Libertarian Commentary on the News for the week, including the Forth of July --Page 2

Our Right to Defend Ourselves: just a few items this week, also, but we start with some good news!

Gun crimes dropping as sales climb
Hawaii Reporter
"Gun crimes, suicides and firearms-related accidents declined last year at the same time that firearm and ammunition sales climbed, according to data from the US Treasury Department released by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). While this revelation tends to debunk long-standing claims by gun control proponents that more guns in circulation leads to more crime, gun rights organizations contend that this bolsters their contention that armed citizens deter criminals." (07/04/06)

This is a commentary, but definitely newsworthy and worth reporting. As we suspected, the entire thing was a myth - created with malice aforethought.

Mama's Note: At long last, after I complete a refresher course in handgun safety next weekend, I will begin to open carry my pistol. How can anyone seriously think a person in their right mind will try to attack an armed woman? Those who are NOT in their right mind and might try it, will find they picked the wrong potential "victim." I will never be an easy target again.

India: Gunning for security
Times of India
"Forget fancy mobiles and gizmos. Kanpur's denizens seem to have acquired a new toy. A gun. Oops! did that scare you by any chance? Well it should because these bad boys seem to have become the only security arrangement people are ready to take recourse to. And no, they are not doing it to make a style statement. Ask Rahul Mishra, an F&B manager at a prominent five star hotel, and he tells you, 'It's a must. I get off work pretty late at night ... I have been compelled to carry a .32 revolver to ward off danger.' Carrying a pistol is also imperative for Sanjay Gupta, accounts manager, at an export house. 'I need to carry a gun,' he shrugs while explaining, 'I have to frequently visit banks for financial transactions. ... I have to ensure my safety.'" (07/05/06)

Even in India, people are recognizing that they need to be able to defend themselves. Good.

NY: Man shot dead during robbery attempt
WSTM News
"Police say a man who tried to rob a Rochester restaurant at gunpoint was shot and killed today. R-News in Rochester reports the man was shot dead by the owner of the restaurant. Deputy Police Chief James Sheppard says the incident began when the man reportedly entered the eatery and tried to rob it at gunpoint. John Halldow, a spokesman for Rural-Metro Medical Services, says emergency responders found a deceased male when they arrived at the scene around noon." (07/06/06)

Better a deceased would-be robber than a few deceased waiters, cooks, or patrons.

RI: Police kill shoplifting suspect
Clinton Herald
"Police on Sunday shot and killed a man suspected of shoplifting from a grocery store as he tried to flee in a minivan with his 5-year-old daughter, authorities said. The officer opened fire after being struck by the suspect's minivan, according to a statement from police Chief Steven Reynolds. Store security at the Stop & Shop supermarket called police at about 2:15 p.m. to report a shoplifter who had just left the store with another man. The responding officer confronted the suspect in the parking lot." (07/02/06)

Normally, hitting another vehicle isn't considered aggression enough to respond with deadly force, but in this case, the cops appear to have been in the right. The man was fleeing from the scene of his crime, and he apparently tried to run down the cop in his vehicle.

Mama's Note: How many robbers take their 5 year old children with them!? I'd want to know a LOT more about what really happened to be satisfied with this story, or the actions of the police.

China: Police announce gun amnesty deadline
People's Daily
"Illegal firearms' owners in Beijing could be jailed for up to two years if they do not turn their weapons in by July 15, Beijing Public Security Bureau has announced. As part of a national crackdown on illegal guns launched last month, the bureau is urging the public to hand in firearms to police, including replica guns and airguns. Those who hand over weapons to police before the deadline will not be punished." (07/03/06)

Gee, what a deal!

Stupid Government and People Tricks: As always, we can't miss a few chuckles - but can't forget that they work for us! (or so they claim.)

Advocates push for simplified spelling
Fox News
"When 'say,' 'they' and 'weigh' rhyme, but 'bomb,' 'comb' and 'tomb' don't, wuudn't it maek mor sens to spel wurdz the wae thae sound? Those in favor of simplified spelling say children would learn faster and illiteracy rates would drop. Opponents say a new system would make spelling even more confusing. Eether wae, the consept has yet to capcher th publix imajinaeshun. It's been 100 years since Andrew Carnegie helped create the Simplified Spelling Board to promote a retooling of written English and President Theodore Roosevelt tried to force the government to use simplified spelling in its publications. But advocates aren't giving up. They even picket the national spelling bee finals, held every year in Washington, costumed as bumble bees and hoisting signs that say 'Enuf is enuf but enough is too much' or 'I'm thru with through.' Thae sae th bee selebraets th ability of a fue stoodents to master a dificult sistem that stumps meny utherz hoo cuud do just as wel if speling were simpler." [Editor's note: AAARRRGHHH! This is all just a plot to render 'copy editor' as a defunct job, and install hiphop jargon as the national language! - SAT] (07/05/06)

Stupid government or stupid people trick? Or both! Steve, while I think your job is safe (just because the language is "simplified" doesn't mean people won't continue to misspell more and more words), it doesn't mean this isn't a silly idea. For one thing, exactly which accent will we be spelling to? Mid-Atlantic? Southern? New England?

Congressional crunch: big bills, little time
Christian Science Monitor
"Call it the pause before the great push. Lawmakers, who are back home reconnecting with voters over the July 4 break, return next week to a long list of incompletes that could shape fall elections. 'Like last year, all will get done in July,' says Ron Bonjean, a spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert. What's making that difficult is that, unlike last year, the rifts within GOP ranks on the bills yet to be completed are often as daunting as those between Republicans and Democrats." [Editor's note: So "gridlock" is within our grasp? Praise be! - SAT] (07/05/06)

Majoring in minors and frivolously wasting time on the taxpayer's nickel, as usual. But as Steve points out, gridlock is generally to be highly desired in the USA of 2006.

Atlantic City casinos next NJ casualty
Madison Capital Times
"Atlantic City's casinos were ordered to close Wednesday, the latest casualty of a state government shutdown that began after the Legislature failed to adopt a budget by its July 1 deadline. The head of the Casino Control Commission ordered gaming in Atlantic City to cease at 8 a.m. Wednesday -- the day after the July Fourth holiday -- if New Jersey fails to enact a budget by then. Atlantic City's 12 casinos, which require state monitoring, have waged a court battle to remain open, and an appeals court was weighing the matter Sunday. There was no word on when a ruling would be made, courts spokeswoman Winnie Comfort said." [Editor's note: Yeah, THAT will really help the state's budget situation. If they are forced to shut down, the casinos should take -- whether it's offered or not -- a tax credit in the amount of their lost profits. Why is it that when governments "shut down," they never actually, um, shut down? - TLK] (07/02/06)

Gee, and wouldn't it be nice if the NJ government really DID truly shut down? Tom's idea is not bad, but I have a better one: just let the casinos keep on operating - hiring the monitors as employees of an ad-hoc cooperative if they think it desirable, and ignore Trenton. What are they going to do? The cops are shut down? Sadly the businesses rolled over and played their stupid game, for the rest of the week, as the next story related.

NJ: Atlantic City slots go silent
Allentown Morning Call
"At Bally's Casino on Wednesday, there was plenty of bling but no ring, zero ding: Lights were flashing like a carnival midway, Joker Poker signs were blinking, claiming to be just about definitely prepared to pay some lucky sap $4,125.39, and the Slingo machines shined with their usual broken promises of riches. But the ca-ca-chings were absent, the bloop-bloop-bloops of the slot machines mute, no silent prayers were answered with the crashing sound of shiny new quarters on shiny tin trays. The casino, like most of New Jersey, was closed -- the result of an impasse that began Saturday when the Legislature failed to adopt a state budget." (07/06/06)

Since the "reason" to shut down the casinos was because state government inspectors couldn't be there to make sure that the government got its cut off the top, and since the entire cost of the government inspectorsis paid out of that cut, it really was an excuse to get everyone to put pressure on the legislature: there was no need to close the casinos down at all.

Tax-Raising Compromise Settles NJ Budget Impasse
CNSNewss.com
New Jersey lawmakers announced late Thursday that the six-day-old budget stalemate which caused the loss of millions of dollars in taxes, affected more than 80,000 workers, angered residents statewide and shut Atlantic City's casinos had been settled...

My, what a fuss - but the governor got his way - taxes are going up AGAIN in New Jersey. And they shot themselves in the foot doing it, too. Stupid!

Mama's Note: Once again, it's time to remind the good people of NJ and other such havens that they can and should simply vote with their feet - or stay and pay all the stupid taxes...

Tax cuts losing force as rallying cry on the Hill
Boston Globe
"Support for tax cuts -- a signature campaign issue for congressional Republicans -- is waning on Capitol Hill, with the GOP-led Congress reaching its Independence Day recess with no tax-trimming victories to tout in home districts. Senate majority leader Bill Frist last week was forced to withdraw a measure to cut the estate tax, which foes derisively call the 'death tax,' because there was not enough support for it. Income tax cuts and credits -- including an expansion of the very popular child tax credit -- are still due to expire at the end of the decade, but Congress has not been able to agree on a proposal to make them permanent. Congress also has failed to fix the Alternative Minimum Tax, which was meant to target wealthy people but which is increasingly encroaching on middle-class Americans." (07/05/06)

Funny - the support for tax cuts seems to be growing across the nation. I guess Congress is getting more and more isolated from the population.

Mama's Note: I'm going to upchuck if I hear one more "tax the rich" scheme. Theft is theft, and the consequences for stealing from the rich should be exactly the same as it is for robbing the poor - or the "middle class!"

Tax dollars to fund study on restricting public data
USA Today
"The federal government will pay a Texas law school $1 million to do research aimed at rolling back the amount of sensitive data available to the press and public through freedom-of-information requests. Beginning this month, St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio will analyze recent state laws that place previously available information, such as site plans of power plants, beyond the reach of public inquiries." (07/05/06)

Government officials don't need help doing this, which means that it is a waste of money.

GA: Groups seek to block new voter ID law
Raw Story
"Critics of a Georgia law requiring voters to present government-issued photo identification asked a federal court Wednesday to block its enforcement, arguing that it is unconstitutional. The motion in U.S. District Court in Rome, Ga., argues that the law adopted this year by legislators disproportionately affects Georgia's elderly, low-income and minority voters. The state is set to file a brief in its defense on Monday, and arguments are scheduled next Wednesday. Unless courts intervene, the law will face its first test in a July 18 state primary. Georgia already has begun issuing free photo identification cards to those who need them, although only a few dozen had been requested as of Wednesday, election officials said." (07/06/06)

As I've discussed before, the claims made about this are both bogus and ridiculous. They will hopefully be recognized as such by the courts - but don't hold your breath.

Mama's Note: One bogus deserves another, really. "Government issued ID" is a violation of liberty in itself, and 99.9% of the things being "voted on" are bogus aggressions against everyone else to start with. Let's eliminate both of them and return to liberty and justice for all. Anyone who accepts voting as legitimate should have no problems with a requirement for government issued ID either. They are part of each other.

Gang bangers take violent message online
The Denver Channel
"Gang bangers are going online. They're being called 'Web bangers.' Some of the deadliest street gangs are showcasing illegal exploits, making threats, and honoring killed and jailed members on their digital turf. In some cases, gangs are posting potentially incriminating photos of members holding guns. Messages taunt other gangs and boast of illegal activity on personal Web sites and social networking sites. In at least one situation, Web bragging helped the case against some Web bangers. A Northern California judge recently ruled two teens charged with beating a boy into a coma could be tried as adults. That's after prosecutors showed photographs of the two from Myspace.com. In the images, they flashed the hand signs of a local gang." (07/05/06)

Any new way to brag obviously is going to be picked up by the thugs that form these organizations - and one might archly suggest that they are just imitating other, more "respectable" gangs of thugs like police forces, who have been bragging on-line for a decade. The problem here is not the gangs using the Web, but the excuse this use gives those who would further regulate the Web to press for more protection "for the children."

OH: Marine to return medal To Bush
NewsNet5 [Akron]
"A local Marine who service in Iraq earned several medals for serving his country, but he's giving back one of the medals to the White House as a form of protest. Sgt. Matthew Bee is a decorated Akron Marine who spent seven months in Hadeetha [sic - Haditha], serving with the 3rd Battalion 25th Marines Weapons Company based in Brook Park. Bee received six medals of commendation, but one of them he will give back to President George W. Bush, calling the medal political, NewsChannel5 reported. The medal is the War on Terrorism service medal, and Bee calls it 'eye candy' from Bush." (07/05/06)

Former SGT Bee can do what he wants, but it is a stupid act on his part which accomplished its only possible objective: obtaining a few seconds of television time. Technically, it is ALL "eye-candy" and is meaningless.

Three charged with stealing Coke secrets
MSNBC
"Coca-Cola and Pepsi are usually bitter enemies, but when PepsiCo Inc. got a letter offering to sell Coke trade secrets, it went straight to its corporate rival. Six weeks later, three people were to appear in federal court Thursday to face charges of stealing confidential information, including a sample of a new drink, from The Coca-Cola Co. and trying to sell it to PepsiCo Inc. 'Competition can sometimes be fierce, but also must be fair and legal,' Pepsi spokesman Dave DeCecco said. 'We're pleased the authorities and the FBI have identified the people responsible for this.' The suspects arrested Wednesday -- the day a $1.5 million transaction was to occur -- include a Coke executive's administrative assistant, Joya Williams, who is accused of rifling through corporate files and stuffing documents and a new Coca-Cola product into a personal bag." (07/06/06)

This is a good example of competition that is honorable and right. Too bad government can't learn from it - and too bad that government had to get involved in it at all.

Tech and related issues: Again, this week, just a few items:

Right-wing pundits in Internet ratings freefall
Raw Story
"Many well-known right-wing media figures -- including Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and Bill O'Reilly -- are losing their Internet audiences, according to an analysis of Web site ratings by IPD Group and U.S. Politics Today. On the other hand, traffic for Moveon.org has risen. On Thursday, Shakespeare's Sister checked other sites from the right and left at the same tracking service, Alexa.com, used in the analysis. According to the blogger, Free Republic, Hugh Hewitt, World Net Daily, and Pajamas Media have all suffered at least a 19 percent decline, while the traffic at Raw Story, Crooks and Liars, and Think Progress has risen." (07/02/06)

I don't know what to make of this, or even if it is true, considering the source. It sounds like an attempt to gloat. On the other hand, none of these people have lost any market share on radio, so what does that mean?

Mama's Note: I suspect that the radio audience is a whole different set of people. I don't listen to radio, except in the car, and only to a Christian music station then. I get all the "news" I want or need from the internet and an occasional newspaper I buy for other reasons.

Scamming the Nigerian scammer
The Age [Australia]
"The tables have been turned on at least one Nigerian scammer after an online vigilante successfully played him at his own game with an intricately laid 'anti-scam' operation. The campaign netted a life-sized wooden carving of a Commodore 64 computer keyboard which was sent all the way from Africa to the scambaiter who is code-named Shiver Metimbers." (06/30/06)

Funny!

Mama's Note: Wonderful! Only about a million of the suckers left to foil. I hope the success gives this "vigilante" and many more the incentive to repeat this many times. But remember that only YOU (reader) are ultimately responsible for what you buy or agree to do. Nobody can protect you from yourself.

Weather nixes shuttle launch -- again
Sharon Herald
"Stormy weather prevented NASA from launching Discovery for the second day in a row Sunday, extending a yearlong grounding of the space shuttle prompted by persistent trouble with fuel-tank foam. Launch officials said they would try again Tuesday, on the Fourth of July, after giving the work force some rest and a chance to replenish the shuttle's on-board fuel. The weather was expected to improve by Tuesday, although rain was still in the forecast." (07/02/06)

And then, today (Monday), news came of another technical problem. Piece of junk.

Shuttle docks with space station
Tahoe Daily Tribune
"Life in space returned Thursday to as close to normal as it has been since the Columbia disaster three years ago. After the space shuttle Discovery docked with the international space station, the orbiting outpost was fully staffed with three crew members for the first time since 2003. European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter arrived on the shuttle for a six-month stay." (07/06/o6)

They lucked out, pure and simple. Fortunately.

Mama's Note: Tell me again... how many millions of dollars were spent on this "foam" problem, and they STILL didn't get it right? The folks on the space station had better pray someone can come get them when it's time for them to come home.

Back to the Future? USA Partners With Pioneer Aerospace On CEV
Space War Daily
United Space Alliance and Pioneer Aerospace announced Wednesday they have joined forces to develop a parachute landing system for NASA's new Crew Exploration Vehicle. The CEV is the crew vehicle of the space agency's next phase of exploration called the Constellation Program. This program aims to take astronauts to the Moon, Mars and beyond, beginning in the next decade.

The picture looks like it was painted for NASA in about 1969 - Call it Apollo CM mod 2. Not what we need or what anyone should want. Silly waste of money, government or not.

The big news this week - at least based on the markets and a lot of moans, was the bizarre behavior of North Korea. If that country were a movie celebrity this would make sense:

North Korea threatens to fire more missiles
Winston-Salem Journal
"North Korea angrily mocked international criticism of its multiple missile tests, threatening on Thursday to fire off more rockets. In the face of nearly unanimous world condemnation of the seven missile tests on Wednesday, Pyongyang's foreign minister released a blustery statement declaring that it had the right to develop and test its weapons -- and vowing unspecified retaliation against anyone who tries to stop it." (07/06/06)

Certainly it has the right to develop the weapons, but even the US and USSR recognized that there was a need to make sure the test isn't viewed as a risk to sea traffic, air traffic, or other countries. But N Korea is more interested in getting attention than being wise (or a good neighbor).

Reclaiming the past in southern Sudan
BBC News [UK]
"Fifteen years ago in Bor in southern Sudan, militia allied to the government in far-off Khartoum carried out a massacre killing an estimated 2,000 people, mostly ethnic Dinkas. Now the people who fled the massacre are returning, hoping to reclaim the land of their ancestors." (07/02/06)

Any hope? Well, yes, we are seeing this happen many places. But not without a fight - they must be prepared.

Somalia: Islamists shoot World Cup viewers
Scotsman [UK]
"Islamist militia shot dead two people who wanted to watch the World Cup semifinal, in the latest sign of a hardline religious edge to the newly-powerful movement, witnesses said yesterday. Four others were wounded in the fracas outside a cinema. The Islamists, who kicked US-backed warlords out of Mogadishu then took control of a large swathe of southern Somalia last month, initially sought to project a moderate image but have been increasingly showing a more radical side. Tuesday night's shooting came when militiamen in the central town of Dusa Mareb -- the home area of the Islamists' hardline leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys -- shut a cinema showing the Germany-Italy semifinal, inhabitants said." (07/06/06)

And these are the people that we want to make peace with? Evil cannot be compromised.

Mama's Note: We don't need to make peace with them in order to leave them alone.

Supreme Court ruling troubles GOP senators
Baxter Bulletin
"Two Republican senators said Sunday that Congress must rein in the Supreme Court ruling that international law applies to the Bush administration's conduct in the war on terror. Thursday's Supreme Court decision embracing Article 3 of the Geneva Accords in the military commission case of Osama bin Laden's former driver strikes at the heart of the White House's legal position in the war on al-Qaida. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the second-ranking GOP leader in the Senate, said the 5-3 court decision 'means that American servicemen potentially could be accused of war crimes.'" (07/02/06)

I am no lover of "international law" but the laws of war are an essential part of world affairs, and have been for centuries, unlike the major part of the garbage that goes by the name "international law." These idiots are as wrong as the Administration, and for once the Supremes have it right.