Libertarian Commentary on the News, 18 to 24 June, 2006 -- Page 2

PA: Homeowner opens fire on trespasser
WGAL News
"In Adams County, trespassing charges have been filed against Anthony Sitts, 37. Police said Sitts was trespassing on a property along Gordon Road in Freedom Township shortly after 9 p.m. Monday and entered the house without permission. Police said he left the home and went back to his vehicle, but the homeowner followed him and blew out the rear windows of the vehicle with a shotgun." (06/20/06)

Hmmm. Was the shot intended to harm the invader, or just mark his car? As with the last story, the line between self-defense and revenge or even aggression may have been crossed here. I can't support the homeowner, though, if he intended to harm the guy - he was in no danger of his life or property by that time.

PA: Homeowner shoots intruder
Evening Sun
"After he was discovered, a Carroll Valley man who allegedly entered a residence without permission Monday hopped in his vehicle, drove toward the home's owner and was greeted with two shotgun blasts, police said. Liberty Township Police on Monday arrested Anthony Joseph Sitts, 37, for criminal trespass following the 9:23 p.m. incident in the 100 block of Gordon Road. Police said Sitts went onto the Gordon Road property and entered the house without permission. He walked into the garage and started banging on the door to the house, said Chief James Holler of the Liberty Township Police. The homeowner, who was not identified by police, exited the front of the residence, and when Sitts saw him, the suspect got into his 1992 Chevrolet Blazer and drove in the direction of the homeowner. The homeowner used a shotgun to fire two shots at Sitts' vehicle, police said. The first shot hit the driver side door and the second, fired as Sitts was turning toward the homeowner, hit the rear of the car and knocked out the rear windows, Holler said. " (06/21/06)

Unlike the last "shotgun at a car" case above, this one is fully justified, in my opinion. The homeowner exhibited both courage and meekness.

Mama's Note: Maybe... I still want to know how he could shoot the REAR of the car if it was turning toward him! Something fishy here...

NC: Thief shot by clerk
WSOC TV News
"Two would-be robbers got away empty handed after a north Charlotte store clerk shot one of them. Police say the two men tried to rob the Sam's Mart on Lasalle Street around 10p.m. Wednesday. The clerk shot one of them in the buttocks. They got away in a champagne-colored car." (06/22/06)

Obviously quick and effective resistance pays off!

Search for Mandela's gun shines light on apartheid era
Yahoo! News
"Buried beneath a thick layer of dirt on a former farm in a northern Johannesburg suburb is the most famous gun in South African history. Or so a team of historians believe. For the past week, a bulldozer has been digging on the Liliesleaf farm in Rivonia in search of the Bulgarian pistol that former South African President Nelson Mandela hid weeks before his 1962 arrest by the nation's white rulers. .... The gun, a semiautomatic Makarov that was never fired, was given to Mandela by an Ethiopian colonel in 1962 when the ANC leader traveled secretly out of white-ruled South Africa for military training. .... Mandela has said he and an unidentified comrade buried the weapon along with 200 rounds of ammunition in a 1.5 meter-deep pit some 50 paces from a kitchen at the Rivonia hideout. The farm was raided by police in 1963." (06/23/06)

Do you think the modern Sud Afrikaan government might want to think about the symbolism of this, and how important the right to defend yourself should be to their people today, after the history of the nation?

TX: Teen remains in jail after shooting father
WOAI News
"A San Antonio teenager accused of shooting his father in the head remained in juvenile custody Wednesday. The 16-year old allegedly shot his father once in the head to protect his mother. Bexar County sheriff's deputies tell us the father was beating and choking his wife, when the teen pulled the trigger."We do believe this was a domestic violence situation. Um, we do believe that the son came to the aid of the mom during an altercation with the father," said Lt. Dale Bennett of the Bexar County Sheriff's Department. .... However, fearing he was a threat to himself and others, the judge ordered the teenager back into custody. So far no charges have been filed and investigators say there may not be." (06/22/06)

This is just plain wrong. Yes, the teen is a minor, but just as certain crimes make it wise to treat the underage teen as an adult for criminal proceedings, this teen should be treated as an adult for he has proved himself by defending his mother in this way. And there is no question, apparently, that it was coming to the defense of her that caused him to shoot. Yes, he may need professional help in dealing with the shooting, but that does NOT justify holding him in jail, especially with NO charges.

FL: Self defense shooting leaves one dead
WFTV News
"The State Attorney's office will determine if charges will be filed against a man who said he shot and killed a 25-year-old in self defense. Orange County deputies said the fatal shooting was justified. Late Wednesday night, Orange County deputies said 39-year-old Sylvester Andrews shot Antoine Jones when Jones charged at him with a knife. The incident allegedly started when a dispute broke out inside the home on Brook Hollow Drive. Andrews said he had no choice to shoot Jones, because he feared his two daughters and his girlfriend's daughter were in danger." (06/22/06)

The State Attorney had best decide this quickly. If the cops agree with the people being threatened, it seems a matter to be resolved quickly.

American Civil Rights Union supports case in defense of right to bear arms
American Civil Rights Union
" The American Civil Rights Union (ACRU) filed a brief amicus curiae on Friday, June 16 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in support of the plaintiffs in the case of Shelly Parker et al. v. District of Columbia. This is a potential landmark case where the plaintiffs are asking the Court to recognize that the Second Amendment does, indeed, establish a right of individual citizens to keep and bear arms. The ACRU brief states, "Thorough analysis of the text (of the Second Amendment) shows that such a right is stated in plain English, is consistently supported by volumes of historical authorities, and no other alternative interpretation of the Amendment is logically coherent.' " (06/22/06)

I am glad to see this brought up again, just as the South Dakota law will bring up abortion issues again - and for the same reason. The Courts refuse to pay attention to the plain language of the Constitution in protecting our rights.

AL: Teen shot in self defense, police say
Montgomery Advertiser
"Police are classifying as self defense the Thursday afternoon slaying of a Montgomery teenager who was shot after a fight over a dice game. .... "Basically, Mr. Stringer was firing back in self defense," said Lt. Ronald Cook, a Montgomery Police spokesman. "And so the case will be bound over to a grand jury, who will decide whether or not charges will be brought." Cook said the two teenagers got into an argument over a craps game, at which time Seawright allegedly went into his home and got a shotgun. He began firing the shotgun toward Stringer, who fired back and struck him in the side. Seawright retreated into his apartment, where he died." (06/23/06)

As with the Florida case above, so with this one: it needs to be decided quickly. The dispute over the game probably justifies giving it to the grand jury instead of a coroner's jury, but it doesn't support any delay at all. (But I would suggest that Stringer find better friends to play for money with.)

NRA unloads on U.N.
CNN
"The chairman of an upcoming U.N. conference on the illegal trade of small arms has received more than 100,000 letters of complaint from Americans who say it could impinge on their constitutional right to bear arms, he said Wednesday. Many of the letters contained a form message available on the National Rifle Association Web site that complains the June 26-July 7 conference will take place on the July 4 Independence Day holiday, U.N. officials said. The message argues that the conference is meant to limit Americans' right to carry weapons. 'And the American people will never let you take away the rights that our 4th of July holiday represents,' says the form letter addressed to Prasad Kariyawasam, the conference chairman and U.N. ambassador from Sri Lanka. 'Our freedoms are not to blame for the world's problems, and this is a battle you can never win.'" (06/22/06)

I applaud the effort of these folks, but warn them (and us all) that a MILLION letters will not sway this group - or this latest effort.

Laptop with data from DC workers stolen
Fox News
"A laptop containing the Social Security numbers and other personal data of 13,000 District of Columbia employees and retirees has been stolen, officials said. The computer was stolen Monday from the Washington home of an employee of ING U.S. Financial Services, said officials with the company, which administers the district's retirement plan. The company did not notify city employees of the theft until late Friday because it took officials several days to determine what information was stored on the laptop, ING spokeswoman Caroline Campbell said. The laptop was not password-protected and the data was not encrypted, Campbell said." [FND editor's note: Not as horrible as the theft of the soldiers' data, but even D.C. burrow-rats deserve some privacy - SAT] (06/18/06)

Another one! How many lessons have to be learned?

Defense lawyers shut out by new secrecy
Philly.com
"Witnesses testified under assumed names, the public was barred from the courtroom and part of the hearing was held in the judge's chambers, with defense lawyers shut out. 'I don't know what took place back there,' grumbled Michael E. Deutsch, chief defense attorney for Muhammad Salah, a Chicago man charged with laundering hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for murders, bombings and other acts of terrorism by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Court secrecy is getting tighter across the nation as the government wages war on terrorism, lawyers say. In Maryland, a federal judge last month dismissed a lawsuit filed by a German man, Khaled al-Masri, who claimed to have been illegally detained and tortured in overseas prisons run by the CIA. After receiving a secret written CIA briefing, the judge ruled that going ahead with the civil trial would expose state secrets." (06/13/06)

It is little things like this that ultimately destroy the judicial system and end our right to a fair trial - not big showy things. These "little things" (except to Mr. Salah, perhaps) add up and soon it applies to ALL prosecution, not just "national security" prosecutions. Yeah, I know it happened in WW1 and WW2 - but it wasn't right then and shouldn't be now.

Official found guilty for covering up Abramoff ties
CNN
"A jury found former Bush administration official David Safavian guilty Tuesday of covering up his dealings with Republican influence-peddler Jack Abramoff. Safavian was convicted on four of five felony counts of lying and obstruction. He had resigned from his White House post last year as the federal government's chief procurement officer. The verdict gave a boost to the wide-ranging influence peddling probe that focuses on Abramoff's dealings with Congress." (06/20/06)

This isn't a case of convicting him for being corrupt, or for being an agent for a bad guy, but for refusing to tell the truth, and while he deserves every bit of it, it is NOT the big deal that a lot of people make it out to be.

Police bypass subpoenas to get Americans' phone records
CNN
"Federal and local police across the country -- as well as some of the nation's best-known companies -- have been gathering Americans' phone records from private data brokers without subpoenas or warrants. These brokers, many of whom market aggressively across the Internet, have broken into customer accounts online, tricked phone companies into revealing information and sometimes acknowledged that their practices violate laws, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press." (06/20/06)

This shows the way that police power is abused, both by stretching "loopholes" given by panicked or perverted legislators (such as those for fighting "gangsters" or for fighting "terrorists") and by normal corruption. This is the reason that police powers should be very, very limited, and that government should have few or (preferably) none. Whether it is the cop on the beat stealing an apple or the head of the FBI used to hinder and harass the Administration's political enemies, it is wrong.

Leaders: Broad immigration bill unlikely
Waterloo Courier
"In a defeat for President Bush, Republican congressional leaders said Tuesday that broad immigration legislation is all but doomed for the year, a victim of election-year concerns in the House and conservatives' implacable opposition to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. 'Our number one priority is to secure the border, and right now I haven't heard a lot of pressure to have a path to citizenship,' said Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., announcing plans for an unusual series of hearings around the nation to begin in August on Senate-passed immigration legislation." (06/20/06)

In other words, lots of smoke and mirrors, but nothing really will be done, either for or against it.

Senate: Flag amendment one vote from passage
Think Progress
"The U.S. Senate is one vote away from passing a constitutional amendment that would criminalize desecration of the U.S. flag. If successful, it will mark the first time in 214 years that the Bill of Rights has been restricted by a constitutional amendment, and will place the United States among a select group of nations that have banned flag desecration, including Cuba, China, Iran, and Iraq under Saddam Hussein." [FND editor's note: The authors of the article seem to have forgotten that any such amendment must also be ratified by the states. Not that I doubt that will happen, mind you -- congressional idiocy tends to be contagious - TLK] (06/19/06)

I think Tom is being overly-pessimistic here - we've seen quite a few amendments fail of ratification, including the unlamented ERA, and this is likely to get bogged down in enough states to keep it from happening. Remember, 38 states (not just a majority, the way the democracy-promoters would have it) must approve.

US Senate kills effort to raise the minimum wage
Houston Chronicle
"The Republican-controlled Senate smothered a proposed election-year increase in the minimum wage Wednesday, rejecting Democratic claims that it was past time to boost the $5.15 hourly pay floor that has been in effect for nearly a decade. The 52-46 vote was eight short of the 60 needed for approval under budget rules and came one day after House Republican leaders made clear they do not intend to allow a vote on the issue, fearing it might pass." (06/22/06)

I hope that anyone who claims to be a libertarian does not support the further nonsense of a minimum wage - a law which harms the economy and many people IN the economy far more than any claimed benefits. But the way this issue was handled shows that the GOP does not have any kind of business trying to run the country (not that Demos do) - and can't even run their own party well enough to do a half-baked job of running government.

MA: Vote on minimum wage postponed
Boston Globe
"The House postponed voting on a minimum wage bill yesterday, after one of the state's most powerful labor unions threatened to hold off endorsements of legislators unless they passed an acceptable version of the measure before 10 this morning. The House had planned to vote yesterday on the bill, which would raise the state minimum wage from $6.75 to $7.75 over the next two years. But Robert J. Haynes, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, sent a letter to representatives yesterday stating that the group supports an amendment that would raise the state minimum wage to $8.25 an hour, the highest in the country, and guarantee future increases tied to changes in the cost of living. The minimum wage debate has sharply divided groups representing working families and small business owners, with some saying that low-wage workers desperately need the higher amount to survive in the state and others arguing that raising the minimum wage would take jobs away from less experienced workers and hurt the economy." (06/22/06)

This is what we apparently have just avoided for the rest of the country. Compare Mass's economy to the rest of the nation, and you will see why it is wise to oppose ANY minimum wage, as well as any increase in the one we have now.

MA: Bill would force state contractors to verify workers
Boston Globe
"Employers with state contracts would be required to make sure their workers have valid Social Security numbers by checking a federal online database under a bill proposed yesterday by Senate Republicans to combat illegal immigration. Responding to a Globe story that showed that contractors on publicly funded projects hired workers with fake Social Security numbers, Senate minority whip Bruce E. Tarr and Senator Scott P. Brown of Wrentham said their bill would bar such companies from doing business with the state. 'It's absolutely absurd that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts would be a partner in the illegal act of employing someone who has no authority to be in this country,' said Tarr. 'There's very strong sentiment in Massachusetts that we shouldn't be an accomplice to a criminal act.'" (06/22/06)

Another stinker of an idea from the East Coast version of California. Stupid government, stupid companies.

Canada: No sex please until we're 16
CNN
"Seeking to crack down on sexual predators in the era of the Internet, Canada's government brought in legislation Thursday that would raise the legal age of consent for sex to 16 from an unusually young 14. Justice Minister Vic Toews said changing the law will bring Canada's standards into line with those in several other countries, and he complained Canada's relatively low age of consent has attracted sexual criminals from more restrictive countries." (06/22/06)

Canada was not a "haven" for "sexual criminals" for 130+ years with this age on the books - I suspect it is Canada's lax morality and "tolerant" attitude towards deviants that has attracted the perverts. So the answer? Punish everyone. Stupid Government.

House votes to slash inherited estate taxes
CNN
"The House voted Thursday to cut taxes on inherited estates and relieve thousands of heirs from paying tax collectors beginning next decade. Republicans temporarily set aside their ambition to abolish the tax. Instead, they voted to exempt from taxation individual estates up to $5 million and couple's estates up to $10 million, while also easing the impact on even richer families. The vote was 269-156. The White House called the bill 'a step in the right direction.' The compromise measure now goes to the Senate." (06/22/06)

This is pick on the GOP week, I guess, and what better people to pick on? They completely lack the confidence of their "convictions" and thereby demonstrate that they have no convictions that aren't for sale. Getting rid of the estate tax should be a no-brainer for the GOP and should attract enough Demo votes to make it an easy sell.

Father demands Gitmo suicide probe
Coshocton Tribune
"The father of a Yemeni detainee found hanged in his Guantanamo cell said Sunday he will only receive his son's body for burial once an international investigation is launched into the death. Salah al-Aslami, 28, and two Saudi inmates committed suicide in separate cells at Guantanamo on June 10, using their sheets and clothing as nooses and leaving notes, the U.S. has said. The body of the Yemeni detainee, whom U.S. prison authorities identified as Ali Abdullah Ahmed, arrived in Yemen Thursday and is being kept in the state-run Revolution Hospital in the capital San'a." (06/18/06)

This is like publicly demanding a trial after the suspect has been indicted: meaningless and emotional rhetoric. Of course, he is also violating the vaunted Shari'a law - which demands immediate burial. It is always sad for a father to lose a son, but no excuse for no longer following your faith. I wonder if this guy talks to Cindy Sheehan, who still waves her son's body at everyone she can, too.

A backdoor plan to thwart the electoral college
Christian Science Monitor
"Picture it: On election day in some future year, a presidential candidate ends up with the most popular votes but not enough electoral votes to win. It's a repeat of the 2000 election in which one contender, Democrat Al Gore, took the majority of the national popular vote, while the other, Republican George W. Bush, clinched the most electoral college votes and, hence, the presidency. But this time there's a twist: A bunch of states team up and give all their electoral college votes to the nationwide popular-vote winner, regardless of who won the most votes in their state. Then, the candidate who garners the most citizen votes in the country moves into the White House." [FND editor's note: If these dumbasses succeed, we might as well give up and prepare to leave; instead, we should be looking at DEcentralizing the process, so each Congressional District controls its own Electoral Vote. Otherwise, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, Detroit, Miami and Dallas will decide every election! - SAT] (06/17/06)

I am pleased that Steve provided such a simple and pointed comment. Too many libertarians think that democracy = liberty, when history has shown that it does NOT. To the extent that we can tolerate ANY human government, the more restricted and confined and limited it is, the more likely we are to be free and enjoy liberty. The Electoral College is a key part of that limitation of government in this nation. Sooner eliminate political parties than the Electoral College.

World Cup thief's own goal
Ananova [UK]
"A thief who stole a World Cup ticket from a woman's handbag was caught after sitting down to watch the game next to his victim's husband. The 34-year-old mugged Eva Standmann, 42, as she made her way to the Munich stadium for the Brazil-Australia game at the weekend and discovered the ticket in her bag. But as he took the woman's place in the stadium he was met by her husband Berndt, 43, who immediately called security." (06/20/06)

How stupid can you get?

Eminent Domain Actions Surge After Ruling
The Washington Times
The Supreme Court's decision last year to allow cities and states to seize property for private development "opened the floodgates" to eminent domain actions nationwide, a report says. In the year since the Kelo decision, nearly 6,000 properties nationwide have been threatened or taken under that precedent, more than half the number that had been seized over a previous five-year period, said a report released yesterday by the Institute for Justice.

Week after week, I've seen this happen, even while legislators and others have been telling me that it wouldn't happen, and that "loopholes" were being closed that would end the "abuse" of eminent domain. I'm here to tell you that they are wrong. The only solution, libertarian or not, is to END this abominable practice, a leftover from the "divine rule of kings" that should be left behind in the Dark Ages.

North Carolina's mountaintop homes stir debate
Christian Science Monitor
"Nearly 5,000 feet high, Charles and Deborah Ericksons' ridge-top cabin is perched like a falcon's nest on a cliff face. It's one of a rapidly growing subset of vacation homes called 'ridge-top development' -- where homes are literally bolted to the mountaintop. 'It's almost heaven,' says Ms. Erickson, a retiree who spends half the year in these mountains, the other half in Naples, Fla. She has been drawn to the Smoky Mountains since she visited in her childhood. The price range for these mountaintop homes? $225,000 to $1.5 million. But these scenic views come with other costs: Ridge-top building may cause downstream water pollution and wreck trout streams by causing too much silt to pour off denuded slopes." (06/20/06)

If they own the property, and they are not trespassing on their neighbors (and downstream pollution directly caused by their actions would, in my opinion, be trespassing, no one and especially not government should have the power to tell them that they can't. Interfering with someone's "viewshed" is NOT trespassing - there is no damage that can be proved, no matter how much they scream about property values. And as an environmental engineer, I tell you that these houses CAN be built without causing downstream water pollution - it may cost a lot more, but it can be done.

Clean Water Act ruling illustrates court's shift
Boston Globe
"The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that environmental regulators may have gone too far when they applied the Clean Water Act to wetlands, rather than just lakes and rivers, delivering a divided opinion that illustrated the court's rightward shift since President Bush's two recent nominations. The 5-to-4 decision could limit the reach of the Clean Water Act, a landmark 1972 law that gives the Army Corps of Engineers the right to block development that would pollute the nation's waters. Also yesterday, the court announced that it would hear a case next fall involving certain late-term abortion procedures. As in several other important decisions this term, yesterday's environmental case was decided by a bloc of the four most conservative members of the court -- including Bush's nominees, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. -- who were joined by a conservative-leaning centrist, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy." [Editor's note: The irony is, in this case the Court is actually loosening the noose around our necks for a change! Consistency is clearly not the "hobgoblin" of these little minds. - SAT] (06/20/06)

Although the Globe would claim this is a "shift" due to the new appointees, it is fully in line with court decisions made years ago, that limited regulatory power to wetlands that were connected to other streams and rivers ("Waters of the United States") and took away SOME federal regulatory power over isolated and artificial wetlands. To put it simply, Congress itself doesn't know how to interpret the laws it rights, and for too long, Congressional pressure has been forcing (not always with a great deal of resistance, I admit) federal and state agencies to take very broad and sweeping action with very little real justification. Now, again, Congress and the Administration have been caught out - an all-too-rare event. (And you should hear far too many of the regulators moan about it, also. Warms my heart, it does.)

Internet access bill gets 'rights'
San Francisco Chronicle
"As the Senate gets closer to voting on a telecommunications bill that would address the white-hot issue of network neutrality, a key member introduced language into existing legislation that he feels would be a compromise on the issue of charging Web sites extra fees for delivering their content faster online. The provisions would prohibit telephone and cable companies from blocking user access to individual Web sites as part of an 'Internet Consumer Bill of Rights.' The new language allows the Federal Communications Commission to police user complaints and levy fines related to such problems, in addition to Internet carriers cutting access to a particular e-mail service or software." (06/20/06)

This MIGHT be workable, but if it gives a government agency ANY MORE CONTROL over the internet, it is dead wrong, no matter how "unfair" it might be that a provider deny access when they are just one of many competitors providing that service. If I don't like my internet service (www.noseyparker.net) keeping me from watching WW2 movies, I have every right as a consumer to say that I'm going to quit them and go to www.allww2allthetime.com and have THEM be my ISP provider - but to use government as my surrogate and punish the nosey parkers any more than losing my custom is an abuse of them on my part. (Please note: the two ISPs listed above are NOT real.)

Claim: Earth hottest it's been in 2,000 years
Las Vegas Review Journal
"The Earth is running a slight fever from greenhouse gases, after enjoying relatively stable temperatures for 2,000 years. The National Academy of Sciences, after reconstructing global average surface temperatures for the past two millennia, said Thursday the data are 'additional supporting evidence ... that human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming.' ... The academy had been asked to report to Congress on how researchers drew conclusions about the Earth's climate going back thousands of years, before data was available from modern scientific instruments." (06/22/06)

Look, this isn't a matter of going back through Roman and Chinese and Mayan records and sorting out the data - the very data that they claim to be using to "prove" that greenhouse global warming is "real" is highly suspect and subject to challenge and to interpretation, and is comparable to writing a paper on why people enlisted in the Roman legions in AD 14, and wanting to use it to guide policy-making on a military draft in the US in 2006. Any engineer (and I would hope, scientist) knows that bad data leads to bad results. And invented data, by definition, is bad data.

Scotland: Tsar admits: we've lost the war on drugs
The Scotsman
SCOTLAND'S drugs tsar has sparked a furious row by openly declaring that the war on drugs is "long lost".

No foolin'?

Connecticut mayor admits cocaine use
Fox News
"[Bridgeport] Mayor John M. Fabrizi admitted Tuesday he had abused cocaine while in office and said he wanted to apologize 'to all the people of the city' but had no plans to resign. The admission followed the inadvertent release of an FBI document in which an alleged drug dealer claimed an associate had a videotape of the mayor using cocaine. In a tearful speech to about 200 city employees in City Council chambers Tuesday, Fabrizi said he had not used drugs in 18 months and had sought help for a drug addiction that he had hoped to handle privately. 'I thought that these were personal, private matters to me and my family, that I could deal with these issues with my family and myself,' Fabrizi said. 'I now recognize my actions affected many others, and I want to apologize to my family, my friends, and all of the people of the city of Bridgeport for my actions, my past actions.' Fabrizi, a Democrat who took office after former Mayor Joseph Ganim was convicted of corruption in 2003, said he hopes to move forward and continue running Connecticut's largest city." (06/20/06)

Of course, if he is arrested and convicted as most drug users who are discovered are - he'll still have to resign (I think - but the Northeast has an amazing tolerance for convicted public officials, I admit). How come drug use is a "personal, private" matter to him and his family, but not to the hundreds of people his city's cops arrest each year?

Report: North Korea fuels missile, readies launch
CNN
"North Korea is believed to have completed fueling a missile capable of reaching Alaska, raising the probability of an imminent test launch, U.S. officials said on Sunday. The United States plans to join Japan in a sharp response if the test goes ahead. Washington has warned Pyongyang against the launch in a message passed to North Korean diplomats at the United Nations but there was no response, American officials said." (06/18/06)

North Korea must have run out of food again. So as always, it is time to up the ante and force Japan, the US, and the South to cough up some more aid to shore up this failed nation-state. My advice? Let'em fire, and if the missile hits anything (or comes close), shoot back. I put it in the context of that nasty next door neighbor. It is fine for him to go parading around with that pistol on his hip, and even to yell insults and make threats from his front yard. But when he lays out his firing range across the alley or the street that we both have to use (and our other neighbors and starts pumping rounds in my general direct "just for practice") I'm going to shoot back if he comes anywhere close to me or my friends or family. The guy is a dangerous nutcase.

al-Qaida video shows alleged 20th hijacker
Palestine Herald-Press
"Al-Qaida has identified a would-be 20th hijacker for the Sept. 11 attacks as a Saudi operative who was killed in a 2004 shoot-out with his country's security forces. In a statement accompanying a new video, the terrorist network's propaganda arm identified Fawaz al-Nashimi, also known as Turki bin Fuheid al-Muteiry, as the operative who would have rounded out a team that ultimately took over United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed into a Pennsylvania field before reaching its intended target. A 54-minute video featuring al-Nashimi was obtained Tuesday by IntelCenter, a U.S. government contractor based in Virginia. U.S counterterrorism officials declined to comment on the authenticity of the video and its claims." (06/20/06)

What a marvelous way to get press coverage? And what a wonderful way to explain their seeming failure in Flight 93. Of course, this just adds to the many conspiracy theories and mysteries surrounding that flight.

Oil prices could spike, Saudi warns
US News & World Report
"World oil prices could double or triple over the current painful $70-per-barrel level if diplomacy failed and military conflict broke out over Iran's nuclear ambitions, Saudi Ambassador Prince Turki al-Faisal warned this morning. 'We don't know' what will happen if the United States chooses a military option in Iran, al-Faisal said, but 'if there is military conflict, if bombs are dropped, ships are blown up, oil facilities on our side of the gulf are targeted ... just the idea of somebody firing a missile at an installation somewhere would shoot up the price of oil astronomically.'" (06/20/06)

Self-fulfilling prophesy? The more I hear this kind of claim, the more I suspect that the claims are nothing but another ploy by Iran and its supporters to deter the US and the EU from doing anything - not that doing nothing is necessarily a bad idea. And so the maneuvering continues.

Uganda: Police ban playing pool in the daytime
Yahoo! News
"Ugandan police have banned people from playing pool during the daytime because it encourages crime, local media said Wednesday. The game is very popular in the east African nation, where pool tables sit under canopies outside thousands of small bars. But Kampala police chief Grace Turyagumanawe said youths often played while drinking illegal spirits and smoking drugs. "They also use this as a meeting place to make plans of robbing people of their property at night," he told the Daily Monitor newspaper. "We are not banning the sport, but we are stopping people from playing it during the day." [FND Editor's note: Oh we got trouble, right here in River City, with a capital 'T' and that rhymes with 'P' and that stands for 'pool'-MLS] (06/21/06)

Ah, the bizarre twists of the modern cop's mind. As with Mary Lou, I wonder if Prof. Harold Hill isn't involved, somehow. American cops, sadly, think this same way.

US dismisses call to destroy North Korea missile
MSNBC
"The U.S. suggested Thursday it has limited ability to shoot a North Korean missile out of the sky and spurned suggestions of a preemptive strike on the ground. Still, it warned the Koreans would pay a cost for a missile launch. A military official told NBC News Thursday that the missile was not expected to come near the United States or any of its territories. The official said the government is still unsure if North Korea will fire the missile, but noted the earliest the country could launch it would be Sunday because of weather." (06/22/06)

US officials would be silly to do anything other than "suggest a limited ability" - both to save face and for simple security reasons. I am glad to hear that preemptive strikes have been ruled out - after Iraq in 2003, that always has to be considered. As a number of political cartoons have pointed out, this is another case of North Korea demanding attention. My view is that they are bankrupt again (which for them, means large numbers of "normal" people are starving), and how else can they get their allowance either increased or an advance on it?

Media refuses to hold surveillance story
Miami Herald
"The Bush administration and The New York Times are again at odds over national security, this time with new reports of a broad government effort to track global financial transfers. The newspaper, which in December broke news of an effort by the National Security Agency to monitor Americans' telephone calls and e-mails, declined a White House request not to publish a story about the government's inspection of monies flowing in and out of the country. The Los Angeles Times also reported on the issue Thursday night on its Web site, against the Bush administration's wishes. The Wall Street Journal said it received no request to hold its report of the surveillance. Administration officials were concerned that news reports of the program would diminish its effectiveness and could harm overall national security." (06/23/06)

This is refreshing news - not that the administration has been tracking money flow, but that even the mainstream media feels safe in rejecting administration requests (note: not demands) to withhold the story.

Bush urged not to trample human rights in terror war
Houston Chronicle
"President Bush, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hungary's bloody revolt against communist rule in this Eastern Europe nation, was urged today to make sure the U.S. fight against terrorism doesn't stomp on human rights. 'I am here to celebrate the 1956 revolution ... a revolution that celebrated the notion that all men and women should be free,' Bush said standing with Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom in a gilded room with red brocade walls at the Sandor Palace. Solyom paid tribute to his country's difficult emergence from communist rule and pledged to stand with America in today's battle against terrorism. Yet he said Hungary's commitment to democracy requires a respect for human rights." (06/22/06)

Good words from a country that still has a long way to go in restoring freedom AND liberty for its people, after centuries of evil. Will President B. listen? He will at least claim he is.

Annan says no Iranian response soon
USA Today
"Iran's response to incentives to halt its nuclear program will not come before mid-July, at least two weeks past the date sought by the U.S. and its partners, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Thursday after meeting Iran's foreign minister. 'I don't think they will give an answer before the G8 meeting in St. Petersburg,' Annan told reporters after a meeting with Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. The Russian meeting of the world's eight industrialized democracies is to run July 15-17. 'I expect their answer to come after that meeting, but I can't tell you specifically on what date,' Annan said." (06/22/06)

Won't or can't? The silly games continue. Hopefully, the US and its allies will continue to be patient.