Libertarian Commentary on the News for 26 NOV - 2 DEC --Page 2

Our Right to Defend Ourselves and Local Tyranny:
GA: Activists say stop no-knock warrants
11 Alive
"Community activists said 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston was probably scared and thought criminals were breaking into her home Tuesday night when she opened fire on three Atlanta police officers. Earlier that day, an undercover police bought drugs from a man inside the house. That night three returned to execute a no knock warrant, which means they don't have to announce themselves before entering the house. Atlanta police say they did announce themselves when they were opening Johnston's door but say she fired upon them immediately striking all three. None of the officers received life threatening injuries, but Johnston was killed by the officers. Friday, community activists called on the police chief to halt the use of no knock warrants until the investigation is complete." (11/24/06)

At this point I have to question just how many people lied on the affidavits to get that warrant. And as I said last week, we ALL know how the jackbooted thugs announce themselves: screaming as they burst in the doors. Not any different than the typical home invader. I just wish she could have taken these three murderous scumbags with her.

Mama's Note: Now, let's see... These raids are done to stop people from selling or even using some drugs - or other presumably "dangerous" activities. I'd like to see the statistics (not really available, of course) on just how many people are actually killed by these drugs or other activities... and how many are killed by the raids, including those who actually have nothing to do with the things in question. I suspect many more are killed by police than by drugs or "illegal guns."

Our Right to Defend Ourselves:
Professor who had gun in airport cleared
Miami Herald
"A federal magistrate acquitted an Ohio State University professor charged with attempting to board an aircraft with a loaded handgun. U.S. Magistrate Mark Abel said prosecutors failed to prove Frank Holtzhauer had knowingly brought the weapon to Port Columbus International Airport in July 2005. Holtzhauer told authorities he had placed the firearm in his briefcase for an earlier target practice trip and forgot it was there." (11/25/06)

I am, I admit, very much astonished that this man was let off the hook, considering how many others have been hounded to jail. Of course, it took over 16 months - what kind of justice is that? And you KNOW he won't get his pistol back, any more than any of us will get our fingernail clippers, multitools, or penknives back - to say nothing of 32-ounce soft drinks or those baby bottles filled with formula. Why, oh, why, do we keep putting up with this garbage?

Our Right to Defend Ourselves:
Canada: Gun law unveiled
Calgary Sun
"Innocent until proven guilty will no longer apply to people charged with serious gun crimes, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced yesterday. The Tory PM, flanked by Premier Dalton McGuinty and Toronto Mayor David Miller, said anyone charged with attempted murder, armed robbery, sexual assault with a weapon, kidnapping and extortion while using a gun will have to make the case for their freedom under proposed bail rules. The Criminal Code rules, as they exist now, force the Crown to offer up evidence on why the accused should not be granted bail."This is unacceptable," Harper said. "Our legislation will reverse the onus so that people charged with serious gun crimes will have to demonstrate to the courts why they should not stay in custody until their trial. " (11/24/06)

Too many Canadian gun owners (those that are left) thought that the Tories might have a wee bit of common sense on the self-defense and gun front. I suspect that the Albertan Independence Party are reevaluating just how quickly they can push their effort through, with things like this.

Mama's Note: Actually, the person who attempts to do any of those things should face the immediate threat of death or serious injury at the hands of their intended victim or others nearby. We know that if even a good part of the general population was seriously armed, these kinds of crime would become incredibly rare.

Our Right to Defend Ourselves:
Groups push for gun rights in national parks
Great Falls Tribune
"Gun rights groups are making a final push to get the gun ban in national parks lifted before control of the U.S. Congress officially passes into Democrats' hands in January. Sen. George Allen, R-Va., introduced legislation on Nov. 16 that would allow citizens to bring firearms into all 390 national park sites in compliance with federal law and state regulations in which the parks are located. The law does not differentiate between parks in urban areas, like the Gateway Arch in downtown St. Louis, and those in remote areas, like Glacier National Park in Montana." [Editor's note: Good! I was appalled the last time I visited the Arch to see an unconstitutional federal "no firearms" sign ... right behind the statue of Thomas Jefferson! - TLK] (11/24/06)

Of course, a lot of people just ignore them - who in their right mind goes into Glacier NP or even Rocky Mountain National Park believing that bears will respect you for not carrying? Fortunately, in most places, the NPS rangers also ignore the presence, unless someone rubs their nose in it - but that just isn't right. If nothing else, consider the symbolism of being told you have to disarm yourself to visit Cemetery Ridge or Little Round Top on Gettysburg Battlefield, or Benteen Hill on Greasy Grass (Little Bighorn) Battlefield.

Our Right to Defend Ourselves:
TX: Armed store owner fights off two suspects
KHOU News
"An armed store owner fought off two robbery suspects Thursday night, possibly shooting one of them, authorities said. The incident happened at around 10 p.m. when the owner of the Silver Bell food store was leaving the business at Mount Houston and Northpost. As the store owner was getting into his car, a man came at him and tried to take cash from the store. The store owner pulled out his gun and fired shots at the suspect." (11/24/06)

Are we starting to get to the point (finally, again) where "armed store owner" is repetitious? I sure hope so - NO shop owner these days, unless maybe in Hardyville (Claire Wolf's home) should go unarmed - and in Hardyville, that is considered public nudity - not illegal, but certainly publicly condemned.

Our Right to Defend Ourselves:
CA: Victim kills one home invader
KCRA News
"Police are seeking the public's help in identifying a second person wanted in connection with a fatal home invasion robbery that took place in Sacramento. Detectives said two armed assailants attempted a home invasion robbery at a residence on the 2300 block of 32nd Avenue at 1:40 p.m. on Nov. 14. During the robbery, one of the robbers severely beat the victim in the head with a gun. Police said the victim was able to break free from his attackers, obtain a gun and shoot at the intruders. One of the robbers, 36-year-old James Robinson, was shot and killed." (11/24/06)

Good.

Mama's Note: I suspect he would not have been injured if he'd been carrying his gun to start with. He was lucky to be able to "obtain" it instead of being beaten to death first. This was good luck, not a good example of armed self defense.

I now carry a gun ALL the time, except in bed (too lumpy), but it is near to hand. Someone asked me what kind of chance I thought I'd have to use it if attacked. I asked her just what kind of chance I'd have to LIVE if I didn't carry it. Having the gun doesn't guarantee me success defending myself, of course. It simply guarantees that I have SOME chance, and the better I train with it, the better that chance becomes.

Our Right to Defend Ourselves:
OH: Clerk, robber have shoot-out
1290WHIO
"A robber gets more than he bargained for at a Dayton convenience store. The thief walked into the Express Market on Necco Avenue last night with a gun. Instead of giving him cash, the clerk whipped out his own pistol and the two shot at each other. Officers followed a blood trial over to Kings Mill Court where they found the suspect shot in the shoulder. The clerk wasn't hit." (11/27/06)

Well, a clerk that can shoot. Good!

Our Right to Defend Ourselves:
MN: 73 year old man kills home invader
Minneapolis Star Tribune
"A man who kicked his way into a home in Coon Rapids was shot and killed by the 73-year-old homeowner late Monday night, according to reports. The homeowner told police that the suspect, and a perhaps a companion, kicked in his rear garage door in the 11700 block of Bittersweet Street at around 11 p.m., according to reports. The man told police he shot and killed the intruder with a rifle. Police said the homeowner heard people talking and believes there was a second suspect who escaped." (11/28/06)

With a rifle? Whew - much better to have a pistol, but at least this worked.

Mama's Note: Yes, he was lucky to be able to get to the rifle. I have a rifle, a shotgun and a revolver. The only one I can have on or near me all the time is the handgun. It doesn't matter if you have rooms full of guns. Unless you can put your hand on one of them in a few seconds, they're no good to you in an attack. Emergencies happen FAST.

Our Right to Defend Ourselves:
WA: Home invasion investigated
KPTV News
"Officers said the homeowner surprised two burglars inside his home on Northeast Benton Drive around 7 p.m. The homeowner told authorities that he confronted the burglars and he exchanged gunfire with the two men. There were no injuries reported. The men fled the scene and left in a newer model gray SUV-type vehicle, according to police. Police said it is unknown how many shots were fired, if the two men were hit or who shot first." (11/28/06)

What does it matter who shot first? These thugs went inside his house, it was dark, and he had a right to defend himself.

Our Right to Defend Ourselves:
FL: Real gun trumps fake
Miami Herald
"A robber used a lighter resembling a pistol to steal a man's wallet -- only to be shot by his victim, who was armed with a gun that was real. Delbert Leroy Wells, 40, the would-be robber, lingered for two weeks at Jackson Memorial Hospital before succumbing to his wounds on Thanksgiving Day. On Nov. 8, Miami police say, Wells was driving a white Dodge when he pulled up to the car of Patrick Laguerre on Northwest 75th Street and North Miami Avenue at about 12:20 a.m. He asked for directions. As Laguerre was responding, Wells pulled out a nickel-plated lighter made to look like a gun. Laguerre gave him some loose dollars, 'but [Wells] wanted more,' according to a police report. Wells searched his pockets, fished through his wallet and got back into his own car. But the wallet was empty. Wells 'became irate, aiming the handgun at the victim, stated he was going to shoot,' the police report said. Laguerre took cover back in his own car, grabbed his own handgun and squeezed off three to four rounds." (11/27/06)

Ah, aren't we indeed fortunate that most crooks are so stupid - and that they are so gullible not to think that more and more of the people they try to rob or mug are armed!

Mama's Note: I almost sprayed my keyboard with coffee laughing at this one. Stupid crooks are good news for the rest of us. Just glad I missed the keyboard!

Our Right to Defend Ourselves:
NC: Cabbie shoots robber
WSCO News
"Homicide detectives are combing the scene of a deadly overnight shooting in west Charlotte. Police say a cab driver shot and killed a man who robbed him around 3 a.m. Wednesday on Columbus Circle. Investigators say the driver called for help over his radio, but before help arrived, the two men started fighting and the cab driver fired a shot. The robber was pronounced dead at the scene." (11/29/06)

Sounds like self-defense to me.

Our Right to Defend Ourselves:
NM: Suspected home invader shot, killed
KOBTV News
"A late-night shooting in the Four Hills area of Albuquerque left one person dead and a homeowner shaken. Police say the homeowner called 911 about 11:30 Saturday night. Albuquerque Police Department spokesperson Trish Hoffman says the homeowner woke up to sounds inside his house, discovered a burglar and shot the intruder. The intruder died at the scene. Detectives haven't released whether the intruder was armed. Detectives are investigating the scene as a homicide, but say it's possible the homeowner won't be charged because it may be a justifiable homicide." (11/26/06)

To me, an invader in your home at night is grounds for justifiable homicide, a position clearly stated in the Old Testament law. He didn't know whether the scumbag was armed or not, and that should have no bearing on the case.

Our Right to Defend Ourselves:
PA: Facing gun, merchant shoots 3
Philadelphia Inquirer
"It was clear to John Lee that the four guys who came into his East Germantown deli Saturday night would not be paying customers. 'They all had their hoodies pulled tight, and it wasn't a cold night,' said Lee, 48, owner of the Chelten Market at Chelten Avenue and Musgrave Street. 'I said, 'You need to take off your hoodies,' then one of them came around the counter with his gun drawn, so I shot them.' Lee fired five rounds from his .38-caliber revolver, striking three of the bandits and rupturing a water line, police said. The gunman dropped his loaded 9mm pistol as he and his wounded partners fled the store. Lee found a fourth would-be robber -- who had not been shot -- hiding in the rear of the store. 'He had a BB gun on him, so I took it,' Lee said. 'Then I beat him up and took his boots and called police.'" (11/27/06)

Well, this was a pretty good tale until we got to the part about beating the scumbag up and stealing his boots. Weapons taken in honorable combat from attackers is one thing, but stealing the guy's boots is another. If it was temporarily taking them to make him walk barefoot to the police station or courthouse that is one thing - but not stealing. (PS: No, I think being ordered to take off your hoodie is bad manners, but not quite justification for trying to shoot a guy - it doesn't justify self-defense unless removing the hoodie will cause you to freeze to death.)

Our Right to Defend Ourselves:
TX: Homeowner shoots invader who flees with cash
Houston Chronicle
"The homeowner fired several shots at the masked gunman when the suspect fled on foot after taking money from the homeowner and two female family members, said Montgomery County Sheriff's officials. The aggravated robbery happened about 12:30 a.m in the 19000 block of Laurette Drive. The suspect confronted the homeowner outside the home and demanded money. The suspect then forced the 61-year-old homeowner inside the house and demanded money from the other two women, ages 59 and 38, police said. Investigators believe at least one bullet from the homeowner's pistol struck the suspect because he left a trail of blood, sheriff's spokesman Lt. Dan Norris said." (11/29/06)

This isn't exactly the Inner City, here, folks, but this kind of thing happens more and more, and demands that people be prepared, just as these apparently were.

Mama's Note: Big problem with this one, folks. The homeowner was justified in shooting during the attack, not at the fleeing robbers. He made his choice to give them the money. The only justified use of deadly force is in the face of immediate danger of death or great bodily harm, not against someone who is running away.

Our Right to Defend Ourselves:
NY: Shotgun blasts stop home invasion
Middletown Times Record
"An old farmhouse in a residential part of the Town of Newburgh near Orange Lake was the scene of a wild home invasion in which ski-masked intruders were turned back by shotgun blasts that ripped through walls and panicked neighbors. Police were called to 706 Gardnertown Road Monday night around 8 p.m. in response to reports of gunfire. The owners of the house, a couple in their 20s, said at least three men, possibly Hispanic or light-skinned blacks, burst through their backdoor, pistols drawn. One gunman held the man to the ground, while the others headed upstairs, where the couple's tenant rents a room. The tenant grabbed a shotgun and fired several times, police said, narrowly missing his landlord. It is unknown if any of the intruders were hit. Lt. Michael Clancy said neighbors reported seeing the intruders flee the house, firing back at its occupants. None of the home's occupants was injured." (11/29/06)

I had not considered Newburgh to be an area likely to get this kind of thing, but I was wrong. No place is safe from evil and criminals, of course, but areas that once were very unlikely to get hit by such scum are now more than ever in need of being prepared.

Mama's Note: And people who keep guns for defense have a moral and legal obligation to learn how to use them properly! This situation missed becoming a tragedy only by the smallest margin. I'll say it again: owning a gun does NOT make you prepared to defend yourself. Training and practice are the only way you can avoid doing something that could destroy the rest of your life - or end it.

State-Thugs:
TX: Ethics commission says bribes OK if in cash
My San Antonio
"A Texas official who receives any sum of cash as a gift can satisfy state disclosure laws by reporting the money simply as "currency" without specifying the amount, the Texas Ethics Commission reiterated Monday. The 5-3 decision outraged watchdog groups and some officials who accused the commission of failing to enforce state campaign finance laws."What the Ethics Commission has done is legalize bribery in the state of Texas. We call on the commission to resign en masse," said Tom "Smitty" Smith, who heads Texas Citizen, an Austin-based group that advocates for campaign finance reform. " (11/27/06)

What can you say about this - who writes the laws? You know that it was the legislature, making sure that there were loopholes so that they and their political appointee buddies can continue to line their pockets. The solution? Eliminate all limits on gifts BUT require immediate and full disclosure - say by midnight each day, of every dime and source.

Mama's Note: Oh sure, that will work. How about ending the reason for all those gifts? If they don't have the power to hand out other people's property and run roughshod over their rights, nobody would want "public office," much less collect bribes. Why give anyone like this any power over you or your property, ever?

Stupid Government Tricks:
Massachusetts to sue Big Dig companies for millions
Grand Island Independent
"The state attorney general said Monday that he will sue the companies that worked on a Big Dig highway tunnel, claiming their negligence led to the ceiling collapse that killed a woman in July. Attorney General Tom Reilly said he would seek unspecified damages for repairs, loss of tunnel use and toll revenue, and other economic factors in a lawsuit to be filed Tuesday in Suffolk Superior Court. Reilly said that 15 firms involved in the management, design, construction or oversight of the Interstate 90 tunnel would be named in the negligence lawsuit, but that only one -- project manager Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff -- would face the more serious claim of gross negligence." (11/27/06)

Well into one of the last stages of project management ("blame the innocent"), they've decided on a blanket approach, which will likely result in no one paying for this mess - except, as usual, the ratepayers.

Stupid Government Tricks:
Ex-mayor pleads guilty to 243 felonies
Philadelphia Inquirer
"The former mayor of a tiny coal town who prosecutors say masterminded a scheme to buy votes with beer, cigarettes and even pork rinds, pleaded guilty Thursday to 243 felonies, including vote-rigging and corruption. Wise County Circuit Judge Tammy McElyea made former Appalachia mayor Ben Cooper plead individually to each of the charges against him, which included stealing election records, forging ballots, hindering the rights of citizens to vote freely, voting more than once in an election and violating absentee voting procedures." (11/30/06)

My question is, why didn't the "honorable's" town's residents string him up after the first couple of dozen stupid acts?

Mama's Note: He's probably related to more than half of them, and had the other half on his payroll or blackmail list... or some combination.

Stupid Government Tricks:
FEC to pols: Blow whistle on yourself
Yahoo! News
"The Federal Election Commission on Thursday took steps to encourage politicians and contributors to report their own possible violations of campaign finance laws by offering them significantly reduced fines. Commission officials said the number of self-reported violations has increased recently, prompting the need for a specific policy that spells out how the FEC will dispose of such cases."This is not meant to be a get out of jail free card," said Commissioner Ellen Weintraub. "If you're racing to the FEC three steps in front of the guy who's got the complaint in his hand against you, this policy is probably not for you." (11/30/06)

Once more we have a demonstration of how the government is an island of madness in a sea of sanity, and a rock of bewilderment in a sea of competence. What are they going to do, establish a 72-hour hold time to make sure that someone else isn't blowing the whistle?

Mama's Note: DANG! Almost sprayed my keyboard with coffee again! I'm going to have to get one of them plastic covers for it or something. This is too funny.

Stupid Ideas Department:
UK: Silver bells on shopping bags to jangle thieves' nerves
Arizona Republic
"London's police are putting a new jingle into Christmas. The Metropolitan Police are distributing silver bells for shoppers in London's central retail district to attach to their bags, which will jingle and alert them if thieves strike. 'Operation Yuletide' aims to curb pickpocketing and theft of shopping bags and cellphones in the busy Oxford Street and Marylebone High Street areas of central London. Superintendent Jon Morgan and officers are hitting the streets to advise shoppers on crime prevention during the weeks leading up to Christmas. ... 'With the bells warning people if their bags are moved, we want to ring in the festive season and give the criminals a wake-up alarm call they will not easily forget,' Morgan said." (11/30/06)

And how many of these silver bells will be jingling down the High Street? And how many people will get mugged by folks who really can't stand those jingling bells?

Mama's Note: You are funny too, Nathan. :) Maybe Santy Klaws will bring me one of them keyboard cover things. I can see I'm going to need it bad here.

Stupid People Tricks
CA: Lawsuit against Kraft says not enough avocado
Fox News
"Wholly guacamole? That's the issue in a fraud lawsuit filed Wednesday against Kraft Foods, Inc., by a Los Angeles woman who claims the company's avocado dip doesn't qualify as guacamole. 'It just didn't taste avocadoey,' said Brenda Lifsey, who used Kraft Dips Guacamole in a three-layer dip last year. 'I looked at the ingredients and found there was almost no avocado in it.' She is seeking unspecified damages and a Superior Court order barring Kraft from calling its dip guacamole. Her suit seeks class-action status. The Kraft product contains modified food starch, coconut and soybean oils, corn syrup and food coloring. It is less than 2 percent avocado, which in traditional recipes is the main ingredient of the Mexican dish." [FND Editor's note: So don't buy it, you silly b ... Oops, gotta watch my language here! - SAT] (11/30/06)

Hey, if hot coffee merits a million bucks, this crime ought to be worth a year or two of Kraft's gross revenues, right? Evil corporations can no longer be allowed to sell whatever people want to buy and call it whatever they want! This threat to world peace must be stopped now. And someone from LA is just the nutcase to do it.

Mama's Note: At least my coffee is gone now. :) But heck, we might as well laugh. Not much else we can do about it. If that b... is too stupid to take a couple of avocado and mash them, there's no hope for Californians, I guess. Hey! That's part of why I moved to Wyoming!

Stupid People Tricks:
McD's tries to patent sandwich
NY Post
"The next time you're stacking a pastrami hero, better make sure McDonald's isn't watching - they're trying to claim rights on how to make a sandwich. McDonald's filed a staggering 55-page patent application in Europe and the United States claiming "intellectual property rights" on how to slap together a deli sandwish. The legal brief rambles on about the "simultaneous toasting of a bread component" and inserting condiments into the works with a "sandwich delivery tool." (11/28/06)

Chalk up another victory for the lawyers - who so cow corporate managers and shareholders that they go out and do stupid things like this to "protect" their assets.

Mama's Note: What I can't figure out is just how McD (and a few other such) manages to stay in business at all. Their food is horrible and vastly overpriced to start with. Why does anyone set foot in the place?

Stupid People Tricks:
MA:IHOP changes policy of asking for IDs
Billings Gazette
"John Russo has been a victim of identity theft. So when he was asked to fork over a photo ID just to be seated at an IHOP pancake restaurant, he flipped. "'You want my license? I'm going for pancakes, I'm not buying the Hope diamond,' and they refused to seat us," Russo said, recounting his experience this week at the Quincy IHOP. The restaurant now has agreed to reverse the policy of requiring customers to turn over their driver's licenses before they can order - a rule that was enacted to discourage "dine and dash" thefts." (11/28/06)

Another example of panic and victory for lawyers, in a not-so-fast food business. Like Russo, I'd find someplace else to eat - or go without.

Stupid People Tricks:
Army scammed into buying golf balls
Florence Times Daily
"On paper, the U.S. Army was supposed to be getting 'a ball bearing assortment' for $1,409. It was bad enough that the order form marked up the price from $682.50. But there was something about the order that was way out of bounds: It was for 420 golf balls for a civilian employee at the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground. Douglas Atwell is now facing up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court Wednesday to bribery in a scam to defraud the government." (11/29/06)

Anyone can be the victim of a scam - but the government can take the resources to go track down and punish the theft.

Mama's Note: Yeah, but with the government involved deliberately in so many scams, I'm sure it's hard to figure out which ones to track down. Atwell must have rubbed someone the wrong way. Billions are lost this way endlessly, and few of them are ever found out, let alone tracked or the guilty punished. Again, this kind of thing would go away if government couldn't just confiscate our property and print phony money whenever they wish.

Stupid People Tricks:
Author challenges automakers to go green
Fox News
"Edwin Black is on a mission. He wants to go head-to-head with the head of General Motors in a showdown at Starbucks. The best-selling author has nothing against the coffee chain, but says he wants a public venue to confront the nation's largest car industry with his charges that GM has addicted the U.S. to the internal combustion engine -- and hence oil -- and is spelling doom for America. 'These are the cigarettes of individual movements. These are the cigarettes of technology. These are eight-cylinder cigarettes. They are killing us,' Black said recently in a one-on-one interview." [FND Editor's note: And like cigarettes, they may be chosen or avoided, though not quite as easily at present; the alternate vehicles do exist, at a price - SAT] (11/29/06)

I'm not sure who Black is, but I know that he is an idiot: anyone reading this ever had GM force them at gunpoint (or threat of gunpoint) to buy a car? To buy an eight-cylinder car instead of a four-banger? To buy an ounce of oil? I don't think so, and this kind of stupidity is the same mental attitude that tells us that "guns kill" and that "government helps."

Mama's Note: On the other hand, nobody has proven in the least degree that current transportation technology is "killing us." The air has been cleaner every year since about 1970, and keeps getting better all the time. If people want to get excited about a technology that IS killing hundreds of thousands every year, they need to pay more attention to chemical medicine and the affect the pharmacy industry has on our medicine and doctors.

Stupid People Tricks:
UK: Artist arrested after women killed on artwork
New Zealand Herald
"The creator of an inflatable artwork which killed two women when it lifted off from its moorings has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. Dreamspace designer Maurice Agis, whose commissions over 40 years have included shows at the Barbican and New York's Lincoln Centre, was held for questioning when he attended an appointment yesterday at Charing Cross Police Station, in London. His arrest follows the deaths of 68-year-old grandmother Elizabeth Collings and 38-year-old mother-of-two Claire Furmedge, who were killed when the inflatable reared up into the air, on a warm afternoon on July 23. ... After the tragedy, Mr. Agis said that he would never again make anything like the vast, walk-in structure. His partner, Paloma Brotons, said at the time that the British sculptor was heartbroken. 'There was a team of us that helped to tie the structure to the ground, we even used more ropes because it was hot,' she said. 'We can't understand what's happened. Maurice is in mourning. He is in a terrible way. I doubt he will be able to talk about this for a very long time.'" (11/30/06)

This is a classic case of where private justice: a wrongful death lawsuit, against the artist, would clearly be the best way to deal with this sad situation. There is no obvious reason to suspect that these deaths were either intentional or due to negligence, which would justify these arrests.

Mama's Note: How is this "wrongful death?" Did the artist force the people to enter this thing? Did they not have responsibility for themselves? Yes, a tragedy, but they chose to go into it. His insurance should pay out, of course, or he should if he wasn't bright enough to insure it, but that's all.

Stupid People Tricks:
MA: Man fired for smoking sues
CBS 4 Boston
"A 30-year-old man who has smoked for more than a decade filed a lawsuit Wednesday against The Scotts Co., alleging the lawn and garden company violated his privacy and civil rights when it fired him because he smokes. Scott Rodrigues, of Bourne, claims he was fired from the lawn-care job he had for several weeks after a drug test came up positive for nicotine. But he said he wasn't told he would be tested for the substance and was told the company would help him quit." (11/29/06)

It is not the getting fired for smoking that bothers me the most about this story: it is the drug testing for nicotine. What is next? Blood tests to determine that you have too high cholesterol and will drive up medical insurance rates, so you get fired for having jelly donuts? Why should the company care whether he smokes or drinks off the job?

Mama's Note: Yes, Nathan, that kind of thing is already happening.

Stupid People Tricks:
NC: Gun waving sermon lands pastor in pokey
Forbes
"The pastor of a Mount Airy church accused of brandishing a gun as part of his sermon is free on bond after being charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. Jerry Wayne "Dusty" Whitaker, 58, of Mount Airy, was convicted in Virginia in 1990 of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm during drug trafficking. .... in September, Whitaker reportedly brought a handgun and a shoulder holster to a service. "He was driving home his point," Scearce said. "He said he was no longer a pistol-toting U.S. marshal.' He was a pastor." Whitaker said the gun was a toy prop. "I use parables," he said. "Once I pretended to be a blind man with a cane, glasses and can with coins. Why didn't they arrest me for impersonating a blind man?" (11/30/06)

Sounds like there is an internal problem in this church, doesn't it? This does, however, point out the foolish consequences of the automatic denial of an essential human right to a felon for life: after 16 years, this man appears to have cleaned up his life: he stopped being a corrupt jackbooted thug and became a minister of the Gospel, but he still can be accused of something like this.

Mama's Note: Indeed! And how could he be charged with possession of a gun if it was a toy or a prop?

Stupid People Tricks:
MI: Woman sentenced for drugging child
Yahoo News
"A suburban Detroit woman who admitted injecting heroin into her 12-year-old nephew and giving him and her 15-year-old niece heroin and cocaine was sentenced to eight years in prison. Jacqueline Ellen Vuich, 26, pleaded guilty Nov. 2 to delivery of narcotics to a minor, first- and second-degree child abuse, maintaining a drug house and keeping a person younger than 16 in a home where prostitution occurred. She was sentenced Wednesday by Macomb County Circuit Judge Matt Switalski. Vuich's daughter lived at a home rented by Vuich's mother. Vuich was visiting Jan. 24 when she injected her nephew with heroin as he ate dinner. He was treated for a heroin overdose at a nearby hospital." (11/30/06)

Sounds like a real winner, eh? Supposedly the "War on Some Drugs" is preventing this sort of thing from happening, but it just doesn't seem to be working, eh? There is NO easy solution to this sort of nastiness, but the war on some drugs isn't going to be even a difficult solution: just as capital punishment won't stop some people from giving babies rye or gin for breakfast.