12/03/08

Cruel and Unusual
By Lady Liberty

Americans on both sides of the death penalty issue are looking forward to an upcoming Supreme Court hearing on whether or not the ultimate punishment is appropriate for those who committed their crimes before they were 18 years old. As is to be expected, those against the imposition of the death penalty are even more against it in cases involving the relatively young; a few seem to have rethought their position where youth is a factor, but many advocates of capital punishment point to the heinousness of crimes they say warrant death no matter who commits them. (Read the rest here)

Do It Yourself
By Jeff Adams

The other day I was reading another one of the countless articles out there that ‘explain’ why the United States should spend so much financial and political capital defending the state of Israel. Simply put, I don’t buy it.

Now mind you, depending on what topic I’m writing about, and the angle I’m coming from, I’ve had people call me a Zionist as well as an anti-Semite. I believe I clearly do not fit in either of those two categories. Just because I hope for the total failure and annihilation of Muslim terrorists, and believe Islam to be a bogus, pagan faith, not related to Christianity or Judaism in any true sense (Mohammed made it all up, borrowing a lot from Judaism), or that I believe Israel has a right to exist does not mean I’m a Zionist in the true sense of the word. On the other hand, just because I think Israel is perfectly capable of dealing with its own problems, and should do so without dragging us into it, and it’s none of our business and we shouldn’t be involved in matters over there doesn’t mean I’m an anti-Semite. (Read the rest here)

Another Police State Killing
By Ted Lang © 2004

Isn't it the oddest of coincidences that in an American city where two historic events preceded the creation of a government founded upon the principle of protecting individual freedom, that those events have now been so completely countered by another two occurrences in that same city showing the complete reversal of a government of, by and for the people? Of course, we are speaking of the Boston Massacre and The Boston Tea Party versus the recent penning of peaceful demonstrators behind chain link fences and razor wire at the Democratic Party National Convention by Boston Police. And now also, the Boston Police are responsible for the unnecessary slaughter of an unarmed college student after the Red Sox's American League pennant victory riots. (Read the rest here)

Desperate Bush Turns To Social Security
By Ed Henry

I told you that Social Security would make a brief appearance in the campaign for the presidency and then disappear as it has so many times in the past. Here we go again.

George W. Bush made a lot of points when he mumbled something about "personal accounts" for Social Security during his first campaign in 2000. Since then, the subject has been on the back burner for four years. Bush has done nothing about it.

Oh, he did appoint a commission to study the feasibility and method of implementing something similar to the government's own Thrift Savings Plan, a highly successful 401(k) type plan implemented in 1987 by his father, but he put the fox back in the henhouse to co-chair this commission and we ended up with a wishy-washy report on actuarial data that the major members didn't write or sign off on and has since been shelved. (Read the rest here)

Libertarian Commentary on The Day's News
By Nathan A. Barton © 2004

LEGAL DISBLAMER
ADULT commentary. Do not drive or operate heavy machinery while reading these comments and opinions. Do not take internally. Do not fold, staple, or mutilate. Store in a cool, dry area. Do not stack over 5 high. Do not read if seal is broken. Sanitized for your protection. If symptoms persist for more than 5 days, consult a physician. WARNING: Exposure to standard old-party politicians is dangerous and may lead to severe problems.

A1) Cops take to crime (Not a text article. Requires "flash player" and loads very slowly)
"A former Los Angeles police officer has admitted to federal authorities that he and a group of fellow area law enforcement officers conducted a string of brazen armed robberies across Southern California staged to look like legitimate law enforcement raids. Ruben Palomares, 34, and his cohorts stole hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of drugs, cash, guns and other items over a nearly four-year period beginning in 1998, according to a plea agreement and related documents filed Tuesday. The one-time Rampart Division officer has agreed to plead guilty to a potential life sentence in connection with the crime spree and to cooperate with authorities.”

Commentary: With friends like these... The more we make local and other police agencies into full-fledged armies of occupation, the more likely we are to get cops who fit that mold; a “band of brothers” more like the members of the armies who ravaged Germany during the Thirty Years’ War or the British troops in the Southern Colonies portrayed in Mel Gibson’s “The Patriot” than anything we would care to have around today. Except for the uniforms, the main difference between this gang’s activities and those of “real” outlaw gangs appears to be that the “real” gangs are not so terroristic. It is important to remember that many police officers are sincere in their efforts to help people, but have been or are being corrupted. The really good ones leave and go into other work, but some weaker ones stay in and may be salvageable. It is not a reason to shoot first, like the US did in Iraq. (Read the rest here)

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