|
August
18, 2005
Our Right
to Defend Ourselves
IMB
Renews Piracy Warning For Somali Coast After Rise In Attacks
Terra Daily
The International Maritime Board (IMB) on Monday renewed a warning
to shipping to avoid the coast of lawless Somalia, citing a recent "alarming"
surge in the number of attacks on vessels this year.
But that's
okay, the UN wants to stop these attacks by taking weapons away from people
even on the high seas: so there is no way to defend yourself.
Australian
Police Probing Indian Call Centre Fraud Claim
Space War Daily
Australian police were called in Monday to investigate claims that
workers in India-based call centres are selling personal information that
put tens of thousands of people at risk of Internet fraud.
Just because
they talk with a funny accent (to us) doesn't mean they can't do nasty
things to your bank account or credit rating!
Mama's
Note: Anyone who thinks a "secure" website will actually keep
their credit information secure has rocks in their head. There is no such
thing as truly "secure" if you use credit cards, especially
on line. Only you can decide just how much risk you are prepared to take,
of course, but it is certainly foolishness to trust personal and financial
information to strangers you can't hold accountable - no matter where
in the world they are.
Several
injured as axe-wielding thugs attack Chinese university
Sino Daily
Several people were injured when a university campus in northwestern
China was ransacked by more than 100 thugs armed with metal bars, axes
and knives, state media reported Tuesday.
Hmm. Is
YOUR college student able to defend him or herself? Of all the places
to establish militias, colleges should be the easiest.
Canada:
Gun-grabbing mayor tries depot ploy
National Post
"Gun owners in Toronto may soon be prohibited from keeping their
firearms at home even if they are properly licensed and registered, Mayor
David Miller said yesterday. 'There's no reason to own a gun in Toronto
-- collector or not. If you are a collector and you have a permit, the
guns need to be stored in a way that they can't be stolen. And perhaps
a centralized facility of some kind could accomplish that goal,' Mr. Miller
told the National Post. 'The law requires gun owners to have proper storage,
but obviously not everyone adheres to that.' Following a spate of shootings
in Toronto, the Mayor has asked city lawyers and the police to determine
whether the municipality has the 'legal ability' to require individuals
to store their weapons at a secure facility such as a gun club."
(08/16/05)
He knows
his history well - isn't that what General Gage was trying to do that
spring day in 1775: get all the gunowners in Mass to store their weapons
in the armory or magazine where they'd be safe? Hopefully, more Canadians
will decide to fight back.
Mama's
Note: Fight back or move out of Toronto. Seems like a lot of places, both
in Canada and the US, need to have a lot of people vote with their feet.
I think that would send a nice clear message to these people haters. We
can only guess that the recent "spate of shootings" involved
people who were not able to defend themselves.
"Victim"
disarmament at airports on record pace
MSNBC
"The government is grabbing firearms from U.S. airline travelers
at a record pace, according to information obtained by MSNBC.com. The
record haul of guns comes at time when the Transportation Security Administration
is considering a proposal to allow some previously banned items, including
small knives and razor blades, back onto commercial flights."
(08/16/05)
These people
aren't victims (yet) - they're saps. Exactly why this is happening is
not explained. Are people just getting more careless, are the TSA thugs
actually (gasp!) getting more competent, or are they just ignoring laws
and seizing guns in checked luggage and other ways. However it is done,
it is NOT a good sign. The day is coming when every weapon not in the
hands of goons will be needed very badly.
Texas:
Mexican victim disarmament creates black market for US weapons
Brownsville Herald
"Mexico's strict gun control laws are contributing to an illegal
gun market and easier access to weapons, according to U.S. law enforcement
officials that are close observers of a recent upswing in border violence.
Since January, more than 600 people have been killed in an ongoing war
between rival drug cartels using high-powered handguns and assault rifles
fighting for control of drug smuggling routes on the Texas-Mexico border.
Federal gun seizures show that a majority of weapons used in violent crimes
in Mexico were smuggled into the country from the United States or bought
through other sources in a lucrative black market. Mexican law requires
its citizens to apply for a permit from the Secretary of National Defense
(SEDENA) before they can buy a handgun or rifle for hunting or self-defense."
(08/16/05)
A few days
ago it was Canada complaining about US weapons, now it is Mexico. Notice
that this is exactly what we've seen in the war on drugs: strict laws
MAKE easier access for the wrong users.
Let me
end this section today with a great poster.
Government-ruined,
Theft-funded Schools
US
bid to keep tabs on tuition irks colleges
Boston Globe
"Colleges are accustomed to being ranked on the basis of everything
from the quality of their libraries to the vibrancy of campus party scenes.
But a proposal to have the federal government compare schools by how much
they increase tuition has administrators and higher-education groups objecting.
Such a ranking, proposed as part of legislation to renew higher-education
programs, would require public and private colleges to report their tuition
and fees annually to the US Department of Education. The federal agency
would then assign each school a 'college affordability index' based on
the rate of increase, and make the information public." (08/16/05)
If they
don't want to provide the info, they have a very simple solution - refuse
to accept the FedGov money that it is tied to. Two points to note here.
One is that the Feds are apparently deciding to compete with US News and
World Report, which has been essentially doing this for decades. And it
is, for government-run schools at least, public information (and most
private schools treat it as such, too, and not just because of federal
financial aid). Second is, given the first, WHY does the FedGov need to
stick its nose in? Just another excuse to play games with federal funding
and justify more manpower spaces.
"Tax
error may cost Detroit schools $259 million"
The Detroit News
Detroit Public Schools discovered on July 28 that it had collected
$259 million in illegal taxes, The Detroit News reported. The district
immediately disclosed its error to the state treasurer's office and investors.
In a formal statement, DPS Chief Executive Officer William F. Coleman
III said that the district recognizes "the need for full disclosure
to the public and specifically to the taxpayers of Detroit." A spokesperson
for the district said that the tax collection was an "innocent error."
The $259 million were levied through an 18-mill tax on commercial property
and rental housing that expired after June 2002, according to Gongwer
News Service. To continue receiving the tax, the district would have had
to obtain approval from the voters, as it will be seeking this November
for future collection. The district told The News that it did not know
the reason it had neglected in 2002 to request a renewal of the 18-mill
tax.
(Thanks
to Michigan Education Digest for pointing out this story.) Notice the
original headline (in quotes) from the News - although I have to admit
in later stories they changed their tune. This kind of thing is probably
happening a lot more than we think or know: almost a QUARTER BILLION stolen:
and we think that bank robbers and the IRA are bad! Even if you don't
think taxes are theft (and I will be happy to show why they ARE), you've
got to admit this is stealing in a grand way. It seems that (1) restitution
WITHOUT a tax increase, and in large part paid for by the combined salaries
of the entire district administration (minus a living allowance for each
employee of a minimum wage job - like their graduates get), plus other
cuts; (2) public apologies, (3) garnishing of the wages of all school
board members (from their regular jobs - most school board members are
part-time, after all) and finally, privatization of the entire school
system by transferring to parent-organized cooperatives, would be appropriate.
Mama's
Note: This will be an interesting one to watch (provided the news keeps
reporting on it, of course) because it's a given that the money is long
gone and there is no hope they are going to pay it back. It would cost
a lot more taxpayer money to figure out who and how much to pay back,
even if they had the stolen money. The best idea, as far as I can see,
would be to give each of those taxpayers an extra credit in proportion
to what they paid, as well as the total privatization of the schools,
of course. The massive salaries of all those government employees would
then cease. It's not going to happen, of course, but it would be nice.
(More)
Theft By Government
Kelo
Seven Prepare for the Worst (Yet)
New Haven Advocate
The U.S. Supreme Court recently found that the city's original seizure
of private property was constitutional under the principal of eminent
domain, and now New London is claiming that the affected homeowners were
living on city land for the duration of the lawsuit and owe back rent.
It's a new definition of chutzpah: Confiscate land and charge back rent
for the years the owners fought confiscation. In some cases, their debt
could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Moreover, the homeowners
are being offered buyouts based on the market rate as it was in 2000.
Is there
any answer for this kind of unspeakable behavior? It is time to start
remembering Jefferson's words, and his example. That picture up above
could be Ms. Kelo's response. What kind of evil have the "good burghers"
of New London surrendered to?
Israel:
Gaza Tensions Rise
BBC News
The Israeli army is preparing to evict Jewish settlers remaining in
the Gaza Strip after a deadline for them to leave expired. There has been
a tense standoff between troops and settlers since the midnight (2100
GMT) deadline passed. The head of Israel's military in Gaza, Brig Gen
Dan Harel, warned that force could be used against the settlers from dawn
on Wednesday. The army says more than half of the 8,500 settlers have
already gone.
So 4,000
remain. That is a lot. The Israeli Offense Forces supposedly have "more
than enough" troops to use force to remove the remaining ones. And
there are 70,000 Palestinian bravos waiting to take over (or speed up
the "evacuation" or perhaps just add organic material to the
soil - who knows). Of course, if these were Arab Islamicists, the suicide
bombs would already be going off.
General
News
Venezuela:
Chavez organizes militia, threatens shutoff of US oil
BBC News
Over recent months, the populist president has warned that the US may
invade Venezuela or try to assassinate him. He has called for Venezuelans
to join a new civil reserve defence force, which, it is claimed, numbers
two million members. During a recent commemoration of a revolutionary
war battle, Mr. Chavez called for preparation for an "asymmetric
war" against the world's most powerful nation. The training of citizen-soldiers
is part of an increasingly militaristic emphasis in the six-year-old 'Revolution
for the Poor' headed by Mr. Chavez, a former army paratrooper who led
a failed military coup attempt in 1992. During recent months, Venezuela
has been buying 100,000 AK-47 rifles and military helicopters from Russia,
as well as ships and planes from Brazil and Spain. The arms-buying spree
worries Colombian leaders, while US officials have asked why Venezuela
bought more rifles than it has soldiers. Those officials have suggested
that excess rifles might be smuggled to illegal armed groups in Colombia.
Given Venezuela's
population and the claim that 2 million belong to his "militia",
this small number of arms is suspicious, to me. It appears that there
may be several classes of militia and that it may not be so much a true
people's organization as a way for Chevez to protect himself against another
coup, and to threaten minorities.
Bush
neighbor lets protesters use land
Carlisle Sentinel
"One of President Bush's neighbors will allow use of his land
by dozens of war protesters who have camped in roadside ditches the past
11 days, giving them more room and halving their distance from Bush's
ranch. Fred Mattlage, an Army veteran, said he sympathizes with the demonstrators
whose makeshift camp off the winding, two-lane road leading to Bush's
ranch has angered most residents. Mattlage said the group will be safer
on his corner 1-acre lot. ... For more than a week, the rural area has
been a traffic nightmare as the camp attracted hundreds more protesters
as well as Bush supporters holding counter-rallies. A resident was arrested
Monday night after authorities say he ran over hundreds of small wooden
crosses bearing names of fallen U.S. soldiers." (08/17/05)
I should
not be surprised to hear what a big deal the mainstream media is making
of this woman - nor what a fuss too many political columnists are. She
is ready-made for them, and so very convenient to have as a foil for their
attacks on the administration. What no one has really pointed out is how
very different the growing antiwar movement is in 2005 as compared to
the late 60s or early 70s. No one then would have done this sort of thing
outside LBJ's ranch (not that far from Bush's, in fact) or Nixon's San
Climente compound - but then, for all their hatred of Johnson or RMJ,
it was nothing compared to the sheer vitriol and viciousness heaped on
the current president.
Mama's
Note: As far as I'm concerned, Bush has earned every bit of it and more.
It's too bad this woman is allowing herself and her son to be the center
of a media circus like this, but I suspect she didn't think she had any
other way to protest the senseless death of her son and so many others.
Windows
users battle new computer worm
Cincinnati Enquirer
"A computer worm unleashed over the weekend infected more computers
on Tuesday that run Microsoft operating systems, with Windows 2000 users
most seriously affected. The Zotob worm and several variations of it,
known as Rbot.cbq, SDBot.bzh and Zotob.d, infected computers at companies
such as ABC, CNN, The Associated Press, The New York Times, and Caterpillar
Inc. The worm is causing the most problems at companies with large, networked
computer systems, rather than among individual computer users, said David
Perry, a security analyst at Trend Micro Inc., a computer security company."
(08/16/05)
A timely
warning that we have to always be prepared!
Mexicans
take over drug trade to US
Christian Science Monitor
"The kingpins of this hemisphere's drug trade are no longer Colombians.
In the largest reorganization since the 1980s, senior US officials say,
Mexican cartels have leveraged the profits from their delivery routes
to wrest control from the Colombian producers. The shift is also because
of the success authorities have had in cracking down on Colombia's kingpins.
As a result, Mexican drug lords are calling the shots in what the UN estimates
is a $142 billion a year business in cocaine, heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine
and illicit drugs on US streets. 'Today, the Mexicans have taken over
and are running the organized crime, and getting the bulk of the money,'
says John Walters, the White House drug czar, in a phone interview. 'The
Colombians have pulled back.'" [FND editor's note: The secret
to running a perpetual "war on drugs" (just like a "war
on terrorism") is having a constantly moving target! - SAT] (08/16/05)
While a
"moving target" is certainly a benefit, as Steve points out,
I seriously doubt that DEA and other federal agencies specifically and
intentionally made it possible for Mexican thugs to take over from Columbian
thugs to allow the war to continue. ANY time you have an illegal market,
you not only have basic business and economic laws playing a role, you
also have "law of the jungle" involved. While viciousness needs
no excuse, it certainly aids the struggle for market shares!
California:
Drug busts soar despite Mexico crackdown
Houston Chronicle
"Mexican drug cartels are sending ever greater quantities of narcotics
through border crossings in southern California, despite a Mexican government
crackdown and a bloody feud between rival drug gangs. U.S. Customs and
Border Protection sources said late Monday that seizures of marijuana,
cocaine, heroin and amphetamines at five border crossings in the state
jumped nearly 50 percent to 140,384 pounds in the nine months to June
over the same period a year earlier." (08/16/05)
Media analysis,
as is so often the case, falls short. People don't fight as much over
a declining market. But such battles do tend to reduce the overall competence
of the various participants - both because too many newbies have to be
hired to replace the casualties, and because that kind of thing tends
to distract people: so the number of failed border transits is naturally
going to increase: more drug busts. A more correct headline would have
been "Drug busts soar because of Mexican crackdown."
DoJ:
Videotapes withheld in post-9/11 inquiry
CNN
"The Justice Department's inspector general said a federal prison
center in Brooklyn, New York, failed to turn over hundreds of videotapes
to investigators probing the treatment of detainees taken into custody
after the September 11 attacks. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons discovered
the tapes in February, 14 months after the IG found some staff members
abused some detainees at the Metropolitan Detention Center." (08/16/05)
Stuff like
this will continue to surface for years. The interesting thing is that
it didn't just disappear again.
Medieval
peasants had "better teeth"
Ananova [UK]
"Medieval peasants had better teeth than people today because
they spent longer chewing their food, say researchers.Professor Wolfgang
Arnold, from the University of Witten/Herdecke, studied the remains of
people buried between the 5th and 9th centuries. He found they had better
teeth than their descendants, even though they never brushed their teeth.
He said: 'The portrayal of the typical person from the middle ages as
having rotten teeth is wrong.' There was sweet food items available then,
but despite this and the fact there were no toothbrushes, not a single
body showed signs of tooth decay. 'The food they ate then, with lots of
raw vegetables or cereal that was not made soggy with milk, had to be
chewed a lot more, and that is why tooth decay was so much reduced.'"
(08/16/05)
While I
take this with a large grain of salt, the logic seems sound on the surface,
and matches other observations and conjuncture about the general state
of health, intelligence, and conditions in medieval times. Still, how
come there is no evidence of worn teeth, as we see so commonly in bodies
from early colonial times, when the need to chew a lot and the grit from
grinding of flour and other environmental conditions wore teeth away the
way horses' teeth are, today?
Study:
Pain neurons respond to garlic
San Francisco Chronicle
"People tend to love garlic or hate it, but few probably associate
it with pain. Nonetheless, it turns out that pain-sensing nerves respond
to the sulfur-based chemicals in garlic. Indeed, the same mechanism the
body uses to react to the sharpness of chili peppers and hot mustards
like wasabi is the one that detects garlic, according to a study in Tuesday's
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. David Julius of the department
of cellular and molecular pharmacology at the University of California,
San Francisco, said the finding was made during research on the mechanisms
of pain sensation." (08/15/05)
A fact
that my grandmother could have told them (and would have, given the chance).
Mama's
Note: Too bad this doesn't tell us how to use the garlic to treat pain.
Unfortunately, I can't eat garlic at all. It makes me very nauseated.
Stupid
People and Government Tricks
Georgia:
Alleged burglar caught after calling Mom
San Francisco Chronicle
"A home invasion was solved by a phone's re-dial button when an
accused burglar in [a] west Georgia town allegedly used the phone to call
his mother for a ride after breaking in. According to sheriff's investigator
Alan Lee, a resident of Villa Rica returned home Sunday from a few days
out of town and was missing credit cards, a check book, cell phone and
jewelry. The victim tried hitting re-dial on her phone, and the mother
of 23-year-old Kevin Tucker answered. The call led to the arrests of Tucker
and 18-year-old Brittany Leigh-Anne Smith, said Lt. Shane Taylor. Taylor
said a deputy spoke with Tucker's mother, who said the two had called
and asked her to pick them up from the residence." 08/16/05)
I suppose
I can comment about being tied to your parents' apron-strings, or of the
brain-dead condition of criminals. This is, indeed, a stupid person trick.
UK:
New claims over Menenez death
Guardian [UK]
"The young Brazilian shot dead by police on a London tube train
in mistake for a suicide bomber had already been overpowered by a surveillance
officer before he was killed, according to secret documents revealed last
night. It also emerged in the leaked documents that early allegations
that he was running away from police at the time of the shooting were
untrue and that he appeared unaware that he was being followed. Relatives
and the dead man's legal team expressed shock and outrage at the revelations.
Scotland Yard has continued to justify a shoot-to-kill policy."
(08/17/05)
We should
have realized the reports of the excellent shooting and high-risk situation
were not to be taken at face value, although if this is REALLY what happened,
why didn't any of the witnesses say anything before this? Still, this
will justify suspicions of the Home Office.
HHS-sponsored
forum touts "harm reduction"
Washington Times
"The Department of Health and Human Services is one of the 'primary
sponsors' for an upcoming Salt Lake City conference on methamphetamines
whose organizers back the 'harm reduction' approach to drug policy, which
Republicans see as form of legalization. Rep. Mark Souder [R-IN] said
in an angry letter sent Friday to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary
Michael O. Leavitt that the conference's approach to end the nation's
'war on drugs' in favor of programs that try to limit drugs' harmful effects
undercuts federal policy." [FND editor's note: And we certainly
wouldn't want to do anything that might actually help solve the problem,
and take the shackles off OTC "allergy medicines" ... while
forcing the DEA thugs to go get real jobs! - SAT] (08/16/05)
Never fear
- the "risk reduction" part won't threaten the jobs of cops,
just create more jobs for other forms of guvmint lowlife. And solve the
problem? Expect it to make the problem worse, as government action usually
does.
Iraq:
Kurds say they don't plan to secede
Indianapolis Star
"Kurdish leaders insisted Tuesday they have no plan to secede
from Iraq even if they want the new constitution to give them the right
to do so -- one of the issues that forced a delay in finishing the draft
charter. Meetings were to resume Wednesday among Iraqi leaders seeking
to finish the draft by the new deadline -- midnight Aug. 22. Iraqi leaders
expressed confidence they would overcome differences over remaining issues,
including Kurdish demands for self-determination and the role of Islam,
by Monday." (08/16/05)
Frankly,
I think they would be wise to do so, but the powers-that-be worldwide
are probably unlikely to allow that to happen soon. Nevertheless, the
success of secession movements in Europe should be encouraging to them.
Washington
Post pulls sponsorship of Pentagon 9/11 event
Fox News
"The Washington Post is withdrawing its offer of free advertising
for an organized event by the Defense Department to memorialize the victims
of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the newspaper announced. The Post
backed out of the agreement after critics said the event, scheduled to
take place four years after the attacks that hit New York and Washington
and resulted in the crash of a commercial airliner over western Pennsylvania,
would have a pro-war slant and that support of the event by the newspaper
would compromise the Post's journalistic integrity." (08/16/05)
Of course,
their refusal to do so shows another slant entirely - and the Post has
been whoring for so many years that I don't think they'd recognize "journalistic
integrity" if it came up and barked at them.
Nathan
Barton is a libertarian engineer and family man writing from the Black
Hills. The views in this commentary are his own, and not necessarily those
of FND, RRND, or TPOL or anyone else associated with them. News stories
are taken from the FND/RRND digest published by the International Society
for Individual Liberty, from leads provided by readers and friends, and
from Nathan's own search of the news feed sources available by radio and
on-line. Be sure to visit my blog,
Liberty's Outpost.
Special
Feature! Add your signature to the NEW
Declaration of Independence
By Robert Greenslade
To Read
previous Commentaries, go
to the archives page and click onto the link for the day. The commentaries
are linked from the daily front pages.
Your feedback is always welcome! Please use the form below. If you enter
your email address, the author can respond to your comment. Not all feedback
can be answered personally, of course, but you will find most of it on
the Mailbag page. Please allow at least 48 hours for it to be published.
Thanks for reading The Price of Liberty!
Please
note: Information about readers is never given or sold to anyone
for any purpose. Remember, however, that many people can read and recover
anything posted to web sites or email unless it is carefully encrypted.
MamaLiberty)
Visit the
Rational
Review News Digest
|
