Libertarian Commentary on the News, 16-22 April 2006 -- Page 2

Our right to defend ourselves

"Gun Summit" to improve gun-grabber's coordination
CNSNews
A gun rights group said the upcoming "gun summit" planned by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino is merely a chance for them to brainstorm on more ways to restrict the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) said Wednesday that such a "gun grab" will only lead to more crime, because it will impede the ability of citizens to protect legally themselves.

Of course governments impede the ability of citizens to protect themselves - that makes the "citizens" less dependent on the State. These politicos are very much aware of that, and too many of those citizens stupidly do not understand that - or share that goal (more dependence) with the Menino's and Bloomberg's.

Mama's Note: So, if you understand your right and DUTY to defend yourself... what are you doing about it? Are you well armed NOW? Are you training with what you have? Are you prepared to defend yourself against confiscation? If not, why not? What are you waiting for?

FL:University professors shape laws
Florida Today
"Type the words "Gary Kleck" and "guns" into Google, and you'll find links to about 50,400 Web pages. Many of those link to gun-rights groups such as the Second Amendment Research Center and Gunowners.org. Kleck, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at Florida State University, has become the darling of gun-rights advocates thanks to his studies into the use of firearms for self-defense. His research found that as many as 2.5 million victims each year have used guns to defend themselves during crimes. It also showed that victims who submitted to criminals' demands were twice as likely to be injured during crimes as those who defended themselves with guns. His research did not conclude that looser gun laws lessen crime, Kleck said, only that guns altered crimes that were already under way." (04/18/06)

Folks like Gary and Mike Adams are that rarest of rare breeds: state university professors who not only aren't liberal raving loonies, but also have a healthy attitude towards guns, sex, families, and liberty. (Not saying that they are perfect, or libertarian, but they are at least 80-80 type folks, on the Nolan chart.) But they are fighting an uphill battle.

SC: Woman shoots home invader
FOX News
"A house in Liberty is the epitome of peace, especially with the sound of chimes. Hard to believe, something violent happened inside. Pickens County Investigators say Brian Teague forced his way into Susan Hendricks' home Thursday evening and refused to leave, She felt threatened,' says Lt. Lane Byers, Pickens County Sheriff's Office. 'She felt she could not leave the home to get away from him. And she felt she had to defend herself. She used a firearm to do so.' Hendricks reportedly shot Teague several times. She was trying to take food to her disabled father next door, when everything escalated." (04/14/06)

No doubt he thought her easy pickings.

Mama's Note: OK ladies, how about you? Would this creep find YOU an easy victim? Or would you be prepared - armed and TRAINED - to defend yourself and your loved ones? Women are far more apt to be attacked than are men, and a big part of that is because the criminals know we are generally not willing or ABLE to defend ourselves. It's up to us to change that!! If you don't know where to start, take a look at the Second Amendment Sisters, KABA, or pick up a copy of a magazine called "Women and Guns." Then DO something about it!

AL: Business owner in the clear
WIAT News
"An Anniston business owner is in the clear after shooting a robbery suspect in self-defense. The robbers attempted to shakedown a pawnshop. Now, three are in jail and one's got a gunshot wound to remember it by. ... 'That man had a right to use his weapon in self-protection and he did so and from everything we can see he faces no legal liability for that,' said Amerson." (04/13/06)

Amerson is a cop that speaks sense, for one.

FL: 69 year old man fends off robbers
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
"A 69-year-old man was grazed by a bullet on his cheek during an attempted robbery in the driveway of his Hollywood home Sunday, but escaped with his life when he pulled out his gun and fired back. Francesco 'Franco' D'Arpino pulled into his garage at about 5:10 a.m. after working the night shift at his North Miami Beach restaurant, Franco's Pizza, when police say a white car rammed into the back of his car and someone opened fire. A bullet grazed D'Arpino's cheek. He grabbed his gun, which he keeps on him, and shot back, driving off the attackers." (04/17/06)

Sounds like he'd been staked out by the bad guys. Fortunately, he was ready.

OH: Woman who shot in self defense
WCPO News
"A 28-year-old Clermont County woman woke up Monday morning to find a man pointing a gun at her face. That man was her ex-boyfriend, and what she was able to do in the minutes that followed may have saved her life. .... 'My dogs attacked him and he laid the gun down... I grabbed the gun and ran and fell... and as I fell I rolled and he was coming toward me and I picked up the gun and shot." .... This was not his first violent act against Gray. In January he was accused of threatening her with a knife, and just last month he was charged with slashing her tires." (04/17/06)

She was dead lucky - she should have already had a gun of her own, under her pillow. Yeah, it can be a bit uncomfortable sometimes, but not as uncomfortable as waking up dead.

Mama's Note: Under the pillow is a piss poor place for a gun unless you have a special holster to keep it exactly where it belongs all the time. Leaving it running around loose in the bed is a real BAD idea.

The point so few people make is: why in hell do women have anything to do with this kind of trash in the first place? Women are the guardians of the gene pool, and it is our responsibility to choose a mate who represents the highest qualities of mankind possible - not pond scum like this. Get your priorities straight, ladies - and NEVER give anyone a second chance to harm you!!

AZ: Bill strengthens rights to use force
KOLD News
"The state House passed a bill today to strengthen Arizonans' rights to claim self-defense and to use force against intruders. The bill would scrap a decade-old state law by imposing a new burden of proof on prosecutors to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant's self-defense claim was unfounded. It also would implant in Arizona law the so-called 'castle doctrine' that gives a person the right to use force in a home or vehicle against an intruder without having to retreat." (04/19/06)

(Written about this news story before the next one was published.) I expect Napolitano to veto this, just as she has a lot of other common sense legislation. Her stupid acts are hurting the entire state.

AZ: Gun bill among Napolitano's vetoes
Business Journal
"Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed a slew of Republican-approved bills Monday, including a National Rifle Association-backed gun bill and one that looks to have local police arrest illegal immigrants on trespassing charges. .... The governor also vetoed a bill that would have restricted her powers to limit gun and ammunition sales during a time of emergency. The NRA has been pushing similar bills in other states in the wake of attempted emergency powers being invoked in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Napolitano said the bill undermines emergency powers of the governor and state National Guard. Advocates argued the bill would protect Second Amendment rights during emergencies. " (04/19/06)

As expected. Hopefully some Arizonans will go ahead and initiate votes on these - she is hardly the kind of person to give up any of her own perks and powers.

Mama's Note: Anybody with any real interest in their rights - and ultimately, their life - will get the hell out of this C. S. state before it's too late. With more and more California liberals moving into this state every day, the chances of any reasonable "laws" passing FOR self protection are getting slimmer, not better. Leave, people, while you still can. (Hint... Wyoming is very self-defense friendly... and the cost of living is very low.)

MS: 85 year old man shoots burglar
Biloxi Sun Herald
"Deputies arrested a suspected burglar Monday after an 85-year-old Saucier man reported he had shot a man who broke into his home. Harrison County sheriff's investigators said the resident knew Wayne Thomas Clark and identified him as the burglar. Deputies went to Clark's home on Mack Pete Road and found him asleep with two gunshot wounds to his back, said Sheriff's Capt. Ron Pullen." (04/19/06)

Stupid criminal act, indeed.

Mama's Note: HUH? In his back? Both of them? Who shoots an attacker in the back?

IN: Worker shows gun; suspect takes off
Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette
"An armed man tried to rob a south-side pizza restaurant Monday night but left without any money after an employee displayed his own gun. Fort Wayne police were called to Tasty Pizza, 4302 Fairfield Ave., at 10:47 p.m. for a report of the attempted heist. A Tasty Pizza employee told police that a man came in and asked for a menu. He then left the restaurant but came back inside. The man laid a black gun that looked like a BB gun on the counter pointing the barrel toward the employee and demanded money, a police report said. The employee then lifted his shirt to reveal a Colt .45 in its holster and told the robbery suspect to leave, the report said. The man left." (04/19/06)

Another pizza place being staked out, plainly. It didn't say if he took the BB gun with him. Unlike Pizza Hut and a few other national chains, this company ISN'T stupid.

Mama's Note: But the employee may be. Why involve the cops at all? This is just asking for trouble, eventually.

IN: Man kills armed suspect
Indianapolis Star
"Speedway police say an apartment tenant was apparently defending himself this morning when he killed a masked man armed with a shotgun. The victim was found at the bottom of a stairwell at the West Wind Terrace Apartments, near I-465 and Crawfordsville Road. Jones said it appears the tenant was acting in self-defense. .... Morrison lives with his mother, Claudia Jones, 40, who heard the disturbance outside their apartment unit. She heard the gunman say "Hey, I want to holler at you a minute," Jones said. After the shooting, her son rushed inside saying, "Momma they are trying to rob me," Jones said. Morrison is a rapper, who goes by D Shock, and recently signed with Fat Man Records, said cousin Don Mallory. Morrison carries a gun because "it's hard out here," Mallory said." (04/19/06)

The guy is masked and has a shotgun and it "appears" that it was self-defense? Please.

Army private gets 25 years in shooting
Houston Chronicle
"An Army private who pleaded guilty to attempted murder for shooting at fellow soldiers during morning exercise was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in federal prison. Pvt. Nicholas D. Mikel was sentenced in a court-martial at Fort Campbell for attempted murder and 22 counts of aggravated assault. No one was injured in the incident at the Army post on Oct. 13. Mikel, 21, of DeBary, Fla., fired at soldiers from his unit, post officials said." (04/20/06)

And no one was armed and able to respond to defend their own comrades? The man should have never made it to trial.

Mama's Note: Due process... innocent until proven guilty... remember all that stuff? Actually, this man should never have gotten past the recruiters - or the psych testing before he joined. Better yet, he should have been kept out of "public school" and had in his life whatever keeps most of us from doing things like this. I'm not excusing his conduct for a moment, but he wasn't born that way... We are breeding millions of these zombie kids in our inner cities.

Stupid Government and People Tricks

Bush's new chief of staff signals shakeup
Cincinnati Enquirer
"President Bush's new chief of staff said Monday it was time to 'refresh and re-energize the team,' and he told senior White House aides who might be thinking about quitting this year to go ahead and leave now. Taking charge in a time of crisis, with Bush's poll ratings at their lowest point ever and Republicans anxious about the November elections, Bolten laid down his pointed directive at his first meeting with top presidential aides." (04/17/06)

The power behind the throne? Recalling what happened to the Merovingian monarchs of ancient "Francia" when the Mayor of the Palace decided he didn't want the "long-haired kings" to front for him anymore, perhaps the Prez should be very careful about who he picks.

Los Angeles aims to conquer homelessness
Christian Science Monitor
"For decades, the 20-square-block area in the shadows of L.A.'s downtown skyscrapers has been vexing locals and shocking visitors. Thousands of homeless crowd through a few, small streets of businesses looking for handouts by day and burrowing in cardboard encampments and doorways by night. In recent years, this skid row section has put a grimy, drug-and-crime infested face on what has become -- by sheer numbers -- the US capital of homelessness: a countywide count of 88,000 homeless each night. That number, once roughly equal with New York, has been rising in recent years while Manhattan's has fallen as homelessness and related struggles such as drugs, prostitution, and alcoholism in Times Square have dropped." (04/17/06)

Will LA do this before or after curing the common cold, balancing the federal budget, and repealing the law of gravity? And what will the do-gooders of Southern California do then?

Mama's Note: Anybody with a single brain cell can figure out that being "homeless" is simply not the same in LA and New York, even if you consider the weather alone. This is a complex problem, mostly caused by government in one way or another. The real cure seems obvious, but nobody is dumb enough to hold their breath until it happens.

UK: Ducks banned from pond
Ananova [UK]
"Ducks are to be banned from a village pond. The mallards have been branded a menace by officials because they are eating the frogspawn. The community council in Creigiau, near Cardiff, has ordered the birds to be relocated to another pond. According to the Daily Express council secretary Alec Davies said: "There are almost no frogs, newts and stickleback in the pond this year. The ducks are destroying the habitat and we have made a decision to relocate them." .... A RSPB spokesman said: "There are lots of other reasons why frogspawn has been delayed this year, including the fact that it has been particularly cold. The main problem with ducks is that if you relocate them there is nothing to stop them from flying back." (04/19/06)

Surely they won't be scofflaws? Surely?

Mama's Note: I suspect British ducks are not as docile as British people....

MA: Dueling do-gooders
Boston Globe
"They plant flowers, pick up trash, hold bake sales. In all of civic life, there may be few images more harmonious than those of the volunteers who look after neighborhood parks. Not so in Allston these days. At Stanley A. Ringer Park, two volunteer groups -- Ringer Park Partnership Group and the new Friends of Ringer Park -- have now emerged from a recent history of rancor and power-grabs. In a word, the groups hate each other. Their leaders have exchanged insults in the letters section of a neighborhood newspaper. Meetings at a local community center have been carefully scheduled to avoid confrontations, and the park's annual spring cleanup this year will be two separate efforts. The conflict, simmering since 2004, entered a new phase last month when one leader spread word that an opponent of the group was a Level 2 sex offender. Volunteer groups in Boston play a key role in park maintenance and beautification, and city parks officials routinely meet with groups to coordinate efforts. But behind closed doors at City Hall, some officials have taken to calling some of the feuding Allston volunteers the 'nutcases from Ringer Park.'" (04/15/06)

Maybe we could send recipes to them from that famous book "How to serve man" and they'll consume each other?

Mama's Note: Volunteers are wonderful and necessary for many things, but these people have lost sight of their purpose and should disband. What a shame..

Gore revs up campaign -- on global warming
Bradenton Herald
"Al Gore has a major campaign under way -- to change policies on global warming. The 2000 Democratic presidential nominee has hired longtime political associate Roy Neel to aid in his effort to raise awareness about global warming, a problem Gore calls 'a planetary emergency.' Gore's movie and book about the issue, both called 'An Inconvenient Truth,' are set for widespread release in May. ... Gore has warned about the dangers of global warming for years, arguing that without dramatic changes in the emission of greenhouse gases, the planet is likely to experience a dramatic increase in violent storms, infectious disease, deadly heat waves and rising sea levels that will force the evacuation of low-lying cities." (04/18/06)

The man is, like the rest of the do-gooders in this week's new, a nutcase.

Mama's Note: He wouldn't be anything but an amusing nut if it weren't for the fact that so many gullible people swallow this barf and believe it. Then they "vote" for the insane things government proposes, and so contribute to the real destruction of everyone's lives. They could believe what they wanted as long as they didn't have the power to destroy all of us along with themselves.

UK: Sat nav directs drivers to river
Ananova [UK]
"Drivers have ended up with wet feet after they followed satellite navigation directions -- into a river. The satellite system directs drivers to go across a ford known as The Splash in Luckington, Wilts but the drivers end up in 3ft of water. Locals are now charging £25 a time to pull them out with tractors reports The Sun. Villager Lesley Bennett, 59, said: 'There are warning signs but drivers plough on regardless.'" (04/20/06)

Stupidity galore! Only terminally stupid people will listen to the machine instead of paying attention to their eyes. As Heinlein once said, "Stupidity is the only capital crime."

Mama's Note: Unfortunately, too many people have suspended sentences for this crime, and go right on doing it.

Silver, gold prices tumble after rally
Bloomberg News
"Silver prices in New York plunged the most since 1983, and gold tumbled from a 25-year high, on speculation that this month's rally in precious metals was overdone. Silver futures for May delivery fell $1.997, or 14 percent, to $12.525 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The percentage drop was the most since February 1983. Gold for June delivery fell $12.90, or 2 percent, to $623.10 an ounce. Before today, silver had almost doubled in the past year as investment funds poured money into commodities such as oil, sugar and copper. The metal was headed for the best year since the billionaire Hunt brothers caused prices to skyrocket in 1979 by hoarding the metal." (04/20/06)

Speculators are clearly having a field day. Among other news, it was reported this week that pennies now have 1.25 cents worth of metal in them. All too often it is government policies and actions that trigger these things, and create the circumstances that let scams like this succeed. (See Harry Harrison's "Stainless Steel Rat" science fiction stories for some great and funny examples.)

Spying and Privacy

FBI wants access to dead reporter's papers
Yahoo!News
"Not long after columnist Jack Anderson's funeral, FBI agents called his widow to say they wanted to search his papers. They were looking for confidential government information he might have acquired in a half-century of investigative reporting....In addition, the agents told the family they planned to remove from the columnist's archive - which has yet to be catalogued - any document they came across that was stamped 'secret' or 'confidential,' or was otherwise classified.... Anderson died in December at age 83 after a career in which he broke several big scandals and earned a place on President Nixon's 'enemies list.' Authorities on several occasions tried to find the source of leaked information that became a staple of his syndicated column....Lawyers for the family are preparing a letter to the FBI declining to cooperate, Kevin Anderson said." (04/18/06)

Sounds like a legal battle that could go on for years, unless some secret presidential order does a Nixon and steals everything.

NY: County enacts wireless security law
MSNBC
"Westchester County on Thursday enacted a law that is designed to limit identity theft by forcing local businesses to install basic security measures for any wireless network that stores customers' credit card numbers or other financial information. The law also requires that businesses offering Internet access -- coffeehouses and hotels, for example -- post signs warning that users should have firewalls or other security measures." (04/20/06)

What stupid politicians do to get reelected: tell gramma how to suck eggs. These laws are not needed, because the only people stupid enough to not already do this are too stupid to install "basic security measures" and probably too stupid to stay on line except to look at the dirty pictures.

High Tech

Ginger - Cancer Fighter
BBC News
Ginger may help to fight ovarian cancer, US scientists believe. University of Michigan researchers announced at the American Association of Cancer Research that tests show ginger kills cancer cells. The study also found that the spice had the added benefit of stopping the cells from becoming resistant to treatment. Ginger is already known to ease nausea and control inflammation, but the findings by the US team offer cancer patients new hope. Researchers used ginger powder, similar to what is sold in shops, which they dissolved in a solution and applied to ovarian cancer cells. They found it caused the cells to die in all the tests done. But it was the way in which the cells died which offered even more hope. The tests demonstrated two types of death - apoptosis, which is essentially cell suicide, and autophagy, a kind of self-digestion.

As with any medical research, we must take this with a bit of caution, but it seems useful news. Of course, since ginger, like cannabis, helps nausea, will this mean the drug-war-goons will try to outlaw or regulate it?

Mama's Note: Almost all food is medicine in some way. The trick is to learn what your body wants and needs. Many common foods like this are medically useful to almost anyone. If you have diabetes - or a tendency toward it - use a teaspoon of ground cinnamon in your food every day to help keep your blood sugar normal. It works!

And, unfortunately, YES - the government is working hard on ways to criminalize much of what we eat and take as medicine. Take a look at the "The Codex Alimentarius Commission" for the chilling implications. They've been at this for a very long time, and will spring it on us as soon as they can.

NASA keeps quiet on mission mishap
CNN
"Saying the information is too sensitive, NASA announced Friday that it will not release its report on the failed rendezvous of two spacecraft in what would have been the first such maneuver without human intervention. NASA plans to release a summary of why the DART spacecraft did not complete its mission last year, but the full 70-page document contains details protected by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, space agency spokesman Michael Braukus said." (04/17/06)

What a wonderful excuse to avoid embarrassment!

NASA building anti-matter ship for Mars mission
Raw Story
"NASA researchers are working on a design for a new spaceship for the Mars mission which will be powered by antimatter, RAW STORY has found. If successful, 'perhaps the first humans to reach Mars will arrive in spaceships powered by the same source that fired starships across the universes of our science fiction dreams,' writes Bill Steigerwald of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. ... Excerpts from an article at the NASA website: 'Most self-respecting starships in science fiction stories use antimatter as fuel for a good reason -- it's the most potent fuel known. While tons of chemical fuel are needed to propel a human mission to Mars, just tens of milligrams of antimatter will do (a milligram is about one-thousandth the weight of a piece of the original M&M candy) ...'" (04/17/06)

Scary indeed: bureaucrats with antimatter!

Mama's Note: Absolutely, so we need to take it away from them - but if such a thing were developed I suspect it wouldn't take too long for it to give oil a good run for its money. Something to watch - and invest in when the time comes.

Should oldest US nuke plant stay online?
Christian Science Monitor
"In what could be a precedent-setting case, New Jersey and a coalition of citizens are fighting renewal of the license for the nation's oldest operating nuclear power plant. Their concern: The structural design of the 1960s-era Oyster Creek nuclear generating station is a security risk because, among other things, it stores highly radioactive spent fuel rods above ground. They argue that makes it vulnerable in the event of a terrorist attack from the air. Their contention, if proved, could lead the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to deny for the first time a nuclear generating station's request for a license renewal after its original 40-year license expires. It could also set a new standard for the NRC, which currently does not take terrorism into account when it decides whether to renew a nuclear plant's license." (04/19/06)

Another example of how people take advantage of government-created crises and the hundreds of thousands of laws on the books to use as a hammer against things they don't like.

World Wars

Iranian Suicide Squads Ready To Hit US British Target
SpaceWar.com
Iran has formed battalions of suicide bombers to hit American and British targets if its nuclear installations are attacked, The Sunday Times newspaper said. According to Iranian officials, 40,000 trained suicide bombers were ready to strike, the British weekly broadsheet said.

The propaganda war is already underway, clearly. Exactly WHAT US-Brit targets these 40,000 would attack is not addressed of course. (If you wish to nominate good targets, I assume the nearest Iranian embassy or consulate will have a recommendation form to fill out.) That comes to about 1 per 5 Brit or US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan combined, so I'm sure they will be considering good targets in DC, London, Edinburgh and LA.

Dalai Lama embraces religious tolerance
San Francisco Chronicle
"Referring to himself as one of the 'defenders of Islam,' the Dalai Lama, the world's most influential Buddhist leader, urged an interfaith gathering in San Francisco on Saturday to promote a pluralistic view of religion. The Nobel Peace Prize winner said that the era of 'one truth, one religion' was reserved for ancient times in which many of the world's religions were founded. But not today. The Dalai Lama said all believers need to learn understanding for other faiths -- particularly for Islam, because, he noted, oil from the Middle East fuels economies around the world. 'In terms of community, in terms of humanity, the concept of several truths, several religions is very relevant,' he said." (04/16/06)

This sounds like the old "golden rule" - he who has the (black) gold makes the rules. It really should not be surprising that even the leader of an eastern religion no longer believes in the truth of his own religion - or any other, especially when it comes to the price of oil. But it is still kinda sad when your evil minions and enemies of truth just stop fighting. But all the lamas in the world (or all the oil) are not going to change the fact that not all religions can be true. With this attitude, I expect his grandchildren (or those of his followers, at least) to be speaking Farsi or Arabic, and praying while looking west five times a day.

Mama's Note: Each person's religion (or lack of) must be "right" for them, and what is "right" for someone else should be of no concern to them. This is true "tolerance," and every other attitude simply prolongs the war - as has gone on since the dawn of history.

UK: Minister warns of shift to far right
Independent [UK]
"White, working-class voters are turning to the British National Party because they believe Labour is not listening to them, a minister has warned. As fears of a rise in support for the far-right BNP in next month's local elections increased, the Employment minister Margaret Hodge warned that as many as eight out of 10 white families in her Barking constituency in east London admitted that they were tempted to vote for the BNP. 'They can't get a home for their children, they see black and ethnic minority communities moving in and they are angry,' she said. ... Mrs. Hodge said the political class as a whole was often frightened of engaging in the very difficult issues of race, and the BNP exploited that." (04/16/06)

Backlash! More than the general run of people, politicians do not seem to learn from history - such as post-WW1 Germany, or France since 1787, or even the UK itself over the centuries.

US-style terror alerts for UK
Guardian [UK]
"A cross-party committee investigating the background to the July 7 bombings is expected to recommend a transparent official public warning system for the threat posed by terrorist attacks. It would be similar to the kind that has proved controversial in America. The idea, which is likely to be one of the conclusions in the intelligence and security committee's annual report next month, has caused consternation among the security services. The issue is at the heart of an intense debate involving MI5, the Home Office, and the committee, in the wake of the attacks on London." (04/16/06)

Who pays attention to the security warning system here in the US? Virtually no one. Clearly a reason for a Laborite government to adopt a similar system; using the same logic the American left uses for calling for a single-payer national health service scheme. Transatlantic stupidity!

Russia: Surge in race killings as Hitler's birthday nears
Independent [UK]
"Russia is struggling to contain an upsurge in racist murders and attacks as skinheads in the country prepare to mark Adolf Hitler's birthday. The past week alone has seen a slew of race-hate crimes perpetrated despite condemnation from politicians and threats of heavier jail sentences. Four Roma [gypsies] have been murdered and one Vietnamese man killed, and there have been at least seven 'punishment beatings' of foreigners. Anti-racism activists are warning that Russia's estimated 60,000 skinheads appear to be attacking their victims with increasing impunity and that the problem has spun out of control." (04/18/06)

As with the UK, backlash indeed. I'm sure that Stalin, Khrushchev, and Gorby are all spinning in their graves: that neo-Nazi skinheads are doing this kind of dirty work instead of good, proletarian KGB thugs.

Ukraine without government as 'orange' revolution turns sour
Independent [UK]
" Efforts to revive the romantic spirit of Ukraine's "orange" revolution and reform a pro-Western government have descended into acrimony, leaving the country uncertain of its future. Almost one month after Ukrainians cast their vote in a parliamentary election, there is still no agreement on who will form a new coalition government despite weeks of talks. To the general disbelief of orange supporters, the two figureheads of the revolution, President Viktor Yushchenko, and former prime minister Julia Tymoshenko, are struggling to form a government and have instead become embroiled in tit-for-tat recriminations." (04/19/06)

Maybe they really don't need a government?

Yahoo info helped China jail user?
San Francisco Chronicle
"Yahoo Inc. turned over a draft e-mail from one of its users to Chinese authorities, who used the information to jail the man on subversion charges, according to the verdict from his 2003 trial released Wednesday by a rights group. It was the third time the U.S.-based Internet company has been accused of helping put a Chinese user in prison. Jiang Lijun, 39, was sentenced to four years in prison in November 2003 for subversive activities aimed at overthrowing the ruling Communist Party. Hong Kong-based Yahoo Holdings Ltd., a unit of Yahoo Inc., gave authorities a draft e-mail that had been saved on Jiang's account, Reporters Without Borders said, citing the verdict by the Beijing No. 2 People's Court. The Paris-based group provided a copy of the verdict, which it said it obtained this week." (04/19/06)

Many people are calling for a boycott of Yahoo, which certainly is justified. How many more times has Yahoo played the stoolie, to the Chinese or some other country?

South Korea chooses first female prime minister
Ely Times & County
"South Korea's parliament approved the country's first woman prime minister on Wednesday, a former activist and feminist leader once jailed for pro-democracy protests. Analysts said they expected Han Myeong-sook, 61, to use her position as a political moderate to patch up stormy relations between the government and opposition parties ahead of local elections in late May. The single-chamber parliament voted by 182 to 77 to approve Han, who was first elected to parliament in 2000 and has served as environment minister and gender equality minister." (04/19/06)

Anyone who has known any Korean women, especially those who are military wives of Americans, would agree that she has the potential to do a better job than her male predecessors. The cynical might say that this is just removing the window dressing.

"But some evil dictators are more equal than others"
Yahoo! News
"In a surprise outburst that cast a diplomatic shadow, a screaming protester confronted President Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao and interrupted the welcoming ceremony on the White House lawn Thursday. Bush later apologized to the Chinese leader. 'President Bush, stop him from killing,' the woman shouted, to the surprise of hundreds of guests spread across the lawn on a sunny, warm day. 'President Bush, stop him from persecuting the Falun Gong' -- a banned religious movement in China. Standing beside Bush, Hu had just begun his opening remarks when the woman started yelling in Chinese and English. Bush leaned over and whispered to Hu, 'You're OK,' indicating the Chinese leader should proceed. Hu, who had paused briefly, resumed speaking even though the woman kept screaming for several minutes before security officers forcibly removed her. ... Outside the White House gates, hundreds of banner-waving protesters loudly demonstrated against Hu's visit. The clamor could be heard faintly during an elaborate lunch Bush gave in Hu's honor." [Editor's note: "The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which" - TLK, channeling George Orwell] (04/20/06)

Hu deserves every bit of disdain and discomfort he can receive, of course. Good for this woman! This was just plain funny!