com, radiolib@aol.com, newseditor@indpendent.co.uk, admin@nologo.org, info@swrc.com, jackblood@hotmail.com, "Mika Spencer" <mikaspencer@labornet.org>, bernieward2@yahoo.com, "Alberto M. Giordano" <narconews@gmail.com>, "The Catbird" <thecatbird@the-catbird-seat.net>, "Sam Hamod" <shamod@cox.net>, fed@feds4justice.org, sharif@democracynow.org, "Thomass Chittum" <t.chittum@worldnet.att.net>, alex@inforwars.com, stevelopez@latimes.com, devvyk@earthlink.net, mike@democracynow.org, "leslie marshall" <lesliemarshall@usa.net>, thom@thomhartmann.com, "david bacon" <dbacon@igc.org>, mratner@igc.org, mdryovage@nela.org, uprising@kpfk.org, johnandken@johnandkenshow.com, "Sherman Skolnick" <skolnick@ameritech.net>, Seadogbj@aol.com, "Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi" <dccc@dccc.org>, gil.reza@latimes.com, gnicolau@aol.com, jvb@truthout.com, mintzj@washpost.com
Subject: Whistle Blower - Congressionally and Presidentially appointed Federal Officer under attack by United States of America/ Department of Homeland Security/ Department of Transportation/ US Coast Guard and others....
Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2005 02:40:01 -0800
Attachment: Transcripts
All concerned Citizens and Patriots
Please stand tall and be counted!
NOW!! Before it is too late for you too.
Take the time to open-up the above TRANSCRIPTS [partial - redacted - even altered] and read them and see what is headed your way.
The Transcripts have been redacted somewhat by the Judge, plus many conversations were held off the record which I was adamantly opposed to. In addition, there are numerous typos are errors [as example "MATSON" should read "MADSEN" which was a US Coast Guard case on appeal and more....].
Furthermore, you must remember at the time of the "proceedings" which were not properly calendared or noticed I was being evicted from my home, under attacks from all sides by creditors and such, in about 10 other jurisdictions and venues all at once, being continuously stuffed under conflicted and/ or corrupted counsel and denied so much as a hearing in any and all courts proceedings while I was being overrun by the "UNITED STATES" [as a valid whistle blower]. This all in so many various forms so that there would be no way for me to enforce my Shipping Articles as valid ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT with the United States.
Plus, the USA put out a BOLO [Be On the Look Out] Warning poster on me even though it had me "captured" in Court and was torturing me with gross violations of DUE PROCESS and human rights. And the "USA" or whatever rogue group of fascists that has now taken if over also seized my vehicle, blocked me from filing an appeal to the Ninth Circuit and so much more.
Our COURTS are being used now as INTERNMENT CAMPS for "dissidents."
Who needs to "kill" somebody with conventional weapons when a "paper" tiger cuts so nicely. This is what is going on in America right now and anyone who speaks up about anything is in danger. We are all in danger, each and everyone of us.
I implore you all to act now before it is too late.
We're even now being MARCHED into World War intentionally. Think of your children and stand tall now or they will never be able to.
Layer upon layer of corrupt and corrupting bureaucracy is being created to distance us all further from our Constitution and its Bill of Rights. Our God given rights.
The clear intent at least here, is to "invite" as many DISPUTANTS and parties in on the complainant, or whistle blower, or party seeking redress so that very soon the original complaints are forgotten under a pile of continuing and tortuous behaviors and violations of human rights that are intended to "break" a person so that then you can be "CHARGED" with being "broken."
GANG-STALKING has become the "official" contemporaneous term for much of what is going on now and just some of the tactics being used by our own Government.
Something that is being taught in each and all Protection and Indemnity Insurance Club Groups.
The American People are under attack.
Worse, Federal Officers who are charged with protecting the people are under attack, and often times doing the attacking.
There is so much more to all of this so do not take anything on its face, but the intent and the desire of this Judge [one of about 15 or more involved in gross human rights violations] to not allow me to speak and to rather focus on "how I feel" after being "keel-hauled" should hopefully be more then apparent.
This and more that is so much worse is what is headed your way very quickly.
I even attempted to report the criminal enterprise going on within the maritime industry and the ALJ stifled me so that I could not be heard.
SPREAD THE WORD.
The Judge "Ordered" me to an unlawful psychological examination and when I appeared with an attorney and video-grapher, "HEIR Doctor" would not carry on the "examination" if it were to be on the record. Sounds kind of odd and actually kind of screwy. [??]
Worse, the Judge took negative inference from the "examination" not going forward "off the record" and said that I must have something to hide. [??] This same Judge spoke of "SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY" as if it were his "ultimate" protection to act like the SADIST that he is.
The Judge eventually ruled to accept a "CONTINGENT" Motion for Summary Judgment filed by the United States of America about 7 months later after more and more tortuous behaviors by some real criminals in black robes. The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA spent untold American Taxpayers money and time [in this war on terror - against me] to somehow "prove" that I was "depressed" or "suffering from" something "else", that was to again somehow be decided "off the record" without any proper due process or valid charges being brought against me for a violation of law, rule or regulation.
I was even sequestered in a HOTEL for 7-8 months as the US of A prosecuted me for "being depressed."
The WHISTLE BLOWER PROTECTION ACT has been "nixed" for the entire Dept. of Homeland Security which now also includes the Department of Transportation under its enormous wing. Take a look at the title page for the "TRANSCRIPTS" and you will see the clear "pecking order" and assumption of power by the DHS under Executive authority.
We are at WAR, but it is the American People and our Civil Rights that are in the cross-hairs. As I understand it there is a flow chart for the "NEW FEDERAL GOVERNMENT" which actually places all other "Departments" under the Department of Homeland Security. Is this what CONGRESS voted on?
A sign of the times.
Vertical Integration of the Federal Government under the Executive Branch [King] and the complete and inseparable marriage of the CORPORATE and STATE MINDS.
FASCISM.
The "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" and "DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY" and "DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION" and "US COAST GUARD" have brought retaliatory charges against me as a valid Federal Officer for whistle blowing and exercise of my Constitutional Rights as expressed there and in its Bill of Rights.
And sought to DESTROY me for exposing gross corruptions and the general intent and actions of a bunch of PRIVATEERS.
Take a look at "INTEGRATED COAST GUARD SYSTEMS" on the internet and it becomes real clear what is going on.
Packaging of a WAR and War Platforms and training for the rest of the world. WAR PROFITEERING to the extreme.
The ATTACHED Transcripts are of a "Pre-Hearing Settlement Conference" where the "United States" had brought retaliatory counter-charges and a complaint against me for "being depressed" so as to pull me out of Federal District Court and injure complaints that had been filed there against several Federal Employers/ Federal Contractors and the Federal Employees Labor Union for enormous civil, contractual, constitutional and even basic human rights violations.
Wait until you see ALL of the letters back and forth to CONGRESS and others that have been stored on a remote SERVER that are to soon be released, especially in the event of anything happening to me. CD's have been passed and instructions given.
God Bless America and our People and those of the World.
What is going on in America is out of control and can only be stopped by the American People.
People need to start stepping forward and helping to protect their fellow man [and every woman and child] and especially WHISTLE BLOWERS from the onset of a Totalitarian Dictatorship and system of forced Feudalism that is seizing our Country, our Constitution and soon all of its people in its hold, if not the World.
Respectfully submitted under DURESS as a prisoner of conscience,
Eric N. Shine
For much more, GO TO > > > www.martiallaw911.com
Catbird Note: Tune in to hear Eric Shine’s radio program on
The Republic Broadcasting Network
* * * * *
And catch the Eric Shine Interview on Wing T.V
with Victor Thorn and Lisa Guliani:
www.letsroll911.net/images/012105.rm.ram
December 21, 2002
U.S. Intelligence Officials Believe
15 Ships Linked To Al Qaeda
Flag-of-Convenience Shipping Makes Tracking Difficult
U.S. intelligence officials believe that an armada of approximately 15 ships around the world are either under control of the al Qaeda or are in easy reach of the terrorist network to carry out attacks against the United States, according to a page one article published in the December 21, 2002 edition of the Washington Post.
Attributing the al Qaeda connection to statements made by U.S government officials, Washington Post staff writer John Mintz said intelligence experts have identified about 15 cargo ships that could be used by terrorists “to ferry operatives, bombs, money or commodities over the high seas.”
Camouflaged Vessels Make Tracking Difficult
Facilitated by flag-of-convenience registries, U.S. intelligence agencies can lose track of suspicious vessels “which are continually given new fictitious names, re-painted or re-registered using invented corporate owners, all while plying the oceans,” the article said.
Flag-of-convenience countries, such as Panama and Liberia, offer shipowners from other countries an easy way to register their ships, with little or zero taxes, substandard safety, labor and environmental standards compared to U.S. requirements, and with no meaningful restrictions on the nationality of crews.
“As they scramble to keep tabs on the largely unregulated and secretive global maritime industry, U.S. officials have no end of worries about how nautical terrorists could attack U.S. or allied ports or vessels,” the article said quoting government officials. “They [government officials] cite such scenarios as al Qaeda dispatching an explosives-packed speedboat to blow a hole in the hull of a luxury cruise ship sailing the Caribbean Sea or having terrorists posing as crewmen commandeering a freighter carrying dangerous chemicals and slamming it into a harbor.”
Perils of Flag-of-Convenience Shipping
U.S. intelligence officials are preoccupied with the perils posed by “thousands of merchant ships worldwide that are registered in flag-of-convenience nations some of which ask for almost no information from shipping firms that ‘flag’ their vessel with them,” according to the report.
The Washington Post article underscored the ease and the lack of information that goes along with flag-of-convenience shipping.
“Belize allows companies to register vessels online, for example, and countries such as Comoros and St. Vincent and the Grenadines – and even landlocked Bolivia – barely keep track of their ships,” the article said attributing the information to U.S. government officials.
The Al Qaeda Connection
The article also quoted U.S. Navy officials saying that al Qaeda has used one fleet of ships registered in the Pacific island of Tonga to transport operatives around the Mediterranean Sea.
The al Qaeda firm, known as Nova and incorporated in Delaware and Romania, “has for years engaged in smuggling illegal immigrants,” according to the report which attributed the information to U.S. and Greek officials. The Washington Post article further quoted the officials as saying that the al Qaeda string of vessels often change their names and countries of registry.
In February of last year, eight Pakistanis jumped off one of the al Qaeda cargo ships, the Twillinger, at the port of Trieste, Italy, after coming from Cairo, according to the article. “U.S. officials say they determined that the men – who lied about being crewmen and carried false documents and large sums of money – had been sent by al Qaeda,” the report said.
Another incident involving another Nova-owned ship recently renamed the Sara occurred in August when its captain radioed Italian maritime authorities informing them of being forced by the ship’s owner to take on 15 Pakistanis in Casablanca, Morocco, who were menacing his crew, according to the article.
“Although the 15 claimed they were crewmen, when questioned by U.S. and Italian officers, the captain said they knew nothing about seafaring,” the article said. It was also reported that U.S. officials found “tens of thousands of dollars, false documents, maps of Italian cities and evidence tying them to al Qaeda members in Europe, and concluded that they too, were possibly on a terrorist mission.” The Pakistanis were subsequently charged in Italy with conspiracy to engage in acts of terrorism, the article said.
Forged Diplomas – Key To Seafaring Employment
The growing prospects of al Qaeda terrorists infiltrating crews and seizing ships prompted U.S. Navy and Coast Guard intelligence experts to examine student lists from hundreds of seafaring academies around the world, according to the report.
“Diplomas from these schools are needed for work on most ships, and trade in fake certificates is brisk in many port cities,” the article said....
Congressional Hearings
The Washington Post article and a subsequent New Year’s Eve CNN telecast (details follow) were the latest in a round of developments that underscored the threat of the flag-of-convenience shipping and its use by the al Qaeda to facilitate terrorist activities.
Indeed, the issue was aired during the course of hearings held last June by the House Armed Services Committee’s Special Oversight Panel on the Merchant Marine, where witnesses, including U.S. Maritime Administrator William G. Schubert and the U.S. Coast Guard’s Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety and Environment Paul J. Pluta warned of the national security dangers posed by flag-of-convenience shipping.
Flag-of-convenience shipping could “open the door for criminal and terrorist activity that would be impossible under the U.S.-flag registry, or other reputable flag states with high standards like the United States,” Schubert testified. “In today’s environment, we should not compromise our security. In the United States we know who owns our ships, who operates them and who crews them. There is no better assurance to our nation’s security interests than a strong U.S.-flag merchant marine.” [See the June 14, 2002 issue of the Washington Letter.]
The need to know the actual ownership of a vessel is urgent in light of reports that Osama Bin Laden secretly owns a fleet of ships, and also used a cargo vessel in 1998 to deliver ammunition that was used to destroy U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, Pluta told the Merchant Marine Panel....
http://us-flag.org/us-flag/wasposusinof.html
For more, GO TO > > > Broken Trust: Tonga
$ $ $
Date: Sun. 27 Jun 2004 12:02:47 -0700
From: "Eric Shine" <---->
To: The Catbird
CC: lcambay@aol.com, news@kpfa.org, news@kpfk.org, cmckierney@sunsentinel.com, jandrophy@bafirm.com, danielbartley@aol.com, danni@pogo.org
Subject: Federal Officer Under Attack by the Dept. of Homeland Security and "prosecuted" for being "Depressed" found "guilty without a trial or hearing” and upon falsified documents and more..... to cover-up whistle blowing.
Alcon [all concerned],
This is about "whistle blower" matters that involve the United States Merchant Marine and the Department of Homeland Security and Patriot Act and numerous gross abuses that have been carried out against myself as a Federal Officer and as gross human rights and civil rights violations........ under the auspices of the Patriot Act/ Department of Homeland Security......
THE PATRIOT ACT and DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY must be immediately dissolved as they pose the gravest set of dangers to our country and Constitutional rule of law more so then any terrorist group or foreign country....... this was intended and has become the VERTICAL INTEGRATION of the Federal Government and it is happening under our noses and must be stopped immediately before it is too late......... the "FIX" is already in and if not fought now waiting until the "elections" will be far too late....... even waiting for the DNC may be far too late.........
PLEASE heed my pleas for breaking this story and getting the information about what is going on specifically in the US Merchant Marines out to the public and about what has been done to me and others under the PATRIOT ACT......... this is not just about me or this valid Federal Service there is way more then this afoot as I have only discovered trying to get matters heard and addressed for myself and others within this valid Federal Service.......................... our country and Constitution are being stripped from us and Congress and the Courts are abdicating their respective roles to KING GEORGE ..... and even many are assisting in creating this unlawful and un-Constitutional plutocracy within "America".....
The following is a 100 page compilation of bits and pieces from different documents and letters and more that I am working on "editing" and paring down to send the most important sections to Congress in a 10-12 page letter if possible, some of it may be redundant as it is taken from different works, but hopefully someone with a strong conviction and who wishes to take on a story that makes "Watergate" look like kids playing in the sandbox...... then please take the time to get through all of this.
The attachments or exhibits have been redacted but the "POSTER" or BOLO that the Department of Homeland Security has put out on me is attached as a .jpg that if it does not open or is blocked can be viewed by forwarding the message or calling me with a fax number to forward this and more documents via facsimile.
This is very, very serious about what has been done to me by the DHS and USCG and what I have experienced within our State, Federal District and Circuit Appellate Courts.......... all three branches of our Government no longer rest within the control "of the people, by the people or FOR the people...."
Please help get this story out in the press as all of our lives depend on it as there is much more afoot in this year's elections, and much more riding on what is going on in America right now. The media, our final "protectors" of free speech may be the only way to avert it as the partisan politics have all of these guys/ gals so blinded to what some are doing, and what others are ignoring and not focused on what they are doing themselves, due to the squabbling...........
SEPARATION OF POWERS has been abolished with the PATRIOT ACT and the Department of Homeland Security and both of these Acts and this Dept. need to be abolished......quickly ....... before it is too late......... McCarthy-ism is alive and well and has been taking hormones...........suppression of information is rampant, one only need look at what Ashcroft has done to "public information" that has already been disseminated......attempted to and effectively "CLASSIFIED" it after it has already made it into the "public domain"........ [case of Sibel Edmonds in San Diego, the FBI translator who translated documents prior to 9-11 that she believes shows that we knew about it before-hand.... and many more], free speech rights and ability to find redress are all being trampled under the guise and auspices of "National Security" and the Patriot Act is being wielded like a CLUB just like during the McCarthy era......... anyone who speaks up for themselves, or others, invokes the Bill of Rights, or anything akin to what a "real" Patriot might do...... things are very bad out here right now and getting worse... quickly......
They intend to STEAL the election "ala" WATERGATE" but on a much more widespread and global scale, fast-track Commerce authority is being used and abused and the Commerce Clause of Congress has now been "nullified" with this and States can no longer contract their own Commerce and so much more.... power is being focused and narrowed quickly and decisively and not for our betterment and protections......
Respectfully and Hopefully,
Eric N. Shine
~ ~ ~
To: Secretary of Transportation Honorable Norman Y. Mineta
Senate Judiciary Committee Members
Senate Commerce Committee Members
Ethics Committee of both Houses of Congress
House Transportation Committee Members
House Government Reform Committee/ Congressman Waxman
From: Eric N. Shine can currently be reached at 714-375-6562.
Re: Petition for redress and corrections by and for Eric N. Shine regarding whistle blowing complaints, false claims by Federal Employers/ Contractors and related issues and requests to Congress for protective custody and immediate relief.
Re: Petition to Senate Commerce, Judiciary and Ethics Committee and both Houses of Congress, and Congressional Transportation Committee, Government Reform Committees and all members of House and Senate regarding these complaints and event revolving around and leading up to this most recent complaint about the U.S. Merchant Marine; continuing reports under Sarbanes-Oxley Act, False Claims Act, Whistle Blower Protection Act and various other related provisions including under general maritime and admiralty as allowed for this Federal Service.
Re: Petition for redress of grievances, and hearings regarding systemic failures encountered within Federal and State Waterborne Transportation Programs of the United States Merchant Marine; specifically toward absence of our proper, valid neutral system of industrial due process for this Federal Service. The proper system known as our Licensed Personnel Board, and the corruptions within important Federal and State Transportation programs by various Agencies and Corporations as Federal Employers/ Contractors.
Re: The Licensed Personnel Board as a line item on Federal Contracts and in Articles of Agreement and is being improperly denied from Federal Maritime Officers by Federal Employers/ Shipping Companies, Federal Employees Labor Union and Federal Agencies for access as required by Congress to and for settlement of all minor or major disputes and as upheld in the past by the Supreme Court.
Date: 06-20-04
Dear Honorable Secretary Norm Mineta and all Honorable Senators and Congresspersons,
My name is Eric Shine and I’m an Officer in the U.S. Merchant Marine and graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point. I am contacting each of you individually, and also all of you collectively herein and many yet again, due to your own respective positions as Secretary of Transportation, or respective positions on either Senate Commerce, Judiciary, Ethics and Governmental Reform Committees or House Transportation Committee. This continued contact relates to serious concerns for Federal Maritime Officers and corruptions within the United States Merchant Marine.
The matters I request to present as a Federal Officer affect and bear directly upon matters of National Security and Civil Defense that have been blocked from being heard for several years now by various and concerted individuals and overwhelming directed and collective forces. Many of these forces or individuals rest within positions of authority in both Federal Agencies and in all three branches of the Federal Government, within public corporations, and even within our own representative Federal Employees Labor Union. These individuals are stealing from and misappropriating Federal and State Transportation Programs and Funds of which I again complain of and about, herein and hereby, and who work in unison to cover up the thefts, dereliction of duty, misconduct, abuses of authority, violation of fiduciary responsibilities and positions of trust.
If the present course of action against me by various persons and agencies who are acting under authority of the “United States” continues, I will most likely not survive to tell Congress about what has been done to me, or what is going on in the U.S. Merchant Marine. This is the planned course of action and directed intent of those within the maritime industry who have taken numerous and concerted actions to ensure I would be stifled and never heard from within any proper, neutral forum or absent any undue pressures and influences.
Only Congress can intervene and stop this, especially at this end-point in the game, so as to ensure I actually do survive to tell what is going on within gross corruptions, enormous fraud, theft and criminal misappropriations of Federal and State Transportation Funds and Programs.
I ask my own present status or condition not effect nor delay any hearings in this regard, so to put a stop to continuing false claims that are being filed by numerous Federal Employers in cooperation with the Federal Employees Labor Union and even Federal and State agencies and authorities. Rather, and due to my own position, I respectfully request that some course of action be set to hold hearings and set a course for immediate correction and redress. That any such hearings be facilitated quickly, due to the serious nature of what’s going on, and the simple fact that it does affect and relate to concerns over Civil Defense and National Security.
As a direct result of what’s been carried out upon me personally and where it has now left me I am of course not doing very well. I have found no relief whatsoever from any proper source, and worse, been acted upon all that much more as I only doggedly persist, and only so that Congress might better understand and correct the present state of affairs within the United States Merchant Marine once fully informed. What is being carried out upon me, is well above any “standard” retaliatory practices and its more general intent, as only set out against anyone who may come forward to “blow the whistle” on corporate or governmental abuses, as I have done. Herein it is much worse and much more complex and injurious to not only myself, but also other Federal Officers and even our own Country, as it also involves issues of Civil Defense and National Security.
This incorporates actions by both the Corporations or Federal Employers/ Contractors working hand-in-hand with several Federal Agencies, and in fact even the representative Federal Employees Labor Union and its Federal Trusts, who’ve focused themselves improperly upon me in direct retaliation, only to ensure corruptions and false claims and other inappropriate, even criminal behavior continues unabated and without redress by Congress or more ethical members of our Government, if any truly remain.
I do assign, by this letter and its general intent and only towards proper corrections on systemic failures in the United States Merchant Marine, the desire for the transfer under subsequent written agreement of any and all knowledge, records and information in my possession for interim safe-keeping to be used only toward investigations by Congress to this end. I request custody be in the form of a bi-partisan, combined Committee of both the House and Senate, to look into gross, systematic, systemic failures of our complex programs of protections within the U.S. Merchant Marine as proper chinks in the armor of our Civil and National Defense Systems that are now missing entirely due to corrupt practices.
I request that inquiries and hearings be initiated by Congress regarding dissolution of our proper systems and safeguards for the personnel of the U.S. Merchant Marine, and in regards to and incorporating investigations of all my own previous reports about these failures to agencies like the United States Coast Guard, Department of Transportation, Secretary of Transportation, members of Congress and other Federal and even State authorities who have all ignored my pleas for intervention and investigations and how this could be allowed to happen.
Furthermore, and to that effect, why the abuses and failures within the system that have been reported by me, have been prevented from properly being reported this to Congress or the Federal Government for correction, or to find redress. That the system or “culture” that has allowed this to happen for years now in the face of continuing reports and requests for intervention be investigated thoroughly and corrected.
Not only are numerous enactments of Congress being arbitrarily discarded and overrun, strong protections for whistle blowers are being intentionally ignored, let alone even numerous stronger provisions for Federal Maritime Officers under admiralty and general maritime law.
I have accumulated over 5 filing cabinets full of information and data in this regard, with as many as 20 or more accompanying boxes, 7 CDS and more, as presently held and stored for safe-keeping in an undisclosed location so as to “prove“ the issues of False claims by the Federal Employers. I ask that arrangements be made by the office of Congressman Waxman to facilitate the collection, compilation and investigation of this information in regards to waste, fraud, abuse and gross mismanagement within the United States Merchant Marine and it Transportation Programs and Funds.
Furthermore, I request some level of “protective custody” be coordinated where I might be able to freely and without coercion of undue influence, or under any further threat or intimidations, be able to and in fact facilitated to present the matters to Congress and to the public, and to the media as I see fit. That any “arrangements” be made with the full knowledge and with the cooperation of several media organizations so as to protect the source and custodian of this information and reports which must make it before Congress as a matter of National Security, Civil Defense and toward the general welfare and care of the American people and our proper rule of Constitutional law.
This petition, complaint and appeal involves not only my own rights, but more importantly our individual and collective rights, and wages, and benefits as a valid Federal Service and an entire class of Federal Employees and Federal Maritime Officers. In addition, these issues involve matters affecting Civil Defense and National Security growing from matters of waste, fraud, abuse, gross mismanagement and misappropriation of funds within Federal and State Transportation Programs of the United States Merchant Marine and related programs.
This requires investigation, even a convening of hearings so the corruptions may be addressed and ended and those who have encouraged, concealed or partaken in the corruptions are minimally removed from positions of authority and trust. Most importantly and specifically, toward my own and all other Federal Officers present inability, generally as an entire Federal Service of the United States Merchant Marine to gain access to or have standing in any venue or forum for proper neutral third party resolution of minor or major, individual and/or collective disputes. This is only due to present and long-standing corrupt practices within the maritime industry as a whole that involves all of the aforementioned parties.
The “Licensed Personnel Board”, which is our mandatory arbitral mechanism used, in fact mandated, to settle any and all disputes both minor or major, is a line item on valid Federal Contracts. It is also incorporated into our Shipping Articles or Articles of Agreement that are individual employment contracts of Federal Maritime Officers with the United States formed under the Judiciary Act of 1789. Articles are to be administered in Article III Judicial proceedings and not Article II Executive Agency Administrative proceedings, but our systems of due process, proper representation, and even our own independent Right of Action within the Licensed Personnel Board, or State Court or Federal District court, or even original subject matter jurisdiction in Circuit Appellate and even the Supreme Court have all been improperly dissolved and Federal Trusts to fund the programs and even representation have been misappropriated and stolen.
These Federal and State Funds allocated for this were intended to pay for and provide this Board for well over the last 15 to 20 years or more, all of which, have been absconded by Federal Employers and the Federal Employees Labor Union and certain individuals therein. The last record I have been able to obtain is from a Licensed Personnel Board convening in 1982, even though this process is still the proper forum as created by Congress and protected under general maritime and admiralty law, but also is the contractual statutory process that still exists in theory and text within our Federal Contracts.
Various Federal Agencies are more then complicit in “looking the other way” and in fact actively participating in these improper practices and programs, only so as to make it easier to “manager their own budgets” and not carry out proper accounting practices, budget projections and fiscal management of Federal and State resources and only doing so by injuring civil rights, civil liberties and even civil complaints of citizens, let alone valid Federal Officers, Federal Employees, State Employees and this of course leaves private employees in a much less protected position.
This includes attacks upon and theft and misappropriations of other associated benefits, rights and funds including our pensions and other Federal Employment provisions, even death and injury benefits and more. Programs and funds that are all being denied and stolen from Federal Trusts as paid out to Federal Contractors in the form of Federal Employers or Shipping Companies. Moreover, the dues and fees of Federal and State Employees that are derived directly from Federal and State pay, have also been stolen as were intended to further secure and fund this system of due process for all Federal and State Employees; Union members or not.
Oddly enough because of various actions and programs of “right to work organizations”, those who are not members of unions actually stand a better chance to find representation and legal defense, then any union member who might step forward to end any corrupt practices, as then both the Union and Employers and the complex web of Federal Agencies are then set upon any Union Member who might attempts to find redress.
Our own Union for Federal and State Transportation Employees and Federal Officers has been seized by the Federal Employers and even Federal Agencies who are also signatory to our Shipping Articles in behalf of the United States. Yet, even with all that said, the dues and fees are also being required unlawfully as Federal Maritime Officers are not supposed to, by law and by contract, pay for any representation or employment positions or matters relating to employment, especially to programs and representation that do not actually exist anymore due to absolute corruption and dissolution of our Licensed Personnel Board. This was an extension of 28 USCA 1916 and other general maritime and admiralty law, principles and customs that have developed over the centuries if not even over eons in time.
Worse even, Federal pay is being required and requested to fund illegally political action “funds” for the unions, from both Federal and State Officers and used in indiscriminate manner for Federal and State elections, much of which is even being pocketed by the unions instead, and are abuses of the PAC type programs and other systems.
Federal and State Employees are not supposed to take any “official” position, or worse even, any “unofficial” position toward one political party or another. This stands both individually and collectively and is in strong contrast to accepted principles and norms that have long been held in this country, up and until the last several years or so.
It is one thing to donate private “time” to an election campaign of a certain candidate, or certain political party, it is another thing to take any portion of Federal pay or of a Federal position and contribute it to a PAC that is stolen from, and used to pay for advertisement and more of certain candidates or even certain parties.
Worse, Union funds are being used to promote political campaigns of certain elected Government Federal Officials, rather then using funds to promote the general welfare, rights, benefits and needs of Federal Officers to all of Congress. Pictures of Congressman and others are being run within our own Union publications, as promoted by a Federal and State Employees Labor Union advocating for, in fact promoting specifically certain Federal candidates.
This is an abuse of soft money and even PAC money restrictions that should not be going to any individual official, nor any specific campaign, but especially from a Federal and State Employees Labor Union without any directed and specific vote of the membership, if carried out at all.
Our contracts are issued and in fact created by the “United States” on our behalf and technically speaking, especially for Federal Maritime Officers, under admiralty and general maritime law and age-old customs we are considered as “wards under admiralty” to Congress and to the Courts, but this is not how we are being treated at all. So if we are “provided for” properly within our contracts or Articles of Agreement with the United States, as administered under General Agency Agreements by the Shipping Companies, then why do we need to “advocate for” any political party or candidate.
We are to serve the Nation without partisanship and the United States under admiralty and general maritime law is to provide for us so we may focus on doing our job in protecting our borders, trade, commerce, shores, people and then “privately” vote our conscious in an election. This is only being carried out as another unlawful and improper tax against Federal Officers and is being sold to Federal and State Employees as a need to get Congress “to listen” to our needs.
The Federal Employers have seized absolute control over all processes and our Federal and State Employees Labor Union has become more like the “company store” of old mining towns where the absolute control over all goods and services was tightly controlled, so that no miner could gather enough gold so as to escape from the gold towns and rise above and beyond the trappings of gold fever that sent him there in the first place. To build a better life and work hard toward some future.
Now our own Federal Trusts are being robbed blindly and taxed improperly as many became Federal Officers at a great expense to themselves and at great expense to our Federal and State Treasuries. Only to then be trapped within the “company store” of these Federal Employers, Federal Employees Labor Union and this general attitude now carried out within this and many other industries and if you might speak up about things like “taxation without representation” then the entire system of all these “corporations” is brought to bear down upon you and you are used as an example to all.
More importantly, what is going on and has been for some time now in regards to the absence of our Licensed Personnel Board, is akin to the United States Military losing its Uniform Code of Military Justice, and the Courts and system to promote and enforce it. Let alone the constitutional due process rights, or even the benefits that are therein derived and guaranteed.
This is how serious, and in fact a perfect analogy for what is going on with the U.S. Merchant Marine. It is being carried out to deny proper benefits, pensions, even due process and more, then to figure out complex programs of fraud to pocket these benefits by the Federal Employers, Federal Employees Labor Union, Federal Government and others. To even misappropriate and in fact divert funds intended for the benefits of Federal Officers toward other and improper ends is a Federal Crime and in this case is so treasonous against our own Bill of Rights and Constitution it should not be left unpunished individually or collectively, or in fact against any of those in charge who have been complicit in all of this.
This is being carried out so various Federal Employers, respective Federal Trusts, even our Federal Employees Labor Union may avert black letter law and its inescapable responsibility to properly fund Federal Trusts and programs as paid for under specific subsidy laws in trust to them, in order to provide for Federal Maritime Officers. Instead, even worse to misappropriate funds, and divert responsibility to other programs of the Federal and even State Governments at an enormous, even exponentially rippling expense to all other programs and the national economy in general.
Our economy is on the verge of imminent collapse as everyone is “doctoring the books” and this includes numerous Federal Agencies and Authorities.
These Federal subsidies for the United States Merchant Marine are not to support an ailing industry, or to “subsidize” a private corporation, as some may profess or believe. These Federal Funds are paid out in Trusts intended to pay for services and benefits of Federal Officers who are stationed onboard all these vessels for good reason.
Why do you think that all those within Federal Executive agencies are in such a rush to “outsource” or “subcontract” Federal and State positions? So they can set-up “General Agencies” under contract with the Federal Government just like has been carried out in the maritime industry, but where its intents have been so corrupted.
This so that those with experience like with these “programs” [like George Bush/ Zapata and the Texas Rangers, Secretary Snow with CSX] with both “Collective Bargaining” via baseball unions, “General Agency Agreements” via shipping companies, and other such programs may “set-up” franchises to unlawfully and improperly “tax” the American people into eternity. Did we not finally break ties in the Second Continental Congress with England because of these very same tactics of “taxation without representation?”
Due to complexity involved herein, specifically in how we are paid, and where and how it is derived, we are in fact not being treated as valid Federal Officers, because of the “corporate culture“ ala “Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, Global Crossing, Dynergy, Haliburton“ and others that has become so pervasive and so corrupt as to point toward this imminent collapse.
Yet we are valid Federal Service, not a corporation. Officers onboard any vessel of over 50 tons have been considered Federal Maritime Officers as working under Articles of Agreement with the United States since before 1789, when it was finally incorporated into our own Constitution under “Articles of Agreement“, under paragraph 26 [I believe] of the Judiciary Act.
This was reaffirmed in the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 that incorporated the Federal Employer’s Liability Act, even the Railway Labor Act into admiralty and general maritime law and into the Jones Act along with all common law provisions. None of these protections are being guaranteed by the Federal Employers, Federal Employees Labor Union, the appropriate Federal Agencies, or even our own Courts right now as I have experienced personally and to such a degree as to be Constitutionally disturbing. Preemption is the “Order of the day” or “lack of subject matter jurisdiction” or some other means to “not be able to get at the controversy to decide something.”
As but one simple example of what I speak of regarding even misdirection to other programs, various Federal Employers/ Shipping Companies use Social Security or State Disability Programs as diversionary benefit programs, rather then pay mandatory “maintenance”, “cure” and “unearned wages”, which is of course substantially higher only as provided for under proper subsidy programs paid out by the Federal Government to provide for these Federal Officers and Service.
This is being accomplished so Federal Contractors/ Shipping Companies may keep funds and thus maximize profits improperly off these Federal Trusts, rather then cover these benefits for these Federal Officers as funded to do.
So why the rush to “privatize” the army like those guarding Paul Bremer in Iraq?
Far worse, is the absence of the very core program of mandatory due process pressed upon the Federal Employers to address any and all disputes known as the Licensed Personnel Board. This Board, to be set-up and function neutrally, is to handle any and all disputes over pay, vacation, working conditions, medical benefits and others rights like even “maintenance” and “cure” and “unearned wages”, but they are also being diverted with the enormous funds being stolen.
Our own Pension funds are being robbed blindly and denied from us continuously as has occurred in direct retaliation even within my own set of circumstances.
Even guarantees set by Congress over death and injury benefits afforded to seaman as Federal Officers, similar to what is granted for railway men, are being denied and even then stolen from their families. This is part of our Civil and National Security Defense Programs and web of protections that even now the Department of Homeland Security, Patriot Act, Tom Ridge and others are playing out upon the American people so as to deprive us all of the Bill of Rights for work place disputes, that are intended to not only prevent abuses, but to ensure that our Constitutional rule of law pervades all aspects of our society.
In our situation it is all that much more important as a valid Federal Service, akin to and just as important as the Railway Employees where even now “Tom Ridge” is trying to find “another way” to attack the protections of these employees who are not considered Federal Officers as we are. Any and all neutral forums and Board, like even the National Labor Relations Board have all been corrupted and are as dysfunctional as the “intelligence” or lack thereof coming out of the Central Intelligence Agency now-a-days, and only because of the lack of proper protections in-keeping with the Bill of Rights for all employees let alone Federal Officers.
Problem is the “intelligence” can not get to those in charge, as it is being intentionally “blocked” so that some other “program” may be orchestrated, rather then fixing real problems like our Licensed Personnel Board.
I am not a C-O-M-M-U-N-I-S-T……. I am a R-E-P-U-B-L-I-C-A-N and graduate of a Federal Service Academy and P-A-T-R-I-O-T that realizes that suppression of First Amendment Rights is not good for the safety or security of our Country or the continued rule by Constitutional form of law and governance.
The Federal Employers, Federal Employees Labor Union and numerous unscrupulous lawyers have even applied for, and attempted to seize death benefits for themselves and not the families of the dead or injured Federal Maritime Officers or seaman. This is especially so for those who have no family.
This is an extremely unsafe position for our country and transportation and infrastructure programs to be in, especially now with the “War on Terror“, let alone to be allowed at any point in time. Not only have we let our guard down in so many regards, but much of this is coming from corruptions within our own complex systems that have protected us all for some time now, but our system and processes are in a major state of decay and corruption that must be ended.
Part of the problem is the lack of proper training, something of which cannot be carried out with this attitude of “warm body syndrome” that is only a part of corporate culture now so pervasive and strongly enforced only so as to steal pensions.
Outsourcing is now the same game and only being used to steal pensions and lower working conditions, pay, benefits, even separate us entirely from our most sacred document, the “Bill of Rights.”
These actions are creating a culture of class-warfare and civil unrest like nothing ever before seen in American history unless one wishes to march back 100 years to a time of similar unrest, when after decades of violence and corrupt practices of the Robber Barrons at the end of the 19th century, finally in the 1930’s Franklin D. Roosevelt brought the Bill of Rights to the majority of workers in the work place and home.
Our industry directly affects “commerce” and “transportation”, and Congress has mandated that any and all disputes, minor or major, either individual or collective within an industry as such, are to be taken care of within, in our instance the Licensed Personnel Board, or each industries own respective system as instituted by Congress.
A program that is now also being diverted so Federal Employers collecting Federal and State Transportation Program funds may keep as much for themselves, along with our own Federal Employees Labor Union and whatever corrupt forces are really driving all this.
This is occurring so rather then pay for and provide as required proper impartial process to have any and all disputes handled before a neutral third party and board, and as required by Congress and the Secretary of Transportation, both the Federal Employers and the Federal Employees Labor Union may control our entire system to set-up complex programs of labor racketeering, theft, collusion, and other illegal programs and rackets.
The Licensed Personnel Board is intended to function akin to the Railroad Mediation Board and includes issues of short-term and long-term disability benefits, death benefits or even pension benefits for those injured and who can no longer work. In fact it was set-up under the Railway Labor Act as expressed within the Merchant Marine Act of 1936.
As a prime example, the Department of Homeland Security/ United States Coast Guard has now “prosecuted me for” being “medically/ mentally incompetent” without a hearing and even while falsifying documents and medical records and worse, and are denying me my pension. So they want to have their “cake” and eat it too. This is one reason why the Pension-Welfare-and Benefits Administration, Earned-Income-Security-Act and other Acts of Congress and each organization thereupon were set-up, including even Social Security, but are now only being used as means to block access to benefits, pensions and more.
So I have been declared to be medically/ mentally incompetent somehow, but because the Federal Employers and Federal Employees Labor Union control these Federal Trusts they have “seized” my full, federal pension that I should be due, for them encouraging and helping an improper Federal Agency to declare me to be “unfit for duty.” This is akin to a Police Officer being shot in the line of duty, then being never able to work again and his pension being denied from him, one way or another.
The Federal Employers are using “ERISA” as an administrative blockade of process and procedures and guidelines and milestones that must be met to attain a Federal Pension as controlled by Federal Employers under General Agency Agreements. The Federal Employers and Federal Employees Labor Union and Federal Trusts have “set the rules” so that one must have “ten years” of vesting credits before one can get any sort of “disability pension” only so they can again “pocket the money” and anything individuals have paid into these programs over the years, and the Federal and State Funds paid to properly pay this out. What is far worse is the Federal and State Governments, love this, and worse are actively participating in this!
This is similar to what the Department of Homeland Security/ United States Coast Guard has carried out against me personally and in an arbitrary and capricious manner, by somehow determining my rights in regards to my own employment as a Federal Officer in the U.S. Merchant Marine, as separate and distinct Federal Service. The DHS/ USCG has stepped in unlawfully to “settle and decide a labor dispute” improperly, and declared me to be “medically/ mentally incompetent” without so much as a hearing and only in retaliation for continued whistle blowing about what is going on in the maritime industry within the Federal Employers and Federal Employees Labor Union and others.
Now, any individual who attempts to seek redress or gain access to their benefits, are not only being blocked from the Licensed Personnel Board [of course since it no longer exists], but then a combined effort by both the Federal Employers and Federal Employees Labor Union is orchestrated to blockade any Federal Officer from ever being heard within either State or Federal Courts. Worse, as a graduate of Kings Point, I ran for elected political union office against those who are carrying out these corruptions, who have turned the proper programs on their head to try and shut me up about what is going on by invoking the DHS/ USCG down upon me in retaliation.
The longer this has continued, and the deeper I have been forced into the bowels of these corruptions, the more I discover and the more pieces of the puzzle I put together to discover not only how corrupt all this and how many parties are involved, but how complex and long-standing of a program it really is.
The Federal Employers/ Shipping Companies use other administrative and adjudicative processes like even the National Labor Relations Board, Office of Administrative Law Judges of the U.S. Coast Guard and other Executive administrative agencies to improperly decide labor disputes, deny access to our benefits, or even determine other portions thereof by “Summary Decision“, rather then provide our proper, neutral Licensed Personnel Board and the benefits that would there from be derived.
These violations, in contrast to the Bill of Rights and proper and timely due process, are the most fundamental and treasonous forms of fraud that can be carried out or deprived from any American, let alone a Federal Officer, but worse our own Federal Government even in the form of Congressman and Senators are cooperating in all of this.
This is not being carried out as they are contracted to do for us, by the United States under various Federal and State Transportation Programs, or to look into and correct as properly elected “Representatives“…. “…of the People, by the People, and for the People.”
This is nothing less then theft of due process and constitutional privileges, first amendment and all other rights within our own Bill of Rights and should be considered very seriously, in fact treasonous by any and all Congressman and Senators who believe in our Constitutional form of Government and their own positions as guardians of and representatives of the people.
Are our own Representatives that scared of what is going on in our own country? Or is there something much deeper going on within our country right now and has bleed over from the corporations into our own Government that is to stop,end and prohibit these types or violations. As stated, this is akin to the military losing the Uniform Code of Military Justice and I am sure if Congress found out [or the Media] that the UCMJ and its courts and processes were missing, that heads would roll for quite some time to come.
Why should we, as valid Federal Officers in the United States Merchant Marine, a service which lost more personnel then any other service in World War II [save the Marine Corps] be treated in such a disgraceful manner for service to our country?
We have for too long now been misunderstood and denied proper representation within Congress, for our benefits and other rights that are being stripped from us by the band of rogues who have stolen control of Federal Trusts, Federal Employees Labor Union and related programs to so to their own ends which is not about democracy or rule of law, but about greed.
Moreover, as a cost-effective means to save money of our Federal Treasury, the Licensed Personnel Board was set-up to hear any and all disputes as stated, both minor or major and do so within 30 days or less and guarantee the access to and that the funds appropriated went to the Federal Officers and not to create enormous International law firms to defeat admiralty and general maritime law for individual seaman and force us all under “conflicted” representation and even counsel.
This is, as required by our Articles of Agreement and is protected by general maritime and admiralty law, in fact the U.S. Constitution. Articles of Agreement or Shipping Articles are much more then simple individual maritime employment contracts and are direct agreements with the United States itself, just as intended and set-up for Ambassadors and others by Congress. That is why they are called Shipping Articles or Articles of Agreement.
In my own experience, within Federal District Court alone, two complaints have been “preempted” in order to send me back to a process that does not exist, and only preempted under “collective bargaining laws“ that are supposed to be inapplicable. Only because my Federal Employees Labor Union worked collectively with Federal Employers against my ability to be heard in Court. Worse, I was sent back to a process that does not exist and the Courts denied motions to compel arbitration that were brought against the Federal Employers and Federal Employees Labor Union by me, leaving me with no means whatsoever for redress.
So “preemption” which is intended to send someone back to the “agreed upon process”, but is only to occur within certain parameters, as in our instance if a suit were brought within the first “30 days” and not allowed into the contractual, statutory process of the Licensed Personnel Board, then a Justice, and any party could request and a court order the matters to “first” be adjudicated from within the proper process. But herein it does not exist anymore!
Rather than look at, understand or care to understand what the contracts before the court actually were, or hear from the “horses mouth” about what was going on, the Judge [several if not numerous Justices actually] “held me in court in detention for years” [of which is still going on]. The Justices did this only so I could never be heard from and in fact “driven” from the Courts “screaming madly” about what I had been put through.
So now, rather then use “gas chambers” our own Government is using just plain old “oak-lined chambers” to carry out a program of social engineering against anyone who might complain, or might file a grievance; a petition for a redress of grievances; write a whistle blower letter to each, any or all of the three Branches of the Federal Government; or discover something so disturbing so widespread so fundamentally and in