| "Rightful
liberty is unobstructed action, according to our will, within limits
drawn around us by the equal rights of others." ~ Thomas Jefferson |
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November 14, 2005
I love Washington, DC. Oh, I absolutely don't love what goes on there, but the history and the symbolism are wonderful. I've visited Washington a number of times now, the most recent being just a week ago. There are some things I see over and over again (the Charters of Freedom — the collective name given by the National Archives to the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights — for example, and the Space Shuttle Enterprise), but every time I go, I see new things as well. This trip was no exception. One thing that was different this trip was the fact that I had a friend of mine along. She and I tend to agree on many political issues and are, in fact, both fairly active in politics. I figured we'd find much to talk about and to inspire us in Washington. I was right, but what we talked about took me by surprise. (Read the rest here)
Alito
Strikes Out in First at Bat for Team Supreme Court Following the Harriet Myers debacle, President Bush nominated Samuel Alito of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the United States Supreme Court. During the press conference announcing his candidacy, Judge Alito stated: "Every time that I have entered the courtroom during the past 15 years, I have been mindful of the solemn responsibility that goes with service as a federal judge. Federal judges have the duty to interpret the Constitution and the laws faithfully and fairly, to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans." Let's review Alito's first at bat for Team Supreme Court and see how did. (Read the rest here)
The
Ultimate Parent? If you believe that parents have a natural and constitutional right to raise their children as they see fit, the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled against you. The occasion was not a case of child abuse or neglect. Quite the contrary, it was a case of parents objecting to a school’s asking their 7- to 10-year-old children about sex. In 2001 the Palmdale School District, in Los Angeles County, California, had a graduate student in psychology design a survey for children in the first, third, and fifth grades. In a notice to parents, the district said the 79-question survey was intended to “establish a community baseline measure of children’s exposure to early trauma (for example, violence)” and to “identify internal behaviors such as anxiety and depression and external behaviors such as aggression and verbal abuse.” The notice told parents that they could opt out of the survey and included a letter of consent, which stated, “I understand answering questions may make my child feel uncomfortable. If this occurs, then, Kristi Seymour, the research study coordinator, will assist us in locating a therapist for further psychological help if necessary.” This should have been a tip-off to parents. (Read the rest here) Includes a second article by the same author: "Leave The Oil Companies Alone."
Was
Pre-War Intelligence Manipulated? Was the intelligence "manipulated" prior to our attack on Iraq March 19, 2003? That is the question being fought over by Republicans and Democrats in Congress right now, and as President Clinton proved to us, it's all a matter of what the meaning of "is" is. Perhaps they are fighting over what the meaning of "was" was, but the issue at hand is extremely important to most everybody, from the survivors of service men and women killed in Iraq, to all the Iraqi non-combatants and their survivors killed collaterally in the initial attack and during the continuing occupation of a sovereign nation that had not attacked the United States or our allies. It is important to remember that Saddam was routinely ordering his anti-aircraft missiles to be fired at American and British fighters patrolling the airspace over Iraq. On the other hand, I wonder what President Bush would do if Iraq got the United Nations to impose a no-fly zone over a portion of the United States after federal authorities barbecued the church congregation at Waco, Texas for defying outrageous and unnecessary excessive force by agents of the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Agency. (Read the rest here)
Purveyors
Of Deceit: Why PBS Must Yank "Breaking Silence" Scott Loeliger thought he had found the woman of his dreams when he married African-born Sadia. But after she assaulted Scott and spent a night in the Santa Clara County jail, Scott began to have his doubts. Just seven months after the birth of their daughter Fatima, their marriage was on the rocks. After the divorce was finalized, an enraged Sadia stormed into Scott's home, assaulted his female roommate, and removed a screaming Fatima. As a result, the court awarded custody of the girl to her father. In 1997 a child abuse investigator in Tehama County, California interviewed 7-year-old Fatima and wrote, "she has been hit with her mothers shoe which left bruises on her arm, a wire hangar which also left brown marks on her arms or hands, and her mother has hit her with her open hand." (Read the rest here)
Surveillance
Society Since 9/11, the FBI, once organized to fight crime, has been undergoing a makeover to focus its efforts on preventing future terrorist attacks. To help the agency in its efforts, in 2001, the Congress recklessly passed and is now about to renew the USA PATRIOT Act, which dramatically increased the surveillance powers of law enforcement. Yet, the truth is that terrorism (even including the 9/11 attacks) is a rare phenomenon in North America that kills far fewer people than ordinary crime, car accidents, or medical problems. As tragic as the 3,000 deaths from the aberrant 9/11 strikes were, the worst effect of those incidents was the self-inflicted wound from the conversion of America from the “land of the free” to the “land of the watched.” The PATRIOT Act gives the FBI the power to collect information on people who are not suspected of committing a crime. For example, the FBI can issue a “national security letter” to obtain a person’s financial, library, telephone, Internet, and e-mail records, as well as an individual’s customer and employment history with businesses, by merely certifying that the information is “sought for” or “relevant to” an investigation “to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities.” Thus, the FBI can nose into the affairs of anyone who comes into contact with a suspected terrorist and will now retain, in its database even after the investigation is closed, the information gathered on innocent people. Visions spring to mind of FBI agents poring over computer-generated lists of anyone who has ever attended a Cat Stevens concert. (Read the rest here)
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Libertarian
Commentary on the News, 6-12 November 2005 Israel
Church a Major Discovery Now why would a libertarian commentary on the news lead off with this story? First, because we CAN learn from history - and this should remind us of a number of things. First, the government-led and sponsored persecution Christians faced at the time the building was in use: I would not at all be surprised to have them find that it was burned down because of persecution. This kind of persecution still happens today. It is also a bit ominous for today: like why "traffic violations" result in a prison sentence of 2 years hard labor, and why they need room for 1200 Palestinian prisons. Israel is NOT a happy place, even today; but then, it hasn't been for a very long time. (Read the rest here) (Two full pages!)
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