Libertarian Commentary on the News for the week of 13 - 20 August, 2006 --Page 2

2006 Political Campaigns: CT: Bush won't back Republican v. Lieberman
Raw Story
"The White House today refused to announce support the Republican challenger to Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), RAW STORY has learned. When asked whether or not President Bush supports Alan Schlesinger in his bid to oust Lieberman, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow answered only that 'the president supports the democratic process in the state of Connecticut, and wishes them a successful election in November.' 'Wait, wait, wait,' a reporter persisted. 'I realize he supports democracy, but I'm wondering. Does he actually support his own party's candidate?' During a combative back and forth that sometimes had the two talking over one another, Snow indicated that he didn't know for sure whether the president supports Lieberman or his Republican rival, but that 'there are a whole host of reasons,' that Bush may not want to back Schlesinger." (08/14/06)

Conservative White House? Hardly - Neo-Cons are conservative, and this shows it.

2006 Political Campaigns: Study: Polling site may sway your vote
Arizona Republic
"Think about the place where you filled out your ballot during the last election. When you voted for, or against, President Bush, was it in a church? Was the polling place for that big school-bond election inside the school? It's likely that the polling site, whether it was a school, church, firehouse or some other public building, subtly but measurably influenced the decisions of scores of voters, according to a new study from Stanford University. For example, a voter who's on the fence is more likely to vote to raise taxes for education if the polling place is at a school, concludes a trio of marketing and political science researchers from the university's Graduate School of Business in a paper released in July. The study was based on one election in Arizona, but researchers say the results would be true in any election." (08/14/06)

This sort of "study" is all too often a completely bogus conjoining of unrelated facts (factoids, really) jammed together with the rough edges sanded off to make them fit. Carried to the logical conclusion, a blackout on all news, advertising, and the erecting of polling places in the middle of empty fields would be necessary to avoid "influencing" elections. We have already gone far beyond the reasonable in such things: election day in many small towns used to be a community gathering as well, complete with potluck and entertainment - all banned now under the idea that someone's vote can be influenced by a "free" cup of coffee.

2006 Political Campaigns: CT: Libertarian petitions way to ballot
Stamford Advocate
"He and his family have contributed more than $9,000 to his campaign, and the payoff so far has been a spot on the November ballot. Greenwich hedge fund founder Phil Maymin has collected enough signatures for the secretary of the state to recognize him as a Libertarian candidate for the 4th Congressional District. 'I am here to represent those of us who are sick and tired of the stranglehold the two-party system has taken of our liberties,' the 31-year-old Cos Cob resident said at a news conference yesterday at his office at 222 Railroad Ave. 'I am here to represent new directions.'" (08/16/06)

If libertarianism is dead, it is a mighty lively corpse.

OUR RIGHT TO DEFEND OURSELVES: CT: Montville split over gun law
Norwich Bulletin
"A battle is brewing about the mayor's proposed ordinance aimed at regulating target shooting. Proponents say they are concerned about residents' safety. Some of the ordinance's opponents say it prohibits all shooting in town and takes away their self-defense rights. The Town Council is expected to decide Monday night whether to move the proposed ordinance, which has gained the attention of the National Rifle Association, forward to a public hearing. The ordinance was proposed after it was discovered the state regulates hunting, but not target shooting." [Editor's note: And heaven forbid that any activity remain unregulated! - TLK] (08/14/06)

Tom has the right of it - the idea that every aspect of life MUST be regulated or it cannot exist is killing our freedom.

OUR RIGHT TO DEFEND OURSELVES: FL: Woman fatally shoots intruder
WPMI News
"A scared woman -- Pam Hagan: 'Very upset. My sister is not able to come out of the house. She's traumatized by Saturday night's shooting.' Hagan's sister, a woman in her 50's, fatally shot 29 year old Vincent Wesley, after Escambia County Sheriff's deputies say Wesley tried to enter her Pensacola home twice that night. According to reports, Wesley climbed the woman's fence, approached the house, and began shaking her door. When she showed him a gun, he ran off, but he wasn't done. According to deputies, Wesley then ran out to the street, tried to carjack someone, and came back to the woman's home when the carjacking was unsuccessful. Hagan: 'At that time, my sister is trying to close the door. When she came out to close the door, her house door closed and locked behind her and there she was, face to face, with a man coming at her. He never said a word to her. She fired once. It didn't stop him. She fired a second time and he went down." (08/14/06)

The bizarre behavior of the dead attacker is no doubt reason to be fearful - especially since she probably isn't allowed to carry a weapon to protect herself outside her home.

OUR RIGHT TO DEFEND OURSELVES: TN: Assailant shot dead by victim
Rocky Mount Telegram
"A Rocky Mount man was shot and killed this weekend after allegedly attacking a Whitakers man in his own house, and authorities on Monday cleared the shooter of any wrongdoing. Authorities said Leroy Thorpe acted in self-defense when he shot 27-year-old Tavaras T. Pittman of Western Avenue once in the chest with a shotgun. Two other Whitakers men were charged with beating Thorpe and another man with a baseball bat before the 59-year-old Thorpe fired the fatal shot at the trio, Nash County Sheriff Dick Jenkins said." (08/15/06)

Clearly this man went the second mile, if he waited until he was already beaten to defend himself. All reviews of self-defense should be conducted as quickly as this one.

OUR RIGHT TO DEFEND OURSELVES: UK: Swords ban to beat violent crime
BBC News
"A crackdown on the sale of swords has been launched as part of a campaign to tackle knife crime and violence. Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson announced laws to ban swords unless sold for legitimate reasons. Shops selling swords will need a licence, as will businesses dealing with non-domestic knives and other bladed weapons such as machetes. The measures are the latest steps from the Scottish Executive to curb the problem of knife crime." (08/14/06)

Right - notice that there are no reports of any massive surge of violence using swords - this is a "preventative measure" and a good many people in Scotland are realizing what they've let themselves in for.

Mama's Note: Hmmm, wonder how soon we'll be hearing about all the "skill saw crime," "spoon and fork crime," or "screwdriver crime." It isn't about safety, remember, it's all about control. Wake up folks...

OUR RIGHT TO DEFEND OURSELVES: MS: Clerk shoots robber
Jackson Clarion-Ledger
"A man was shot Monday night while attempting to rob a liquor store on Bailey Avenue in Jackson, police Cmdr. Lee Vance said. About 9:20 p.m., a woman working at the store reported to police that a man wearing a handkerchief over his face tried to rob B's Package Store at 1804 Bailey Ave., Vance said. She said that she fired two shots, hitting the man at least one time in the stomach area." (08/15/06)

Good news.

Mama's Note: Good, but it could be a lot better. This lady needs to get her pistol to a range on a regular basis and learn how to make every shot count.

OUR RIGHT TO DEFEND OURSELVES: SC: Homeowner shoots, kills intruder
WIS News
"An apparent home invasion ended in gunfire, and one of the accused burglars shot dead. The Richland County Sheriff's Department says two men forced their way into a home on Ferrell Rd., off Two Notch Road near Fontaine, and began shooting. The homeowner returned fire, shooting and killing one of the suspects. The other suspect fled." (08/16/06)

And more good news.

OUR RIGHT TO DEFEND OURSELVES: New Orleans: Judge says suit can proceed
Liberty For All
"The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) today won a key battle in an ongoing lawsuit against the City of New Orleans, when a federal judge rejected the city's motion to dismiss the case. SAF took New Orleans to court last year to stop illegal confiscation of firearms from private citizens in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Defendants in the case are the city, Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Superintendent Warren Riley. SAF was joined in the historic lawsuit by the National Rifle Association." (08/17/06)

Good news.

OUR RIGHT TO DEFEND OURSELVES: FL: Intruder shooting justified
Pensacola News Journal
"Law enforcement officers and attorneys say the local woman who fatally shot an intruder at her Navy Point home would have been protected by state law even before the 'Stand Your Ground' law. Rhonda Eubanks, 57, a Baptist Hospital nurse, was alone Sunday night at her home on Gilliland Road when she shot Vincent Demond Wesley, 29, of Pensacola, in the head with a .38-caliber handgun, Escambia County Sheriff's Mike Ward said Tuesday. It was the second time Wesley charged toward Eubanks." (08/16/06)

Good for her!

Mama's Note: If she gave him a second chance to "charge toward" her, she's damned lucky to be alive. When you are attacked, you have NO obligation to give the thug any advantage at all.

OUR RIGHT TO DEFEND OURSELVES: OH: Charges dropped after officer shot by relative
Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Charges were dropped Wednesday against a New Franklin man who fatally shot his brother-in-law, an off-duty Akron police officer, during an argument. A Summit County grand jury declined to indict Jacob Carlson, 32, who was charged with murder after shooting Michael Beitko, of Akron, on July 26. Carlson claimed self-defense. Beitko and his wife, Suzanne, were visiting Carlson and his family at Carlson's New Franklin home when Beitko began arguing with his wife, officials said. Carlson's wife, Jenny -- Beitko's sister -- called police at 9:29 p.m., saying her brother was drunk and fighting with his wife. Beitko's four children were present, too. The fight escalated and Carlson, wearing a neck brace because of a swimming injury, shot Beitko." (08/17/06)

This would clearly have not gotten this far if the idiot hadn't been a police officer - and shows how stupid "cop-killer" laws (that have special nasty punishments for those who kill cops) are.

STUPID GOVERNMENT TRICKS: Ground Zero workers to get more benefits
Oskaloosa Herald
"Gov. George Pataki signed legislation Monday to greatly expand benefits for workers who have died or become sick from toiling in the smoke and dust that hung over the ruins of the World Trade Center. Among other things, the families of rescue workers who die of their illnesses years after Sept. 11 would receive the full benefits available to those killed in the line of duty." (08/14/06)

These people are considered martyrs, and this sort of thing will continue for decades to come. It is not good for them, their families, or for the city, state, or nation - not a bit, to treat them as any different than we should treat anyone killed as the result of a criminal act.

STUPID GOVERNMENT TRICKS: NJ: AG quits amid traffic scandal
Houston Chronicle
"For the second time in three years, Zulima Farber's error in judgment concerning minor traffic issues has cost her a high-profile judicial job in New Jersey. First it was a nomination to the state Supreme Court. Now, it's her job as state attorney general. 'Not once, but twice, yes,' Farber, 61, acknowledged on Tuesday at a Statehouse news conference where she reluctantly announced her resignation as the state's top law enforcement officer. Her decision to step down came hours after a special prosecutor released a report saying she violated state ethics laws by going to the scene of her boyfriend's traffic stop in May and allowing police to give him preferential treatment." (08/17/06)

Sadly, too many women find themselves doing stupid things like this for men that would be better off out of their lives - and what is a 61 year old doing with a "boy friend" anyway? (Actually, don't answer that - I really don't want to know.)

Mama's Note: Wait just a minute! We don't turn into eunuchs or saints just because we hit 60. I'd be glad to have a "boyfriend," if I could find a man who could fill the shoes left by my late husband. <G> Hasn't happened in 20 years, but I keep an open mind... I'll be 60 next month, so we'll see what happens.

STUPID GOVERNMENT TRICKS: Bush signs pension overhaul bill
CNN
"President Bush signed a broad overhaul of pension and savings rules Thursday, giving millions of people a better chance of getting the retirement benefits they have earned. The law, passed with fanfare by Congress two weeks ago, gives companies seven years to shore up funding of their traditional pensions, also known as defined benefit plans. Special rules for seriously underfunded companies require them to catch up faster." (08/17/06)

Don't hold your breath - like all government laws this one is so full of loopholes it looks like spray Swiss cheese.

Mama's Note: A classic case of the pot calling the kettle black! Too bad the "law" won't apply to the vast Social Security scam. The government has been stealing the money collected for that all these years, and there is NOTHING with which to pay off those accounts but empty promises and more debt.

STUPID GOVERNMENT TRICKS: Florida restricts abortion clinics
Philadelphia Inquirer
"State agencies have accused a doctor of failing to follow proper procedures in two late-term abortions, suspended his license and blocked his five clinics from performing abortions. Dr. James Pendergraft denies the accusations and plans to appeal the order. Spokeswoman Marti Mackenzie said he was 'the target of government agencies determined to limit the access of Florida women to safe and legal late-term abortions.' The emergency license suspension order filed last week by the Health Department said that Pendergraft prescribed drugs without appropriate authorization in two third-trimester abortions he performed in 2004 and 2005." (08/17/06)

Having seen a good many reports of the deplorable conditions in many abortion mills, for once I am tempted to believe a government agency - but only tempted: I'd rather see a Underwriters Laboratory report.

Mama's Note: There is no moral excuse for any abortion, but these "late term" things are especially gruesome. It is very hard for me to understand how anyone with medical training can participate in this horror, under any circumstance.

STUPID GOVERNMENT TRICKS: FL: Bush reinstates death warrant
Miami Herald
"Gov. Jeb Bush reinstated a death warrant Thursday for a condemned killer, despite a ruling this year from the U.S. Supreme Court that the inmate could challenge the state's method of lethal injection. Prison officials scheduled his execution for next month. The attorney for convicted killer Clarence Hill said he would ask a federal appellate court for a stay on the execution so the Supreme Court decision can be carried out." (08/17/06)

There is no supportable position on this - both sides are in the wrong. First, the appeal of legal injection is clearly bogus on its face; second, death penalties in this case and many like it are worthless in either punishment or deterrence value.

STUPID GOVERNMENT TRICKS: CA: Pol plays eminent domain for tax break
Whittier Daily News
"Monrovia officials and Rep. Gary Miller deleted reference to 'friendly condemnation' from a 2002 land sale so the city could qualify for state matching funds to complete the purchase. ... The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday that Miller used the threat of eminent domain to shelter profits from capital-gains taxes on the sale of the Monrovia land and other Southern California properties. ... Miller said he was forced to sell the land under threat of condemnation. The Brea Republican maintains he had two years to reinvest the profits under Internal Revenue Code 1033. Internal Revenue Service spokesman Bill Steiner explained Code 1033 requirements. 'What it boils down to is that if a person's property is condemned or in eminent domain status, there has to be some formal declaration of either purchase or condemnation,' he said. Monrovia City Manager Scott Ochoa, who said he wrote the July 31 letter, called Miller a willing seller. 'If Mr. Miller has an issue with the IRS over friendly condemnation, it's up to him and the IRS.'" (08/16/06)

Yeah, sometimes the victim does agree to be robbed - usually to help him rob someone else.

Mama's Note: Having once lived in Whittier, I'd have to say that this is nothing new for these folks. This town was founded, and dominated for a very long time, by a single church. They made many heroic stands in the early days, but have long since gone to bed with government to reach their own ends. Sad.

STUPID PEOPLE TRICKS: Germany: Grass defends secrecy over SS past
MSNBC
"Gunter Grass, the Nobel prize-winning author who for decades served as Germany's postwar conscience, was struggling on Monday to retain some of his moral authority, as historians, writers and politicians criticised his decision to keep hidden for 60 years his membership of the Waffen SS, part of Hitler's elite military force. ... The 78-year old author and leftwing intellectual, who won the Nobel prize for literature in 1999, said the reason for only now revealing his role as a 17-year-old soldier in one of the most infamous parts of the Nazi military machine was that he had only recently found the 'literary form' in which to write about his experiences. ... Some literary critics on Monday accused Mr. Grass of timing the revelation to boost sales of his autobiography, and of waiting 60 years in order not to damage his career, including the chance of winning the Nobel prize." (08/14/06)

Any taint of Nazism is such a death-knell in the modern world that it is no wonder that Gunter Grass kept it a secret all these years. Serving in the Waffen-SS (rather than the regular SS) should not be considered the taint that ignorant and volatile people consider it - but no one can persuade otherwise, of course.

Mama's Note: What is amazing about all this, of course, is the fact that so many people seem perfectly happy to accept all sorts of Nazism from their government, just as long as it's called something else! People need to stop reacting to the words and start learning what they really mean, then apply the same yardstick to their own government. We'd get rid of this pack of wolves much faster then.

STUPID PEOPLE TRICKS: Tankers spill in Indian, Pacific Oceans
Terre Haute Tribune Star
"A Japanese tanker spilled about 1.4 million gallons of crude oil in the eastern Indian Ocean following a collision with a cargo ship, the tanker's operator said Tuesday. Japan's Kyodo news service said the spill -- which would be about 4,500 tons -- may have been the largest ever involving a Japanese tanker. In a separate oil spill, the Philippines said that a tanker had sunk in rough seas Friday off the coast of Guimaras Island, about 312 miles southeast of Manila. About 528,000 gallons of industrial fuel was leaking from the accident, officials said. A central Philippine island province declared a 'state of calamity' following what authorities called the country's worst spill." (08/15/06)

Hardly the greatest by any means - I dare say that Japanese shipping during WW2 probably averaged this much a week (of course, with the help of US and UK submarines). And I hardly think it the worst spill in Philippine history, either - WW2 spills were almost certainly much greater after the Battle of Leyte Gulf and others. Fortunately, the ocean is much more able to handle spills of oil and even industrial fuels than people would have us believe.

STUPID PEOPLE TRICKS: Diversity growing in nearly every state
MSNBC
"America's growing diversity has reached nearly every state. From South Carolina's budding immigrant population to the fast-rising number of Hispanics in Arkansas, minority groups make up an increasing share of the population in every state but one, according figures from the Census Bureau. 'This is just an extraordinary explosion of diversity all across the United States,' said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank." (08/14/06)

The one state is West Virginia, by the way, "poor and backward." Of course, this is diversity as defined by the Mainstream Media - Americans have always been far more diverse than most nations, because we are many nations; but the pigeonholes are too big for most diversity to show up in one-size-fits-all MSM articles and in the eyes of big-government proponents.

STUPID PEOPLE TRICKS: Lebanon: Jackson tries to arrange prisoner swap
MSNBC
"Trying to build on a cease-fire in Lebanon, civil rights leader Jesse Jackson launched an effort Tuesday to arrange the release of prisoners held by Hezbollah and Israel. 'The cease-fire is a step in the right direction,' Jackson said after talking to the Israeli and Syrian ambassadors here. 'Release of prisoners would reinforce the positive direction.' Jackson, an experienced go-between, has brought Americans home from Syria, Cuba, Iraq and Yugoslavia." (08/15/06)

Wherever there is a chance of headline, you KNOW that Ol' Jesse is drawn there like a rat after a piece of moldy cheese.

Tech and Medical News: Floating factory could change future of LNG
Boston Globe
"The possible energy future of New England and the nation steamed into the Gulf of Mexico last week and moored 116 miles off New Orleans. Called Excelsior, the massive red-hulled ship -- almost two football fields in length and 15 stories high -- is a signature piece in the world's first offshore liquefied natural gas port, which began operating here last year. The ship holds enough super-cooled gas in its tanks and labyrinth of gray pipes to heat about 30,000 homes for a year. But the ship's critical attribute is the ability to turn that liquid back into a vapor at sea and pump it into an underwater pipe that carries the gas to shore." (08/14/06)

Moving things like this offshore offers great potential savings in cost AND improved safety, but also makes it at greater risk for attack, of course. Notice it is private business NOT government doing this.

Tech and Medical News: Feds: MI bird flu probably no human threat
CNN
"Scientists have discovered possible bird flu in two wild swans on the shore of Lake Erie -- but it does not appear to be the much-feared Asian strain that has ravaged poultry and killed at least 138 people elsewhere in the world. It will take up to two weeks to confirm whether the seemingly healthy wild mute swans in Michigan really harbored the H5N1 virus or not." (08/14/06)

Highly unlikely - but the fearmongers are still screaming that the sky is falling.

Mama's Note: And they are still killing millions of birds all over the world for no good reason. Where are the "greens" in this? What happened to animal rights here? Not to mention farmer's rights.

Tech and Medical News: NASA borrows ideas from Apollo program
Abilene Reporter News
"Jim Snoddy and other NASA engineers didn't just go to the drawing board or a warehouse when they needed ideas -- and parts -- for America's next lunar rocket. They went to space museums. Facing tight deadlines and uncertain budgets as it works on President Bush's plan to send astroNorth American Union: it's back to the moon and on to Mars, NASA is both cannibalizing and analyzing pieces of its glory years, namely the Apollo program that first put humans on the lunar surface in 1969." (08/14/06)

Bad enough that the Shuttle is 1970s technology, we have to go back to 1960s garbage? What's next, radial gasoline engines and biplanes?

Mama's Note: This sort of reminds one of the old "Mummy" movie and keeps you wondering when they'll start using the old guy for tissue transplants. Makes about as much sense.

Tech and Medical News: Cape Breton joins space race
Toronto Star [Canada]
"Cape Canaveral's got competition. Cape Breton is going to enter the space race. The Toronto Star has learned that Nova Scotia has signed a 'team agreement' to provide 300 acres of land -- and perhaps even some funding -- for a massive orbital launch facility that will involve industry giants and could eventually be on scale with huge NASA operations. 'We're basically building a private manned space program for Canada,' says Chicago's Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria, chairman of the PlanetSpace firm that lit the fuse for this deal." (08/16/06)

Good news! We need more choices for space, especially here in North America.

Mama's Note: This is much more like it. You can bet they won't be raiding the Smithsonian for spare parts.

Tech and Medical News: Overweight "top world's hungry"
BBC News [UK]
"There are now more overweight people across the world than hungry ones, according to experts. US professor Barry Popkin said all countries -- both rich and poor -- had failed to address the obesity boom. He told the International Association of Agricultural Economists the number of overweight people had topped 1bn, compared with 800m undernourished. ... he urged governments to begin to develop better strategies to combat the problem. He said food prices could be used to manipulate people's diets and tilt them towards healthier options." [RRND Editor's note: Hat tip to Kitty Antonik Wakfer for this piece of insanity. Yeah, let's trust government to "fix" the problem that it creates in the first place by shoveling tax-subsidized high-carbohydrate c*** into schoolkids' mouths (if it's one of "those" kinds of governments instead of the kind that starves half its victims to death instead). Er, not - TLK] (08/15/06)

So much for "The Population Bomb" and all the other scare propaganda of decades. So now, the fearmongers can use THIS instead, as this very article does, to promote massive government controls and interference.

Tech and Medical News: Google launches free wireless in hometown
Boston Globe
"Google Inc., owner of the most-used search engine, began offering free wireless Internet connections yesterday to residents in the company's hometown of Mountain View, Calif., as part of an effort to boost Internet use. Christopher Sacca, head of special initiatives at Google, said the network covers 11.5 square miles and has 380 access points .... Google spent about $1 million building the network to investigate how consumers use wireless connections and to encourage the growth of similar projects in other cities, Sacca said." (08/17/06)

Pleased as I am that Google has joined the free-hotspot movement, it is hardly needed to "boost Internet use" in Mountain View. If they were doing the same thing in towns like Kayenta, AZ or Pine Ridge, SD, then I might believe their advertising.

Mama's Note: Well, let's do a sort of "Google Bomb" on it and bring this to their attention! Anybody with me on this? Tell them you want free wireless in YOUR town too!!

WAR ON SOME DRUGS: Bloomberg pushes millions at smoking bans
Houston Chronicle
"Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire and former smoker, announced Tuesday he is throwing $125 million of his own money into a new anti-smoking campaign targeting tobacco worldwide. ... It will include cash for programs that help smokers quit and educate children to prevent them from starting; funds to push for smoking bans and higher tobacco taxes; and money to track global tobacco use and the effectiveness of anti-smoking efforts." (08/16/06)

At what point is it clear that the War on Some Drugs has expanded (at least in places like NYC) to tobacco? Perhaps we have reached that point.

Mama's Note: "Drugs," medicine of all kinds, guns, knives, personal arguments with the opposite sex, all kinds of other "wars" going on all around us. None of these "wars" or bans produce the results promised, but that doesn't stop anyone from suggesting more and more of them. Sigh

WAR ON SOME DRUGS: Drug thugs kidnap 130 in massive spree
USA Today
"Federal agents arrested more than 130 alleged drug traffickers from coast-to-coast Tuesday who U.S. officials said smuggled heroin from Mexico and offered phone-up home delivery like a takeout pizza shop. Beginning before dawn, Drug Enforcement Administration agents conducted arrest raids and searches, seeking up to 150 people, about half of them illegal aliens, according to senior drug enforcement officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity before the official announcement." (08/15/06)

Notice how DEA is once more trying to jump on the immigration bandwagon.

WAR ON SOME DRUGS: Feds kidnap "drug lord" at sea
Baytown Sun
"The Coast Guard caught Mexican drug lord Francisco Javier Arellano Felix deep-sea fishing off Mexico, decapitating a murderous cartel that dug smuggling tunnels under the U.S. border, officials said Wednesday. Arellano Felix, 36, was captured when the crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Monsoon boarded a U.S.-registered sport fishing boat at 9 a.m. local time Monday about 15 miles off the coast of Mexico's Baja California peninsula, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen told a news conference." (08/16/06)

Reports quickly surfaced that this particular branch of the drug business has been in decline in recent years and that Felix is all but retired.

WORLD WARS: Fighter jets escort diverted flight to Boston
CNN
"A woman whose altercation with passengers and crew led to the diversion of a transatlantic passenger flight Wednesday will be detained and likely will face federal criminal charges, a U.S. federal prosecutor said. The 60-year-old woman was being held in Boston, Massachusetts, after crew diverted the London-to-Washington flight to Logan International Airport." (08/16/06)

This woman was very seriously disturbed, from all accounts (although the accounts themselves are very confused).

Mama's Note: You tell me I can't get up and go to the bathroom when I need to - then see what a "seriously disturbed woman" really looks like!!

WORLD WARS: China: Activist's lawyers boycott trial
Houston Chronicle
"A blind Chinese activist was put on trial Friday, but his lawyers boycotted the proceeding after three of them were detained and they were barred from seeing their client, one of the lawyers said. The trial of Chen Guangcheng, who was arrested after recording complaints by villagers of forced abortions, ended after about two hours without a verdict, according to lawyer Zhang Lihui. He didn't attend the proceeding in a court in eastern China but said Chen's two brothers told him what happened. Chen faced charges of illegal assembly and intent to damage public property, which his supporters say were fabricated in retaliation for his activism. He could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in jail." (08/18/06)

Boycotting is hardly going to do their client any good, is it?

WORLD WARS: US responds to North Korea nuke test report
MSNBC
"The White House, responding to a U.S. media report that North Korea may be preparing for an underground test of a nuclear bomb, said such a test would be an 'extremely provocative' act that would be denounced around the globe. ABC News on Thursday quoted an unidentified senior U.S. State Department official as saying, 'It is the view of the intelligence community that a test is a real possibility.'" (08/17/06)

Once more, North Korea is sticking the pig!

WORLD WARS: Woman flyer urinated on floor, passed notes to crew
Fox News
"A woman on a transatlantic flight diverted to Boston for security concerns passed several notes to crew members, urinated on the cabin floor and made comments the crew believed were references to Al Qaeda and the Sept. 11 attacks, according to an affidavit filed Thursday. Catherine C. Mayo, 59, of Braintree, Vt., was to appear in federal court later Thursday on a charge of interfering with a flight crew after disrupting United 923 as it flew from London to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday." (08/17/06)

Clearly a very disturbed woman, and very obviously another excuse for cracking down on passengers - the post-Bloody Tuesday joke about placing all passengers in straitjackets for the entire trip (after stripping them naked) is closer than ever.

Mama's Note: I wouldn't be at all surprised if the whole thing could have been prevented if they'd just let her go to to the bathroom when she first needed to. A full bladder makes many women do really strange things, and in certain people, can cause a total lack of control. The obvious answer here is just not to go near an airport until the whole insane mess resolves, one way or another, especially if you have a weak bladder.

WORLD WARS: Bomb plot spurs "new normal" for flying
Christian Science Monitor
"Fly the jittery skies. A week after British intelligence foiled a plot to blow up multiple planes with liquid explosives, security at American airports remains at a heightened level. Passengers and crews are extra vigilant. Even the slightest disturbance is cause for a security alert. In just one 24-hour period, two planes -- one from London to Washington, the other from Fiji to Australia -- were diverted for what turned out to be false security alarms. It's all part of what could be called yet another 'new normal' in US aviation." (08/17/06)

In other words, the temperature has been turned up again on the pot holding the frog - the cooking is nearly done.