posted June 29, 2006 05:18 PM              

***

.....right to asemble...

"Rainbow Children" Detained in the name of Homeland Security!!!!

Some say the "Rainbow" Gathering is the continuation of the idealism of Woodstock.

I think of it more as my annual spiritual retreat and family reunion.

Since 1980, I have gathered with my family to compare ideas and pray for peace.

I arrive loaded with the burdens of my work, depressed about the world situation......

Each year I depart with my faith in humankind renewed and with the energy to fight the beast another year.

The rainbow family is not organized in any way; it is an exercise in self-determination and cooperation in the public interest, without need of government controls.

We understand that no matter what comes down, it is the respect and care for each other that win in the end.

We have no leaders or leadership, we have no offices or officers, we have no treasurer or treasury. We sit in counsel, often for days at a time in order to make mutual decisions, but there is no power to enforce these decisions on any individual.

In the end, just like in society - it works because enough responsible people make sure that what needs to be done gets done.

(graphics added by Rainbow)

posted June 29, 2006 05:51 PM              

The Rainbow is known as a healing gathering; people with various ailments come for help. Here in one place they can receive healing, from herbalists, acupuncturists, chiropractors and masseuses working with osteopaths and physicians.

These healers work as a team and share their knowledge in a holistic approach that teaches all involved a lot about the roots of medicine.

Religious groups, ranging from Christians to Hare Krishnas set up camps.

It's truly a free society.

We go pretty far back in the woods to get away from the ills of civilization like alcohol and hard drugs.

We have our gathering and then restore any damage we cause to the woods. And we have a perfect record of restoration of the forest.

It's great to walk through a gathering and see so many people but not a scrap of paper on the ground, not a cigarette butt in sight. Each year we train thousands of newcomers how to get along in the woods without destroying the place.

Knowledgeable Forest Service 'Resource' personnel love us; it's the Federal bureaucrats and police from Washington who are on our case.

posted June 29, 2006 06:00 PM              

The Bush Administration has spent millions of dollars trying to stop the Rainbow Gatherings.

They are enforcing a 'Noncommercial Group Use' permit regulation that is impossible for unaffiliated individuals to comply with. 36 CFR 251.54

They require that that someone sign as an agent for a fictional group entity named as permit Holder -- which then must assume full liability from the Government and bind participants vicariously to its terms.

By the creed of the gatherings, no one can appoint themselves to such a position.

More importantly, such an ad hoc gathering has no legal capacity to designate agents or act as a group party in any way.

As a result, individuals are denied personal standing in First Amendment exercise and subjected to harsh criminal prosecution for being anywhere near the area

The Forest Service requires that a permit be applied for in advance of the gathering. And they use any excuse possible to deny a permit application when we manage to submit one.

This year their denial was based on the fact that a logging company had a permit to log in a nearby parcel of the national forest, even though there is no logging activity present whatsoever.

The site is far remote from any inhabitants -- but still the Forest Service is all over our case.

Millions of taxpayer dollars are being spent to block this harmless gathering from taking place.

The scariest aspect of all this is how Homeland Security is using these gatherings to perfect their techniques of martial law.

posted June 29, 2006 06:02 PM              

Each year the Rainbow Gathering is declared a "National Incident" and federal military law ensues.

A Special Agent is appointed "Incident Commander", with a Delegation of Authority, a large law enforcement "Team", and huge budget to control the gathering.

Qualified Forest Service administrators lose their power, while the county sheriff and other officials are brought into targeted law enforcement actions by inclusion in the Incident Team and other inter-agency agreements.

Each year Homeland Security gains more power over the individuals involved.

RIGHTS CRISIS IN COLORADO --

At this writing Forest Service law enforcement has issued over 500 tickets to the early arrivals at the gathering in Colorado.

They have blocked the road and have prevented food and water from reaching those who managed to get into the gathering before the police roadblock was set up.

The 500 people with tickets are being herded into trials like none anyone has seen before in America.

These pseudo trials are prototypes for what Homeland Security will use in the cases of insurrection or even a plague.

Defendants lose the right to a public hearing (this year these hearings are being held behind closed doors in a firehouse garage near the site.)

Attorneys and legal observers have been denied the right to even view these trials!

The defendants are not explained their rights nor afforded the right to an attorney, the right to summon witnesses, the right to a jury trial, etc.

Defendants are ordered to appear each day at 9:00 a.m. and sit in the hot sun without water or sanitary facilities until their trials.

Some have now been waiting for several days.

These abbreviated trials only take a few minutes.

Last year I tried to help a string of defendants defend themselves in these trials but felt helpless to do much as the system was clearly stacked against them.

This year is especially frustrating to me as I have to watch this come down from 6000 miles away.

Right now I am in Hungary at a medical conference for my employment. I am flying home on Thursday and plan on being in court Saturday, July 1st, to defend some of my best friends who got a ticket for illegally gathering as they drove down a public highway.

posted June 29, 2006 06:05 PM              

The confrontation this year is getting more intense by the minute, which is why I am asking for your help. The only way to stop a massive conflagration in Colorado in the next few days is to get thousands of people to contact their political representatives as well as the responsible administrators at the Forest Service to demand that this repression stop immediately.

Please, even if you can never conceive of yourself at a Rainbow Gathering, you must understand that if these citizens lose their constitutional right to gather, we all lose such rights.

This year the Rainbow Gathering is being used to set precedents that will be turned against drug policy, civil liberty, anti-war or other activists in the near future.

**********************

More info here......
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/06/27/18283162.php

posted June 29, 2006 06:49 PM            

quote:

---

The Bush Administration has spent millions of dollars trying to stop the Rainbow Gatherings.

They are enforcing a 'Noncommercial Group Use' permit regulation that is impossible for unaffiliated individuals to comply with. 36 CFR 251.54

They require that that someone sign as an agent for a fictional group entity named as permit Holder -- which then must assume full liability from the Government and bind participants vicariously to its terms.

By the creed of the gatherings, no one can appoint themselves to such a position.

More importantly, such an ad hoc gathering has no legal capacity to designate agents or act as a group party in any way.

As a result, individuals are denied personal standing in First Amendment exercise and subjected to harsh criminal prosecution for being anywhere near the area

---

Maybe I'm a bit dense today but could someone clarify that? I'm getting dinner ready for my son so I don't have time right now. Thanks in advance. I'll check the site when I get a chance later tonight.

posted June 29, 2006 07:54 PM              

******

EDITED: This portion was accidentally ommited from my original post....sorry...but here it is now...

--------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Fight American Fascism

EVERYONE!. This is serious business.

This is not a joke, or anytime to ignore what is really going on.

I am posting this again in an attempt to get EVERYONE involved.

These people are having all of their rights violated and being thrown into all of those nice prison camps that we have heard so much about.

From: LEXX

My Original post has been deleted and they will not let me post this any more.
At last contact, there are about 2-300 sites on other side of Roadblock.

They are arresting EVERYONE!

Any one on road or in area are being taken to a round up point to be taken to Detention camps!

The family has been determined to be a threat to Homeland Security, so begins the first MASS ARRESTS!

THIS NEEDS TO GET OUT VERY SERIOUSLY! THIS IS A WACO TYPE SCENARIO ABOUT TO HAPPEN!

PLEASE GET THIS OUT TO EVERY ONE YOU KNOW

THANKS, LEXX
==============================================

I don't care who you are, or what you're beliefs are, you NEED to help with this in order to protect our freedoms.

From: LEXX

Dear Friends and Family,
I need your help to protect my family, the collective efforts of tens of thousands of citizens known as the "Rainbow Family."

This week, near Steamboat Springs, Colorado, the U.S. Forest Service has taken illegal action to stop this annual assembly for expression and prayer, in gross violation of the participants essential Constitutional rights.

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/06/27/18283162.php

(Rainbow's comment: The beginning of gathering the "feeders?")
.

posted June 29, 2006 08:40 PM            

quote:

---

U.S. | Environment & Forest Defense | Police State
HIDDEN
The following post may have been a test post, a duplicate, or could have been hidden if it violated this site's Points of Unity. If you think this item should not have been hidden, first make sure it wasn't posted twice and you were just unable to find the other copy of the post. If that was not the case, you can contact the editorial collective by e-mailing sfbay-web@lists.indymedia.org.

Rainbow Children Detained in the name of Homeland Security!!!!
by 1st Ammendment at risk Tuesday Jun 27th, 2006 11:54 AM
right to assemble

---

And the last bit has a line going through it ... I forget what it's called, but see for yourself.

What gives?

posted June 29, 2006 08:44 PM            

"U.S. | Police State
Right to Assemble, or No Right to Trespass?
by Harmon L. Taylor ( legal_reality [at] earthlink.net )
Wednesday Jun 28th, 2006 8:34 AM
Rainbow Children reportedly detained by Homeland Security. The Indy Media characterize the matter as loss of right to assembly. But, it sounds more like a matter of trespass.
While we need to monitor any matter involving loss of liberty, we need to include in the legal analysis some other relevant facts. Here, we instantly get to the question of, "Who's land was this?" As the Supreme Court have taught us, very, very clearly, in the Kelo v. City of New London case, land ownership today is nothing like what most people think that it is. And, here, the question is not even all that confusing. The Rainbow Children pepole wanted to assemble in a place for which assembly is fully authorized, if and when they first obtain a permit to do so. We can discuss whether or not they should have to obtain the permit, on one level, but, on the level of operation in which they find themselves, there's no question that they have all the "right to assemble" they want. But, they must first respect the ownership of the land. And, where they are not respecting the ownershp of the land, they most certainly are opening the door to the question of trespass.

Then, where that trespass occurs by some showing of "force" or of "arms," or in a way that gives rise the the concern of complete disrespect for the ownership of the land, then the owner of that land most certainly may take whatever steps within the applicable law as are appropriate to protect "his" land.

We need to be very, very wary of this Homeland Security mindset. Some are more familiar with the Russian counterpart, the KGB. But, why do these people want to "feed" the problem? They trespassed. That's bad. They could have obtained the permit, and they were not interested. They showed up "en mass," in what could certainly be described as a "show of force," and now they're under arrest. The treatment they're receiving has everything to do with the land ownership side of the matter, and, referring back to Kelo v. City of New London, until we come to terms with who is, really, the owner of that land, we won't understand that the treatment of those detained is 100% in accord with the law that applies when that particular landowner finds trespassers on "his" property.

Freedom of assembly is not a license for committing trespass. So, before we get all messed up over an apparently non-American detention, about which we definittely need to become intimiately aware, we also need to realize what brought about that rather unusual detention. Since, at the base, the land ownership, itself, is not traditionally American, either, maybe we do well to invest some more time understanding the reality of land ownership. And, in the meantime, those who want to assemble in a "permit required" area may want to consider obtaining the permit."

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/06/28/18283382.php

Now, whose land is it anyway? Is it government property or private property? And how did the gathering work? I mean, did anybody just show up after hearing about it like some big block party in nature or is it an organized event?

I'm still confused.

posted June 29, 2006 09:52 PM            

That comment at the bottom of the article you posted was a relief, frankly.

I'm not ready to run into the wild lands yet.

posted June 29, 2006 11:09 PM              

quote:

---

......and the last bit has a line going through it ... I forget what it's called, but see for yourself.
What gives?

---

OMG! You're right!

I rechecked the link and the whole thing (which I copied and pasted here) has been deleted!!!

....and the......."Rainbow Children Detained in the name of Homeland Security!!!!"........with the line thru it is like a CANCEL, Don'tcha think?

I must have gotten that copied only minutes before it was deleted....

Very Strange!

I could be wrong, but I have an idea SOMEone didn't like the mention of the detention camps....

posted June 30, 2006 12:32 AM              

.......but while the WHOLE story is at this link it will also lead you back to the "original" link which has been deleted...

**************************

....about the Rainbow Family.....

Until I found the article about them (that I "copied and pasted" here)....I had never heard of them......

.....what caught my eye....was the mention of "detention camps" or "prison camps" ....

.....also this part.....

quote:

---

The 500 people with tickets are being herded into trials like none anyone has seen before in America.

These pseudo trials are prototypes for what Homeland Security will use in the cases of insurrection or even a plague.

Defendants lose the right to a public hearing (this year these hearings are being held behind closed doors in a firehouse garage near the site.)

Attorneys and legal observers have been denied the right to even view these trials!

The defendants are not explained their rights nor afforded the right to an attorney, the right to summon witnesses, the right to a jury trial, etc.

Defendants are ordered to appear each day at 9:00 a.m. and sit in the hot sun without water or sanitary facilities until their trials.

Some have now been waiting for several days.

These abbreviated trials only take a few minutes.

---

....plus the person writing the article...."Lexx,".....seemed desperate to get his message out....and being the "good do-bee" that I am....I was willing to help him....

The fact that he mentions his article got deleted before, and then seeing that it happened again (right before my eyes)also makes me a bit suspicious that someone might be trying to supress his story........hmmm....

It would seem from reading some other articles (since I first posted this story) that the Rainbow Family needed permits which they felt they didn't need to get (old hippies some people called them)....

.....but then here's Lexx's take on the permit issue.....

quote:

---

The Forest Service requires that a permit be applied for in advance of the gathering. And they use any excuse possible to deny a permit application when we manage to submit one.

This year their denial was based on the fact that a logging company had a permit to log in a nearby parcel of the national forest, even though there is no logging activity present whatsoever.

The site is far remote from any inhabitants -- but still the Forest Service is all over our case.

---

Who has the more accurate story?

Who knows......for sure....