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January
23, 2006
Libertarian
Commentary on the News, 15-21 January 2006
Let's
start this column out with a quote, and let the readers guess who said
it and when:
"This
country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as we
do when the baby gets hold of a hammer. It's just a question of how
much damage he can do with it before you take it away from him."
That said,
this week's libertarian character trait of the week is "responsibility."
A responsible person accepts being held accountable for the results of
his or her actions: liberty cannot exist without a comparable level of
responsibility: otherwise it is nothing but license and we get the mess
we have today, where people have all kinds of rights but no responsibilities
for themselves, their actions, or their failures.
Campaign
2006
Yeah,
it is coming in strong; as everyone tries to get ready for November. The
baloney machines are running 24-7.
House
GOP leaders unveil new ethics plan
Indianapolis Star
"House Speaker Dennis Hastert urged new restrictions on gifts
from lobbyists Tuesday, responding to a scandal that already has claimed
two Republican leaders and raised GOP fears about this year's elections.
Hastert, confronting a political crisis spawned by the Jack Abramoff scandal,
promoted legislation that would end the practices of lobbyists footing
the bill for lunches or arranging lavish 'fact-finding' trips for members
of Congress to warm-weather resorts." (01/17/06)
I am putting
this with the election campaign news because that is really what this
entire "scandal" is all about, and because this is treating
the symptoms, NOT the causes.
Hillary:
House run like "plantation"
San Francisco Chronicle
"Sen. Hillary Clinton on Monday blasted the Bush administration
as 'one of the worst' in U.S. history and compared the Republican-controlled
House of Representatives to a plantation where dissenting voices are squelched.
Speaking during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event, Clinton also offered
an apology to a group of Hurricane Katrina survivors 'on behalf of a government
that left you behind, that turned its back on you.' Her remarks were met
with thunderous applause by a mostly black audience at the Canaan Baptist
Church of Christ in Harlem. The House 'has been run like a plantation,
and you know what I'm talking about,' said Clinton, D-N.Y. 'It has been
run in a way so that nobody with a contrary view has had a chance to present
legislation, to make an argument, to be heard.'" [editor's note:
And so it begins, as the white elitist pot calls the similar kettle ...
not-black! Someone else please? - SAT] (01/17/06)
Her attack
doesn't even make sense except that it panders to her audience. As the
article farther on discusses, the response to Clinton's stupid remarks
doesn't make sense, but is predictable.
Politicians
ponder where to draw lobbying line
Fox News
"The extent of high-dollar lobbyist Jack Abramoff's criminal behavior
might become the biggest congressional scandal in decades, but to clear
the air lawmakers in Washington must first grapple with the slippery equation
that includes lobbying, politicians, money and legislation. The root problem,
analysts say, is that the political process is being corrupted by money
linked to lobbying -- not a new problem by any means, but a pervasive
one that further erodes public trust in the legislative system. And even
when rules seek to strike a balance between what should and should not
be allowed in the lobbyist-lawmaker relationship, not everyone is going
to follow them, added congressional scholar Norm Ornstein, a scholar at
the American Enterprise Institute." (01/17/06)
As usual,
the mainstream media (and their tame "analysts") does NOT understand
the real problem: it is not the flood of money and the unconstitutional
limits on free speech, it is the fact that government has become so powerful
and controlling that it is more and more essential to do everything possible
to influence it in every possible way. Cut the power of government and
this "flood" will subside to a trickle.
Mama's
Note: Money IS power. Take the money away from the government and the
politicians would have nothing the lobbyists want. The power to tax is
the power to enslave and destroy.
Lobbying
versus electioneering
Christian Science Monitor
"When Congress passed the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform
law in 2002, supporters praised it as an effective way to restrict a flood
of unregulated special-interest money into federal elections. Opponents
denounced the campaign-finance restrictions as a form of government censorship.
The law would permit government control over the kind of core political
speech the First Amendment was written to protect, they said. In 2003,
the US Supreme Court upheld most of the law's provisions. But not everyone
has been happy with how the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act is being enforced
in individual cases. Tuesday the Supreme Court is set to hear a challenge
to a portion of the law that bars corporations and unions from placing
broadcast advertisements that mention a candidate by name." (01/17/06)
Ah, another
example of how a few people are finally waking up to the Law of Unintended
Consequences. CSM has the same problem as Fox in the preceding article.
'Plantation'
remarks still echoing on Hill
Washington Times
"Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's fiery political remark Monday that
the Republican House is like a 'plantation' has triggered charges of playing
the race card and a sharp rebuke from first lady Laura Bush, who called
her comment ridiculous. The New York Democrat's racial broadside during
a Martin Luther King Day appearance at a Baptist church in Harlem continued
to spark debate yesterday on both sides of the political aisle. Black
Democratic leaders such as Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois defended and
attempted to explain Mrs. Clinton's remarks, saying she was referring
to a "further consolidation of power" by Republicans in Washington.
But Mrs. Bush, en route home from a trip to West Africa, said, 'I think
it's ridiculous -- it's a ridiculous comment.'" (01/19/06)
Funny,
how come the Demos aren't screaming their heads off about how she is using
racial slurs?
The
Coming Fall of Europe
We start out with a truly stupid trick this week, and go from there. What
a waste of a perfectly good landmass and lovely countryside. Most of these
are, I admit, from the UK, and really should be in their own section,
but I'm lumping them together.
Belgium:
Student uses his head to fund party
Ananova [UK]
"A Belgian student has sold the foreheads of himself and his friends
to pay for his 20th birthday party. Kris Dries put up their foreheads
as advertising space as he had no money to buy food or drink for the bash.
The eBay auction was won by a marketing firm in Waregem which will foot
the bill for all partygoers who have the firm's logo painted on their
foreheads for the night. Any who do not want their foreheads used for
advertising can still go to the party but they have to pay their own way."
(01/16/06)
What do
YOU have that you can sell if you are young and stupid? This clearly fits
into the category of prostitution, but then this is the new Europe, where
such is admired, not outlawed.
UK:
Peers throw out "glorifying terror" law
Independent [UK]
"Peers have dealt a devastating blow to the Government's proposed
anti-terror laws, throwing out plans to create a new offence of 'glorifying'
terrorism. The House of Lords set the scene for a fresh showdown in the
Commons after they voted to remove the offence by 270 to 144, a majority
of 126. Tony Blair's majority was cut to just one in the Commons last
year when he narrowly thwarted a backbench attempt to block the planned
offence. Yesterday, peers backed the former law lord Lord Lloyd of Berwick
who condemned the measure as 'unworkable.' He told the Lords: 'We are
creating a new criminal offence in this section which should not be on
the statute book.' Peers lined up to attack the proposed offence, claiming
it was unnecessary and could erode free speech." (01/17/06)
The only
reason the Lords can deal this "devastating blow" is because
the vote was so close in Commons - sending it back to Commons is the only
power left for this emasculated body.
UK:
Worker-run brothels proposed to deter exploitation
Guardian [UK]
"The law on prostitution could be changed to allow small 'worker-run'
brothels involving two or three women so they can protect themselves,
the government announced yesterday. Home Office minister Fiona Mactaggart
said she also wanted to replace the 'ineffective' fine for soliciting
with an intervention penalty that ensured prostitutes received help with
drug or alcohol problems. She also intends to stop the women being branded
a 'common prostitute' by the courts on the grounds that the phrase is
outdated and offensive. The new strategy represents the first big overhaul
of the laws surrounding prostitution in nearly 50 years. The Home Office
estimates that 80,000 people are involved in the vice trade, with 95%
of the women dependent on heroin or crack. Ms Mactaggart confirmed yesterday
that the Home Office had dropped plans floated last year by the former
home secretary, David Blunkett, to allow red-light 'toleration zones'
and a system of licensed sex workers who undergo regular health checks."
(01/17/06)
Bizarre
ideas that make no sense and seem only intended to aggravate a situation
are par for the course for the Home Office, it seems.
English
MPs rebel at prospect of Scots PM
The Scotsman
The power wielded at Westminster by Scottish MPs has come under unprecedented
attack in a deepening English rebellion over devolution.
Many Englishmen
and women are very upset over the idea that Northern Ireland, Wales, and
Scotland all have their own national legislatures and still elect MPs
on an equal basis, while neither England as a whole nor the county councils
have similar powers. There is a surge in "English" patriotism
as contrasted to "British" patriotism; similar to circumstances
in Spain, Italy, and even Germany.
Chirac
Threatens Nuclear Weapons Against 'Terrorist' States
SpaceWar.Com
Ile Longue Military Base, France (AFP) Jan 19, 2006 - President Jacques
Chirac for the first time Thursday raised the threat of a nuclear strike
on any state that launches "terrorist" attacks against France.
Humph!
So even France isn't acting quite so French any more - and threatening
to "go cowboy"? Wow! Exactly what impact this shift in rhetoric,
if not attitude, will have on the future of the EU is still unsure.
Government-Ruined,
Theft-Funded Schools
Lots
of reason to attack the "public schools" and the education bureaucracy
this week.
EDUCATION
BEGINS AT HOME
Home School Legal Defense Association, 1/3/05
*An Illinois family that was homeschooling according to state law was
wrongly charged with truancy. An unsympathetic judge ordered the family
to send their child to public school. * The Covent family in Texas was
astonished one day when they were told that their homeschool was a violation
of their Home Owner's Association Covenant and that they were required
to cease homeschooling immediately or face a lawsuit. * In November, Richard,
a young homeschool graduate in Illinois who also completed four years
of college, obtained a job at the same company as his father. Everything
went well at work until a few months into his employment. He was told
by a member of the management that he "must get a GED or be fired."
These are
just a few of many stories about how home schoolers are being treated
across the nation.
Executive
fights to halt £8.5m claim from abused former pupils
The Scotsman
SCOTTISH ministers are battling to have a potential £8.5 million
compensation claim from scores of abused former school pupils thrown out,
despite a public apology for their suffering from the First Minister,
Jack McConnell.
In other
words, we (the government) did this, but we aren't willing to accept responsibility
for it, even when all we are doing is stealing money from the rate-payers
to pay off the victims.
Illinois:
'Doodle' gets high school teen expelled
UPI
"A 16-year-old boy who doodled an alleged gang symbol in his notebook
has been expelled from high school in McHenry, Ill. Derek Kelly was expelled
for the remainder of the school year Tuesday night during a closed session
of the McHenry Community High School District 156 board. The Hispanic
teen attended the meeting with his parents, who said he was not a gang
member. The Chicago Tribune reported board officials said a doodle of
a crown, a cross and a spider web with the initials "D.L.K."
in the middle was a symbol of a street gang. The youth's full name is
Derek Leon Kelly. " (01/18/06)
You might
Google your own initials and see what comes up - I'll bet at least one
use is for something illegal or immoral. And I've lost track of how many
teens I've seen doodling spider-webs. Admittedly crowns and crosses are
rare these days, but since doodling guns is a surefire way to get expelled,
it kind of limits things. And the cross and crown is an old (and formerly
respected) symbol for the Spanish and Portuguese monarchies - gasp! A
gang-member who is a secret monarchist! No wonder the school had to banish
him! (satire, folks, please!)
Defending
Ourselves on the Home Front
Stupidity
may be the only true capital crime, but we seem to have way too much of
it here in the US these days. And sometimes, as in the first story, it
just won't go away.
Brown
accepts more blame on Katrina
Detroit Free Press
"Former FEMA Director Michael Brown on Wednesday accepted a greater
share of the blame for the government's failures after Hurricane Katrina,
saying he fell short in conveying the magnitude of the disaster and calling
for help. 'I should have asked for the military sooner. I should have
demanded the military sooner,' Brown told a gathering of meteorologists
at a ski resort in the Sierra Nevada." (01/18/06)
No, the
people of the region should not have expected government to do anything
at all, and done their own planning and response. I hate mea culpas like
this, especially from people who don't expect their e-mail to be read.
Thousands
still missing after Katrina
CNN
"More than 3,200 people are officially still unaccounted for nearly
five months after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, and the state
medical examiner wants the search to resume for those missing from the
most devastated neighborhoods. A total of nearly 11,500 people were reported
missing to the Find Family National Call Center, a center run by federal
and state workers. The reports included people from throughout the Gulf
Coast area, but most were from Louisiana." (01/18/06)
This is
getting a lot of play, as though these missing people are rotted bodies
floating in some basement, or perhaps still tied to their hospital beds
by the "mercy-killers" and just waiting for the cleanup crews
to show up. Use your brains (and noses), people. Given the crime-rate
and general condition of New Orleans, I expect that a lot of these people
don't WANT to be found, and probably have already stolen new identities
somewhere. And a good many probably don't WANT to come to the attention
of government. I wonder if anyone has bothered to cross-index this list
with a list of outstanding warrants for arrest, child-support delinquencies,
and similar lists?
States
take on border issues
LA Times
"Frustrated by congressional inaction and pushed by rising anger
at home, legislatures across the country are debating a variety of tough
new restrictions on illegal immigrants. For years, states deferred to
the federal government on immigration matters, but as illegal immigrants
have spread throughout the country and Congress has been unable to pass
an immigration reform bill, that has changed. In the first six months
of last year, states considered about 300 immigration-related bills and
passed 36 of them, the National Conference of State Legislatures said.
Florida allowed state law officers to arrest illegal immigrants. Arizona
barred day-laborer centers from receiving public funds. Virginia denied
some state benefits to undocumented workers. This year, the proposals
include cutting off benefits to illegal immigrants, allowing local police
to identify those in the country illegally and, in Arizona, sending National
Guard troops to secure the Mexican border." (01/16/06)
Most if
not all of these proposals, should they pass, will be deemed unconstitutional
by judges, so I expect little from these efforts.
Translator's
conviction raises legal concerns
Washington Post
"For three years federal agents trailed Mohammed Yousry, a chubby
50-year-old translator and U.S. citizen who worked for radical lawyer
Lynne Stewart. Prosecutors wiretapped his phone, and FBI agents shadowed
and interviewed him. They read his books and notepads and every file on
his computer. This was their conclusion:"Yousry is not a practicing
Muslim. He is not a fundamentalist," prosecutor Anthony Barkow acknowledged
in his closing arguments to a jury in federal district court in Manhattan
earlier this year. "Mohammed Yousry is not someone who supports or
believes in the use of violence." Still, the prosecutor persuaded
the jury to convict Yousry of supporting terrorism. Yousry now awaits
sentencing in March, when he could face 20 years in prison for translating
a letter from imprisoned Muslim cleric Omar Abdel Rahman to Rahman's lawyer
in Egypt." (01/16/06)
It does
sound like the attorney has made a good start on an appeal. But it also
shows that it is getting easier to be convicted of supporting terrorism
even when you are on the record of opposing the various movements.
Republican
offers cash to students who inform on left-wing professors
Independent [UK]
"The University of California's Los Angeles campus is in turmoil
after a Republican graduate offered students money to record classes of
professors they suspect of left-wing bias and "indoctrination".
Andrew Jones has drawn up a hitlist of professors he refers to as the
"dirty 30" at UCLA. He has devoted many pages of his website
to denouncing their supposed malfeasance. .... So far, only one student
has signed up to record his professor, leading many targeted faculty members
to believe their best strategy might be to lie low and let the right-wing
ideologues tear each other apart." (01/19/06)
Hey, this
sounds like a pretty neat idea to me. I suspect that a lot more are signing
up on the QT, because I don't exactly see how these profs will be able
to wait for this squabble of the right-wing ideologues.
Border
crossing cards could one day be official ID
NBC San Diego
"One card would serve as a border pass, a driver's license and
a security ID for entering federal buildings. It would include not just
your name and picture, but your fingerprints and DNA. Just don't call
it a national ID card. The Homeland Security Department is planning border
crossing cards for Americans reentering the country from Canada and Mexico.
Officials hope to start issuing the PASS (for People Access Security Service)
cards by the end of 2006, but will not require them for an additional
year. A PASS card may also one day carry driver's license and other identification
information, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Wednesday.
But he told reporters, "I don't think it's a national ID card.'"
(01/19/06)
And if
you believe this, you are already beyond hope.
Our
Imperial Courts
We actually start out (for once in a blue moon) with a good news item,
but quickly return to normal. Meanwhile, the Alito fight continues, at
the cost of millions of dollars.
OR:
Supreme Court upholds assisted suicide law
Houston Chronicle
"The Supreme Court today blocked the Bush administration's attempt
to punish doctors who help terminally ill patients die, protecting Oregon's
one-of-a-kind assisted-suicide law. It was the first loss for Chief Justice
John Roberts, who joined the court's most conservative members -- Antonin
Scalia and Clarence Thomas -- in a long but restrained dissent. The administration
improperly tried to use a federal drug law to pursue Oregon doctors ..."
(01/17/06)
I cannot
understand how a conservative could support the fedgov's interference
in this, regardless of their dislike of the practice, and for once in
a very great while, find that the results (if not the reasoning) of the
court are acceptable. For once.
Mama's
Note: What is the difference between "doctor assisted suicide"
and doctor assisted abortion. Both end a human life. A person has the
right to kill themself, I guess, but nobody has a right to help him do
it. Besides that, the step from the willing suicide to the unwilling "useless
eater" being euthanized is just too short.
Supreme
Court denies "free speech zone" appeal
First Amendment Center
"The Supreme Court today rejected an appeal from an antiwar protester
who was convicted of violating the boundaries of a 'restricted area' established
during President Bush's visit to South Carolina in 2002. Brett Bursey
had urged the justices to hear the appeal of a $500 fine he was assessed
for entering a restricted area at near airport hangar [sic] in West Columbia
on Oct. 24, 2002. In July 2005, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
upheld Bursey's conviction in U.S. v. Bursey. Bursey's lawyers said in
court papers that he was exercising his free-speech rights when he carried
a megaphone and a placard reading 'No more war for oil, don't invade Iraq'
into the restricted area. His lawyers wanted the high court to limit the
government's ability to expand restricted areas during presidential events.
... A Secret Service agent told Bursey he could protest in a designated
demonstration area a half-mile away. When he refused to leave the restricted
area, he was arrested." (01/17/06)
Did this
surprise anyone? I hope not - the handwriting has been on the wall for
some time, and new appointees will not change this.
Alito
hearings recast abortion issue
Boston Globe
"Confident that the Senate will confirm Judge Samuel A. Alito
Jr. as the next Supreme Court justice after his smooth hearing last week,
conservative judicial activists say that Republicans no longer need to
nominate ''stealth" Supreme Court nominees whose views on abortion
rights are unknown. The activists are looking past Alito's confirmation
vote to the next potential vacancy, a fight that seems certain to center
on abortion. Should one of the five remaining justices who have voted
to uphold abortion rights retire, the next nominee could represent the
deciding vote to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Like Alito, who
wrote in 1985 that ''the Constitution does not protect a right to abortion,"
future nominees need not have totally unknown records on abortion, said
religious conservative activist Gary Bauer." [FND editor's note:
And so it goes, as the peripheral issue of Alito's abortion beliefs continues
to cloud his anti-liberty positions on so much else! Well done, Dummycrats!
- SAT] (01/17/06)
This fight
is not yet over, and I will not at all be surprised to see a filibuster
attempt on the part of the Democrats that oppose Alito. While Steve and
others might believe the abortion issue to be "peripheral,"
to many of the nation, it is a critical part of liberty and the role of
government, even when they are on opposite sides of the issue. ALL of
Alito's views are critical because we have surrendered control of our
lives and nation to these black-robed tyrants. And with each new appointment,
the stakes are seen as being higher and higher.
Supreme
Court dodges major abortion case
"The Supreme Court steered clear of a major ruling on abortion
today, instead giving New Hampshire a chance to save its parental notification
law. Justices, in a rare unanimous abortion ruling, agreed that the New
Hampshire law could make it too hard for some ill minors to get an abortion,
but at the same time they were hesitant about stepping in to fix the statute.
They told a lower court to reconsider whether the entire law is unconstitutional."
(01/18/06)
This is
a bizarre switch, but a good sign (although as the next story shows, we
are far from ending the sort of judicial tyranny we have today). What
a novel idea - letting a legislature fix the mess it caused instead of
dictating a fix! Of course, the kind of objections raised to this and
other parental notification laws aren't applied to giving a child an aspirin
or some Vicks, and the probability that parental notification time would
jeopardize a child's health in any way is infinitesimally low.
MA:
Court OKs killing, but victim improves
ABC News
"Doctors say new tests are needed on a severely beaten 11-year-old
girl, who officials said was responding to medical stimuli and breathing
on her own a day after Massachusetts' highest court ruled the state had
the authority to remove her from life support. ... [Haleigh Poutre's]
stepfather, Jason Strickland, is charged with beating the girl and could
face a murder charge if she dies. He has fought to keep her on life support
but lost his appeal Tuesday in the Supreme Judicial Court, Massachusetts'
highest court. The court ruled that the social services department had
the authority to remove the ventilator and feeding tube after doctors
said the girl was in an irreversible vegetative state. On Wednesday afternoon,
however, doctors told the social services agency that Haleigh's condition
had changed, Monteiro told the Boston Globe in its Thursday editions.
She said Haleigh was breathing on her own and the agency had no immediate
plans to remove her feeding tube." (01/19/06)
Is there
anything as sick as seeing government conspire to finish the job a murderer
started? How long are we going to allow black-robed thugs to dictate who
can live and who cannot.
Mama's
Note: Just remember that Terri Shiavio was breathing on her own and had
no terminal disease, yet the courts allowed her "husband" to
starve her to death. This little girl doesn't have any money either. I
wonder how long she will be allowed to live...
Mideast
Tarbabies
Yes,
the fighting is still going on, but it got "serious" this week
(according to the mainstream media) when another newsie was kidnapped
and threatened.
Iraq:
Captors threaten to murder hostage
USA Today
"Hostage American reporter Jill Carroll appeared in a silent 20-second
video aired Tuesday by Al-Jazeera television, which said her abductors
gave the United States 72 hours to free female prisoners in Iraq or she
would be killed. The tape showed the 28-year-old reporter sitting in front
of a white background and speaking, but her voice could not be heard.
On the tape, Carroll is pale and appears tired, and her long, straight,
brown hair is parted in the middle and pulled back from her face."
(01/17/06)
This also
was top coverage, since it is one of "their own" in danger for
once. Hundreds of column inches and news-hour minutes were spent on this
woman; more stories below.
Afghanistan:
20 killed in attack
Houston Chronicle
"A man on a motorbike drove up to a crowd watching a wrestling
match in an Afghan border town today, killing 20 people and wounding at
least 30 others -- the deadliest in a recent spate of attacks. The attack
came hours after a bomb hit a convoy of Afghan army trucks loaded with
troops in the southern city of Kandahar, killing four people and wounding
16. The man on the motorbike detonated explosives strapped to his body
near a crowd of about 100 people watching a wrestling match ..."
(01/16/06)
I had not
realized that wrestling was anti-Islamic. Now I know.
Iran
vows reprisals if referred to Security Council
Times [Oman]
"Iran vowed Tuesday to put an end to tough UN inspections of its
disputed atomic programme and fully resume sensitive nuclear fuel work
if its case is referred to the Security Council. Iran's ambassador to
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Ali Asgar Soltaniyeh, also
told the student news agency ISNA that a decision to kick-start nuclear
research was 'irreversible.' ... Iran is facing the threat of being referred
to the Security Council for resuming research work which Israel and the
Western powers fear would give the regime the know-how to build a bomb.
Tehran insists such work is legal given it has signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty. It also angrily denies seeking to acquire nuclear weapons."
(01/17/06)
I've seen
several analyses of just why Iran is thumbing their nose so obviously
at not just the US but the Europeans as well, and the best explanation
seems to be that they are trying to reestablish their bona fides with
the Islamic world in general to regain leadership which the Saudis and
al Qaeda have grabbed away in recent years - they want to be the leaders
of the new Islamic empire, and the best way they can do this is either
to actually develop nukes or to get beat up by the West (but not too bad
- and they don't think the West has the ability to occupy them as it has
elsewhere) and so prove they are really not the West's lapdogs.
Iraq:
Dozens killed in new attacks
Santa Fe New Mexican
"A suicide attacker detonated an explosive vest inside a crowded
downtown coffee shop Thursday and seconds later another bomb exploded
under a nearby car, killing at least 23 people and wounding 25, police
and hospital officials said. ... Scores of people died in violence across
the country Wednesday. Thirty people were dragged from their cars at crude
checkpoints erected on unpaved roads and shot dead execution-style in
farming areas in Nibaei .... Insurgents also opened fire on a convoy of
the mobile telephone company Iraqna, killing six security guards and three
drivers in western Baghdad. Two engineers, believed to be Kenyans, were
missing and feared kidnapped. ... Two American civilians were killed in
a roadside bombing in the southern city of Basra. They worked for the
Texas-based security company DynCorp and were training Iraqi police. A
third American was seriously wounded in the attack, the U.S. Embassy said."
(01/19/06)
Sounds
like only about 3 out of 6 dozen were the hated infidels of Americans
- and also sounds like the "insurgents" are running out of ideas
and just going through a spasm of killing.
Iraq:
Six female detainees to be freed
ABC News Online [Australia]
"The Iraqi Justice Ministry says that US forces will release six
Iraqi women prisoners, but that the move is not related to the demands
of a militant group that kidnapped an American journalist. Al Jazeera
television said on Tuesday that the kidnappers of Jill Carroll had threatened
to kill her unless all Iraqi women detainees were freed. The US military
did not confirm the releases would take place. A spokesman says he can
not discuss individual cases of detainees or ongoing reviews." (01/19/06)
Sounds
like the Iraqis are trying to finesse both their internal enemies and
the US. Clearly, the "insurgents" have no idea what kind of
contempt the media is held in by most US military personnel.
Pakistan:
Top al Qaeda operative suspected killed
Las Vegas Review-Journal
"Pakistani security officials on Thursday named an al-Qaida operative
on the U.S. most-wanted list and a close relative of the terror network's
No. 2 leader Ayman al-Zawahri as among at least three top operatives suspected
killed in a U.S. missile strike last week. A security official, speaking
on condition of anonymity because he's not authorized to speak to media,
said Egyptian Midhat Mursi was among the three top al-Qaida figures who
were present in the village at the time of the attack and whose bodies
were believed to have been taken away by sympathizers." (01/18/06)
This is
quite a change from the previous Paki screams, isn't it? Who was killed?
First reports were a bunch of innocent people, and now we have at least
three al-Qaida? You suppose they could get their stories straight?
Pakistan:
Terrorists killed in US strike
Las Vegas Review-Journal
"Pakistani provincial authorities said Tuesday four or five foreign
terrorists were killed in the purported U.S. Missile strike that has severely
strained relations with this Muslim nation, a key ally in President Bush's
war on terror. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, on the eve of a trip to Washington,
said that despite the importance of ties with the United States, attacks
inside Pakistan 'cannot be condoned.'" (01/17/06)
This started
an entire week's worth of news, and some startling revelations as we shall
see.
Pakistanis
decry US after deadly strike
Detroit Free Press
"Thousands of Pakistanis took to the streets Sunday to rage for
a second day against a purported U.S. attack on a border village, chanting
'Death to America' and demanding U.S. troops leave neighboring Afghanistan,
as more details emerged about the airstrike. Pakistani intelligence officials
said the reported target, al-Qaida No. 2 leader Ayman al-Zawahri, had
been invited to the attacked village for a dinner marking a Muslim festival
on the night of the missile strike but he failed to show up."
(01/15/06)
This was
the top news earlier in the week, but later on, it became clear that Paki
outrage was apparently pro-forma and for public consumption.
Privacy
and Other Issues
Much
of this is in the US and related to our "Home Front" but we
should be aware of these things.
Mining
for kids: Children can't "opt out" of database
Vermont Guardian
"Parents cannot remove their children's names from a Pentagon
database that includes highly personal information used to attract military
recruits, the Vermont Guardian has learned. The Pentagon has spent more
than $70.5 million on market research, national advertising, website development,
and management of the Joint Advertising Market Research and Studies (JAMRS)
database -- a storehouse of questionable legality that includes the names
and personal details of more than 30 million U.S. children and young people
between the ages of 16 and 23. The database is separate from information
collected from schools that receive federal education money. ... Parents
must contact the Pentagon directly to ask that their children's information
not be released to recruiters, but the data is not removed from the JAMRS
database, according to Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, a Pentagon spokeswoman.
Instead, the information is moved to a suppression file, where it is continuously
updated with new data from private and government sources and still made
available to recruiters, Krenke said." (01/17/06)
This isn't
going to go away, and it has been around for years, and is really in the
category of "can't be gotten rid of, so just endure." People
can treat the recruiting contacts just like any other junk mail, and should.
Feds
after Google data
Mercury News
"The Bush administration on Wednesday asked a federal judge to
order Google to turn over a broad range of material from its closely guarded
databases. The move is part of a government effort to revive an Internet
child protection law struck down two years ago by the US Supreme Court.
The law was meant to punish online pornography sites that make their content
accessible to minors. The government contends it needs the Google data
to determine how often pornography shows up in online searches. In court
papers filed in US District Court in San Jose, Justice Department lawyers
revealed that Google has refused to comply with a subpoena issued last
year for the records, which include a request for 1 million random Web
addresses and records of all Google searches from any one-week period.
The Mountain View-based search and advertising giant opposes releasing
the information on a variety of grounds, saying it would violate the privacy
rights of its users and reveal company trade secrets, according to court
documents. " (01/19/06)
Does this
sound as bogus to you as to me? These used to be called "fishing
expeditions" and honest judges refused to have anything to do with
it: it is the equal of "randomly" listening to a million telephone
calls.
Quote answer:
It was, of course, the inimitable Will Rogers, back in the 1930s, who
said this!
More
News and Commentary on Page 2
Nathan
Barton has finished his Christmas and New Years' "vacation"
in Colorado with his family and has been on the road some this week, before
getting back to the Black Hills. His views and comments, however normal
they sound, are too weird to be anyone's but his own, and not necessarily
anyone else's. Caveat Lexor. Be sure to visit my blog,
Liberty's Outpost.
Special
Feature! Add your signature to the NEW
Declaration of Independence
By Robert Greenslade
Several
people have asked about buying Gadsden Flags (the rattlesnake "Don't
Tread on Me flags used by the June 23d Movement and other Property Rights
Organizations: you
can get them for $10.00 plus shipping here.
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previous Commentaries, go
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are linked from the daily front pages.
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