Libertarian Commentary on the News for 3 - 9 Dec. 2006 -Page 2

Stupid Government Tricks and Local Tyranny:
AZ: Pima gets tough about turf
Arizona Republic
"Forget the old 'Keep off the grass' signs: In Pima County, if you can't walk on it, you can't plant it. The county has banned ornamental turf in new commercial developments, taking the stance that lawns add value as parks or playgrounds, but as decoration they waste water. The say-no-to-grass rule, tougher than almost anything on the books in Phoenix, reflects Pima County's tighter water supply and underscores the differences in how the state's two largest metropolitan areas manage resources. The new rules try to build conservation into new development. Most of the measures do not specifically limit the amount of water a property owner can use. Instead they hardwire limited use into zoning laws, restricting grass to small usable areas, shrinking the size of allowable water features and requiring rain sensors on irrigation timers. In a dry state struggling through an 11-year drought, officials liken the aggressive approach to preventive medicine." (12/05/06)

Notice that they continue to ignore the most basic and most easily applied way of limiting water use: the free market. Of course, the billions spent to supply these bizarre habitats with water virtually ALL was stolen from taxpayers, and no one in these cities pays the true cost of what it takes to bring water stolen from the Western Slope of Colorado and eastern Utah and western Wyoming and the ranchers of northern Arizona and the various tribes of Arizona. So no wonder they waste it. And thus it becomes an excuse for more governmental power and abuse of businesses and individuals.

Stupid Government Tricks:
White House withdraws airline proposal
Wilkes-Barre Times Leader
"Already rebuffed by a Republican-controlled Congress, the Bush administration withdrew its plan to give foreign investors more management control of U.S. airlines. The decision was announced Tuesday by Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters after the department reviewed public comments about the proposal, including votes by the Senate and House this year to prevent the plan from going forward." (12/06/06)
In other words, government will continue to dictate ownership and management of what are supposedly private, nonmilitary, non-government companies providing a "public" service - and at the same time complain about foreign countries where the government owns the airlines outright.

Stupid Government Tricks:
AZ: DPS deploys weapon to capture tailgaters
Arizona Republic
"If your idea of a sporting event is riding the tail of a slowpoke on the highway, think again. The Arizona Department of Public Safety is bringing a new device to the game in an attempt to take out tailgaters. Call the ploy laser tag. Using a new laser device that measures the distance between two moving vehicles, officers are citing hundreds of motorists with tailgating tickets that can run more than $100. And they are promising more to come. 'Tailgating accounts for most of the collisions in the Valley,' said DPS Officer Michael Beaudoin, who has written about 100 tickets using the laser in the past year. 'The majority of the reactions I get from drivers are that they don't realize they are tailgating.' Tailgating is not only a cause of accidents, it is also a factor in many road-rage incidents." (12/04/06)

Several states appear to be cracking down on "tailgaters" but we've found, courtesy of a visit to a court room, that most cops can't tell whether someone is tailgating or not, being as incapable of judging distance between vehicles as 95% of the population (including the drivers). It has only been in very recent years that most (state-published) drivers manuals have even bothered to adopt the commonsense"Shell" two-second rule; instead of trying to teach people to count car lengths and such: most people can't tell you how long their own car is, much less how many car lengths there are between them and that school bus.

Stupid Government Tricks:
Ho? Ho? Ho? Maine says no to Santa label
Yahoo! News
"A beer distributor says Maine is being a Scrooge by barring it from selling a beer with a label depicting Santa Claus enjoying a pint of brew. In a complaint filed in federal court, Shelton Brothers accuses the Maine Bureau of Liquor Enforcement of censorship for denying applications for labels for Santa's Butt Winter Porter and two other beers it wants to sell in Maine. ... The lawsuit was brought by the Maine Civil Liberties Union, which says the beer labels are entitled to First Amendment protection. 'There is no good reason for the state to censor art, even art found on a beer label,' said Zachary Heiden, staff attorney for the MCLU. ... States have the power to regulate alcohol through the 21st Amendment, which repealed Prohibition in 1933. 'But I don't know where they get the idea they can ignore the rest of the Constitution,' Shelton said." (12/02/06)

Supposedly this is going to entice children to drink beer? Please, how stupid is this board? How stupid are the people of Maine? I know the answer to both, so don't bother to answer - it is depressing.

Stupid Government Tricks:
TN: Fugitive hid 34 years in plain sight
Tennessean
"Billy Wayne Hayes hadn't gone to great lengths to hide his identity. Authorities say he didn't even change his name. But somehow, the convicted murderer managed to elude law enforcement for almost 34 years. Hayes, 57, who'd escaped from a Nashville prison in 1972, was arrested at a gas station near Dothan, Ala., on Friday night after the U.S. Marshals office got a tip. Danny Shelton, spokesman for the U.S. Marshals office, said Hayes seemed to be surprised when federal agents and Dothan police officers showed up to arrest him, but he didn't try to flee or put up a fight. 'He knew his run had come to an end,' Shelton said. The U.S. Marshals office hadn't been pursuing him until a few days ago, when they got a tip that a fugitive was in the Dothan area." (12/03/06)

The only justification for having government in the first place is to protect people against evildoers, but this illustrates that government is incapable of doing even that, or of deciding which evildoers the public needs protection against. This man has lived peacefully for 34 years without (apparently) killing anyone else, or doing anything else to bring the attention of law enforcement to him. So ask yourself, what do we need government for?

Mama's Note: One wonders what the facts of this supposed murder really are. While true murder can never just be forgotten, there are many things called "murder" that are not... and a few things that ARE murder now called something else. It shouldn't be relative... but it is.

Stupid Government Tricks:
New rules make firms track e-mails
My Way News
"U.S. companies will need to keep track of all the e-mails, instant messages and other electronic documents generated by their employees thanks to new federal rules that go into effect Friday, legal experts say. The rules, approved by the Supreme Court in April, require companies and other entities involved in federal litigation to produce 'electronically stored information' as part of the discovery process, when evidence is shared by both sides before a trial. The change makes it more important for companies to know what electronic information they have and where. Under the new rules, an information technology employee who routinely copies over a backup computer tape could be committing the equivalent of 'virtual shredding,' said Alvin F. Lindsay, a partner at Hogan & Hartson LLP and expert on technology and litigation." (12/01/06)

This is "secondhand tyranny" - the strong, long arm of the law forcing private companies to become ersatz cops and act as Big Brother. And we won't talk about the cost of adding terabytes of data storage.

Stupid Government Tricks:
Some US cities grapple with ... too many churches
Christian Science Monitor
"It's rush hour in southeast Orlando -- Sunday rush hour, that is. About a dozen churches are within a few miles of one another, and more are under construction. Neighbors venturing out for bagels and other errands find themselves stuck in traffic, heads bowed not in faith but frustration. Some complain that the traffic persists all week, as religious, youth, sports, and other activities draw crowds after work and school. ... While communities traditionally zone against houses of ill-repute, not houses of worship, frustrations have grown since 2000, when then-President Clinton signed the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The law doesn't exempt churches from zoning regulations, per se. But when religious groups say the rules would create 'a substantial burden,' officials must show a compelling reason for the limits." (12/05/06)

Unintended consequences of acts passed to correct the unintended consequences of acts passed to correct the unintended. The evils to which zoning is put in the first place led to the act which is so criticized, and to the situation that apparently enrages these "good citizens" who immediately demand that government "fix" the new problem. And a fresh attack begins on religious freedom AND the right to assemble for ANY purpose.

Mama's Note: They can't just whip out to get their bagels? They have to wait for a little traffic on Sunday... as one presumes they do the rest of the week? PLEASE!

Stupid People Tricks:
Sweden to Trinidad via multiple disasters
Guardian [UK]
"The adventure would not be out of place in an anthology of ancient tales of foolhardy mariners. A pensioner who set sail for the Caribbean in a homemade boat because he liked pictures of the tropical islands has reached his destination after overcoming violent storms, shipwrecks, burglary, severe damage to his vessel and eight months marooned in Norfolk. Yesterday, Erik Ramgren, a 66-year-old papermill worker from Sweden, was lounging on the deck of his 11.5-metre (38ft) catamaran in a pair of yellow trunks in Chaguaramas bay, a marina in Trinidad surrounded by thick forests." (12/04/06)

Stupid, ja! But inspiring, too - and proof that even in the most socialist and communitarian of societies, there is still a spark of freedom and plain old stubborn cussedness.

Tech and Medical Issues:
New spam sneaking past filters
Arizona Republic
"Hearing from a lot of new friends lately? You know, the ones that write, 'It's me, Esmeralda,' and tip you off to an obscure stock that is 'poised to explode' or a great deal on prescription drugs. You're not the only one. Spam is back, in e-mail in-boxes and on everyone's minds. In the past six months, the problem has gotten measurably worse. Worldwide spam volume has doubled from last year, according to Ironport, a spam-filtering firm, and unsolicited junk mail now accounts for more than 9 out of every 10 e-mail messages sent over the Internet. Much of that flood is made up of a nettlesome new breed of junk e-mail called image spam, in which the words of the advertisement are part of a picture, often fooling traditional spam detectors that look for telltale phrases. Image spam increased fourfold from last year and now represents 25 to 45 percent of all junk e-mail, depending on the day, Ironport says." (12/06/06)

I have not noticed an increase on any of my accounts, but the spam never really has gone away completely, either. Anyone who depends on a spam-filter alone is whistling in the dark, in my opinion - and 90% isn't too bad when compared to a full week of any television channel, where the junk approaches 99%.

Tech and Medical Issues:
NASA plans permanent moon base
Sydney Morning Herald [Australia]
"NASA is to build a permanently occupied base on the moon, most likely at the lunar north pole. The habitat will serve as a science outpost as well as a testbed for technologies needed for future travel to Mars, and construction will follow a series of flights to the moon scheduled to begin by 2020. 'We're going for a base on the moon,' Scott 'Doc' Horowitz, NASA's associate administrator for exploration, told reporters in a teleconference from the Johnson Space Centre in Houston. Plans for what the base will look like and what astronauts would do there have yet to be determined. Similarly, NASA has not projected a date when the base would go into operation." [FND Editor's note: Aw, for the love of Neil Armstrong ... leave it to government to make it take TWICE as long to get BACK to the moon as it took the FIRST time (counting from JFK's 1961 speech announcing the project)? - TLK] (12/05/06)

I think I had this in last week's commentary, but it is worth commenting on again, and reading Tom's note. I never dreamed, back in 1969, that we would not have large numbers of people - Americans, even - living on Luna in 2006. I never would have thought that Americans would let government dictate this sort of thing, and not care a bit about it.

Tech and Medical Issues:
Vanderbilt team's discovery could replace the light bulb
Tennessean
"Their 'Holy cow!' moment came and went quickly. Almost at the speed of light, you might say. Michael Bowers chooses to refer to those few seconds of unexpected scientific discovery in a Vanderbilt University chemistry lab as the 'James, get the camera!' episode. Either way, it's been more than a year since a team led by Vanderbilt associate professor Sandra Rosenthal discovered a new way to make solid-state lights that produce white light. Put simply: The finding could someday replace the common light bulb and, the researchers say, cut the world's electricity consumption in half. For this, Rosenthal, Bowers and research associate James McBride continue to haul in accolades and awards. The latest comes in the form of a 2006 'Breakthrough Award for Innovation' from Popular Mechanics magazine." (12/06/06)

Since the LED is well on the way to replacing thousands of uses of the traditional incandescent lightbulb, this is no surprise. But as usual with PM, keep in mind how they love to hype things!

Tech and Medical Matters:
Life on Mars? New findings say "maybe"
Houston Chronicle
"Photographs from an unmanned NASA craft suggest that underground water occasionally rises and flows across Mars' frigid terrain, further raising the prospect that the Red Planet hosts conditions suitable for life, scientists announced Wednesday. Bright streaks, appearing within the past seven years in two gullylike areas in the southern hemisphere of the planet, triggered the scientific excitement. Previous photos suggested water flow that had taken place hundreds of millions of years ago rather than anything that scientists could conceive of happening during their lives." (12/07/06)

Stupid headline on this one - water does NOT automatically mean, or even infer, the presence of life. Water DOES mean that life may be possible on Mars - human life able to sustain itself without constant resupply from Earth. And despite the lousy headline, it is still good news. I am reminded of a science fiction novel from years ago, the name of which escapes me: a United States that resembles the modern US more than it does the US that existed when I read the book in the early 1970s is under a hideous bureaucratic tyranny and the people finally rebel against it - a rebellion supported by American Martian colonists who have been abandoned by the Arlington-based bureaucracy led by a "President Pro-Tem" - and eventually, even the Chinese intervene on the side of the rebels - claiming (accurately) that the bureaucratic tyrants are "counterrevolutionary elements" seeking to destroy the achievements of the American Revolution of 1776!

Tech and Medical News:
A newspaper chain sees its future
Washington Post
"Myron, 27, is a reporter for the Fort Myers News-Press and one of its fleet of mobile journalists, or 'mojos.' The mojos have high-tech tools -- ThinkPads, digital audio recorders, digital still and video cameras -- but no desk, no chair, no nameplate, no land line, no office. They spend their time on the road looking for stories, filing several a day for the newspaper's Web site, and often for the print edition, too. Their guiding principle: A constantly updated stream of intensely local, fresh Web content -- regardless of its traditional news value -- is key to building online and newspaper readership." (12/04/06)

Sounds more and more like the web media, doesn't it? Too bad that these "mojos" are "trained" journos and therefore probably incapable of writing an accurate story about much of anything.

Theft by Government:
Family sues US Mint over rare coins
Plattsburgh Press Republican
"A family is suing the U.S. Mint, saying it illegally seized 10 gold coins that are among the rarest and most valuable in the world that the family found among a dead relative's possessions. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, accuses the Mint of violating the Constitution and breaking federal forfeiture laws by refusing to return the 1933 'double eagle' coins to the family after it handed the coins over to have their authenticity confirmed." (12/05/06)

Government theft is not usually quite this blatant, and they possibly have some chance to get their coins back. Assuming the mint didn't already melt them down to make some more of their rather pathetic "gold buffalo" coins.

Mama's Note: Yes, it's a shame government has stolen these coins, but one really wonders what these people were thinking to begin with. I mean, what else did they expect? Stupid people too, I'm afraid.

Theft by Government:
MA: Voters saying enough to Prop 2 1/2 overrides
Boston Globe
"Voters in Massachusetts cities and towns have rejected two-thirds of proposed property tax overrides this year, reflecting widespread distaste for higher property taxes, according to a Globe review of state property tax records. The rejections marked the first time this decade that more proposed Proposition 2 1/2 overrides failed than passed. In previous years, the votes had been far more successful, with residents agreeing to increase their property taxes in order to avoid cutting positions for teachers, police officers, and firefighters or to pay for renovating municipal-owned buildings. This year, one-third of the Proposition 2 1/2 overrides passed. Approximately 59 override votes have been rejected, while 30 have been approved, the lowest rate since at least 1999." (12/03/06)

I have wondered for decades why voters and people in Massachusetts don't revolt against the taxes they pay - and I don't mean protests and refusing to pay - I mean with guns and ropes and torches. They are getting tired of all these "civil servants" who are living well off the backs of the remaining population. So this is a step in the right direction, but a very, very tiny step.

Mama's Note: While the folks of MA are getting fed up with taxes, the legislature of Wyoming is contemplating a run to impose an income tax, since wholesale robbery of the booming mineral and energy industries are not growing the already bloated government fast enough. With billions in permanent "reserve" already, they are slobbering over the idea that they can steal from even more people this way. It's enough to get out the rope, for sure, but I fear it is premature in the extreme here. Far too many people seem happy indeed with all the government they can get. Maybe that will change if their own paychecks are endangered directly. We can only hope.

Theft by Government:
Closing "tax gap:" Will small businesses pay?
Fox News
"On the issue of how Democrats will approach tax policy now that they control Congress, much attention has been paid to one thing -- whether taxes will go up. For now, incoming House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., ... is planning to focus on Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) relief for some taxpayers, and closing loopholes on others (mostly corporations and 'the wealthy'). Another priority, closing the 'tax gap,' will surely get the attention of small business owners. Certainly, tax compliance is a critical issue. A central drawback, however, to proposals that aim to close the 'gap' is that faithful compliers will be burdened with new requirements. In other words, everyone pays for the sins of the few. 'Current suggestions for closing the 'tax gap' . are only Band-Aids on massive hemorrhaging and would only impose additional burdens on small business owners,' said renowned small business tax expert Barbara Weltman." (12/03/06)

No one is willing to admit to the fact that the more taxes are raised, the more difficult compliance is to enforce. And every tax raise and complexity added to the tax system drives yet more small business into oblivion, making more and more sure that big business expands to "cooperate" eagerly with the government.

Mama's Note: Even big business can't ignore the market forever. They can only pass on just so much in tax and compliance costs to the customers, who ultimately pay for it anyway. Even the whores in Detroit are starting to learn that being in bed with government doesn't guarantee they will have willing buyers forever. Judgment day is coming, and those who have risen high on stolen goods will fall the hardest.

Theft by Government:
NV: Convention project faces land theft hearing
Nevada Appeal
"Eminent domain proceedings on South Lake Tahoe's proposed $410 million convention center project are expected to get into full swing in the courtroom Friday. Businesses that have not negotiated to sell to Lake Tahoe Development Co. are trying to sell off the inventory and find alternative space to relocate. But the South Tahoe Redevelopment Agency -- which approved the legal taking of property for public [sic] use in September -- wants [to steal] the space to roll out its plans by the groundbreaking on the 12-acre project area due next May." (12/06/06)

Speaking of destroying businesses - watch and see who owns this new convention center and where the revenues go.

Thugs - Stupid Government Acts:
Bolton resigns as UN envoy
Casa Grande Dispatch
"Unable to win Senate confirmation, U.N. Ambassador John Bolton will step down when his temporary appointment expires within weeks, the White House said today. Bolton's nomination has languished in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for more than a year, blocked by Democrats and several Republicans. Sen. Lincoln Chafee, a moderate Republican who lost in the midterm elections Nov. 7 that swept Democrats to power in both houses of Congress, was adamantly opposed to Bolton." (12/04/06)

One of the few Bush appointees whom I have any respect for - he has been successful in the UN, AND pointed out clearly the worthlessness of the UN. Of course, none of the thugs like him.

Thugs:
Gulf drilling expected to win passage
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
"Pro-drilling lawmakers were busy Monday corralling votes for offshore energy legislation that reaches the House floor today, but -- win or lose -- that will not be the last word on a debate that has lasted decades. Indeed, if the bill fails to win a two-thirds majority under expedited rules meant to speed passage, House leaders plan to bring it back to the floor Thursday and likely would win under a more cumbersome process that requires only a simple majority. ... House passage would send the bill to President Bush's desk and open 8.3 million acres in the eastern Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas drilling, allowing drilling for the first time on the Florida side of the Alabama landline." (12/05/06)

As the story below relates, the thugs wimped out - and so goes another chance to do something wise. This Congress once more exhibited its bizarre and incredible stupidity politically in not dealing with this issue a year or more ago - especially when emotions were high because of high gas prices.

Thugs:
House GOP scraps Gulf drilling vote
Houston Chronicle
"House Republican leaders dropped plans today to vote on a Senate proposal to open up more of the eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas exploration. Faced with the daunting prospect of getting two-thirds of the House to agree to open 8.3 million acres in federal waters west of Florida to drilling, GOP leaders opted to pull the bill and shop around for another vehicle. Drilling supporters may try to attach the provision to a bill to extend some popular tax breaks. But whether the lame-duck Congress can, in its final days, still pass the controversial drilling bill remains unclear." (12/05/06)

The idea that the federal government can arbitrarily claim millions of acres of seabed is ridiculous, and will ultimately have to be overturned as we find new ways to use the seabed. As prices start to creep up again, you know who to blame. And not just for this one action or failure to act.

Mama's Note: Of course, it takes years to develop this kind of resource so it simply can't be effectively taken care of as a shuttlecock in the congressional badminton game.

Thugs:
Clinton, Bayh step up efforts for 2008
Naples Daily News
"Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton met on Sunday with New York's Democratic governor-elect to solicit his support for her likely White House bid, the latest indication she is stepping up plans to join a growing field of potential contenders for 2008. One rival, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, announced Sunday he was establishing an exploratory committee to raise money for a possible presidential run." (12/03/06)

See, none of the people in this newly-elected Congress see any reason to make governing wisely a priority - they are too interested in future power and glory to worry about day-to-day things, like living free.

Thugs:
Gates confirmed as Secretary of Defense
LA Daily News
"The Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to confirm Robert Gates as defense secretary, with Democrats and Republicans portraying him as the man who will help overhaul President Bush's Iraq policies. The 95-2 vote was a victory of sorts for Bush, who named Gates to replace Donald H. Rumsfeld at the Pentagon on Nov. 8, a day after voters gave Democrats control of Congress for next year." (12/07/06)

So much for Democratic claims of changing the Pentagon and the "war" in Iraq - not a SINGLE Democrat voted against President Bush's choice: the two who voted against Gates were Republicans!

Thugs:
House to vote on abortion anesthesia bill
MSNBC
"In a parting gesture by social conservatives before Republicans relinquish control, House leaders plan to bring up a bill tomorrow that would declare that fetuses feel pain and require abortion providers to offer pregnant patients anesthesia for their unborn child. The scheduled vote may be the last on abortion-related legislation for years. That's because Democratic leaders hope to avoid confrontations over hot-button social issues that divide their caucus, and focus instead on military and pocketbook issues." (12/04/06)

Well, so Congress thinks it is okay to kill people as long as they don't feel anything. I know that's been the case for capital punishment for some time, but now we apply this to abortion; euthanasia is fine, too, I guess, as long as they don't feel pain.

Mama's Note: That contradicts those who insist the unborn are simply "blobs of tissue." Unfortunately, the inconsistency isn't likely to slow them down much. Too much water under that bridge.

War on Some Drugs:
Colombia: Drug czar's brother busted
CNN
"Colombia's drug czar said police arrested his brother over the weekend with six grams (0.2 ounces) of cocaine. Carlos Albornoz, head of the National Drug Directorate responsible for Colombia's drug-control policies, said in a news conference Sunday his brother Ivan Albornoz was arrested shortly after buying the drugs Saturday night in southern Bogota. The anti-drug official said President Alvaro Uribe asked him to continue in his job." (12/04/06)

Fortunately, brothers can seldom be held liable for what another brother does - but this shows that the drug culture in Colombia draws lines across families - and that the issue is far from settled. Just like in the US.

World Wars
Danish journalists acquitted on classified pubs
Grand Island Independent
"Three Danish journalists who published classified intelligence reports on Iraq's former weapons program were acquitted Monday on charges of endangering national security. The Copenhagen City Court ruled that Niels Lunde, chief editor of the Berlingske Tidende newspaper, and reporters Michael Bjerre and Jesper Larsen acted in the public interest when they published a series of articles in 2004 citing leaked Danish intelligence reports." (12/04/06)

This seems to be the right decision, since the released information came after the war in Mesopotamia was over.

World Wars - Somalia:
UNSC approves regional force for Somalia
MSNBC
"The U.N. Security Council authorized an African force to protect Somalia's weak government against an increasingly powerful Islamic militia, hoping to restore peace and avert a broader conflict in the region. The U.S. resolution, cosponsored by the council's African members, partially lifts an arms embargo on Somalia so the regional force can be supplied with weapons and military equipment and train the government's security forces." [Editor's note: Talk about Orwellianism! If Somalia has a "government," the "Islamic militia" is it. The UN-recognized "government" was created out of whole cloth by US and UN busybodies next door in Djibouti and has barely even existed in, let alone "governed," Somalia - TLK] (12/06/06)

First, Somalia does not HAVE a government - it has a gang of goons which pretend and claim to be the government, to give them first dibs on all the foreign aid, and a bunch of other wanna-be rulers (many Islamic imperialists), as Tom points out. For the US to support ANY of these murdering gangsters is itself a crime.

World Wars:
Fiji's military faces sanctions after seizing power
Independent [UK]
"Fiji's armed forces have staged the country's fourth coup in 20 years after a long-running political crisis. The bloodless seizure of power -- ending weeks of tension between the military commander and the Prime Minister -- was played out in a typically leisurely Melanesian fashion, and resulted in immediate international sanctions. Commodore Frank Bainimarama said yesterday he had temporarily assumed the country's presidency and sacked Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase and his ministers, who he accused of bribery and corruption." (12/05/06)

Frankly, Fiji's entire existence has been a "political crisis." No doubt Bainimarama is right about the corruption - but military regimes are no less corrupt.

World Wars:
Venezuela's Chavez nears victory fed by free stew
Christian Science Monitor
"Odalys Ibarra has lived in the same home -- a decrepit, two-bedroom brick house that she shares with 10 others -- her entire life. Yet these days, on her walk home up the steep slope of El Valle, one of the poorest neighborhoods in this capital city, she passes a free medical clinic staffed with Cuban doctors, a supermarket that sells discounted rice and tomato sauce, and a state-funded kitchen that prepares and gives out free meat stew and cookies -- programs called 'missions' that are the cornerstone of President Hugo Chavez's domestic policy." (12/01/06)

Free stew, jack-booted thugs, weapons, and intimidation, apparently. A right-wing dictator, even an elected one, would raise screams of indignation and calls for intervention from the US and Europe - but not the anti-US, Castro-loving Chavez.

World Wars:
Women warriors face the enemy
Iron Mountain Daily News
"In Iraq and Afghanistan, women warriors are writing a new chapter in military history, serving by the tens of thousands, fending off enemy fire and taking on -- and succeeding in -- high-profile roles in the battlefield and the skies as never before. 'The American public is beginning to realize that women are playing an equal part in this war and that they are facing the same risks,' says [Tammy] Duckworth, who lost both legs in the 2004 insurgent attack." (12/03/06)

Have we reached a point in our history and population that massive numbers of women can be taken out of the gene pool and the body politic and not further degrade the state of society? I don't know - but obviously the mainstream media and the political establishment has already made that decision for us.

World Wars:
Australia: Navy can fire on fishing boats
The Age [Australia]
"The navy has been given permission to fire at illegal fishing boats that refuse to be apprehended in Australian waters. Under new rules of engagement approved by Defence Minister Brendan Nelson, the navy will also be given tear gas, capsicum spray and abrasive acoustic devices. 'The foreign fishing vessels that are coming to our country are increasingly sophisticated,' Dr. Nelson told Parliament yesterday. 'They are engaging in activities which are very dangerous to our personnel and indeed to our patrol boats, including using very large sharpened poles (and) the throwing of missiles. It is extremely important that anybody who comes to this country seeking to steal our fish and breach our sovereignty knows that they will be met with a very strong, disciplined Royal Australian Navy.'" (12/07/06)

Now, I expect that I'll get yelled at about this, but this is what navies and coast guards are SUPPOSED to do - defend the coasts against trespassers. This is just like the homeowner defending their house and their yard: the "fishing boats" may be as innocent as a man trying to recapture his dog who got loose and ran across your property, but you should always be prepared to find that this is a ploy, and be prepared to defend yourself against a home invader.

Mama's Note: The only reservation I have about it is my usual problem with the intentions of governments in general and just how much territory they are claiming in this. We are a long way from being able to logically define the intelligent boundaries of countries, since the rules of private property are extremely hard to apply. When all land is private property, then this definition won't be in contention.

World Wars:
US unleashes bomb-sniffing bees
Register [UK]
"Scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico have rather splendidly announced the immediate availability of the bomb-sniffing bee, Reuters reports. The boffins declared they'd 'trained honeybees to stick out their proboscis when they smell explosives in anything from cars and roadside bombs to belts similar to those used by suicide bombers.' ... The plan is, as Haarman explained, to deploy the bees in 'handheld detectors the size of a shoe box,' and train security operatives in their use. Whether detected suicide bombers would be attacked by swarms of SWAT Brazilian killer bees is not noted." (11/28/06)

Obviously, the Register is using this to poke fun at "boffins" (British slang, usually considered derogatory, for scientists). This should not be discounted as a potential tool both for self-defense and for tyrants - the ability to sniff out explosives withOUT false alarms is very useful.

World Wars:
Putin's Russia: better and worse
Christian Science Monitor
"Hearing Yevgeny Butovsky and Antonina Vallik describe the state of their nation, one would think they live in two different countries. In fact, they share a home. 'We are eating our future, and we are being too quiet about it,' complains Mr. Butovsky, a successful private farm manager increasingly concerned by the autocratic political system built since President Vladimir Putin was elected in 2000. But for his homemaker wife, Ms. Vallik, those years have yielded a rise in living standards that has enabled her to widen the scope of her passion -- taking in homeless pets. 'Any regime is OK for me,' she says. They're not the only ones having this discussion. The debate is rising in Russia, and around the world, over what kind of a state Putin has built, whether it's bearable for its population, and if it is safe to invest in, or be friends with." (12/04/06)

Sounds like the US, eh? Considering how bad everyone considers Bush, and knowing that Putin is much more tyrannical and with a worse past, Russia must be a hideous place right now - unless you are into homeless pets, apparently.

World Wars:
US distributes "Faces of Global Terrorism" poster
Yahoo! News
"US authorities unveiled a new 'Wanted' poster featuring 26 'faces of global terrorism' in hopes of gaining the public's help in tracking down elusive militants like Osama bin Laden. 'They can be stopped. We'll pay you for your help,' read the poster, which offers rewards of up to 25 million dollars for information that prevents a terrorist act or leads to the arrest of suspects wanted in connection to attacks on US nationals or interests. The State Department and the Department of Homeland Security have begun distributing the posters to US airports to coincide with the holiday travel season and plan to place them in air, land and sea travel hubs around the world." (12/04/06)

Taking a page from Edmund Hamilton's famous novel "Wasp" - maybe Osama and company should prepare similar wanted posters for the West's leaders? We can't put up Christmas posters (at least not if they have religious themes) but we can put this stuff up?

World Wars:
Probe of ex-spy's death widening beyond Britain
USA Today
"The investigation into the poisoning of former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko is widening beyond Britain's borders, a top British official said Sunday. 'The police will follow wherever this investigation leads; inside or outside Britain,' Home Secretary John Reid told Sky News. 'Over the next few days . all of these things, I think, will widen out a little from the circle just being here in Britain.'" (12/03/06)

Well, clearly the FBI hasn't been able to muck up the investigation yet. Give them time.

Culture Wars:
CA: Bill would expand domestic partner law
San Francisco Chronicle
"Responding to the growing trend of couples raising children out of wedlock, a San Francisco lawmaker plans to introduce a bill today that would give young and middle-age heterosexual couples who are not married the right to register as domestic partners. The new bill and the expected reintroduction of legislation that would grant same-sex partners the right to marry are already drawing the ire of social conservatives and may once again put Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the difficult position of taking sides on the politically divisive issue of defining marriage. State Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, said she decided to pursue legislation allowing heterosexual couples to register as domestic partners when she saw that so many more children are being born to unmarried women, many of whom live with the fathers." (12/04/06)

And this will help, how? After all, for years haven't people been claiming that a "piece of paper" doesn't really mean anything? Will a different "piece of paper" keep that child safer, more loved, better cared-for?

Culture Wars:
NZ: Road-spraying 'releases spirits
Stuff
"A police-led initiative of spraying water on state highways to release the trapped spirits of those killed in motor crashes has been declared a success. Yesterday a special police convoy carrying Maori elders sprayed 10,000 litres of Waikato River water on SH1 and SH2 in a bid to free the spirits of crash victims. .... "It was a first for the country and we have had some really good feedback." (12/04/06)

Sounds a bit bizarre - like abandoning a house or building (or even burning it down) because of the chindi of someone who died there, or sitting with the cast-off for three days before the funeral (or "the viewing"), or sprinkling corpse dust (ashes) over a mountaintop, or putting up little "X marks the spot" signs where the accident victims died. Ain't democracy wunnerful?

Mama's Note: Yep, none of it would matter as long as nobody was robbed to pay for any of it.

Culture Wars:
Democrats inspect faith-based initiative
Boston Globe
"Two leading Democrats on the House International Relations Committee said they want to investigate President Bush's faith-based initiative to determine whether taxpayer funds are being used to reward Bush's Christian conservative supporters and whether the faith-based groups are using the funds to help gain converts. In addition, Democrats on the panel said they could be in a strong position to try to overturn a measure that requires one-third of AIDS prevention money overseas to be spent on 'abstinence-until-marriage' programs. The $1 billion abstinence measure was passed by the Republican-led Congress and signed by Bush, but many Democrats have complained that the money could be better spent on other measures such as condoms. Many of the religious groups receiving funds under Bush's faith-based initiative have received money as a result of the abstinence-until-marriage program." (12/04/06)

This is an example of the Congressional thugs' expected obsession with "investigations" and witch hunts in the 2007-2008 Congress. Since the very idea of "abstinence" itself is clearly teaching of religious beliefs the conclusion of the "investigation" is foreordained. They have a better idea, of course: a new national right-to-condoms furnished for free by the government. How stupid - and they know it: they don't WANT people to be self-governing and responsible to themselves (things which abstinence requires, to at least some degree) so that the government can use the excuse for more control and "help."

Culture Wars:
Peril behind voicing "unspeakable" racial slur
San Francisco Chronicle
"In a conversation with friends on a recent Muni bus ride, 14-year-old Remy Marks uses the six-letter word in nearly every sentence. 'Nigger, you crazy,' he says repeatedly to the teen next to him, who is dancing to hip-hop coming through his headphones. Remy knows about the renewed call by some of the nation's influential black leaders to abandon what is often referred to as the 'n-word,' but has no plans to stop using it. He says people should understand that the meaning has changed over the years and its impact depends on whether a white or black person is saying it. 'It's not a bad word,' says Remy, who is black. 'It don't mean to me what it means to my mom.' But many people, of all races, still consider it the most offensive racial slur in the English language." (12/03/06)

This is evidence that you CAN completely warp a society or at least an element of a society in just a matter of decades. Just as an older generation who finally learned NOT to use the filthy epitaph is starting to die off, an whole new generation is coming that will again begin a nasty cycle of hatred. By the way, notice anyone promoting a government campaign to get people to clean up their language? No, of course not.

Mama's Note: This "word" evidently doesn't mean the same thing to all people - what a shock! If people want to call each other things that many find objectionable, why not? It's their life and they have a right to speak, even if some don't like the speech. The other day a lady took a look at the gun I carry and called me a "gun nut," then was shocked when I smiled at her and walked away. It's not the word, it's the reaction. She intended to offend, and was offended herself when I took it as a compliment. See how easy that is?

Culture Wars:
Study: Volunteering at 30-year high
Fox News
"The number of Americans who volunteer to mentor students, beautify neighborhoods and pitch in after disasters is at a 30-year high, fueled in part by a boom in teen participation, a new study says. The report by the Corporation for National and Community Service tracked volunteer rates since 1974. It found that more than 1 in 4 adults -- or 27 percent -- currently give time to their communities, a jump from a low of 20.4 percent recorded in 1989. Teens aged 16 to 19 saw the biggest jump, with 28.4 percent volunteering compared to just 13.4 percent in 1989. Service among mid-life adults (ages 45 to 64) and senior citizens (ages 65 and over) also remained strong at 30 percent and 23.5 percent, respectively. The study, which is set to be released Monday, credits higher education levels, delayed childbearing and longer life expectancy." (12/04/06)

This seems to be in SPITE of government efforts (such as by the government-run, theft-funded schools) to encourage more volunteering. I don't know if the items credited are valid or not, but I suspect that at least the "delayed childbearing" is bogus - because parents of children tend to volunteer MORE, in my experience.