Libertarian Commentary on the News for the week of 11 to 17 December 2005 -- Page 2

Stupid Government Tricks

Interest waning in wildlife agency work
Grand Junction Sentinel
Wildlife agencies across the country are struggling with a combination of rising retirements and declining interest in their jobs among young people seemingly disconnected from hunting, fishing and rural life. According to the latest statistics available from the federal Government Accountability Office, by 2007 the Interior Department will lose 61 percent of its program managers, the Environmental Protection Agency will lose 45 percent of its toxicologists, and the Forest Service will lose 49 percent of its foresters and 61 percent of its entomologists at a time when Western forests are being ravaged by bark beetles. The declines come as natural resource managers are juggling more and frequently conflicting demands, including more wilderness vs. more trails for off-road vehicles and a push for greater gas and oil development vs. the preservation of wildlife habitat.

None of the articles address what I believe to be some of the reasons for this. In much of the west, the wildlife agencies, whether they are federal (FWS, EPA, BLM, etc.) or state (varying from state to state: GPF (Game Fish and Parks), DOW (Division of Wildlife), etc.), are viewed by the rural and frontier population from which they have drawn their employees in the past as the enemy, as arrogant, as tyrannical, and as controlled by special interest groups and powers-that-be who have, as one of their aims, the destruction of the rural way of life in the Western United States, as they are doing the same thing in Canada and other nations.

They see, despite a supposedly conservative, Republican administration, that the power brokers in DC (and their counterparts in Helena, Cheyenne, Salt Lake, etc.) are still the old-line, hard-core environists whose idea of the ideal society is XII Dynasty Egypt, where the peasants were tied to the land and never went any farther afield from their homes than the nearest “public works” project building tombs and pyramids and temples for their betters, where there was no pollution due to electricity, motor vehicles, animals not essential to their masters, or manufacturing (because everything was made at home). They see the various agencies run by people who belong to efforts, such as “Cow-Free in ‘03” and Greenpeace and Nature Conservancy, which believe that farming and ranching is “cowboy welfare” and that the “Buffalo Commons” is the only thing much of the Great Plains is useful for, besides being flyover country.

For more than a century, the various agencies, created by the Progressive and “Conservation” movement led by Teddy Roosevelt and others to conserve resources for wise and continued use, did that, and found out that they had succeeded and were liable to have worked themselves out of a job – so they started empire-building in the tried and true way of bureaucrats everywhere. Conservation became “preservation” – usually in the form of prohibition: no hunting, no “taking,” no vehicles, no cutting, no clearing, no tilling, no this and no that. And do they think that people, often the very children and grandchildren of the folks who worked so hard in the early days of the soil conservation districts and the ranger districts and the irrigation projects, are blind? If they are actually working farm or ranch folks (yeah, they do still exist, and not just as “factory farmers” and you should remember that every time you eat a hamburger or a piece of cake or just plain bread), they’ve seen game wardens and various agents march onto their lands, into their homes and barns and tool sheds, and order them to “do this and this and this or else,” or more often “stop doing that.”

They’ve seen those agents set up stings to entrap, capture, try, convict and imprison their friends, neighbors, and family members for various made-up crimes like trading game tags, allowing out-of-state people to hunt on their land without the proper government permission slip, or “illegally” guiding hunters or fishers. (The game warden is a staple of jokes and cartoons – and almost always the butt of the joke in the West.) And they’ve seen the “protected” herds of deer, elk, buffalo and other animals wipe out a year’s worth of living by mowing down wheat and alfalfa fields, or kill families in auto-animal accidents on the roads. They’ve seen people hounded into bankruptcy and prison for defending themselves or their livestock or their pets against bears, cougars, and lynxes, and they all have stories of just how a lynx or mountain lion radio collar ended up in a mail box or a river.

Yes, there are always some people willing to join up and become one of the “masters” just as there were Hebrew children in Egypt willing to become overseers, or slaves eager to become “house darkies” in the Old South. But hopefully, as the article says, there IS a cultural shift AGAINST government.

House Dems target corporate welfare
Free Market News Network
"While most of the Republicans in the House of representatives are busy cutting social programs to pay for new budget deficits, a group of fiscally concerned House Democrats is offering an alternative plan, designed to take the same $50 billion out of corporate welfare giveaways. In a press release, the lead dog in this effort, U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper [D-TN] declared, 'Oil and gas companies are reporting record profits of staggering amounts yet Congress gave the industry an $8 billion handout in the energy bill passed this summer, just to go out and do their job. That makes no sense. Federal spending should not be based on the special interests of those with access to effective lobbyists in Washington but, unfortunately, corporate entitlements have become an increasing part of business in Washington.' His bill, appropriately called the Corporate Entitlement Reform Act of 2005, would 'identify corporate entitlements -- direct grants, subsidies and tax breaks -- that are a wasteful and inefficient use of taxpayer money.' (12/09/05)

The Dems are just as much pandering to their own special interests as the GOP is – and Cooper is just listening to a different set of lobbyists. So what this really means is business as usual – the taxpayers get the ax and the burrorats continue to get fat.

US isolated by its stance on global warming concerns
USA Today
"Melting glaciers, the shrinking ice cap, warming oceans and rising sea levels — all are urgent concerns around the world, and cause for frustration among many nations that believe the United States has set a glacial pace toward reversing the onset of global warming. Critics said the Bush administration's isolation at the United Nations-brokered international climate talks that ended last week in Montreal doesn't make much sense." (12/11/05)

No, it is the “global warning theory” that doesn’t make sense, at least from a scientific point of view – although from the point of view of justifying socialism and more government control, it makes tremendous sense. Here is one area in which what corporate control of the GOP and Bush Administration exists is a benefit.

Mama's Note: All of the people dealing with sub zero temperatures this winter probably find the idea of "global warming" pretty idiotic, even if there was a shred of scientific proof for it. Personally, I'd love to have a little warming right now as it is -1 degree outside right now!

PlameGate: Rove's lawyer told of conversation
Indianapolis Star
"Months before Karl Rove corrected his statements in the Valerie Plame investigation, his lawyer was told that the president's top political adviser might have disclosed Plame's CIA status to a Time magazine reporter. Rove says he had forgotten the conversation he had on July 11, 2003, with Time's Matt Cooper. But the magazine reported Sunday that in the first half of 2004, as President Bush's reelection campaign was heating up, Rove's lawyer got the word about a possible Rove-Cooper conversation from a second Time reporter, Viveca Novak." (12/11/05)

More and more effort to dig up more and more dirt; have they interviewed his fellow high-school classmates yet to see if Rove told them about Plame?

Mama's Note: I'm sick to death of this bogus story. Ms. Plame was widely known to be with the CIA for a long time before any of this happened. I'll be happy when they find something else to lie about for a while.

Japan agrees to ease ban on US beef
Cincinnati Enquirer
"Japan agreed Monday to ease the country's ban on U.S. And Canadian beef imports, resolving a bitter trans-Pacific trade dispute two years after the first case of mad cow disease was discovered in the U.S. herd. The easing of the ban would allow meat from cows under 21 months old back into the Japanese market, which before the ban had been the most lucrative overseas market for American beef, buying $1.7 billion worth in 2003." (12/11/05)

And the US is returning the gesture, so that wealthy people can enjoy real Kobe beef and not the fake stuff from Washington State. Not my style, sorry, and I wonder if store prices for US beef will jump with the excuse that there is more demand (I know that cattle prices will climb only marginally, but any excuse for a price raise.)

Brazil: Mayor wants to ban death
Ananova [UK]
"The mayor of a Brazilian town is trying to bring in a law making it illegal for residents to die. Mayor Roberto Pereira da Silva, of Biritiba-Mirim, came up with the idea because the town's only cemetery is full. He wants to bring in a law that would see relatives of people who die before their time face fines or even jail. The law would make it an offence for the town's 28,000 citizens to not look after their health properly. Mayor Pereira DA Silva said there was no way of extending the cemetery or building a new one." (12/11/05)

One of those perennial attempts to prove that “democracy” (or at least the elected massas of democracy) have power even to alter natural (God’s) law – no doubt to be followed by laws forbidding the use of gravity or dictating that water must flow uphill.

Mama's Note: While this is an extreme example, the idea that anything can be cured with the right legislation has been around for an awful long time. The totally subjective nature of things like this doesn't even slow them down.

ACLU: FBI has files on peaceful protesters
Rutland Herald
"The names and license plate numbers of about 30 people who protested three years ago in Colorado Springs were put into FBI domestic-terrorism files, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Colorado says. The Denver-based ACLU obtained federal documents on a 2002 Colorado Springs protest and a 2003 antiwar rally under the Freedom of Information Act. ACLU legal director Mark Silverstein said the documents show the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force wastes resources generating files on 'nonviolent protest.' ... 'These documents confirm that the names and license plate numbers of several dozen peaceful protesters who committed no crime are now in a JTTF file marked 'counterterrorism,'' he said." (12/11/05)

We can just assume that the FBI has files on everyone, these days, especially any of us who have ever written anything critical of the government, read anything critical of the government we got on-line or from a library or bookstore (especially a Libertarian-related bookstore), or have ever written a letter to the editor on a political matter or called into a talk-show (well, maybe not if it was just to give away kittens).

Texas: Agency makes up story to get money
Arizona Republic
"It was a heart-wrenching story: A 10-year-old boy named John, separated from his mother since the hurricane, was living with other foster children in an emergency shelter. He had one Christmas wish: to go home. 'But there's no way I'll get gifts for Christmas. I don't even believe in Santa anymore,' he said. The Brazosport Facts ran the profile on its front page Nov. 29 as part of its Fill-a-Stocking series, which features a different foster child each day from Thanksgiving through Christmas and solicits donations for a local charity to help fulfill the child's wish. But the story was a work of fiction. State caseworkers apparently made it up to tug at readers' heartstrings. Dan Lauck, a reporter with KHOU-TV in Houston, discovered the story was phony after calling state officials to request an interview with the child. He believed that if the boy's story was told on television, the youngster might find his mother." (12/10/05)

I’m not surprised – but then, “Non-government organizations” (NGOs) do the same thing – and it won’t get any better as long as we give government (including NGOs which are nothing more than an outreach of government) these powers.

Mama's Note: We are surrounded by a sea of appeals for our charity and it's very hard to know which are legitimate to start with. The really tragic part is that stories like this can cause people to stifle their urges to give at all, fearing they are being taken in.

Report lists nations detaining journalists
Houston Chronicle
"China, Cuba, Eritrea and Ethiopia kept the most journalists in jail this year, together accounting for two-thirds of the 125 editors, writers and photojournalists imprisoned around the world, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. The United States, which is detaining four journalists in Iraq and one in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, rose to sixth on the list. China had more jailed journalists than any other country for the seventh straight year, with 32, the committee said." (12/13/05)

More to the point, WHY are these people being held? After all, we certainly know that media people commit real crimes (not just made up ones) too.

Mama's Note: Let's see... the population of the world is how many millions of people? And there are 125 "journalists" in jail worldwide? Even if all of them had been jailed for speaking the truth, which I doubt, it's hardly an earth shaking problem. Why don't they issue a report on the hundreds of thousands living (and dying) in jail under subhuman conditions because they used or sold a common weed - among many others.

Fed boosts interest rate to 4.25 percent
Cincinnati Enquirer
"The Federal Reserve lifted interest rates to the highest level in 4 1/2 years Tuesday but also indicated its 18-month rate-raising campaign was winding down. At least one more increase in borrowing costs seemed in store to keep inflation under control. Chairman Alan Greenspan and his Fed colleagues voted unanimously to boost the federal funds rate, the interest banks charge each other on overnight loans, by one-quarter percentage point to 4.25 percent." (12/13/05)

Of course, the recent spike and now partial decline in fuel prices had far more to do with the inflation rate in this country than the interest rate did.

New York: U.N. ticket scofflaws tamed by threat on aid
Washington Times
"For years, United Nations diplomats were notorious for running up millions of dollars in parking tickets, then just laughing at the city's attempts to collect. Diplomatic immunity meant there was little U.S. courts could do about it. But the city's thousands of foreign officials have largely changed their ways since a threatened crackdown three years ago. According to New York's finance department, diplomats have gotten 90 percent fewer tickets since late 2002, when the U.S. threatened to revoke the plates of scofflaws and subtract however much they owed in fines from the foreign aid their countries received. Those who do get citations have gotten better about paying them. Of the 11,771 parking violations issued to diplomats in the past three years, 87 percent have been paid or successfully appealed, the city said." (12/13/05)

Too little, too late. We need to find some nice home for all the nice UN people – perhaps Canada or Norway have a nice Arctic island they would donate.

Some may face choice: Whether to heat or eat
USA Today
"The Bush administration has denied requests from five states to increase food stamps for low-income families facing higher heating bills this winter. Maine, New York, Kansas, Virginia and South Carolina sought to raise monthly food stamp allotments by projecting what families will pay to heat their homes. The increases would have ranged from $8 to about $30 a month for families who pay their own utility bills." (12/14/05)

In other words, at the same time as the Congrus-critturs are busy vilifying the oil companies and looking to take away their windfall profits, they are busy trying to use food-welfare money to subsidize the very same companies indirectly? This is, indeed, a stupid government trick.

Mama's Note: I very much doubt that many who are on food stamps actually pay their own utilities at all. Even the phone company has a welfare program, paid for by all of us who actually pay our own bills. It's not a voluntary "contribution" either. The electric and gas bills regularly have application forms for "assistance" or "liveline" subsidies, and you can volunteer to pay more than your bill if you want to contribute. That probably won't remain voluntary very long.

Patriot Act's fate remains uncertain
CNN
"Roving wiretaps and the ability to peek into private medical records are among the provisions of the anti-terror Patriot Act that will remain intact if the Senate follows the House lead on the bill. By a 251-174 vote Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives agreed to renew 16 of the act's provisions that were set to expire at year's end. The bill now heads back to the Senate, where a fiercer battle is expected. .... Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff are among those lobbying Congress to pass the reauthorization bill, saying it is essential to fighting terrorism. .... But a bipartisan group of nine senators is rejecting the call to pass the bill swiftly and wants to garner support for a three-month extension to allow negotiators to craft a new bill." (12/14/05)

This article provides a bit more detail about this continuing fight. Opposition is now present on both sides of the aisle in Congress, and finally more people seem to be waking up to the fact that this stinks.

Mama's Note: They're going to write a new one? Oh joy. Don't look for that to be any improvement. The sad fact is that none of it can do anything to stop a determined attack on this country. The only thing that would truly help is for the US to stop trying to run the world, eliminate trade barriers and return to a real money, free market economy. That would benefit every person on the face of the globe, almost overnight. Yes, some people would continue to hate us, but an armed and responsible population would be impossible to overcome.

San Francisco: Cops Gone Wild scandal subsides
San Francisco Chronicle
"A funny thing happened over the weekend to the big 'Cops Gone Wild' video scandal in San Francisco -- it started getting very quiet. Apparently, Mayor Gavin Newsom and his handlers realized that while the videos were bad, they didn't quite prove -- at least in the public's mind -- Newsom's charge that they were evidence of a 'deep-seated' culture of sexism, racism and homophobia running through the department. By Sunday, the message was going out that Newsom -- having made his point and formed a 'blue-ribbon' commission to look into the department's culture -- was now ready to get as many of the 24 suspended cops back to work in the Bayview Station as possible, as soon as possible." (12/12/05)

Typical of politicians, especially in San Francisco. Yeah, it makes you sick, and it should. Just remember, and vote with your feet.

William Proxmire, maverick and throwback, dies at 90
USA Today
"William Proxmire had a recurring nightmare as a U.S. senator. In it, he was accidentally locked in a bathroom while the Senate voted. As he pounded on the door, he realized that his record of never missing a single vote — which grew to over 9,800 consecutive votes by the time he decided to step down in 1988 — was about to end. 'I love this job,' Proxmire said then. 'It's been the best life I could have ever thought.' When he died Thursday at age 90, it may have conjured up vague memories for many Americans who pay only casual attention to politics." (12/15/05)

He did expose many stupid government tricks. I always had a liking for his Golden Fleece awards. He failed to change anything, but at least he tried. We should miss him.

House approves pension overhaul bill
USA Today
"The House on Thursday passed legislation that lawmakers hope will restore health to the financially ailing employer-based pension system that millions of Americans depend on for retirement security. While there was wide agreement that the current system is in deep trouble as more companies abandon or freeze their plans, the 294-132 vote reflected the differences in opinions on how to fix it. The Republican-backed bill would require companies to meet their obligations to retirees while boosting the financial future of the federal agency that takes over abandoned plans." (12/15/05)

The solution is not found in this bill – more government control and more government funding is not going to fix this problem.

Bush accepts McCain's ban on torture
Indianapolis Star
"President Bush embraced Sen. John McCain's proposal to ban cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of terrorism suspects on Thursday, reversing months of opposition that included White House veto threats. Bowing to pressure from the Republican-run Congress and abroad, the White House signed off on the proposal after a fight that pitted the president against members of his own party and threatened to further tarnish a U.S. image already soiled by the abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison." (12/15/05)

McCain’s proposal was strictly designed to boost his chances of election to the White House, and will probably result in more problems rather than less. Torture is already prohibited by both US law and international treaties, and this does not change that, nor “untarnish” the US image: in fact, it does just the opposite – “why would they pass a new law if they weren’t torturing before?”

Class divide: now it's even harder for poor to get on
The Scotsman (UK)
AN ENTIRE generation of Scots is at unprecedented risk of social and economic stagnation, a major new study into class movement reveals. The research finds that Scots in their 30s and 40s - more than a million people - are far less likely than their parents to improve their social standing. It also establishes that the nation's poor are less likely than ever to break out of their working-class origins. The comprehensive education system was last night seized upon as a key factor in reducing the chances of Scots born between 1967 and 1976 bettering themselves.

Of course the GRTF-schools are a major part of this problem, but then a slice of blame should be served to virtually every part of Her Majesty’s Government both at Whitehall and Holyrod – social programs, national health system, and the rest of the claptrap systematically wiping out the hopes and futures of 50 million English, Scots, Welsh, and Irish people. Just as is happening in every other part of the former Empire, including the United States. Of course, the US doesn’t have the same obsession with “class” that Brits seem to, and “mobility” is something that shifts with the wind, seemingly. But we are seeing the same reduced lack of opportunity as government controls more and more of the nations’ economies, and as control of government, however symbolically it is “of, by, and for the people” falls increasingly into the hands of a permanent ruling class with about as much mobility as Europe’s nobility in a good century.

Eugene J. McCarthy, 1916-2005
USA Today
"Former Minnesota Sen. Eugene J. McCarthy, whose insurgent campaign toppled a sitting president in 1968 and forced the Democratic Party to take seriously his message against the Vietnam War, died Saturday. He was 89. McCarthy died in his sleep at assisted living home in the Georgetown neighborhood where he had lived for the past few years, said his son, Michael." (12/11/05)

What isn’t pointed out is the unintended consequences of McCarthy ultimately futile action: he gave us eight years of Nixon and Ford, and the squishy liberalism of Carter. I’m not saying that LBJ would have done better in ‘Nam than Nixon, but when you look at everything else, this was no win for the nation either way.

Stupid People Tricks

Many refuse to pay "war tax" on phone bill
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"For Seattle peace activist Bert Sacks, the monthly act of resistance adds up to only 59 cents. Symbolically, however, refusing to pay the 'war tax' on his Qwest phone bill represents a pocketbook protest against what he sees as misuse of U.S. Military power: 'I object to the U.S. Government policy of using famine and epidemic as tools against civilian populations. That's wrong,' says the retired engineer, who has fought for a decade to get economic sanctions against Iraq lifted. Sacks is one of thousands of Americans believed to be refusing to pay the federal taxes attached to their monthly phone bills -- money that helps fund military operations overseas. Many are taking the step as a protest against the war in Iraq. And in many cases, the phone companies are helping them do it." (12/10/05)

Where do you draw the line? There is no magic pot of money that the Feds use to finance military operations in general or the occupation of Iraq in particular – except for a few “special” categories like fuel taxes and airport taxes, everything goes into the General Fund – and it is the General Fund (and borrowing) that is financing military operations. At best symbolic, this kind of action is often a cop-out for more effective political action – like working to defeat the congrus-critturs that allow this kind of thing (assuming their replacements won’t continue to do so).

Pennsylvania: College class president charged in robbery
San Francisco Chronicle
"As Lehigh University students prepared for final exams this week, they found themselves grappling with the news that the sophomore class president had been arrested for allegedly robbing a bank. 'I didn't believe it when I first heard it,' Kathryn Susman, an 18-year-old freshman engineering student from Hereford, MD, said Monday. The robbery occurred Friday afternoon. Authorities said Greg Hogan, 19, handed a note to a teller at a Wachovia Bank branch, saying he had a gun and wanted money. Hogan, the son of a Baptist minister, was picked up at his fraternity house later that evening and charged with robbery, theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property. Police said he got away with $2,871. One of his frat brothers, Patrick Thornton, described Hogan as 'very energetic,' the sort of student who would cheer on the college football team wearing body paint." [FND editor's note: Suppose his defense attorney will call that frat brother as a witness? - SAT] (12/13/05)

As later stories revealed, it was an amazing gambling debt, supposedly caused by playing on-line poker, that led Hogan to try robbing a bank. Since government has gotten into gambling in such a big way, parental and religious teaching (what is left of both) that gambling is immoral and caustic to society and a person’s individual morality falls on increasingly deaf ears. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t want gambling outlawed (people can make their own mistakes) but I do want to see government get out of the business of profiting from it and encouraging it.

California: "Tookie" executed
WTAE TV 4
"Stanley 'Tookie' Williams maintained his innocence right up until his death, even when an admission of guilt may have spared him execution. Even after the courts and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger rejected a flurry of Williams' last-ditch appeals before his execution early Tuesday, his supporters vowed to prove his innocence. Williams, the Crips gang cofounder whose case stirred a national debate about capital punishment versus the possibility of redemption, was executed Tuesday morning for killing four people in 1979." (12/13/05)

Finally. Although I realize that possibly thousands of people were saved from attack or even death as long as he was in prison, his willingness to lie about his role in the original murders brings severe doubt on his claims to be reformed and anti-gang now. But now it is over – and people can turn him into martyr or whatever they want.

Mama's Note: Only God knows his heart and soul, and only God knows if he was lying or not. We're all in that boat. God rest his soul. I was certainly not qualified to cast the first stone...

It's one term for Romney; says "future is open"
Boston Globe
"Saying that he had 'accomplished a great deal,' Governor Mitt Romney announced yesterday that he will not seek a second term, setting the stage for an expected campaign for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. Romney, ending months of speculation about his political future, said he will serve out his four-year term, which ends in January 2007. Although he has spent a year positioning himself as a presidential candidate and acknowledged he was testing the presidential waters, the governor yesterday insisted his decision had nothing to do with his national ambitions. 'I'm not going to close any options at this point ... other things may develop in the future,' Romney, 58, told a packed State House press conference broadcast live by Boston television stations. 'I don't know what will happen. The future is open.'" (12/15/05)

This is NOT necessarily a stupid people trick, as one term for governor is a boon to the people of the state.

Theft by Government

Ninth Circuit Rules against driveway auto seizure
The Newspaper
"A three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals last month overturned a lower court decision that allowed the seizure of a family's automobile out of its driveway after a husband was caught teaching his wife how to drive. In April 2003, Jorge Miranda accompanied Irene Miranda as she drove his Ford Aerostar minivan at 10 MPH in a Cornelius, Oregon neighborhood and instructed her how to drive. A police officer witnessed her poor driving and issued tickets to both Mirandas after they had pulled into their personal driveway. Thirty minutes later, the officer had a tow truck remove the minivan right out of their driveway. Miranda had to pay the city administrative and towing fees in addition to losing a day's pay to come pick it up the next day. A federal district court in Oregon upheld the vehicle seizure on the grounds that there is no privacy in a private person's driveway. The Ninth Circuit, however, viewed the situation differently and took the City of Cornelius to task for assuming that merely passing a law gives them a right to seize personal property without a warrant." (12/14/05)

Good! A very small change, but at least for the better.

Mama's Note: Now, wait just a doggone minute! Since when are they confiscating the car if you get a ticket? This asset theft is really getting more insane by the day! I'm sure it cost more than the value of the vehicle to fight this thing. Many people don't have that kind of money to spend on lawyers and courts, so these thefts go unnoticed by most of us. I wonder if anyone is keeping track of just how much private property is being stolen this way. Sure wish someone would.

Tech and Medical News

UK: Firemen fight to extinguish oil blaze
Auburn Citizen
"Firefighters on Monday used chemical foam to try to extinguish an inferno raging at an oil depot north of London, while investigators searched for clues as to what caused the powerful explosions that started the blaze. The blasts Sunday injured 43 people, sent balls of fire into the sky and blew the doors off nearby houses. Police have said the explosions appeared to be accidental. The explosions came just four days after an al-Qaida videotape appeared on the Internet calling for attacks on facilities carrying oil that it claims has been stolen from Muslims in the Middle East." (12/12/05)

One of the joys of modern technology and our life is things like this – accidents that can affect very large areas indeed.

Expert shows easy way to spoof fingerprint devices
Physorg
"Sounds fantastic? Maybe not. Biometrics is the science of using biological properties, such as fingerprints, an iris scan, or voice recognition, to identify individuals. And in a world of growing terrorism concerns and increasing security measures, the field of biometrics is rapidly expanding. ... Spoofing is the process by which individuals overcome a system through an introduction of a fake sample. 'Digits from cadavers and fake fingers molded from plastic, or even something as simple as Play-Doh or gelatin, can potentially be misread as authentic,' she explains. 'My research addresses these deficiencies and investigates ways to design effective safeguards and vulnerability countermeasures. The goal is to make the authentication process as accurate and reliable as possible.' Schuckers' biometric research is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Office of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense. " (12/12/05)

For every device used by a government to tyrannize, there is inevitably a way invented to nullify or work around it – yes, even torture. It is just that everyone doesn’t have access to the countermeasures.

Australia: Bosses barred from gene discrimination
The Australian
"Employers will for the first time be banned from discriminating against job applicants whose genetic make-up suggests they risk being hit by illness such as heart disease or breast cancer. In its response to a review of genetic privacy issues, the federal Government said it would tighten the 1992 Disability Discrimination Act to ensure people were not treated unfairly on the basis of their genes. Such genetic information is likely to come from tests ordered by employers or insurance companies as part of a pre-employment health check. Only in exceptional circumstances will employers be able to use genetic information to refuse employment, such as a pilot whose genes suggest he will develop blindness. " (12/12/05)

Hmmm – and what about those people who have a genetic predisposition to being unable to lift 75-pound loads, walk two miles, or keep from falling asleep behind the wheel? Sounds like another lawyer job protection act to me.

Mama's Note: Another unintended consequence. This only becomes a problem with mandatory employer paid health insurance. If all relations between employer and employee are voluntary, there would be no conflict at all. If the relationship between insured and insurer were strictly voluntary, those with a genetic risk would have a clear incentive to do everything they could to reduce other risk factors - and nobody else would have to pay for it. Freedom works to everyone's advantage.

New Mexico: Virgin Galactic to build spaceport
Fox News
"Virgin Galactic, the British company created by entrepreneur Richard Branson to send tourists into space, and the state of New Mexico announced an agreement Tuesday for the state to build a $225 million spaceport. Virgin Galactic also revealed that up to 38,000 people from 126 countries have paid a deposit for a seat on one of its manned commercial flights, including a core group of 100 'founders' who have paid the initial $200,000 cost of a flight upfront. Virgin Galactic is planning to begin flights in late 2008 or early 2009. New Mexico Economic Development Secretary Rick Homans said construction of the spaceport, to be built largely underground in the south of the state near the White Sands Missile Range, could begin in early 2007, depending on approval from environmental and aviation authorities." (12/13/05)

Good luck to them!

Mama's Note: Wait a minute here! The "state" is going to build this thing! The taxpayers of New Mexico get to foot the bill for this whether they want it or not? I wonder if they dare bring it to a vote. I'll wish Virgin Galactic "good luck" just as soon as they announce they are going to build the thing themselves.

Telecoms want their products on a faster Internet
Boston Globe
"AT&T Inc. and BellSouth Corp. are lobbying Capitol Hill for the right to create a two-tiered Internet, where the telecom carriers' own Internet services would be transmitted faster and more efficiently than those of their competitors. The proposal is certain to provoke a major fight with Google Inc., Yahoo Inc., Time Warner Inc. and Microsoft Corp., the powerful owners of popular Internet sites. The companies fear such a move would give telecommunications companies too much control over a fast-growing part of the Internet. The battle is largely over video services. Several major telecom companies are working on ways to deliver broadcast-quality television over the Internet. Currently, online video can be slow to download and choppy to watch, even with higher-speed Internet services." (12/13/05)

A reminder that even technology companies can often be villains when it comes to various political issues. At the same time, why should firms (which are no longer monopolies, no matter what their past history is) be forced to allow competitors to use their equipment and their systems?

Marine census shows diversity, declines
Tampa Tribune
"A massive census of all the fish and other marine life in the world's oceans has reached the halfway point with new evidence of the rich diversity under the sea along with warnings about the alarming decline of many species. The 10-year international project that began in 2000 has already tracked the migration of tuna from Japan to California and back, along with the movement of endangered British Columbia salmon with implanted computer chips." (12/14/05)

The problem with these studies is what to select as a baseline. Is it 1900? 1800? 1950? AD 200? Of course, since these surveys did not exist until a few decades ago, anything beyond perhaps 1960 or so is pure speculation, and for all we know, the number of species have been declining for centuries.

Mama's Note: Science has proven many times that many species have been coming and going for a very long time, all very naturally. Those species that can adapt to the changes around them will survive. Those unable to adjust to the changes will die out. Mankind is not immune from this either. Societies that adapt and work to shape their environment in voluntary cooperation thrive. Those that refuse to do this and forbid free interaction become stagnant and die.

Scientists to map cancer's genetics
Washington Times
"If all the ways genes run amok to cause cancer were laid out in a dictionary, scientists would be able to decipher only a small part of the first page. Hoping to change that, the government is set to begin a $100 million pilot project to unravel the genetic makeup of cancer, aiming to speed the discovery of culprits and treatments that today is largely a matter of scientific luck. The Cancer Genome Atlas will 'go beyond and behind the front lines and enumerate the complete list of genomic insurgents that lead to cancer,' said Dr. Francis Collins, the National Institutes of Health's genetics chief, in announcing the project's first phase yesterday. The project will build 'a powerful network of researchers, technologies and resources to tackle the cancer problem like it's never been tackled before,' he said." (12/14/05)

This is an important study, but I dare say most of the taxpayer money will be wasted, as compared to what a privately-funded effort would cost and produce. I just don’t buy all these grand and glorious claims.

Mama's Note: One area of research that nobody is talking about is the real role of nutrition and other factors that would account for the fact that cancer was almost unknown before the 19th century. Very few people are even asking why...

Doubts cast on fiber's effect on cancer
Boston Globe
"Eating a lot of fiber-rich vegetables, fruits, and whole grains does not appear to reduce a person's chances of getting colorectal cancer, researchers found in the largest study yet to test the popular and long-standing idea about preventing the third most common cancer. The research team, led by the Harvard School of Public Health, combined and reanalyzed data from 13 previous studies involving 725,628 adults and found that a person who ate 30 or more grams of fiber each day, the equivalent of more than seven servings of oatmeal, had about the same risk of getting colorectal cancer as a person who ate less than half that amount. The results were adjusted to take into account other risk factors, such as red meat consumption and age. 'This is the most exhaustive study, throwing everything into one pot,' said Dr. Robert Mayer, director of the center for gastrointestinal cancers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute." (12/14/05)

Another study that challenges the last 13 studies. I don’t know what to believe – and maybe Mama Liberty can clear this up a bit.

Mama's Note: Cancer, as an earlier article showed, is so poorly understood that statements about the relationship of anything to it is mere speculation at this point. It is much more important to consider the impact of our nutrition and lifestyle on our overall health. Too many people want to isolate parts of it while they ignore others and it can't be done. Your health is the result of everything you eat and everything you do, as well as your genetics. No one item will make the difference alone.

We do know that a healthy immune system is the most important component of our overall health. Those who eat a balanced diet, rich in fruits and vegetables - along with a peaceful, productive lifestyle - will have the highest levels of all the known immune factors, and all those we don't know about yet. None of them come in a pill or magic potion. You have to do it the hard way. Our modern life and diet don't even come close most of the time, but that's the direction we have to look if we want to find the real answers.

NASA to redesign shuttle tank again
Houston Chronicle
"NASA plans to redesign the space shuttle's external tank again, this time removing a section of protective foam that broke off during the launch of Discovery last July, an official with the space agency said today. The removal of more foam from the external tank, and further testing to determine the root cause of cracks on it could lead to a longer delay until the next shuttle flight, tentatively set for May." (12/15/05)

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results– like letting NASA continue to mess things up. Time to get rid of a white elephant and start real space travel.

Self-destructing text messages debut in Britain
Fox News/eWEEK.com
"A U.K. company has brought to life the self-destructing messages of 'Mission Impossible.' Staellium UK Ltd. has introduced StealthText, a service available via SMS (Short Message Service) and WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) phones, which enables senders to punch in a self-destruct code when they send text messages. The recipient receives a text message showing the sender's name and providing a link to the message. Once opened, the message disappears after about 40 seconds. Carole Barnum, CEO and cofounder of the company, told Ziff Davis Internet News that the idea was inspired by living through the Sep 11 terrorist attacks on New York." (12/15/05)

An interesting and useful idea, and one sure to result in calls for bans, lest the goons can’t get their hands on evidence.

Mama's Note: I fail to see any use for such a thing at all. If you want to have your email vanish after you read it, all you have to do is double delete it. Nobody better send me one of these if they want a reply.

Senate panel approves more Net-policing
CNet
" The Federal Trade Commission would gain expanded policing powers and could share information about spammers and other miscreants with foreign governments under a bill approved Thursday by a U.S. Senate panel. Called the Undertaking Spam, Spyware, and Fraud Enforcement with Enforcers Beyond Borders Act of 2005, the proposal is nearly identical to legislation pushed by the FTC itself two years ago that drew concerns from civil liberties groups and was never enacted. In essence, the bill would expand existing FTC powers so that the agency could go after any "unfair or deceptive practices" that are likely to cause "foreseeable injury" on U.S. soil or involve conduct in the United States. " (12/15/05)

Congrus-critturs ARE often the problem in expanding government police powers, especially in tech areas. Like Hillary Clinton’s proposed law, this pokes government noses into more and more places – despite previously stated concerns about privacy and liberty in general.

The War on Some Drugs

New pseudoephedrine laws take effect in Phoenix
Arizona Daily Star
Under two new laws, Phoenix retailers now are required to ask for identification from customers purchasing pseudoephedrine -- a main ingredient in meth -- and then keep their name, date of birth and address in a log book that is turned over monthly to police. According to the Arizona Daily Star, unlike other Arizona cities with similar laws, Phoenix police will be able to confiscate and destroy pseudoephedrine that is not locked up or behind a counter.

Wonderful. Remind me to not get a cold if I ever have the misfortune to have to go to Phoenix. (Thanks to Local Government Weekly for this item)

Mama's Note: Does anybody really think the big time meth cookers are going to waste time popping a million little pills out of the bubble wrap - the bubble wrap being a major infringement all by itself since it adds to the cost considerably? I'm sure the cookers buy theirs wholesale in large jars or whatever. Please, people, make some sense here. If thousands of pounds of coke and heroin can be smuggled around, there is nothing to prevent them from doing the same with any chemical or substance they want.

Do you want to know two of the most dangerous drugs on the market? Aspirin and acetaminophen, in that order. More people die from taking these things than are ever exposed to "meth" in any form. Again, this isn't about safety or the well being of the people. This is about control.

Alabama: State set to track patients' use of drugs
Birmingham News
"Alabama will soon keep track of who is taking Xanax, OxyContin and other addictive drugs and how often. The tracking will be done with a prescription drug database system designed to prevent addicts and drug pushers from "doctor shopping" for multiple doses of pain killers and other medicines. At least 20 other states have such databases. State Health Officer Don Williamson said the program will begin as a pilot project on Jan. 1, with doctors and pharmacists providing the prescription data voluntarily. Mandatory reporting will begin on April 1, he said. .... At least 20 other states have established such databases to crack down on prescription drug abuse, according to the Web site of the National Conference of State Legislatures. Those states are California, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming." (12/15/05)

As the War on Some Drugs expands to include more drugs, Alabama seems to be in the forefront. Other states in the past few weeks have adopted more and more draconian controls on sale of over-the-counter medicines, and there are now federal proposals to do so.

Mama's Note: With typical government inefficiency, of course, this will screw up the lives of many more people and cost everyone a lot of wasted money. Remember that the actual "addiction" rate is about 1% of the population. So, even if this was an effective or moral thing to do, it would produce about the same result as spreading tons of insecticide on a field to kill one bug.

World Wars

Greece: Police investigate Finance Ministry bombing
CBC News [Canada]
"Police in the Athens sealed off part of the capital Monday as they investigated an explosion outside the country's Finance Ministry. At least two people were injured in the blast, which happened just before the start of the morning rush hour. Damage was said to be extensive with shop windows blown out and cars hit by debris. ... The explosion happened around 6:00 a.m. local time in Athens, near a post office in the capital's central Syntagma Square and about 100 metres from the parliament buildings. A warning about the bomb was called in to a local newspaper about 27 minutes before it went off." (12/12/05)

No claims as to who did this, but the calls indicate that it may not be the normal terrorist thugs.

China: Government admits "wrong actions" in fatal protest
Chicago Tribune
"China's government Sunday announced the detention of a commander whose forces opened fire on villagers protesting land seizures, trying to defuse anger over the deaths. The government said three people were killed in the violence Tuesday over compensation for land in this coastal village northeast of Hong Kong. Witnesses put the death toll as high as 20. The commander's 'wrong actions' were to blame for the deaths, according to a statement issued by the government of Guangdong province, where Dongzhou is located. It did not give his name or say what his actions were. Suspects in China often are detained for questioning and further investigation before police decide whether to arrest them formally and file charges. If the higher toll is confirmed, it would be the deadliest assault by Chinese security forces on civilians since the military killed Tiananmen Square protesters in 1989." (12/12/05)

This is not a change in Chinese policy, which requires periodic bloodletting to keep the peasants, urban workers, and petty bourgeois under control as the party, the military industrialists, and the bureaucrats play their games and get western (i.e., filthy rich). As China’s economy slows down, this will be more and more common once more.

Investigator: US shipped out detainees
Tampa Tribune
"A European investigator said Tuesday he has found mounting indications the United States illegally held detainees in Europe, but then hurriedly shipped out the last ones to North Africa a month ago when word leaked out. Dick Marty, a Swiss senator looking into claims the CIA operated secret prisons in Europe, said an ongoing, monthlong investigation unearthed 'clues' that Poland and Romania were implicated - perhaps unwittingly." (12/13/05)

Well, now we are up to “mounting indications” – hardly admissible evidence in a REAL court. It still looks like there is a lot of smoke, but not necessarily any fire. And it appears that Marty’s job is in part to get selected countries off the hook.

UK: Enemies of the state?
Independent [UK]
" Four men deprived of their liberty for four years on suspicion of being international terrorists disclose today that they have not once been questioned by police or security services since being arrested. The four, who were among 16 suspects detained without trial under post-11 September terror legislation, later overturned by the law lords, give harrowing accounts of the treatment they have suffered. All are now under virtual house arrest. Although three face deportation, The Independent has learnt that there is no prospect of the men ever being questioned over the offences they are alleged to have committed." (12/15/05)

It is stupid acts by government authorities like this one that work to get more and more people to question their competence on EVERY issue that could come to the attention of government.