Libertarian Commentary on the News, 5 to 11 February 2006-- Page 2

Bush to propose $2.7 trillion budget
USA Today
"President Bush today will propose a 2007 federal budget of more than $2.7 trillion, even while calling for savings in Medicare and other domestic programs, according to congressional and administration officials with knowledge of the spending plan. The budget is an increase over the $2.57 trillion spending plan Bush proposed last year. Much of the increase will go to defense, homeland security and benefit programs that grow faster than the economy. The officials who gave details of the budget asked not to be named because the plan wasn't scheduled to be released until today." (02/05/06)

What a ghastly farce. If only it were a joke. 300 million of us, or pert near $9000 per person, man, woman, child, illegal immigrant, each of us: it amounts to nearly half the per capita income and does NOT include state, local, etc. - this is just DC.

Mama's Note: Then add all the bogus "interest" being paid on all the bogus "trust funds," all of the previous borrowing and all the "off budget" things that add up to billions more... but, don't listen to anyone who says our economy is in big trouble, of course... dream on government supporters. (See Ed Henry's articles for more on this.)

IN: State wants to privatize money-losing highway
Lexington Herald Ledger
"Sweeping past Indiana's steel mills and corn and soybean fields, the 157-mile Indiana Toll Road is often called the 'Main Street of the Midwest' for its strategic role in linking the East Coast to Chicago and points west. Now the highway across the heartland could fall into private hands. Indiana officials hope to sign a lease this spring with a Spanish-Australian partnership that would operate the toll road for a profit for the next 75 years. The company would keep all toll revenue. In return, it would be responsible for maintenance, improvements and other operating costs, and would pay the state $3.85 billion up front, money that would go toward other road and bridge projects. If state lawmakers approve the deal, it would be the biggest highway-privatization in the country and could embolden other states to enter into similar arrangements." (02/03/06)

Much as I applaud ANY government land or enterprise falling into private hands and private ownership, I would want to look VERY carefully at the contract for this thing. The last major privatization of a government project in the US was the sale of the South Dakota State Cement Plant to a Mexican company, four years ago. While the state had no business building, owning, or operating that cement plant, it was still obvious from the beginning that the taxpayers were getting taken for a ride and the PTB were making out like bandits (more than usual, that is) in the quick sale railroaded through the legislature. YES, ALL highways should be privatized, but in such a way that the fat cats in Indianapolis and DC or elsewhere don't once more rip off the taxpayers and highway users.

Mama's Note: It is quite possible that the Mexican company was actually owned by the Mexican government, so that would not be privatization at all, just a change of government - and probably a very bad one.

AZ: Bureaurats run up $280K in suspect expenses
Arizona Republic
"Phoenix's eight-week inquiry into suspected travel abuses by some employees has uncovered more than $280,000 in questionable charges, and chances are most of that money will never be repaid. That's because more than 80 percent of the disputed expenses were international airline fares incurred by three aviation department employees who flew business class to Europe, Mexico, Asia and Canada, with the full-knowledge of their supervisors. The trio has collectively charged more than $237,000 in airfare over the past five years under a well-known, but unwritten, policy that is designed to help support major airlines in hopes of landing new, international flights out of Sky Harbor International Airport. The policy contradicts another written set of rules that governs all city employees and specifies that workers should fly the cheaper economy class. Nonetheless, all three had their trips, including the more expensive flight costs, approved by the city before they left." (02/05/06)

Corruption is not just endemic, it is an integral part of the governmental system, regardless of state or location.

KY: State representative proposes abortion ban
WKYT News
"Some Kentucky lawmakers are trying to ban abortion, even though such a prohibition would likely conflict with federal law and the 1973 abortion case, Roe v. Wade, which legalized the procedure. Nearly 40 House members have tagged their names to the plan, sponsored by Boone County Rep. Addia Wuchner. However, Wuchner acknowledged that if the General Assembly passed the ban, Kentucky would be at odds with the federal government. But it would 'create a challenge' to federal law, Wuchner said. 'That is how change begins, and it begins right here at the state level.'" (02/06/06)

Kentucky joins numerous other states, including South Dakota and Nebraska, in this effort. Clearly, the culture wars continue, and there are some who try to stop the killing.

FL: 25 strippers nabbed in sting
Smoking Gun
"Florida investigators yesterday returned to the scene of the grind, arresting more than two dozen strippers in an undercover investigation. According to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, the dancers were allegedly involved in a variety of criminal activities, including cocaine peddling, prostitution, lewdness, exposure of sexual organs, and the improper solicitation of alcohol sales. The strippers, who were nabbed late last night and early this morning, worked at six Tampa-area clubs: Lollipops; Calendar Girls; Vegas Showgirls; Brass Flamingo; Bare Assets; Foxy Lady; and Club Extasy. Last July, dancers at five of those clubs were arrested as part of a lunchtime sting operation. Below you will find mug shots of 25 strippers arrested as part of the latest Pasco County probe, which involved undercover officers infiltrating the joints and, in some instances, receiving lap dances that, um, rubbed the cops the wrong way." (02/03/06)

Yes, your tax dollars are paying for this, directly or indirectly. Don't be surprised if this isn't done in part through a grant by federal agencies that are taking money from all fifty states.

House "reformers" resist ban on travel bribery
Boston Globe
"The 17 members of Congress who went to Dublin on an Aspen Institute-paid trip last summer got a walking tour of the city. They also spent six or seven hours each of the four days in discussions with scholars and policy makers about US relations with Europe and Russia. It was not quite the same as the itinerary for trips arranged by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, when golf at St. Andrews's famed course in Scotland was the highlight. But House Speaker Dennis Hastert, seeking cover for Republicans in a growing influence-peddling scandal, has proposed banning all such trips, whether they are intended to improve lawmakers' knowledge of an issue or their putting skills. His idea is running into resistance, even from his second-in-command. The new House majority leader, Representative John Boehner, Republican of Ohio, defends privately funded travel as essential and suggests continuing to allow the trips if they meet House rules." (02/06/06)

When you add all the direct and indirect expenses triggered by the $2.7 trillion budget, such as this bribery, the cost of government is probably twice the budget, just at the federal level. This kind of self-serving redefinition of the problem makes me barf.

Mama's Note: All elected government officials (that phrase alone makes me want to barf) should pay all of their office and travel expenses from their own money. I'm sure we'd see an incredible drop in how much of this was "necessary." IF there is any legitimate function for government at all, and I say there is not, we'll never have one that is controlled and just as long as they have the power to steal our money and property. Those with a free hand to steal have no incentive to be either frugal or just. Without that power, I suspect the various offices would be hard to fill indeed.

NASA focuses on developing new moon craft
Tampa Tribune
"NASA has delayed two programs that search for planets capable of supporting life as the space agency instead focuses on developing a new manned spacecraft to return to the moon in the next decade. The delayed SIM PlanetQuest and Terrestrial Planet Finder missions, managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, aim to determine whether there are Earth-like planets beyond our solar system with conditions suitable for life or developing in that direction." (02/06/06)

My emotions are mixed. I want people to go back to the moon, but I don't honestly believe NASA is the way to do it. And obviously the writer of this article is against manned space flight, at least in relation to coming up with new excuses to support endeavors to promote evolution and other "acceptable scientific" efforts. Instead of leaving both efforts in private hands, both are likely to fail because of government ineptness.

TN: Donations blackout to include governor
Tennessean
"In a last-minute lobbying push, Gov. Phil Bredesen tried to strike from Tennessee's milestone ethics bill a provision that would have held him to the same fundraising rules as legislators. Lawmakers have long been banned from fundraising during the legislative session because that's when they are crafting and voting on bills. A bipartisan conference committee that finalized the ethics bill Friday decided to extend that ban to the governor, who influences and signs legislation. The bill -- which eliminates a number of legislative perks and curtails lobbyist wining and dining of lawmakers -- is scheduled for final votes in the House and the Senate today. ... Bredesen said he was alerted Friday about the fundraising provision by his legal counsel Bob Cooper, who was monitoring the 24-member conference committee in which a compromise on the ethics bill was being hammered out." (02/06/06)

Although this is in Tennessee, most states have this same problem: supermen like governors clearly are superior even to other elected officials and deserve special exemptions to the law and common morality.

Mama's Note: Why not eliminate all campaign fund raising and make them all serve at their own expense. Of course, they'd find a way around that soon enough. Politicians are the embodiment of corruption. Why do so many people think we need them at all?

US plans to open more of Gulf to drilling
Houston Chronicle
"The government plans to open a large area of the eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas leasing despite strong opposition from Florida officials. The Interior Department's leasing proposal released today would encompass more than two-thirds of an area known as Lease 181, while continuing to ban oil and gas development in waters within 100 miles of the Florida coast." (02/08/06)

Of course, we need to ask ourselves, what right or authority does either the FedGov OR Florida have to regulate drilling or claim that they own either the water or the land and minerals underneath the water? No, I'm not saying the UN owns it, either: it seems to be unoccupied, unused, and therefore, unowned until someone claims it.

Mama's Note: Until someone claims it and makes peaceful use of it. We have to consider the prospect of some powerful individuals claiming ALL the land or all the mineral rights to vast areas. This is actually one area where a citizen controlled government could preserve both peace and individual liberty if administered by those of integrity and justice. Unfortunately, where do we find one?

Bush: Budget will spur growth, rein in spending
CNN
"President Bush on Wednesday talked up his budget on a trip to New Hampshire, hours before signing a bill he says is a major step toward cutting the nation's deficit in half by 2009. The president said his fiscal year 2007 budget will promote economic growth by keeping taxes low, will restrain government spending and will eliminate federal programs that don't produce results." (02/08/06)

The headline is according to CNN, and don't believe it for a second. If we really want to stop the deficit and promote economic growth, I suggest eliminating 90% of federal programs - the first year, followed by the remaining 10% the next year (to give people time to adjust). So we could have a balanced budget by, oh, 2008.

Mama's Note: "...programs that don't produce results." What results and by who's standards? That is typical gibberish put out by the politicians to keep your attention on the smoke and mirrors.

Libby: White House 'superiors' OK'd leaks
Detroit Free Press
"A former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney told a federal grand jury that his superiors authorized him to give secret information to reporters as part of the Bush administration's defense of intelligence used to justify invading Iraq, according to court papers. Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said in documents filed last month that he plans to introduce evidence that I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, Cheney's former chief of staff, disclosed to reporters the contents of a classified National Intelligence Estimate in the summer of 2003." (02/09/06)

This is part of the system of special privileges which allows the government to function, and reminds me of Mark Twain's statement: "Just as those who like sausage should never watch it made, neither should those who think government is good watch it in operation."

Ex-Feinstein staffer edited Wikipedia entries
San Francisco Chronicle
"Sen. Dianne Feinstein's office acknowledged today that a former staff member had removed references to the California Democrat's net worth on the Internet encyclopedia Wikipedia, as well as altered entries about her husband Richard Blum's Chinese investments in 1997. A former staff member 'independently went on to Wikipedia to correct some material he felt was not appropriate,' said Feinstein spokesman Howard Gantman. 'The senator was not even aware of it.' The changes to the biographies of members of Congress, allegedly by their staffs, have again raised questions about the credibility of the online encyclopedia that has become an authoritative source for millions of Internet users. The disclosure by Feinstein's office today was the latest admission from a handful of senators' offices that staff members had been beautifying their bosses' biographies on Wikipedia." (02/09/06)

The credibility here to be questioned is NOT that of Wikipedia, but the scumbags that "we, the people" elect to congress and the foul toadies whom they hire to work for them in their continued activities to enslave us. It should not surprise us that they are willing to lie in Wikipedia, since politicians lie everywhere else on everything they deem fit.

Insurer AIG will pay $1.6B to settle accounting charges
USA Today
American International Group (AIG), one of the world's largest insurance companies, agreed Thursday to pay $1.64 billion to settle state and federal accounting investigations of the insurance giant while distancing itself from former CEO Maurice Greenberg. But the cost to the company's reputation and finances cut much deeper. AIG said it would add $1.7 billion to its underwriting loss reserves, half of which covers previously unacknowledged exposure to environmental and asbestos claims, where Greenberg and the company frequently purported to outperform their industry peers." (02/09/06)

Another government shakedown that reaps huge profits for attorneys and government coffers, while doing nothing for the supposed beneficiaries of the legal action.

Mama's Note: Any accountant could tell you that there is no possible way to avoid such a shakedown by your bookkeeping or business practice alone. Just as with so-called Medicare "fraud," the rules are written so vaguely that any "inspector" can "prove" anything he wants. That, of course, only invites a business to "cross his palm" so he'll go away. You don't DARE challenge or anger these petty bureaucrats. Many of them have a very socialistic agenda and simply decide to destroy you no matter what you have or have not done. I've seen it happen.

Lawsuit challenges new 'e-annoyance' law
CNet
"A new law targeting "annoying" e-mail messages and Web posts is being challenged in federal court. The plaintiff, a Web site that lets people send anonymous e-mail for a fee, said the suit was necessary because the law is so broad it makes providing the service a crime. "What we are seeking to do is have that portion of the statute declared unconstitutional," said Charles Mudd, an attorney in Chicago who's representing TheAnonymousEmail.com." (02/09/06)

It sounds like another Lawyer Employment Protection Act to me, nothing more.

Mama's Note: Sounds like another non-problem to me. Why would anyone want to read truly anonymous email? I get lots of email I don't want. I simply don't read it. If some people want to send email to each other anonymously, why should I care? Oh, of course, they might discuss the thousands of perfectly harmless things the thugs have decided are "crimes," that's why.

NE: Man sentenced for sex with 13-year-old fiancee
New York Times
"A 23-year-old Nebraska man who pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual assault last year for having sex with his 13-year-old girlfriend, whom he impregnated and later married, was sentenced to 18 to 30 months in prison yesterday. The man, Matthew Koso, of Falls City, will be eligible for parole after nine months. He could have faced up to 50 years in prison. ... Mr. Koso and his wife, Crystal, began dating in 2003 when he was 20 and she was 12. They were married last May in Hiawatha, Kan., with their parents' consent. Their daughter, Samara, was born in August. Nebraska's attorney general, Jon Bruning, who charged Mr. Koso in July, said he thought the sentence was fair." [Registration required, or use login "rationalreview/rationalreview"] (02/08/06)

So we have the father of a small child taken away from his young family for more than two years, in order to be punished for having the family in the first place. If anything cries for a pardon, this does. Although I think it is crazy for a 13-year-old to marry (and I frankly think 20 or even 23 is really too young), this action is even more insane.

Mama's Note: The parents of this girl are really insane. It should be absolutely IMPOSSIBLE for a 20 year old man to have ANY KIND of intimate relationship with a 12 year old girl - under any circumstances. Properly supervised children do not fall into these tragic, and often fatal, beartraps. No, I don't think prison was in any way appropriate - it's just another terrible nail in the coffin of the family and moral behavior.

Saudi official says soaring oil prices can't last
Houston Chronicle
"Saudi Arabia's oil minister said today that today's soaring oil prices were not sustainable long-term, but that prices must be between $45 and $50 a barrel for petroleum producers to meet global demand, which he estimated would grow by 1.4 million barrels per day over the next year. Ali Naimi's demand growth estimate for 2006 was about 400,000 barrels per day below a recent forecast by the International Energy Agency, and that likely contributed to today's oil-price decline." (02/07/06)

Good news, if it is true. But as long as governments are involved in setting prices, the true market will not be able to function properly.

Bush plan would trim survivor benefits
Detroit Free Press
"President Bush's budget calls for elimination of a $255 lump-sum death payment that has been part of Social Security for more than 50 years and urges Congress to cut off monthly survivor benefits to 16- and 17-year-old high school dropouts. If approved, the two proposals would save a combined $3.4 billion over the next decade, according to administration estimates. Any attempt to reduce Social Security benefits -- no matter how small -- could face intense opposition in Congress in an election year." (02/07/06)

No doubt I will be condemned, but this strikes me as a good idea. The FedGov shouldn't be in the funeral business (the original reason for the now-tiny lump-sum payment), and if someone is out of school (and therefore presumably on their own, making a living) they don't seem to need these survivor benefits.

Mama's Note: It's a great idea. Unfortunately it's a drop in the bucket compared to the cuts that are needed, and you can be sure of intense opposition from all the people who regard Social Security - and all its bastard children - as something sacred. This hasn't got a snowball's chance in hell and is just a false attempt to make some people think he's really concerned with cutting the budget.

Woman named on no-fly list sues
San Diego Tribune
"A woman who has been kept out of the country has sued the government, claiming the no-fly list maintained by the Department of Homeland Security is unconstitutional. Rahinah Ibrahim, 40, has not been allowed back into the country since last year when she left to visit her home country of Malaysia. Ibrahim, who was attending Stanford University, was in California on a student visa. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in San Francisco Jan. 27. Her lawyer, Thomas Burke, said Ibrahim was waiting to get on a plane last year at San Francisco International Airport when she was told her name was on the list. Burke says she was handcuffed, searched and released two hours after her flight had left. The following day she was again detained and told her name was on the list. Eventually, she was allowed to fly. But once she was back in Malaysia, Ibrahim was told the U.S. Embassy had withdrawn visa, and she hasn't been allowed back since." (02/06/06)

I wish her the best in her effort to return, and get things resolved!

Army demands $700 from wounded soldier
Charleston Gazette
"The last time 1st Lt. William 'Eddie' Rebrook IV saw his body armor, he was lying on a stretcher in Iraq, his arm shattered and covered in blood. A field medic tied a tourniquet around Rebrook's right arm to stanch the bleeding from shrapnel wounds. Soldiers yanked off his blood-soaked body armor. He never saw it again. But last week, Rebrook was forced to pay $700 for that body armor, blown up by a roadside bomb more than a year ago. He was leaving the Army for good because of his injuries. He turned in his gear at his base in Fort Hood, Texas. He was informed there was no record that the body armor had been stripped from him in battle. He was told to pay nearly $700 or face not being discharged for weeks, perhaps months." (02/07/06)

This is a typical bureaucratic snafu, familiar to soldiers since Caesar marched into Gaul. It was quickly corrected. It shouldn't have happened, of course, but compared to other problems, it was minor. Antiwar activists should not expect to make much out of this, despite efforts to do so. For one thing, soldiers know exactly how much support they don't get and don't expect anything but the worst from government. To paraphrase an old Roman saying, "You are soldiers in order to die, and Congress will send you where you are to die."

Assumptions in Bush's data may be flawed, some say
Boston Globe
"President Bush's budget relies on what fiscal analysts call a variety of debatable assumptions, and it does not include long-term plans to overhaul Social Security, Medicare, or the tax system, which the analysts say must happen for the government to put itself on a course toward erasing skyrocketing deficits. The US deficit, which Bush has promised to cut in half by 2009, is projected to reach a record of $423 billion this year, and drop gradually thereafter. But it could soar again if Bush's tax cuts are extended, and if entitlement programs are not overhauled. Analysts questioned a number of assumptions in Bush's budget, such as his assertion that the government will take in $4 billion over five years from oil drilling in the environmentally sensitive Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Congress has rejected the president's proposal for such drilling." (02/07/06)

Statistics don't lie, but liars use statistics. Who is lying in this case? I don't know. But I do know it could all be avoided if instead of playing these games, we could simply eliminate the spending and the taxing completely. What a nation could emerge from the ashes!

Woman accused of mailing condom bombs
MSNBC
"A former strip club waitress mailed condoms filled with a potentially explosive mixture to a television station, strip clubs and other places, saying she was tired of being mistreated by men, according to court documents. In FBI documents unsealed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Boston, Kimberly Lynn Dasilva, 40, said she 'couldn't take it anymore.' None of the condoms exploded." (02/08/06)

Ten points for imagination, minus ten thousand each for paranoia, stupidity, and a refusal to find decent work, like at Wal-Mart or a convenience store with a uniform that may be ugly, but covers up a lot more than what she was wearing to cause her to be mistreated. (Yeah, I'm not being very nice, am I? I have very little sympathy or respect for people who claim to be mistreated in their work when they have not been forced to take the work in the first place, and when it is obvious that the work lends itself to mistreatment. If someone objects to being treated as a sex object, they should find other work that doesn't pay based on how good a sex object they are.)

Mama's Note: I heartily agree! It's no different than women who dress like prostitutes and wiggle their fanny in everyone's face, then scream like raped chambermaids when someone touches them or makes a rude comment. Just what the hell did they expect? If you want to be treated like a lady, dress and act like one. On the other hand, gentlemen who want to meet and marry a lady should avoid girls who look and act like prostitutes! Have some common sense, people!

Snogging too many may be lifethreatening
BBC News
Snogging many different partners can quadruple a teenager's risk of meningitis, a study has found. Kissing with tongues enables the potentially deadly meningococcal bacteria to pass between partners. Lead researcher Robert Booy said teenagers should change their behaviour - but accepted most would not. Meningococcal disease is a life threatening condition. The incidence and fatality rate among teenagers in England and the United States rose dramatically during the 1990s.

Snogging (usually called 'French kissing' stateside) is pretty intimate, and it is no surprise that diseases may be passed on by it. It used to be (as with most similar things) limited strictly to married couples, or at least to a single other person. Today, of course...

Mama's Note: See above. We reap what we sow...

Thousands of Katrina victims evicted
USA Today
"Hauling everything he owned in a plastic garbage bag, Darryl Travis walked out of the chandeliered lobby of the Crowne Plaza, joining the exodus of Hurricane Katrina refugees evicted from their hotel rooms across the country Tuesday. More than 4,500 evacuees were expected to check out of their government-paid hotel rooms Tuesday as the Federal Emergency Management Agency began cutting off money to pay for their stays." (02/07/06)

Finally.

Mama's Note: You are much too kind, Nathan. IT'S ABOUT DAMNED TIME!!! Day one was too long.

CIA worker accused of secret life of crime
CNN
"A CIA worker was arrested and charged with being a serial burglar responsible for more than a dozen incidents near the spy agency's headquarters. Fairfax County police said Tuesday that George C. Dalmas III had been charged with 17 burglaries in McLean, Virginia, between October and last month. Dalmas, 44, of Falls Church, faced numerous counts of burglary and grand larceny, and investigators said other charges were possible." (02/07/06)

Gee - seems we have some bad eggs in the basket!

Mama's Note: Seems obvious to me they teach them burglar stuff, and how they are above the law at CIA school. Lots of these bad eggs, I'm sure. Most of them just don't go in for common street crime, that's all.

Spying and other offenses against good manners
Stories continue to cross my desk on this issue, which is closely tied to the 2006 campaign season AND to our Home Front in the worldwide war for liberty. There is no question that things will get far worse before they get better. (At least from the point of view of those who see spying as evil and an attack on our personal freedoms.)

White House wants states to track drugs
Daily India
"White House drug czar John Walters wants more states to track people who get multiple prescriptions of frequently abused drugs, a report said Wednesday. The national anti-drug strategy Walters announced would prod 20 states and the District of Columbia to set up databases to track drugs such as OxyContin and Vicodin, USA Today reported. President George Bush's proposed fiscal 2007 budget includes $9.9 million to help establish state drug registries, already adopted in 28 states. States likely to consider registries include Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Vermont and Washington, said an aide to Walters. Critics expressed concern about patients' privacy and medical care interference." (02/08/06)

This could, of course, also go in "Stupid Government Tricks" or the "War on Some Drugs" section, but any way you look at it, one more sector of private life is subject to nannying and spying.

Mama's Note: Oh yes, let's make it even more impossible - and a LOT more expensive - for people to get the pain medication they need. None of this will stop criminals from preying on these people, of course, just make it more likely. Exactly why should anyone care in the least how many pain pills anyone buys or where they get them? The pills you have on your counter don't harm or affect anyone else at all! Just remember that none of this is about safety or what is good for people. It's all about government control of you and your life.

Specter criticizes rationale for spying
Cincinnati Enquirer
"Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has not adequately justified why the Bush administration failed to seek court approval for domestic surveillance, said the senator in charge of a hearing Monday on the program. Sen. Arlen Specter said Sunday he believes that President Bush violated a 1978 law specifically calling for a secret court to consider and approve such monitoring." (02/05/06)

Specter is certainly one to talk about doing things properly, isn't he?

NSA's struggle to tap a wily foe
Christian Science Monitor
"In all likelihood in the mid-1990s the National Security Agency was listening to the communications traffic flowing through the Umm Haraz satellite ground station outside Khartoum, Sudan. The reason: Osama bin Laden then lived nearby. According to an expert on the history of US eavesdropping, the NSA had identified the phone numbers used by Mr. bin Laden and key associates. Intercepts yielded a trove of data about the financing and organization of the fledgling Al Qaeda. Fast forward to 2006. Bin Laden has decamped for parts unknown, and the NSA has no Umm Haraz equivalent. Al Qaeda's communications no longer follow a well-worn track that's easy to intercept." (02/05/06)

I don't think we were at war with Al Qaeda then, were we? So exactly how is this good news, or legal? Just more evidence that the FedGov has been breaking its own laws for decades.

UK: Firms turn cyber sleuths with mobile phone technology
IT News [Australia]
"Advances in mobile phone tracking technology are turning British firms into cyber sleuths as they keep a virtual eye on their staff, vehicles and stock. In the past few years, companies that offer tracking services have seen an explosion in interest from businesses keen to take advantage of technological developments in the name of operational efficiency. The gains, say the converted, are many, ranging from knowing whether workers have been 'held up' in the pub rather than in a traffic jam, to being able to quickly locate staff and reroute them if necessary. Not everybody is happy about being monitored, however, and civil rights group Liberty says the growth of tracking raises data privacy concerns." (02/06/06)

Of course, not only government is spying on people, and not just on their own people either: customers are fair game as well.

Mama's Note: Employees should expect a certain amount of observation by employers or find another job. Customers can do business with someone else. The question there isn't the surveillance as much as the fact that it is secret. I can't imagine that either employees or customers are going to have their privacy invaded by business alone, simply because it is BAD business if they are found out, collecting such information is expensive, and most of it wouldn't have any business use to start with.

Government spying is another question altogether. They have no incentive whatsoever to respect the privacy of anyone and they have as much of our money as they want to play with. That's where we need to keep our attention focused. I've got it! We put all of the phone conversations and meeting discussions of government officials on tape, available to any citizen on demand. That ought to fix their little red wagon.

AG: Warrants? We don't need no steenking warrants!
Houston Chronicle
"Attorney General Alberto Gonzales insisted today that President Bush is fully empowered to eavesdrop on Americans without warrants as part of the war on terror. He exhorted Congress not to end or tinker with the program. Gonzales' strong defense of Bush's program was challenged by Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and committee Democrats during sometimes contentious questioning." (02/06/06)

If we decide that war is an excuse to ignore the law and constitutional protections and requirements, we are indeed no different from any tyranny from wartime Rome forward, and resemble Hispanic society more than that of free Englishmen and their descendants (spiritual or physical).

Carter: Eavesdropping illegal
Las Vegas Review-Journal
"Former President Jimmy Carter criticized the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program Monday and said he believes the president has broken the law. 'Under the Bush administration, there's been a disgraceful and illegal decision -- we're not going to the let the judges or the Congress or anyone else know that we're spying on the American people,' Carter told reporters. 'And no one knows how many innocent Americans have had their privacy violated under this secret act.'" (02/06/06)

Considering that Carter's administration did the same thing, this strikes me as nothing more than political posturing of the normal, and disgusting, kind.

Mama's Note: Does anyone really think that any president, starting with The Articles of Confederation, has been without a deep network of spies and operatives? Get real! That's as much a part of politics as anything else they do today. Nothing changes except the technical tools they use. Lies, hate and destruction are the common denominator of them all.

Bush spy plot may have tainted FISA warrants
Washington Post
"Twice in the past four years, a top Justice Department lawyer warned the presiding judge of a secret surveillance court that information overheard in President Bush's eavesdropping program may have been improperly used to obtain wiretap warrants in the court, according to two sources with knowledge of those events. The revelations infuriated U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly -- who, like her predecessor, Royce C. Lamberth, had expressed serious doubts about whether the warrantless monitoring of phone calls and e-mails ordered by Bush was legal. Both judges had insisted that no information obtained this way be used to gain warrants from their court, according to government sources, and both had been assured by administration officials it would never happen." [Registration may be required, or use login "info@rationalreview.com/rationalreview"] (02/09/06)

Okay, once more we have a bunch of folks lying - and we can take this two ways: first, government officials almost ALWAYS lie about something, so what is new? Second, since government officials almost always lie, then what is to say that these judges aren't lying? One more proof that our system is not only broken, it is beyond repair and needs to be junked.

Mama's Note: The sad question is, why does anyone still believe them and why do so many people still think they can make government abide by the "rules" if they just point it out to them correctly? What is it going to take to make most people face reality and take back their lives? I wish I knew.

White House gives details on spy plot
Indianapolis Star
"After weeks of insisting it would not reveal details of its eavesdropping without warrants, the White House reversed course Wednesday and provided a House committee with highly classified information about the operation. The White House has been under heavy pressure from lawmakers who wanted more information about the National Security Agency's monitoring. Democrats and many Republicans rejected the administration's contention that they could not be trusted with national security secrets." (02/08/06)

More lies - but what do we expect? Neither Demos nor GOPers are trusted with ANY secrets, in the long run.

Bush says spy work helped stop 2002 attack
Cincinnati Enquirer
"Under fire for eavesdropping on Americans, President Bush said Thursday that spy work stretching from the U.S. to Asia helped thwart terrorists plotting to use shoe bombs to hijack an airliner and crash it into the tallest skyscraper on the West Coast. 'It took the combined efforts of several countries to break up this plot,' Bush said. 'By working together we stopped a catastrophic attack on our homeland.'" (02/09/06)

Conveniently announced more than 3 years later to resolve a crisis.

Mama's Note: Sure thing. It's just like the guy who wanders around New York beating two sticks together. When asked what he's doing, he says he's scaring the elephants away. Somebody points out to him that there have never been any elephants there and he proudly says, "See, it's working perfectly."

OH: Judge gives gov't 2 months to respond in warrantless spying case
Chron.com
"A federal judge gave the government two months to respond to an Ohio trucker's request that his terrorism conviction be thrown out on grounds that the government illegally spied on him. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema cited "the potentially weighty issues raised in the defendant's motion" in an order Wednesday that set a 60-day timetable for the government to respond to Iyman Faris' arguments. Faris' challenge is among the first to seek evidence of warrantless electronic eavesdropping by the National Security Agency, a practice that began after the Sept. 11 terror attacks." (02/09/06)

So it is more than just foreigners that are being spied on, at least according to this judge.

Mama's Note: Raise your hand if you really believe a federal judge is actually going to do anything to stop the federal government from doing whatever it wants. What's he going to do, fine the President? Right, and if he did, who pays for it anyway? Is it going to stop him? Get real.

Theft by Government
This issue continues to remain hot, if not as red-hot as a few months ago. There is no question that government will continue to steal as much as it can, whenever it can.

NH: Town rejects "Lost Liberty Hotel"
Yahoo! News
"Residents on Saturday rejected a proposal to evict U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter from his farmhouse to make way for the 'Lost Liberty Hotel.' A group angered by last year's court decision that gave local governments more power to seize people's homes for economic development had petitioned to use the ruling against the justice. But voters deciding which issues should go on the town's March ballot replaced the group's proposal with a call to strengthen New Hampshire's law on eminent domain." (02/04/06)

The voters did make the right decision, of course, and this probably brings this protest to an end. But the point is hopefully being made that those who tyrannize the people can themselves be made to suffer, or at least endure some inconvenience and worry as a result.

States reexamine eminent domain
Indianapolis Star
"The city wants Anna DeFaria's home, and if she doesn't sell willingly, officials are going to take it from the 80-year-old retired preschool teacher. In place of her 'tiny slip of a bungalow' -- and two dozen other weathered, working-class beachfront homes -- city officials want private developers to build upscale townhouses. Is this the work of a cruel government? Or the best hope for resurrecting an ocean resort town that is finally showing signs of reviving after decades of hard times?" (02/05/06)

How about both - just because the result can be good does not mean the action is acceptable, as this newspaper seems to believe. The ends do NOT justify the means.

Tech and Medical Issues
Just a few items this week, but all of great interest. We need to be resourceful in using technology to defeat evil, even when it is the liberty-haters and tyrants using the technology.

Death sentence to not allow drug?
BBC
A mother-of-three has told a court a decision not to give her the cancer drug Herceptin is "a death sentence". Ann Marie Rogers, 54, has been denied the drug, which is not licensed for use in the early stages of breast cancer, by Swindon Primary Care Trust.

What possible justification is there, anymore (not that there ever was), to allow government to intervene between a doctor and his or her patient?

Mama's Note: The fly in the ointment here is that the government is the one expected to pay for this drug, and I highly suspect that Marie sincerely believes that they should. This is where the disconnect comes, and far too few people will accept it or work for real change. If she - or private charity, etc. - were willing and able to pay for this drug, THEN it would be nobody else's business at all. But as long as people expect to force others to pay for what they want and need, they will continue to run into this fine old brick wall more often than not.

Spacesuit sends signals from space
Fox News
"A spacesuit that was tossed out of the international space station after being stuffed with old clothes and a radio transmitter was again sending weak signals as it circled the globe, ham radio operators reported Sunday. 'Death reports were premature,' said Allen Pitts, a spokesman for the American Radio Relay League, a Connecticut-based association for amateur radio operators. He said the signals were 'weak, cold and really hard to copy, but alive.' The suit, dubbed 'Ivan Ivanovich,' was released from the space station Friday, looking like a cosmonaut tumbling helplessly through space. NASA reported late Friday that the spacesuit had ceased transmitting." (02/05/06)

A bizarre little incident, and one that may backfire. I don't know how long it will take for this silly gesture to de-orbit and (presumably) burn up on reentry, but until then, it is a grim start of a space legend. Maybe I've read too many science fiction novels and stories of being marooned in space, but this sends chills up my back.

Mama's Note: And just WHY was this spacesuit tossed out like that? Those things are extremely expensive, so this is more than just a sick joke.

AOL, Yahoo! to let e-mail senders pay to skirt spam filters
Arizona Republic
"Two of the world's largest e-mail account providers, Yahoo! Inc. and America Online, plan to introduce a service that would charge senders a fee to route their e-mail directly to a user's mailbox without passing through junk-mail filters, representatives of both companies said Sunday. The fees, which would range from 1/4 of a cent to 1 cent per e-mail, are the latest attempts by the companies to weed out unsolicited ads, commonly called 'spam,' and identity-theft scams. In exchange for paying, e-mail senders will be guaranteed their messages won't be filtered and will bear a seal alerting recipients they're legitimate. AOL, a division of New York-based Time Warner Inc., will start offering the service in the next two months. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo! will begin offering a similar service in the coming months." (02/06/06)

An interesting idea, but not exactly under the control of the receiver, which is the entire idea of the filters. Just because someone is willing to pay to send me a "legitimate" message hardly means I really want to get it: this is just the electronic equivalent of bulk-rate junk mail. The junk-mailers are paying for the privilege of mailing their flyer and such via USPS, after all.

Mama's Note: As far as I'm concerned, this is just one more good reason to have my email program on my own computer, along with my own filters, firewall, etc. The junk in my physical mailbox makes excellent fire starters, for the most part, so they can waste their money sending it to me if they want. I don't have to read it.

New Guinea: Scientists find multi-species "Eden"
Independent [UK]
"An astonishing mist-shrouded 'lost world' of previously unknown and rare animals and plants high in the mountain rainforests of New Guinea has been uncovered by an international team of scientists. Among the new species of birds, frogs, butterflies and palms discovered in the expedition through this pristine environment, untouched by man, was the spectacular Berlepsch's six-wired bird of paradise. The scientists are the first outsiders to see it. They could only reach the remote mountainous area by helicopter, which they described it as akin to finding a 'Garden of Eden.'" (02/06/06)

Fascinating. And already being used to "prove" evolution, although exactly how this disproves Creation is beyond me.

Caution: Frozen squirrel falling
Guardian [UK]
"If you go down to the woods today, watch out for falling squirrels -- particularly if you're taking the car. While the idea of a frozen squirrel falling from the sky on to the passenger seat probably isn't one that has crossed your mind, research by Norwich Union suggests it's not beyond the realms of possibility. The unlikely story of a frozen squirrel dropping from a tree and breaking the windscreen topped the list of unusual car insurance claims published today by the insurer. Quite why and how it became frozen is unclear, as is the cost of fixing the damage caused. But it happened, and it isn't the only incident recorded of animals damaging cars. In fact it seems motorists should be on the lookout for dangerous beasts whenever they get behind the wheel. Over the past year the insurer has also paid out following accidents involving a reindeer landing on the bonnet of a car, a zebra hitting a vehicle at a safari park and a herd of cows licking a vehicle and causing damage to the paintwork." (02/06/06)

Obviously, this is a health issue - a minor oddity to a British newspaper, perhaps, but a fact of daily life in the Western US, where we have to contend with deer, elk, turkeys, wild dogs, coyotes, skunks, mountain lions, and much else that can damage and destroy cars and kill people.

Bird flu hits Africa as deadly strain kills 40,000 chickens
Independent [UK]
"A deadly strain of the bird flu virus has killed 40,000 birds on a commercial farm in northern Nigeria, raising fears that the disease has already spread across Africa. The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) confirmed yesterday that the first recorded case of H5N1 bird flu in Africa had been found in the northern state of Kaduna, on a farm of 46,000 chickens, geese and ostriches. All the birds have now been killed and farm workers have been placed under quarantine. ... There have been fears that migratory birds from Europe and Asia would transport the H5N1 virus to east Africa first, but there have been no reported cases in Kenya, Uganda or Ethiopia, the countries previously considered most susceptible to the disease. Instead, the birds appear to have landed in Nigeria, also on a major migratory route." (02/09/06)

Watch for more panicked pronouncements from WHO and CDC.

Mama's Note: My goodness, just how in the world did people survive all the thousands of years before WHO and CDC? They must have developed sturdy immune systems and survived countless epidemics, all without being told what to do by the "experts." However did they manage?

Bird flu strain "endemic" to Hong Kong
Times [UK]
"The deadly strain of bird flu that has spread as far as Eastern Europe is now probably endemic in the region around Hong Kong, the territory's health chief conceded today. York Chow, Hong Kong's health secretary, said that new laws would be introduced within two weeks to further restrict movement of poultry and farming practices, and to allow the confiscation gf chickens kept in homes. He said that positive tests for H5N1 in a bird brought in to Hong Kong from China indicated that the virus was endemic. It also raises concerns about detection within China's Guangdong region, which has not reported any cases of bird flu to date. ... The German government ordered that poultry be kept indoors from March 1 for at least two months to protect German flocks against the threat of avian flu from migrating birds. Markos Kyprianou, the European Union's Health Commissioner, added that the EU was considering extending measures to keep poultry indoors to areas that have not been considered at high risk for bird flu. 'We have kept up the tight security measures at high risk areas but we are also now considering expanding them beyond these high risk areas due to the spring migratory season,' he said. The EU is also considering allowing member states to vaccinate poultry flocks, which until now was allowed only in limited circumstances." (02/05/06)

This roundup shows that the panic is still spreading.

Why airfares stay so low - while airlines struggle
Christian Science Monitor
"Oil prices might be hovering just below record highs, but it's still almost as cheap to fly as it is to take the bus. In fact, airfares are almost 20 percent lower than they were in 2000, even though jet fuel is more than twice as expensive. That's expected to change this year, but not by much. Fares, which have been inching up in response to the spiraling oil prices, will probably continue to rise by only modest increments. That's not good news for the ailing aviation industry, which, despite record cost-cutting and restructuring, is expected to rack up its sixth straight year of multibillion-dollar losses in 2006. But fliers -- who are taking to the skies in record numbers -- can thank something that could be called 'the Southwest effect' for continued bargain-basement prices." (02/09/06)

I like to think that I am one of the causes, since (except for a trip to Europe) I have been one of many who have given up flying on commercial aircraft, because I value what little privacy I have left.

Mama's Note: It's also because our tax dollars are being used to keep at least some of the airlines in business. At present there is almost no vestige of the free market at work in this situation - any more than it is in the oil industry itself - but the laws of supply and demand are like the law of gravity and can't be eliminated, only distorted temporarily. If more people valued their liberty and privacy, the whole thing would quickly collapse, but that's not likely to happen soon so we'll continue to be robbed in order to keep those planes in the air.

Anonymizer to offer censor-free Internet to China
Globe and Mail
" Anonymizer Inc., of San Diego, Calif., a provider of on-line identity protection technology, has announced that the company is developing a new anticensorship system that will enable Chinese citizens to safely access the entire Internet filter-free, and also free from fear of persecution or retribution. Anonymizer's new anticensorship system for Chinese citizens will be available before the end of March, and will provide a regularly changing URL. In addition, users' identities will be protected from on-line tracking and monitoring by the Chinese government." (02/08/06)

If this works to counter the evils of Google and other companies who are bootlicking China, this is good news. Technology CAN help.

The World War against all sorts of things
While we are naturally most concerned with the Home Front, the war for freedom around the world continues.
A few items of interest this week, showing that not all is lost, yet.

UK: Amnesty's appeal for "forgotten prisoners"
Independent [UK]
"Campaigners have appealed for the Government to intervene to help the nine 'forgotten prisoners' from Britain who are languishing in Guantanamo Bay. The human rights group Amnesty International, which publishes a report today on the impact of long-term detention on prisoners and their relatives, also lambastes ministers for failing to help the nine, many of whom are refugees who have lived in Britain for much of their lives. The foreign office says it cannot press the cases of the men because they are not British citizens, even though some have British wives and children." (02/06/06)

Perhaps AI should consider the long-term impact of allowing enemy combatants to continue to go out and kill innocent men, women, and children, as well. I am not saying that it is right to detain these people, but sympathy should not be mistaken for justice.

Mama's Note: So why just continue to hold them? Why not find the truth, assess the risk and take steps to neutralize the problem? Why not send them back where they came from if they are a danger to other people? Their "British" families can decide for themselves whether to go with them or stay in England. It's not really that complicated.

Cuba raises protest flags outside US mission
CNN
"Scores of giant black flags bearing single white stars were raised Monday outside the United States mission, remembering the thousands of people Cuba says have been killed in violence against the island and blocking an electronic sign on the building's facade. Fidel Castro, dressed in his olive green uniform and cap, attended the late-afternoon ceremony outside the seaside building but did not address the hundreds of people gathered there." (02/06/06)

And where are the flags honoring the tens of thousands who have been killed by the regime in Cuba, and those seeking to flee from it rather than live in tyranny?

Bolivia's new masters propose censorship
Washington Times
"Bolivia's new government has proposed legislation tightening regulations on the press, prompting fears of censorship among government critics and journalists. Representatives of the ruling Movement to Socialism (MAS) maintain that the measures would affect only television and other electronic content considered 'harmful to society.' ... 'It's a law intended to make the communications media work more responsible toward society,' said MAS deputy Ivan Canelas, who is drafting the legislation. Julio Cesar Caballero, host of one of Bolivia's leading TV talk shows, said he worries that the government is heading toward totalitarianism. 'We already have laws protecting individual dignity, invasion of privacy and other abuses to which MAS refers,' he said. 'I'm afraid that the new law is geared toward limiting freedom of expression.'" (02/06/06)

So much for the left-wing praise for the new Indio-based "democratic" government, which is quickly imitating both Cuba and Venezuela.

Zimbabwe: Press crackdown intensifies
Reuters AlertNet
"The Zimbabwean government has launched a new assault on the country's remaining independent press through a wave of criminal prosecutions and arrests, Human Rights Watch said today. Tomorrow in Harare, six trustees of Voice of the People (VOP), a privately-owned radio station, are due to appear in court on criminal charges. On January 24, the authorities brought charges of broadcasting without a license against six of the station's trustees. VOP was one of the few alternatives to the state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, the only broadcaster with a license to operate legally in the country." (02/09/06)

Another step in the complete degradation and totalitarian conversion of Zimbabwe. Is black-on black and white tyranny really better than white-on-black?

UK: FBI warned of 7/7 bomber
Scotsman [UK]
"Further evidence suggesting that British security forces were alerted in advance to the danger posed by the leader of the London suicide bombers emerged yesterday. Reports in the United States indicated American law enforcement officers had raised concerns with their British counterparts over Mohammad Sidique Khan, believed to have led the 7 July attacks. ... The information passed on by the FBI is said to have come from a Pakistani-born al-Qaeda supergrass, who is currently in protective custody having pleaded guilty to a range of terrorist charges in the US. The informant cannot be named in Britain because he is alleged to be connected to men about to stand trial in London charged with terrorist offences." (02/08/06)

This sounds very much like the debate over 9/11, doesn't it?

Mama's Note: Yes, and the evidence just keeps popping up again and again. Take a look at this article about 9/11 and the evidence that our own government did it.

Haiti: Vote count begins after big turnout
Indianapolis Star
"Scuffles broke out and polling stations opened hours late Tuesday as masses of Haitians waited -- sometimes in mile-long lines -- to vote under the protection of U.N. peacekeepers crouching behind machine guns and patrolling alongside armored vehicles. Outside the gang-controlled Cite Soleil slum, frustrated voters pounded on empty ballot boxes and chanted, 'It's time for Cite Soleil to vote!' In one rural town, a Haitian policeman shot and killed a man in line at a polling station; a mob then killed the officer, a U.N. spokesman said." (02/07/06)

Time once more for Haiti to elect a new master. Will it change anything? People always hope.

Mama's Note: Sure! They had a choice between being hung, shot or drowned. That's what most elections are all about.

Hungary: Stradivarius found above chicken coop
Ananova [UK]
"An elderly Hungarian is set to become a millionaire after finding a priceless Stradivarius violin hidden above his chicken coop. Imre Horvath, 68, makes a living from the poultry and eggs he sells from his home on a smallholding, near Debrecen. He believes the violin was hidden in the roof space by his musician father, Zoltan, before he went off to fight in the war. Zoltan was killed in the war and never had a chance to tell his family where the instrument was hidden, reports Debreceni Napelo. He built the house in the 1920s and lived there with his family until he was called up to fight, and never returned." (02/08/06)

Sigh. What a wonderful find. I know he wishes he could have found it a decade ago (but not until after the Communists were booted out, of course).

Mama's Note: The miracle is that the violin is in good enough condition to be worth anything at all. Do you have any idea what conditions are like in an average chicken coop? Wow!