Libertarian Commentary on the News for the week of 2 -9 September, 2006 --Page 2

OUR RIGHT TO DEFEND OURSELVES: OH Pols seek to turn parks into victim disarmament zones
Columbus Dispatch
Now that a court has upheld Toledo's ban on guns in parks, Columbus should pass a similar law, Mayor Michael B. Coleman said yesterday. The statement came after a news conference in which Coleman showcased 1,000 guns that had been confiscated this year on Columbus' streets. Police picked up the sawed-off shotguns, AK-47s, Tec-9s and other guns at crime scenes and during traffic stops. Coleman wants officers to be able to arrest anyone carrying a gun in a city park and confiscate the weapon. A court ruling released last week by the 6 th District Court of Appeals in Toledo upheld that city's law banning guns in parks." (09/06/06)

Oh, well, we always have known that Ohio is a rogue state that threatens the liberty of its people and visitors every day.

Mama's Note: We all know that criminals would NEVER hang out in a public park, of course, and anyway all those nice policemen will protect everyone just in case... not. So, it's a real good idea to get out of Ohio anyway, I think. Why would anyone stay there?

OUR RIGHT TO DEFEND OURSELVES: AZ Court rules self-defense law retroactive
KVOA News
"Ruling on a legal issue at play in cases across the state, an appellate court ruled Tuesday that a new law on self defense applied retroactively to pending cases in which alleged crimes had already been committed. Overturning a ruling by a Pima County Superior Court judge, a three-judge Tucson panel of the Arizona Court of Appeals said a murder defendant awaiting trial in a 2004 homicide can cite the new law in his trial. The issue is already pending before the state Supreme Court because of an appeal filed in a Maricopa County case. The same issue is also being appealed in a Coconino County case. The new law, which took effect immediately upon Gov. Janet Napolitano's signature on April 24, is more favorable to defendants than a now-replaced statute." (09/06/06)

Good news indeed -especially since the old law wasn't really constitutional, in my opinion.

Mama's Note: Of course it wasn't, but I would be cautious about this retroactive thing. It could easily be used in a lot of new "laws" that aren't so clearly a good idea. Giving government the power to do this might set us up for worse problems down the line, but that's going to happen anyway...

OUR RIGHT TO DEFEND OURSELVES: GA Would-be victim scares off carjacker
WXIA News
"Cobb County SWAT officers shot and killed a robbery and carjacking suspect early Tuesday evening, after a four-hour-long standoff with the suspect as he sat in someone's back yard in Smyrna. After the suspect allegedly tried to rob the person at the Publix shopping center, at South Cobb Drive and East-West Connector, police say he tried to carjack a man in a car with two children inside. Police say the man in the car fired at the suspect, forcing him to run off, with police in hot pursuit." (09/06/06)

So even though the would-be victim didn't actually hit the carjacker, he protected himself and his children. Cool!

Mama's Note: Two things... The man with the kids in the car needs to learn how to use his weapon, and it's too bad the judge and jury in this little drama turned out to be a "SWAT" team of thugs.

OUR RIGHT TO DEFEND OURSELVES: IN Homeowner shoots teen during robbery
WSBT News
"Police say a Kokomo man who answered his door after midnight found two would-be armed robbers on his porch. But he was armed, too. Police say one teenager is dead and another teen faces surgery after 61-year-old Michael Slonaker shot both suspects. ... Slonaker told police he found two white males with a shotgun and a baseball bat waiting when he answered his door. Police say he fired two shots. Police say Slonaker is licensed to carry a firearm, but he doesn't need a permit to have one in his home." (09/06/06)

Whoa! The cops ADMITTED that he didn't need to have a permit?

OUR RIGHT TO DEFEND OURSELVES: MO Man in critical condition after double shooting
KSHB News
"One man is fighting for his life after being shot in the chest early Wednesday morning in Kansas City, Mo. The other shooter, Mike Jones, was shot in the arm during the shoot-out that sent him to the hospital as well. He spoke to NBC Action News as he was returning home from the hospital and said he fired his gun in self-defense." I guess somebody tried to carjack me and shot through the window and I shot him, that's it," Jones said. Reports indicate that one man came up from behind a van and went right up to his red Chevy Caprice. Shortly after, multiple shots rang out." (09/07/06)

If it is indeed a justified self-defense, he's very lucky, and the man in the hospital has gotten what he deserved for attacking.

Mama's Note: "I guess..." ??? Either it was an attempted carjacking or it wasn't. How would he not know? Something fishy here.

OUR RIGHT TO DEFEND OURSELVES: OH Robed ninnies repeal 2nd Amendment
ABC 13 News
"The city can ban firearms in city parks despite a state law that allows Ohioans to carry hidden guns, a state appeals court ruled on Friday. The 2-1 ruling from the 6th District Court of Appeals could affect other cities that ban concealed handguns in its parks. The court upheld the city's ban because it said the state law gives private property owners the right to ban handguns thus making the state law not a 'general' law." (09/01/06)

Oh, our lovely brain-dead men and women in black robes! What an example of twisted and warped logic.

OUR RIGHT TO DEFEND OURSELVES: SC Gun dealer hits Bloomberg on sting op
New York Sun
"Mayor Bloomberg has been hit with another lawsuit in connection with his campaign to crack down on illegal guns. A South Carolina gun dealer became the second storeowner to sue after Mr. Bloomberg targeted it a few months ago in an undercover sting operation designed to stymie illegal gun sales. The lawsuit, filed in South Carolina, seeks damages and claims that the city smeared the storeowner's reputation. ... For the two gun dealers suing the city for damages ... it was the mayor's original tenor and lack of jurisdiction in their towns that led them to start a legal battle with City Hall. Among other things, the mayor called the 15 dealers 'rogue gun dealers,' 'the worst of the worst,' and 'bad apples.'" (08/31/06)

This little Bloomberg firefight seems to be expanding rather nicely, isn't it? With any luck, he and NYC will get nibbled to death - and it can't come too soon.

Mama's Note: Too bad the taxpayers will get stuck with the bills, no matter how this turns out. Bloomberg is not even apt to lose any sleep over it. The funny part is that so few of the taxpayers even notice...

OUR RIGHT TO DEFEND OURSELVES: UT man shot in self-defense, prosecutors say
ABC News
"He called it self-defense and prosecutors agreed with him. Two weeks ago, Ryan McManigal fired at alleged intruders at his home. He went outside in pursuit and fired more shots. Three stray bullets went into the homes of neighbors. 'I did what I had to do man, got to protect your house,' McManigal told ABC4 News. 'They were going to try and kill me.' This week the Salt Lake District Attorney determined that McManigal was justified in protecting himself." [RRND editor's note: This guy is obviously related to libertarian presidential candidate Kent "Dull Hawk" McManigal -- at the very least spiritually! - TLK] (09/04/06)

I have to admit that I don't know Dull Hawk - he sounds like an L. Neil Smith character. And not one of the good guys, either. He is giving self-defense a bad name.

Mama's Note: Take a look at Kent's website and blog. It's a bit confusing to me. If he means what he says about government in general, it doesn't make sense for him to run for office in it. Sigh... another disconnect.

OUR RIGHT TO DEFEND OURSELVES: WA Man acquitted in fatal shooting
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"A man who insisted that he acted in self-defense when he shot another man to death at the home of a mutual friend has been found innocent on all charges after 17 months in jail. ...Todd was charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of Martin B. Hernandez, 40, at a home in Oroville on March 3, 2005, and Prosecutor Karl F. Sloan asked the jury to find him guilty of first- or second-degree manslaughter if the panel rejected the more serious charge. Instead, facing as much as 23 years in prison if convicted of murder, Todd was found innocent of all charges. ... While in jail with bail set at $100,000, Todd missed the birth of his son Joey, now 11 months old, as well as his first and second wedding anniversaries, but he told the newspaper he was not bitter." (08/31/06)

I find it amazing that he is not bitter - this is a sick example of justice delayed, and of the way that too many prosecutors have turned self-defense into the opening round in a debilitating legal battle. Todd can't regain the lost 17 months, can he?

Mama's Note: How noble... not bitter? I'd like to know why not! I'd be mad as hell and looking for any way possible to sue the pants off those who robbed me of so much of my life.

STOOPID GUVMINT TRICKS: Armitage says he was Plame leaker
New York Post
"The former No. 2 State Department official said Thursday he inadvertently disclosed the identity of CIA employee Valerie Plame in conversations with two reporters in 2003. Confirming that he was the source of a leak that triggered a federal investigation, former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said he never intended to reveal Plame's identity. He apologized for his conversations with syndicated columnist Robert Novak and Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward." (09/07/06)

Kinda of a dull letdown and ending, eh?

Mama's Note: Who the hell cares, especially at this point? Somebody may be interested in the spook goings on in DC, but I'm not one of them. A pox on all their houses.

STOOPID GUVMINT TRICKS: Bush to unveil plans for Gitmo trials
Associated Press
"President Bush pushed Wednesday to resuscitate his plan to subject Guantanamo Bay detainees to special trials, a key policy in his anti-terror strategy that was struck down by the Supreme Court. The White House asked television networks for live coverage of Bush's announcement later Wednesday. The president has said he eventually wants to close the Guantanamo prison, as critics and allies around the world have urged. But White House spokesman Tony Snow said the president was not going to announce any such plan Wednesday. 'We want to bring to justice those who are detained there,' Snow said." (09/06/06)

What baffles me is WHY this business of trying detainees is a "key policy" - there is no legal or moral justification for treating what are essentially EPWs as criminals. This would have been like the Lincoln Administration putting Confederate POWs on trial for "murdering" Union soldiers - even Lincoln didn't go that far. Where is the justice?

Mama's Note: Some people take this "trial" stuff as a backdoor admission that the whole "war" is a sham, which we already knew, of course.

STOOPID GUVMINT TRICKS: Groups demand end to border card plan
Detroit Free Press
"Privacy watchdog groups demanded on Thursday the federal government abandon its plan to issue border pass cards, saying personal information could be remotely stolen from them. Representatives from Citizens Against Government Waste, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Cato Institute, a Libertarian think tank, said border cards embedded with radio frequency identification, or RFID, technology would threaten cardholders' privacy and result in more travel document forgeries." (09/08/06)

I do hope and wish that these folks succeed, but we are very unlikely to see any change, regardless of who is in Congress or the White House.

Mama's Note: Ah yes, a whole new industry for the entrepreneurs on the other side of the border. I wonder just how long it will take for these "cards" to be faked and useless anyway. Want to make a bet?

STOOPID GUVMINT TRICKS: House to vote on horse slaughter ban
Fox News
"The House is once again confronting the slaughter of horses for meat, a practice lawmakers thought they had ended last year. Congress voted in 2005 to stop horse slaughter. But they didn't ban it outright -- lawmakers yanked the salaries and expenses of federal inspectors. In response, the Bush administration simply started charging slaughter plants for inspections. A vote was planned Thursday on whether to put an end to horse slaughter. Critics call the industry un-American." [Editor's note: Er, no ... having the government decide which livestock can be killed and which can only be entered in rodeos is what's "un-American" - TLK] (09/07/06)

Of all the stupid actions to waste time on. I got to listen to a hysterical young girl's testimony about how her pet horse was stolen and turned into sauerbraten for the European market - as if MORE laws would make it any more illegal to steal a horse. Government has no business stating that some animals and not others are fair fare - but this is one more step to PETA making ALL meat illegal. And to revolution against an imperial government which thinks it has a right to dictate every aspect of life.

Mama's Note: So, now all the old, broken down and injured horses that otherwise would have been humanely put down will be shipped to either Canada or Mexico for processing. This won't help the horses, and will seriously increase the price of horsemeat - one of the best foods for show and working dogs. It won't stop the slaughter of horses much, but will terribly increase their suffering. Good job, Congress/PETA... you really know how to help animals.

STOOPID GUVMINT TRICKS: IL Ryan sentenced in graft case
Belleville News-Democrat
"Former Gov. George Ryan, who gained international fame as a critic of the death penalty, was sentenced Wednesday to 6 1/2 years in federal prison for steering big-money state contracts to political insiders, using tax dollars for his campaign and covering up corruption. ... Ryan was convicted April 18 of racketeering, mail fraud, tax fraud, filing false tax returns and lying to FBI agents. Convicted along with him was businessman Larry Warner, who was sentenced to just under 3 1/2 years. The sentencing capped an eight-year federal investigation of drivers license selling and other corruption in state government in the Ryan era that has seen 79 individuals charged and 75 convicted." (09/06/06)

It sounds like the Belleville birdcage-liner thinks Ryan's crimes should be ignored because he opposes the death penalty. A lot of people believe that Ryan's crimes, in a decent society, would WARRANT the death penalty: not the lying to FBI agents (that is possibly even a mitigating action) or the tax fraud, but the general corruption charges and the way he basically led a gang of corrupt officials.

STOOPID GUVMINT TRICKS: MA Romney bars state security for Khatami visit
Boston Globe
"Governor Mitt Romney declared yesterday he would not allow any state resources to be used to protect a former Iranian president during his visit to the Boston area this weekend, and he sharply criticized Harvard University for inviting Mohammed Khatami to speak on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 'There are people in this state who have suffered from terrorism, and taking even a dollar of their money to support a terrorist is unacceptable,' Romney, a potential candidate for the Republican Party's 2008 presidential nomination, said in a telephone interview yesterday. Romney said that he expected the State Department at a meeting scheduled for today to request a State Police escort and other traffic services, but that he had called yesterday to inform them that no such services would be provided." (09/06/06)

A wise action - too bad it isn't an across-the-board refusal to allow state resources to be used to protect ANY former government leader or ex-politician.

Mama's Note: As long as Khatami's private body guards are not disarmed, he's probably a whole lot safer without the "official" nonsense. Might just set a precedent, who knows. The right decision for the wrong reason, naturally.

STOOPID GUVMINT TRICKS: Military manual bans torture of prisoners
MSNBC
"A new Army manual bans torture and degrading treatment of prisoners, for the first time specifically mentioning forced nakedness, hooding and other procedures that have become infamous during the five-year-old war on terror. Delayed more than a year amid criticism of the Defense Department's treatment of prisoners, the new Army Field Manual was being released Wednesday, revising one from 1992." (09/06/06)

Of course, the OLD manual also prohibited torture and degrading treatment - it just didn't list specific actions that have been used by thuggish barracks lawyers to get around the clear intent and to smear the honor of the service and their comrades. People who abuse prisoners should be considered as the same sort of scum who abuse children.

Mama's Note: Got to spell it out, dear. One man's "torture and degrading treatment" are someone else's fun and games. I suspect, however, that those who want to play the games won't bother to read the book.

STOOPID GUVMINT TRICKS: NY Thugs abduct gambling entrepreneur at airport
Independent [UK]
"Online gambling stocks took a hammering yesterday after US authorities arrested a second internet gambling director, Sportingbet's chairman Peter Dicks, amid a crackdown on what they regard as an illegal activity. The 64-year-old Briton was held on internet gambling charges at New York's John F Kennedy International Airport late on Wednesday as part of an ongoing investigation into Sportingbet." (09/08/06)

As we've said often enough, the government thugs hate competition - especially successful competition.

STOOPID GUVMINT TRICKS: Senate rejects limits on cluster bombs
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"The Senate on Wednesday rejected a move by Democrats to stop the Pentagon from using cluster bombs near civilian targets and to cut off sales unless purchasers abide by the same rules. On a 70-30 vote, the Senate defeated an amendment to a Pentagon budget bill to block use of the deadly munitions near populated areas. The vote came after the State Department announced last month that it is investigating whether Israel misused American-made cluster bombs in civilian areas of Lebanon." (09/06/06)

This is akin to Congress passing a law that prohibits to use of #5 irons on golf-courses near convenience stores - or the whole series of stupid laws and court decisions that still pretend to allow executions for certain crimes but outlaw hanging, firing squads, and certain drugs. It exhibits to all the stupidity of actions dictated by the latest polls and hysterical headlines in the NY Times. It is the international equivalent of gun laws which would limit homeowners to only .22-cal weapons or only a single-shot weapon, for fear that someone other than the criminal invader might get hit.

Mama's Note: Again, the object is just a tool like any other - even if nastier than most. The real question is the integrity of the people using such things and the reason they use them. The tool is only a problem when the people using it are the aggressors. The same thing can be said for a hammer or a screwdriver. Someone is just as dead if killed with a rock or a nuclear blast.

STOOPID GUVMINT TRICKS: Stadium boondoggle divides Brooklyn residents
NewsDay
"A state senator stood up and endorsed a development project that includes a new arena for the New Jersey Nets. He was shouted down by a woman who opposes the plan. The woman was immediately engulfed in boos and jeers by a crowd including construction workers, affordable housing advocates and teenagers wearing NBA jerseys. It was just one of many heated encounters at a recent hearing on the project that dragged on for seven hours. Supporters say the hearing illustrated the breadth of an extraordinary local coalition in favor of the plan -- a group that believes the poor and middle class will benefit through jobs and affordable housing promised by the developer. But for opponents, the hearing was indicative of what they believe is a stage-managed public review process." [Editor's note: And the article doesn't even hit on the land theft ("eminent domain") threats and the nearly $2 billion in known taxpayer subsidies attached to the project - TLK] (09/04/06)

Does this sound just a little bit like Washington DC and the new baseball stadium? As Tom points out, there is even more to this - and it is all nasty.

STOOPID GUVMINT TRICKS: TN Report says Metro shouldn't build broadband
Tennessean
"The task force that was asked to review whether Nashville ought to build a city-owned broadband communication network has rejected that idea for now. Councilman at-large David Briley of Inglewood proposed last year that the city consider building such a network to carry cable, Internet and phone service. Under his proposal, the city would make broadband available to all Nashville households, much like it now makes water available. In a report issued this week, that idea was sidelined by the city task force set up to evaluate the idea, the Task Force on Telecommunications Innovation. 'There was a consensus that Metro shouldn't build it, but that we should consider any requests from the private sector for incentives in order for them to accomplish the goal,' said Briley, who also had proposed the task force." (09/02/06)

Has Davison County balked at the next step of socialism? Maybe, but let's wait and see - after all, they don't have to accept this task force recommendation, do they? In some cities, this step has already been taken - cities that run virtually ALL utilities, including internet, medical services, even liquor stores and wholesale liquor.

STOOPID GUVMINT TRICKS: UT Polygamist leader appears in court
Forbes
"Looking pale and gaunt in a green-striped jail uniform, polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs made his first appearance in a Utah court via closed-circuit TV Wednesday on charges he arranged a marriage between an underage girl and an older man. Jeffs, 50, is charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice. The charges carry up to life in prison. He is being held in the Purgatory Correctional Facility in nearby Hurricane." [Editor's note: I've heard a number of horror story's about Jeffs's sect ... but apparently all the prosecutors could come up with was a shaky accessory to statutory rape case. This guy was on the FBI's "most wanted" list -- but they haven't bothered to indict Osama bin Laden for 9/11 yet! - TLK] (09/06/06)

Of course, Jeffs has ALWAYS looked pale and gaunt, in every photo I've ever seen of him. As Tom points out, the behavior of the government is really flaky in this case.

STOOPID PEOPLE TRICKS: Antiwar message travels from Texas to DC
Washington Post
"The antiwar activists who picketed near the president's ranch this summer traded dusty Texas for soggy Washington yesterday, when they set up camp near the White House to continue their vigil. ... Richardson and about 100 other military family members, veterans and peace activists kicked off a 17-day demonstration called 'Camp Democracy' yesterday. With piles of military boots to represent slain soldiers and banners calling for an end to the war as their backdrop, they rallied in the pouring rain and stayed throughout the day's relentless drizzle. Camp Democracy, a spinoff from Camp Casey in Crawford, Tex., started by antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan, will feature a series of speeches, lectures and discussions under white tents pitched on the Mall at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW." (09/06/06)

More power to them - but do they really believe that their efforts will cause any change at all?

STOOPID PEOPLE TRICKS: Facebook loses face over force-fed updates
News.Com
"Facebook, the social networking site popular among college students, launched several new features this week to greet students coming back to school. But for many, the changes went over about as well as an 8 a.m. calculus class. Among the new features was a newsfeed service that shows users whenever someone in their network makes a change. Users can know instantly, for instance, when people 'friend' each other, when people add photos, or when new members join their network. The feature also allows users to instantly see all recent changes to a friend's site. User reaction was swift; thousands of users formed protest groups on the site, dubbing the new feature stalkerish and saying it was serious invasion of their privacy. Turning the computer off and speaking to your friends in person, an almost fail-safe way to maintain your privacy, is apparently not an option for Facebook users." (09/06/06)

Duh. The logic of these addicts is pretty bizarre - they have already essentially given their privacy away.

STOOPID PEOPLE TRICKS: HP investigators hacked reporters' phone data
MSNBC
"In an effort to track down the source of information leaks by Hewlett-Packard Co. insiders, private investigators working for the company obtained reporters' telephone records without permission, the company told MSNBC.com on Thursday. The reporters' records were accessed as part of a private investigation into news leaks that was initiated by company Chairwoman Patricia Dunn. The investigators got the records by impersonating journalists from the Wall Street Journal, CNET.com and other news organizations in a practice known as 'pretexting,' the company said." (09/07/06)

It isn't just government that wants to know everything about you, folks.

Mama's Note: Yeah, but the corporate snoops can't usually show up at your house and steal everything while you're not home, or put a gun in your face and make you give it to them... they have to be a lot more sneaky.

STOOPID PEOPLE TRICKS: Jigsaw, Not a company that follows standards
San Francisco Chronicle
"With his perfectly shaved head, Jim Fowler looks like Mr. Clean. But don't be fooled. The CEO of San Mateo's Jigsaw Data Corp. prefers to liken himself to another famous cue ball: Dr. Evil. In taking on the identity of Austin Powers' archenemy, Fowler is riffing on the reputation he's gaining online as a man willing to knock down established social mores, while showing what critics say is an utter disregard for people's privacy. The furor is over Jigsaw's system of encouraging people to enter business contacts into an easily accessible Web database. Sign up at the site, www.jigsaw.com, and you can get points for entering the contents of your Rolodex. You can even sell those points for money." (09/05/06)

Anyone who participates in this deserves everything they will get - and will soon have little or nothing: if not due to identify theft, then because their former friends and business associates will skin them alive. Like websites that collect social security numbers (yes, really), this is a cutesy little scam that is going to be cause for tears.

Medical and Tech Issues: Permanent artificial heart gets FDA's approval
USA Today
"The first fully implantable, permanent artificial heart won limited government approval Tuesday, marking a historic milestone in the nearly 25-year quest to develop a replacement human heart. Rebuffing its scientific advisers who voted 7-6 against approving the device, the Food and Drug Administration ruled that the AbioCor heart, made by AbioMed Inc., can be used, but only in patients who are too old or sick for a transplant." (09/05/06)

I think that this is good news - but too much remains to be seen, and I am not sure what will happen.

Mama's Note: Oh goodie! Another way to torture the very old and sick, while stealing millions of dollars more from taxpayers. What do they have scientists for if they don't listen to them? 6 out of 7 don't think it's a good idea!!

Medical and Tech Issues: South Korea to resume US beef imports
Korea Times
"Korea will be allowing United States beef back on to the dinner tables of Korean consumers as early as October, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry yesterday. Seoul has maintained a ban on imports of American beef since December 2003, following reports that cattle in the U.S. were infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), better known as mad cow disease. If all goes well from now on, U.S. beef will be landing at Korean ports for the first time in just over two years." (09/08/06)

First Japan and now Korea. This may be good news for US ranchers. But it also shows how it is not just American governments that panic over things.

Medical and Tech Issues: UK Womb transplants could be two years away
Times Online [UK]
"Womb transplants may be possible within two years, giving hope to women unable to have children, doctors claimed yesterday. London-based researchers, working with medical teams in New York and Budapest, have developed a technique for providing a transplanted womb with a reliable blood supply. Women born without a uterus or who have undergone an emergency hysterectomy would be among those to benefit from the procedure. The transplant would be temporary, doctors being reluctant to continue giving a patient drugs to help the body to fight rejection of the womb. That could leave the woman two to three years to conceive and carry a baby or babies before the womb was removed." (09/05/06)

This is a bizarre use of medical research money - akin to building the world's tallest building "just because we can." As long as it is someone else's money (not stolen from people, I mean) - that is fine. If tax money has been used for this, that is sick. That said, I wonder exactly what impact that will have on the developing child? Since (presumably) the child's genetic make-up comes from the recipient and NOT from the donor, will there be an incompatibility problem?

Mama's Note: The incompatibility won't be due to the new "womb," but the drugs used to stop the rejection of the thing. This will pose terrible dangers to the fetus, if indeed they can get one to gestate in such a monster creation. They need to stop murdering all of the perfectly healthy infants that are aborted each year and let these people adopt them. That's the only thing that makes any sense at all... so of course, nobody wants to go there.

Medical and Tech Issues: Farmers' Crops Take to Strong Drink
The Hindustan Times (India)
In some villages in Adilabad and Karimnagar districts, farmers are experimenting with cheap liquor on crops. And the results are encouraging, they say with all the seriousness of scientists in lab coats. The farmers turned to the bottle when the use of spurious pesticides led to crop failure. Liquor treatment is cost-effective too. A litre of cheap booze costs a little over Rs 100 and is enough to spray on two acres. Pesticides for the same area will cost the farmers RS 3,000-4,000.

I think we shall try this method ourselves next year - and hope we can find some people to do so on an agricultural scale - not just a garden scale.

Mama's Note: I have an even cheaper solution! I use common rubbing alcohol for fly spray, and for most insects on my house plants. It doesn't hurt the plant, and it kills everything but spiders and ants, so far. I've used it out in the main garden too at times. It really wipes out aphids on roses, etc. Use rubbing alcohol, and save the sippin' stuff for better things. :) I'll branch out into the larger garden here in Wyoming next year. We may just have figured out what to do with all the methanol that won't be needed when the price of "real gas" drops.

WAR ON SOME DRUGS: Aussie pols appeal Bali state murder plan
The Australian [Australia]
"A federal parliamentary group will appeal to the Indonesian embassy to spare the lives of Australians on death row in Bali. Senior Liberal backbencher Bruce Baird, who is chairman of the Amnesty International parliamentary group, said today Australia should not sit back and accept the death penalties on members of the Bali Nine. ... On appeals, the Indonesia Supreme Court has imposed the death penalty on Scott Rush, 20, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, 23, Si Yi Chen, 21, and Matthew Norman, 19. The four originally had been sentenced to either life imprisonment or 20 years in jail for their role in a heroin smuggling ring. They join Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan, 22, and Myuran Sukumaran, 25, on death row for their role in attempting to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin to Australia last April." (09/07/06)

Aren't the Aussies being hypocritical in this? They decry the drug trade, but they get all weepy over the idea that some of their own will pay for practicing it. Yeah, their opposition to the death penalty is a good excuse - but hardly THAT convincing, since Oz, like other "civilized" nations allows hundreds of their citizens to die each year in various ways as the result of fighting the "War on Some Drugs."

WAR ON SOME DRUGS: CA Students busted for pot brownies
San Francisco Chronicle
"Two UC Berkeley students and a recent university graduate were arrested today on drug charges in connection with a batch of marijuana-laced cookies that sent 13 students from a residential co-op to local hospitals. Carmen Anderson, 21, and Michael Tobias, 24, both students, and UC Berkeley graduate Christopher Portka, 23, who is Anderson's boyfriend, were taken into custody at about 7 a.m. at the Cloyne Court co-op at 2600 Ridge Road just one block north of the campus, police said. ... Anderson and Portka each were arrested on 12 counts of furnishing marijuana, possession of more than one ounce of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of psilocybin -- also known as hallucinogenic mushrooms -- and possession of the prescription painkiller OxyContin. All are felonies, said UC Berkeley police Det. Jason Collom." [RRND Editor's note: Raising the BS flag here. The next time a brownie sends someone to the hospital because it's laced with marijuana will be the FIRST time a brownie sends someone to the hospital because it's laced with marijuana. Either there was something else in the brownies, or what the 13 students were suffering from was irrational paranoia of the type spread by contact with the Partnership for a Drug-Free America - TLK] (09/07/06)

What stupid people! Of course, stupidity isn't just one-sided in this little morality tale.

WAR ON SOME DRUGS: Drug abuse up among boomers, down among teens
Fox News
"Some moms and dads might want to take a lesson from their kids: Just say no. The government reported Thursday that 4.4 percent of baby boomers ages 50 to 59 indicated that they had used illicit drugs in the past month. It marks the third consecutive yearly increase recorded for that age group by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Meanwhile, illicit drug use among young teens went down for the third consecutive year -- from 11.6 percent in 2002 to 9.9 percent in 2005. 'Rarely have we seen a story like this where this is such an obvious contrast as one generation goes off stage right, and entering stage left is a generation that learned a lesson somehow and they're doing something very different,' said David Murray, special assistant to the director for the Office of National Drug Control Policy." [Editor's note: So they HAVE managed to "scare straight" the kids, but the adults continue to "self-medicate" ... This is news? - SAT] (09/07/06)

Guys, come on - think! When were all these 50-59 year olds in their teens and college (salad) days - during the peak of the hippie and free love and cheap pot era! And speaking of cheap pot.

WAR ON SOME DRUGS: PotFarms Ravaging Parkland
San Francisco Chronicle
The discovery of 22,740 marijuana plants growing in and around Point Reyes National Seashore last week wasn't only the biggest pot seizure ever made in Marin County. It was an environmental mess that will take several months and tens of thousands of dollars to clean up. The crops seized on the steep hillsides overlooking Highway 1 were planted by sophisticated growers who cleared vegetation, terraced land, drew water from streams through miles of irrigation hoses and doused acres of land with hundreds of pounds of fertilizer and pesticides. So far this year, authorities have found more than 940,000 marijuana plants growing on state and federal land in the Golden State. With the harvest season beginning, officials expect to find more pot farms and surpass last year's haul of 1.1 million plants.

Ah, the tragedy of the commons. What kind of neglect would allow these people to plant nearly 23 THOUSAND plants and do all that work? None, except that probably the NPS had people either involved or paid off. Supposedly this is being done by Mexican drug cartels using illegal immigrants who live (and hunt) on site. This area is a common recreational backyard for San Francisco and is within walking distance of the Marin cities - it is hard to believe that thousands of people didn't know about this. I was amused that the internet version of this article included ads for staying at Point Reyes and buying "organic farms" in West Virginia!

WORLD WARS: 3 indicted in military secrets case
Philadelphia Inquirer
"Three men accused of trying to obtain secret defense information and stolen military equipment to send to Yemen were indicted Thursday, federal prosecutors said. The men, all born in Yemen but now U.S. citizens, face conspiracy charges. 'The fact that they were seeking to acquire information and send it to a foreign country is very serious,' said Carl Faller, an assistant U.S. attorney in Fresno. 'We've interrupted a group that was very interested in buying information and military items.'" (09/07/06)

And even with this kind of thing going on, we are spending hundreds of millions on searching the shoes and diaper bags of little old ladies and young mothers at airports, for fear of racial profiling. All in all, it indicates that the powers that be do NOT consider terrorism to be a significant threat - merely an excuse to gain more power and exercise more control.

WORLD WARS: Al-Jazeera airs pre-9/11 bin Laden tape
Washington Examiner
"Al-Jazeera broadcast Thursday a previously unshown video of the preparations for the Sept. 11 attacks, in which al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden is seen meeting with some of the planners in an Afghan mountain camp. The station said that bin Laden also is shown greeting some of the hijackers, although their faces were not clear and it was not immediately known which are purportedly shown." (09/07/06)

You wonder how many more hundreds of hours of video tape or DVD recordings are hiding around, waiting to be presented at just the right time.

WORLD WARS: Bush admits existence of CIA gulag
BBC News [UK]
"President Bush has acknowledged the existence of secret CIA prisons and said 14 key terrorist suspects have now been sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The suspects, who include the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, have now been moved out of CIA custody and will face trial. Mr. Bush said the CIA's interrogation programme had been 'vital' in saving lives, but denied the use of torture. He said all suspects will be afforded protection under the Geneva Convention." (09/06/06)

Is this really news? Assuming the Geneva Conventions are really being followed, I guess so - the administration has been very reluctant to accept the responsibility for obeying the law.

WORLD WARS: Canada, Orthodox Jew forced off plane for praying
Jerusalem Post
"An Orthodox Jewish man was removed from an Air Canada Jazz flight in Montreal last week for praying, the Canadian Broadcast Corporation reported on Wednesday. The man was a passenger on a Sept. 1 flight from Montreal to New York City when the incident occurred. The airplane was heading towards the runway at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport when eyewitnesses said the Orthodox man began to pray. 'He was clearly a Hasidic Jew,' said Yves Faguy, a passenger seated nearby. "He had some sort of cover over his head. He was reading from a book. He wasn't exactly praying out loud but he was lurching back and forth,' Faguy told the CBC. The action didn't seem to bother anyone, Faguy said, but a flight attendant approached the man and told him his praying was making other passengers nervous." (09/05/06)

Oh the stupidity of panic over the supposed security of aircraft. As usual, the airline employee blames someone else for their panic reaction - just as airlines blamed the fedgov for years for demanding ID - a tactic used to keep people from sharing plane tickets.

WORLD WARS: European watchdog calls for clampdown on CIA
Guardian [UK]
"The head of Europe's human rights watchdog yesterday called for monitoring of CIA agents operating in Britain and other European countries, after President George Bush's admission that the US had detained terrorist suspects in secret prisons. .... The former British Labour MP was scathing about President Bush. "Why does the US need to keep people in secret prisons? I thought that was settled by Magna Carta. But King John is alive and well and running the USA. There is a smoking gun. We know where it is - it is in the hands of George Bush. His fingerprints are on the gun." (09/07/06)

The Brit has a lot to answer for himself - him, his party, and his nation. None of that would be possible if the European nations didn't cooperate to the hilt with the USGov.

WORLD WARS: India, Blast kills up to 35
Reuters
"Thirty-five people were feared killed in a series of explosions on Friday in a town in Malegaon town of Maharashtra, TV reports said. Three blasts, including two at a Muslim burial ground, took place in Malegaon, 260 km northeast of Mumbai, India's financial hub, its mayor Asif Sheikh told Times Now TV. He said 35 people were dead, including many children. About 50 were injured, he added. In New Delhi, minister of state for home Sriprakash Jaiswal told reporters he had reports of 27 deaths and an equal number injured." (09/08/06)

As I pointed out in my comments on the Middle East stories this week, there are no evil western occupation troops in Maharashta State in India - but this sounds just like Iraq or Afghanistan, doesn't it?

WORLD WARS: Islamic Regimes Defy UN
CNS News.com
The United Nations is facing two major instances of defiance from Islamic regimes, and it shows little willingness to act collectively against either. Within weeks, a cash-strapped and overstretched African Union (A.U.) peacekeeping force in Sudan's Darfur region is due to depart, handing over its mission to a U.N. Force that is three times larger and mandated to protect civilians caught in the fighting. But Khartoum's Islamist government repeatedly has rejected the idea of a U.N. Force

The other regime is, of course, Iran (see related stories above). The UN is, of course, as broken and evil as either the Iran or Sudan regimes. We hear little or nothing about Sudan, where a quarter-million people have died in three and a half years - which makes the free-for-all in Iraq look puny and peaceful by comparison, and for about the same period of time. (Depending on whom you believe, about 40,000 civilians and perhaps 5,000 troops on all sides have died in the Iraqi occupation.) Why? Perhaps because the US generally isn't blamed for the Islamic-inspired war which is killing and enslaving mostly animist and "Christian" natives. Sudan, once a primarily "Christian" country was mostly overrun by Muslims about five hundred years ago, as Egypt had been a half-millenium before. Of course, perhaps we CAN blame the United States because our own incomplete revolution and all too successful counterrevolution has meant that we Americans were unable to spread liberty as well as freedom to dark parts of the world.