Marilyn Writes

Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall began her career as a journalist with the Wyoming Eagle in Cheyenne. During her 20 year banking career, she wrote extensively for The American Banker, Bank Marketing Magazine, Trust Marketing Magazine, and other major industry publications. The American Bankers Association (ABA) published Barnewall’s Profitable Private Banking: the Complete Blueprint, in 1987. She taught private banking at Colorado University for the ABA and trained private bankers in Singapore.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

GOLD FRINGED FLAGS...

By Marilyn M. Barnewall
July 17, 2011
NewsWithViews.com

...“The gold-fringed flag only stands inside military courts that sit in summary court martial proceedings against civilians.”

The U.S. Constitution is a “Let’s Pretend” document without the Rule of Law.

Last week, Jeffrey Imelt, CEO of General Electric (GE) and a member of Obama’s Economic Advisory Council with specific responsibility for job creation, told businesses to stop sitting on their cash and begin hiring people. Imelt is a particularly offensive man whose only real talent is manipulating government programs to benefit his company at taxpayer expense.

In an article I wrote last week for another publication (Link here) explaining why this administration is impotent when it comes to job creation, I said:

“In our crisis economy, there is no “other people’s money” available from taxpayers, stockholders, partners or investors. Thus, the union thugs, corporate executives, administrators, and others who don’t understand risk management – those with whom you’ve surrounded yourself – can’t solve the problem. They only know how to succeed using other people’s money… and the state of the world economy dictates that there is no more ‘other people’s money.’ Well, there is – but you will let the world starve before you make the source known.”

There is so much corruption in our business community, it makes me ill.

One example: In 2007, GE, the world’s largest industrial company, was one of the biggest beneficiaries of funds set aside to rescue banks. Is GE a bank? No, but what does that matter?

GE has a company called General Electric Capital, one of the world's largest and most diverse financial operations. GE Capital makes loans for commercial real estate, aircraft leasing and issues credit cards for stores like Wal-Mart. If categorized as a “banking company,” it would be the seventh largest bank in America. Because GE Capital is not a bank, it did not qualify for TARP funds under the Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (TLGP) funds. TLGP is a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) program designed to guarantee unsecured bank, thrift and holding company debt, thus strengthening confidence in the banking system. GE didn’t qualify for the program – but close to $80 billion was funneled through two small financial institutions into GE’s corporate coffers.

You see, GE Capital owned an FDIC-insured savings and loan and an industrial loan company in Utah. These two very small financial institutions made up only three percent of GE’s total asset base… but gained qualification to the TARP funds from the Obama administration under a loophole. Special privileges had to be manipulated through the system, but it was done quickly and, with Imelt in charge of NBC News, a GE company, publicity was contained.

Anyone who buys a General Electric product is supporting a company that has become one of the most skilled tax avoiders in America. In 2010, GE set aside a mere 7.4 percent of its $5.1 billion U.S. profits to pay taxes. Actually, it paid practically nothing.

How do things like this happen? How do American taxpayers get nailed to the wall over and over and over again? I go back to my opening statement: The U.S. constitution is a “Let’s Pretend” document without the Rule of Law.

I’m always ‘preaching’ about finding the core problem rather than being continually diverted by issues about which we can do nothing. This is a prime example. The core problem appears to be our court system. There are some interesting facts you should know about the American Flag, for instance. What does that have to do with our court system? Read on…

President Dwight David Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10834 on August 21, 1959. It is printed in the Federal Register at 24 F.R. 6865, pursuant to law, and says: “A military flag is a flag that resembles the regular flag of the United States, except that it has a yellow fringe border on three sides.”

Every nation in the world accepts The Law of the Flag. Basically, it designates the rights under which a ship owner who sends a vessel into a foreign port functions and provides notice to those who enter into contracts with the ship master that he will use the Law of the Flag he flies to regulate contracts. The Law of the Flag regulates the laws under which contracts entered into will be governed. (See Ruhstrat v. People.)

In other words, Admiralty Law says that when a ship flies a Spanish flag, if you sign a contract with the Captain of that ship, any agreements or contracts the Captain signs will fall under Spanish law unless otherwise specified.

Further, there is a doctrine called “four cornering” a flag. According to usatherepublic.com, “By the doctrine of ‘four cornering’ the flag establishes the law of the country that it represents. For example, the embassies of foreign countries, in Washington D.C., are ‘four cornered’ by walls or fencing, creating an ‘enclave.’ Within the boundaries of the ‘enclave’ of the foreign embassy, the flag of that foreign country establishes the jurisdiction and law of that foreign country, which will be enforced by the Law of the Flag and international treaty. If you enter an embassy, you will be subject to the laws of that country, just as if you board a ship flying a foreign flag, you will be subject to the laws of that flag, enforceable by the ‘master of the ship’ (Captain).”

So, when you enter your local courtroom and find a yellow-fringed flag, you may want to seriously question under what laws people who appear in that courtroom are being tried: The U.S. Constitution? Or, the U.S. Military? Or, Maritime Law? Or, the Uniform Commercial Code (corporate law)?

Admiralty law tells us that when you see a flag, you need to understand that in areas where a flag is “four cornered,” you are being told which laws dominate that space. We are governed by the laws of the country the flag represents. According to President Eisenhower, gold-fringed flag tells us we are under the rules and regulations of the military force that flies the flag.

FLAG Martial Law; "Pursuant to 4 U.S.C. chapter 1, §§1, 2, & 3; Executive Order 10834, August 21, 1959; 24 F.R.6865; a military flag is a flag that resembles the regular flag of the United States, except that it has a YELLOW FRINGE border on three sides. The president of the United States designates this deviation from the regular flag, by executive order, and in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief.

FLAG Martial law; "Ancient custom sanctions the use of the fringe on regimental colors and standards, but there seems to be no good reason or precedent for its use on other flags." The Adjutant General of the Army, March 28, 1924, (1925); 34 Ops. Atty. Gen. 483, 485.

According to many Internet sites espousing expertise involving Flags, courtrooms that display fringed flags behind a judge is a military courtroom. Such a courtroom tries cases on the basis of military law, not constitutional law, not common law, not civil law, and not statute law. According to Army Regulations, (AR 840-10, Oct. 1, 1979.) "the Flag is trimmed on three sides with Fringe of Gold, 2 1/2 inches wide," and "such flags are flown indoors, ONLY in military courtrooms."

The gold-fringed flag only stands inside military courts that sit in summary court martial proceedings against civilians. These courts are partially governed by local rules, but more especially by "The Manual of Courts Martial", U.S., 1994 Ed., at Art. 99, (c)(1)(b), pg. IV-34, PIN 030567-0000. A judge who sits ‘under’ a gold or yellow fringe flag becomes the ‘captain’ or ‘master’ of that ship or ‘enclave’ – or courtroom? That judge has the absolute power to make the rules as he goes. The gold or yellow fringe flag warns that you are leaving your constitutional rights outside the four walls in the room where such a flag is “cornered.”

Is this why so many judges are appointed and not elected by the people? Federal judges are appointed by the President, the national military commander in chief. State judges are appointed by Governors, the state military commanders. Are judges appointed because the courts are military courts and civilians do not ‘elect’ military officers?

Under martial law, you are presumed guilty until proven innocent. That would certainly explain many court decisions, wouldn’t it?

Article IV, section 3, of the Constitution of the United States of America says “…no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State.” So – why have the judges of State and Federal courts been allowed to erect foreign ‘enclaves’ within our public courthouses under a foreign flag with yellow fringe? The soil on which these courtrooms are built belongs to each of our states. Does this make sense to you? It doesn’t to me. It only makes sense if the states are viewed as territories, rather than states.

There are other theories – that Maritime Law gives the legal system the right to treat people as corporate assets, for example – but all of the theories come to the same conclusion: Any courtroom with a fringed flag behind the judge should be highly suspect relative to the law under which people are tried.

Your job on Monday (“should you accept it” – for Mission Impossible fans): Visit your local courtrooms and take a picture of the flag in each. Be sure the pictures document where the flag is located – is it behind the presiding judge? The odds are very high that the flags in your courtrooms are fringed with gold. Is this an indication that the courts in your state function under Maritime Law? Probably. I have for years looked for reason in the decisions coming from American courtrooms – and as strange as it sounds, this makes a lot of sense and explains a lot of crazy decisions that have nothing to do with constitutional law.

This opens doors of lawful activity for Tea Party Groups… for all citizens, actually. Rather than protest – or sit quietly by doing nothing – take pictures of your courtrooms. Visit the links provided regarding flags and what they mean. Raise enough money to place a full-page ad in your local newspaper and publish the photos with a story. Educate the rest of the electorate as to why our courts allow corporate and government fraud and why the law seems to be interpreted differently for individuals than it does for people like Jeffrey Imelt, GE, and the politicians who support scumbags like him.

When you add judges whose Oaths of Office are not properly filed (see my NewsWithViews article) as constitutionally required by the state and the federal government, you will understand why taxpayer rape is being condoned by our legal system.

And here’s the second project for you – should you accept it, of course. Find the names of your judges – city, county and state. Call your county clerk and ask where the Oaths of Office for city and county judges can be found. Call your Secretary of State to find where each state judge’s filed Oath of Office is located (including the state supreme court). These are public documents. You are entitled to copies of them. When you find a judge whose Oath of Office is not on file, ask for a signed statement to that effect.

Bear in mind that when judges do not have a legitimately FILED Oath of Office, every decision that person has made while on the bench is illegitimate. Most state constitutions say a public official without a FILED (not just taken, but legally filed) Oath of Office is viewed as if the office requiring the Oath has been “vacant.” Find the exact wording of your state’s constitution (look under Oaths of Office) regarding filed Oaths. Publish in your advertisement about court flags what the Constitution says along with the names of any judges who do not have one on file. Remember, district attorneys and federal judges and prosecutors take Oaths of Office, too.

We citizens can do much to clean up the mess we allowed “them” to make – and the cleaning job must begin locally! Remove “their” base.

References:
1 - Sovereign Family of the World
2 - Gold Fringed Flag
3 - Get that Gold Fringe off my Flag

© 2011 Marilyn M. Barnewall - All Rights Reserved

________________________________________

Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall began her career in 1956 as a journalist with the Wyoming Eagle in Cheyenne. During her 20 years (plus) as a banker and bank consultant, she wrote extensively for The American Banker, Bank Marketing Magazine, Trust Marketing Magazine, was U.S. Consulting Editor for Private Banker International (London/Dublin), and other major banking industry publications. She has written seven non-fiction books about banking and taught private banking at Colorado University for the American Bankers Association. She has authored seven banking books, one dog book, and two works of fiction (about banking, of course). She has served on numerous Boards in her community.

Barnewall is the former editor of The National Peace Officer Magazine and as a journalist has written guest editorials for the Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News and Newsweek, among others. On the Internet, she has written for News With Views, World Net Daily, Canada Free Press, Christian Business Daily, Business Reform, and others. She has been quoted in Time, Forbes, Wall Street Journal and other national and international publications. She can be found in Who's Who in America, Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in Finance and Business, and Who's Who in the World.

Web site: http://marilynwrites.blogspot.com
E-Mail: marilynmacg@juno.com

Sunday, July 03, 2011

FRIENDS, AMERICANS, COUNTRYMEN, LEND ME YOUR EARS

By Marilyn M. Barnewall,
July 3, 2011
NewsWithViews.com

I come not to castigate the American government, but to wish you a Happy July 4th! There are things you can do to save your nation from those who rule… and it only takes a few minutes and a little work!

When we say “I’m an American,” is it just words? Does it qualify us to barbecue hamburgers on July 4th while we forget our obligations as citizens?

“I’m an American” means: “I am responsible for the well-being of my nation.” Citizenship comes with responsibilities.

What does “responsible” mean? According to a recent plethora of politicians from both political parties, it means you admit your mistakes… because you got caught. Does “being responsible” mean admitting the obvious truth when you’re caught telling a lie?

Being “responsible” is being accountable. Please tell me where anyone is being held accountable for the things being done to tear our nation to shreds? Please tell me why the American people are so afraid to hold their elected officials responsible for the rending? It must be fear of reprisal (or a FEMA camp future) – or apathy or laziness. Stupidity is a possibility.

To those who see what’s wrong but do nothing because they are afraid, I say this: If you do nothing to stop government abuse, your future will be far more fearful than anything that will happen to you today for actively trying to stop the abuse.

What is responsibility? It is accountability. What is accountability? Is it admitting culpability? Is it apologizing? Accountability is being “held to account.” It is “being made to pay an appropriate price for the infraction perpetrated.”

Our elected officials have a terrible price to pay for their part in destroying the best – the only – nation created under God. A lot of Americans who have done nothing to stop the destruction have a terrible price hanging over their heads, too.

A 2006 story from Elbert County, Colorado, graphically points out what happens when people do not do what’s necessary to protect their freedoms. Jennifer Brooke lived in Elbert County… in Kiowa, Colorado.

I say “lived” because on the last day of November 2006 she was killed. Let me rephrase that. She was viciously killed. A friend, Bjorn Osmunsen, 24, was attacked when he went to look for her.

Within minutes of Brooke’s violent death, next door neighbor Lynn Baker was attacked. His turn came when he stepped outside the door of his home. He said he thought he was going to die. He almost did. Baker was fortunate to have a son, Cody, who heard his screams for help.

Cody is a teenager with a pretty cool head. When he heard his father’s screams, he picked up a shotgun as he ran to see what was wrong. Thank God he didn’t have to stop and unlock it from a gun case or Lynn Baker would be dead, too.

Cody shot the attackers, killing two and distracting the other long enough for his father to climb inside his pickup truck.

Question: What do Spartacus and bull terriers have in common? The answer: “Both are famed, historic gladiators.”

Bull terriers were born to fight. They can be rather insensitive to pain and when they bite it is very difficult to make them let go. They have jaws of tremendous strength. The breed was created to have courage and to be fearless gladiators.

Everyone who owns an American pit bull terrier will come to the breed’s defense because of what I write here today. People do not like the truth when it impacts the price of a puppy. Breeders of these pets always defend them... and it’s true they can be wonderful dogs. Well, they are wonderful dogs in the hands of the right human companions. Unfortunately, too often people who seek out this dog are fear-motivated and looking for protection – the wrong owner for this dog. Not just anyone can raise and train a pit bull. They can, however, be the greatest protectors in the world when taught by a strong hand. Properly bred and trained pit bulls are reliable and they love to please.

Improperly bred and improperly trained, they can be killers.

The fact of the matter is, on the last Sunday of November 2006, Jennifer Brooke was torn to shreds by a pack of American pit bull terriers.

The attack that killed Brooke was not the first time these particular animals had attacked. One of the pit bulls had mauled a neighbor earlier and officials say the dogs were well known in the rolling ranch land near Kiowa, southeast of Denver.

"The people in the area had their own emergency phone network to warn each other if the dogs were loose. If the dogs were loose, they didn't go out," Rattlesnake Fire District Chief Dale Goetz said.

Does that sound a little like what Americans today do regarding their political system? They call one another and go to meetings to become informed – kind of an “emergency network” to warn each other about dangerous dogs to avoid? “Stay inside. Stay safe.”

Everyone in the Kiowa area knew the dogs were dangerous. Many people were part of the “emergency phone network” to which Chief Goetz referred – those who called neighbors to make sure they stayed inside when the dogs were out. Unfortunately, Jennifer was working outside when the call came.

These who wanted to avoid the unpleasantness of confronting a neighbor over her dangerous dogs and who thought a telephone warning was sufficient protection bear some responsibility. Were they Christians? A lot of people who hide from their responsibilities are. What does “I am my brother’s keeper” really mean? Does it mean giving a tyrant free rein to destroy what he or she wants while potential victims sit locked safely in their homes making telephone calls about staying indoors? No. Being your brother’s keeper means loving your brother more than you fear upsetting an irresponsible neighbor who owns vicious dogs.

In the arena of government, being your “brother’s keeper” means the same thing. It does not mean waiting for God to work a miracle while something of great meaning to Him is destroyed… whether that “something” is a nation or a fellow human being. God has given us what we need to solve man-made political and legal problems. It’s called “the United States Constitution.” When our Constitution is honored, it protects us from owners of mad dogs as well as government gone mad.

One person can’t change things? I have a good example to the contrary. After giving a speech at a Save America convention a couple of weeks ago, I was approached by a young woman who wanted to ask me about another public speaking engagement. I told her to give me a call. She is one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met.

This young woman, a para-legal and private investigator, has helped a husband and wife file RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) charges against 16 judges (city, county, and state) who either have not taken – or did not properly file – their oaths of office. Article I of the Colorado Constitution says:

“Section 8. Oath of civil officers. Every civil officer, except members of the general assembly and such inferior officers as may be by law exempted, shall, before he enters upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe an oath or affirmation to support the constitution of the United States and of the state of Colorado, and to faithfully perform the duties of the office upon which he shall be about to enter.

“Section 9. Oaths where filed. Officers of the executive department and judges of the supreme and district courts, and district attorneys, shall file their oaths of office with the secretary of state; every other officer shall file his oath of office with the county clerk of the county wherein he shall have been elected."

Section 10 of Article I goes on to say that any person elected or appointed to any office who refuses or neglects to qualify within the prescribed time results in the office being deemed vacant during the time the person held it.

This young woman read the laws of her State Constitution. Good grief! What a burden! Know the laws by which your elected officials must live? Of course you can’t do that! You don’t have time! And if that’s your attitude, you need to stop complaining about how bad things are. You’re part of the problem.

How many judges and other public officials in your county do not have properly filed oaths of office? How hard is it to visit your county clerk or secretary of state with a list of judges’ and district attorney’s names in hand, asking for a copy of a filed oath of office?

Colorado Section 9 of the State Constitution tells me any officer of the executive department or judge of the supreme and district courts and district attorney who does not have a properly filed oath of office has no standing to make any decisions. The decisions of judges, district attorneys, court-appointed lawyers, etc., who haven’t properly filed their oath must be vacated because they were non-existent – their position was “vacant” – when the decision was made. The same requirements exist for the federal judiciary.

Do people check to ensure a judge has legal standing to foreclose on their home before moving out? Probably not. No wonder they call us “sheeple.” As the saying goes, "A nation of sheep breeds a government of wolves."

Until the 1980s, RICO charges were seldom filed against anyone who wasn’t Mafia. In the 1980s that changed. Civil claims can be brought by any person injured in their business or property by reason of a RICO violation. If a person succeeds in establishing a civil RICO claim, judgment in the amount of three times actual damages plus costs and attorneys’ fees will be received.

As for Jennifer Brooke’s death, the owner of the dog who killed her admitted responsibility. Because she responded so “responsibly,” homicide charges were not brought. A judge heard the case, not a jury.

Who was it that said “those who would trade freedom for security deserve neither”? Oh, yeah. One of those old guys who fought and founded America.

He was right.

© 2011 Marilyn M. Barnewall - All Rights Reserved

________________________________________

Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall began her career in 1956 as a journalist with the Wyoming Eagle in Cheyenne. During her 20 years (plus) as a banker and bank consultant, she wrote extensively for The American Banker, Bank Marketing Magazine, Trust Marketing Magazine, was U.S. Consulting Editor for Private Banker International (London/Dublin), and other major banking industry publications. She has written seven non-fiction books about banking and taught private banking at Colorado University for the American Bankers Association. She has authored seven banking books, one dog book, and two works of fiction (about banking, of course). She has served on numerous Boards in her community.

Barnewall is the former editor of The National Peace Officer Magazine and as a journalist has written guest editorials for the Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News and Newsweek, among others. On the Internet, she has written for News With Views, World Net Daily, Canada Free Press, Christian Business Daily, Business Reform, and others. She has been quoted in Time, Forbes, Wall Street Journal and other national and international publications. She can be found in Who's Who in America, Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in Finance and Business, and Who's Who in the World.

Web site: http://marilynwrites.blogspot.com

E-Mail: marilynmacg@juno.com