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Libertarian Commentary on the News, 05 - 11 August 2007
I don’t include commentary very often in this column, but this
week, may I recommend
this excellent commentary by Mssrs. Penn and Teller, a video at YouTube.
QUOTE OF
THE WEEK: "Religion has an important place in public life, but that
place is not the White House, Congress or the Supreme Court." - Steve
Sebelius of Las Vegas CityLife, 8/6/07
Well, it
is clear that this is ONE goal that has been achieved by our government:
morality is a part of religion (literally, a “way of life”)
and it is evident that common decent morality in the Judeo-Christian tradition
has been totally excised from all three places.
Our right
to defend ourselves:
UT: Gun-toting store
owner runs off bandit
Salt Lake Tribune
"Allen Van Arsdale calls himself a peaceful man who doesn't seek
out trouble. But he doesn't apologize for his killer instinct. Van Arsdale
was tending his antique shop near downtown Ogden about 12:40 p.m. Monday
when an intruder stormed in. 'Check this out, fool!' the man yelled, with
a gun aimed at Van Arsdale's head 15 feet away. In retrospect, Van Arsdale
acknowledged Tuesday, he probably should have given the man the cash he
most likely wanted. But in one swift motion, the 46-year-old rock collector
dropped to a knee, pulled out the .45 Colt revolver he keeps handy and
fired a shot. 'I missed him by 14 inches,' said Van Arsdale, owner of
Al's Antiques Etc. The bullet struck a photocopy machine. The would-be
bandit, who wore a black ski mask halfway down his face, took off before
Van Arsdale, a former Air Force airman, could squeeze the trigger again,
he said." (08/08/07)
This kind
of second-guessing is probably not that untypical, but frankly, it should
be reserved for your own internal dialogue and maybe a confessor, and
NOT for the newspapers, who only use it to further their hoploclastic
agenda. And Van Arsdale is wrong: the would-be robber could very easily
have finished up gathering the money with a shot to Mr. Van Arsdale’s
head – especially given the way he entered in the first place. I
think Van Arsdale did the right thing in the crunch, and the wrong thing
in talking to the Trib.
Mama's
Note: "Killer instinct?" ARGGGG My blood went right to boil
when I read that one. The man could use some training to go with that
"instinct" since a miss at that range seems hard to believe!!
He also needs to spend some time thanking God for his deliverance, because
at that range he would most likely have been killed if the robber shot
him.
Our right
to defend ourselves:
TX: Homeowner holds suspect at gunpoint
Galveston Daily News
"A man who found a burglar in his home Tuesday morning held the
intruder at gunpoint until sheriff's deputies arrived. Just after 3 a.m.,
a woman reportedly heard noises in her house in the 1500 block of Cemetery
Road, north of the city limits. She woke her husband, who walked toward
the light someone had turned on in the house. However, the homeowner did
not venture out of the bedroom empty-handed. 'He grabbed his shotgun,'
said Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo, sheriff's office spokesman. When the man found
an intruder in his house, he pointed the weapon and waited." (08/08/07)
Good job!
Our right
to defend ourselves:
TX: Homeowner kills suspected intruder
My San Antonio
“After realizing that his home had an intruder, a homeowner chased
down a 19-year-old man and shot him to death on the Northwest Side early
Saturday, according to a police report. Raymond Lemes, 48, said he was
asleep when he heard a scream. Lemes grabbed his gun and realized an intruder,
later identified as Tracy Glass, was in his home in the 9800 block of
Autumn Star. Glass took off and Lemes chased him down the street. When
he caught up to the suspect, Lemes said Glass took a swing at him so he
shot the man.” (08/04/07)
Suspected
intruder? Suspected? Please, give me a break. And it was the aggression
on the part of the sneak thief that caused his death.
Mama's
Note: But I wonder why someone would chase such an intruder down the street?
Once Glass left the property, Lemes was no longer in any danger.
Our right
to defend ourselves:
CA:
Couple kill man while defending neighbor
San Diego Union-Tribune
“Neighbors shot and killed a man violating a restraining order
yesterday after his ex-girlfriend found him inside her University City
apartment, police said. William and Nicole Porter, both 22, were each
booked on one count of murder, San Diego police Capt. Mary Cornicelli
said yesterday. … The woman found King sleeping inside her apartment
… when she returned home from work, Cornicelli said. Police are still
trying to determine how he got into the apartment. … The woman woke
him up, and the two argued, Cornicelli said. The woman left her first-floor
unit and went to the Porters’ upstairs apartment to get help. Minutes
later, King pounded on the Porters’ door. ‘He was yelling …
‘Come on out. I’m going to kill you,” Cornicelli said.
King left after no one answered. Cornicelli said William and Nicole Porter
then armed themselves with handguns. ‘Then Mr. Porter, obviously
feeling threatened for himself, his wife and the other woman, decides
to go outside and attempt to hold the suspect for police,’ Cornicelli
said. Nicole Porter stayed on her balcony. The two men argued and then
fought in a grassy area just outside the apartment. King was shot. …
Police have two days to present the case to prosecutors, who will decide
whether to charge or release the Porters.” (08/04/07)
Good neighbors
are a precious resource.
Mama's
Note: Once again, I wonder why the man left the relative safety of the
apartment to argue with the man. If he had tried to break in, they would
have been justified in shooting. As it is, there is a much weaker justification
- if any.
Our right
to defend ourselves:
WA: Woman fatally stabbed by ex; bystander
shoots killer
Seattle Times
“A Seattle mother of four was fatally stabbed early today despite
a court protection order against her knife-wielding ex-husband. The 33-year-old
victim was stabbed nearly two dozen times while attending a birthday party
about 1 a.m. at the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in the 9100 block of
Martin Luther King Jr. Way South. The 39-year-old assailant burst into
the hall, grabbed the victim and slashed her with a large knife, witnesses
told police. The weapon was recovered at the scene. A 32-year-old Kent
man who was at the party pulled a hand gun and shot the suspect who later
died at Harborview Medial Center. Police spokeswoman Renee Witt said the
party guest had a concealed-weapons permit. She said he likely won’t
face charges since he acted to prevent further harm.” (08/05/07)
Protection
orders, ah yes, what a marvelous invention: like winning injunctions against
street gangs, or this story which comes to mind: A man is visiting his
friend who was recently elected mayor of an eastern town. As they
walked into downtown, he saw several "CRIME-FREE ZONE" signs
posted prominently and asked his mayor-friend about them. "Oh,
yes, crime is illegal here in downtown!"
Sadly,
the armed man did not save her: I suspect that he was concerned about
hitting the victim, and may not have realized what was going on at first,
if it was crowded and dim and smoke-filled (a 1 AM birthday party?).
Our right
to defend ourselves:
CA: Man holds fleeing burglary suspect
at gunpoint
Stockton Record
“A man held a 17-year-old suspected burglar at gunpoint Friday
morning while his wife called 911, police said. The incident began when
two juveniles tried to break into a home in the 1300 block of Dixon Court
around 3 a.m. Friday, said Tracy city spokesman Matt Robinson. The home’s
burglar alarm, however, scared the teens off. They ran down the street
and hopped a fence into the backyard of a home in the 1200 block of Berg
Road. The juveniles didn’t get very far when a resident at that home
stepped into his backyard and trained a shotgun on them. One suspect fled
back over the fence. The other remained there until police came, Robinson
said.” (08/06/07)
Good neighbor
to have.
Our right
to defend ourselves:
NJ: Execution-style schoolyard shootings
shock city
AOL News
“In a city where gun violence has become an all too common part
of daily life, these shootings were enough to chill even the most hardened
residents: Four young friends shot execution-style in a schoolyard just
days before they were to head to college. Three were killed after being
forced to kneel against a wall and then shot in the head at close range
Saturday night, police said. A girl was found slumped near some bleachers
30 feet away, a gunshot wound to the head but still alive. The four Newark
residents were to attend Delaware State University this fall. No arrests
had been made by Monday and authorities had not identified suspects.”
[Editor’s note: Of course, the victims were unarmed, as they
were apparently law abiding youngsters and ‘guns have no place in
school’ - MLS] (08/07/07)
Sounds
like Karbala or Baghdad. We will see this more and more, the more we are
disarmed.
Our right
to defend ourselves:
NY: store clerk fights back
Fox 23 News
“The robbery happened at Quail Street News around 5:20 A.M. Store
clerk Hafiz Alam was behind the counter when a man walked in the door
and demanded money. Alam opened the register and handed over the money,
but while putting the cash away, the robber made a mistake. The man set
his shotgun on the counter and while he wasn’t paying attention Alam
grabbed the gun. The robber ran out the door while Alam called for help.
Moments later, the robber came back in, struggled with Alam, and one shot
is fired. Luckily, no one is injured and the robber made off with the
gun and the money. Outside, a city worker spotted the man’s license
plate number and that's how police tracked the suspect to his home at
71 Westerlo Street. Police shut down streets and evacuated homes while
attempting to get the man out of the house. When they got no answer Albany
Police fired tear gas into the home. The suspect came out of the building
and was taken into custody. He is behind bars tonight, police say he will
face charges in the robbery.” (08/07/07)
And why
did not Mr. Alam have a gun of his own? He should not have to take the
robber’s.
Our right
to defend ourselves:
UK: Homeowner arrested after burglar
falls out window
This Is London [UK]
"A homeowner has been arrested and quizzed by police after an
intruder he confronted during a burglary fell out of a third floor window.
The burglar, 43, was left fighting for his life after he tumbled up to
40 feet when he was disturbed rifling through the flat. ... Officers arrested
the 56-year old occupant of the flat on suspicion of causing grievous
bodily harm with intent over the possibility that the intruder was pushed
out of the window. He was later released on bail until November pending
further inquiries. If charged and convicted the arrested man could face
life imprisonment. The arrest is expected to fuel arguments about the
right of householders to defend themselves against burglars." (08/08/07)
As Mama
said, we can hope that English people, the decadent descendants of a once-free
people, will respond to this the way they are to traffic cameras and rise
up, screaming “enough is enough.” How long will this sort of
abuse continue?
Our right
to defend ourselves:
FL:
Suspected thief shot in arm
NBC 2 News
"The man who attempted to steal a generator from a Lehigh Acres
home has turned himself in to authorities after being shot and fleeing
the scene. Deputies responded to a home on the corner of Richmond Avenue
and East 10 Street shortly after 4 a.m. Wednesday. According to deputies,
a man attempted to try to steal the resident's generator when he was shot
in the arm. The suspect fled the scene and later turned himself in because
his injury was so painful." (08/08/07)
The thief
was incredibly stupid, a typical example of the breed.
Our right
to defend ourselves:
FL: Lehigh Acres
man shoots would-be robber
WINK News
“‘I thought he was trying to get a weapon. I fired at him,’
said resident Justin Marcoux. Justin Marcoux says he didn’t hesitate.
The 21-year-old walked outside his home in Lehigh Acres Wednesday morning
after he heard a noise. He thought it was his ride to work. ‘I came
outside, a guy was running across the lawn with my dad’s generator,
he dropped it,’ says Marcoux. At that moment, he thought the robber
might hurt him. ‘I had mine in my pocket — I fired in his direction
and I guess I hit him.’ He did, in the arm. 43-year-old Victor Howren
went to the hospital and now faces burglary and grand theft charges.”
(08/08/07)
Hard call,
but he was right to assume the man was going for a gun.
Culture
war – homosexual activists
CA:
Firefighters challenge flaming homosexuals
CNS News
According to the Thomas More Law Center, four firefighters were forced
to participate in the parade against their will and were "subjected
to vile sexual taunts from homosexuals lining the parade route."
The center has filed a request to sue the city - an administrative procedure
- and expects to file a sexual harassment lawsuit in coming weeks.
Imagine,
you have to get the city’s permission to sue it! Like far too many
advocacy groups and special interest blocks, these homosexuals clearly
believe that only THEY have any rights – and the rest of us are just
their pawns and props. Imagine the outcry if it had been a group of four
homosexuals required to participate in a “Focus on the Family”
parade or if it had been a group of black athletes told to bow down to
a white guy for a commercial.
Mama's
Note: I'm having trouble understanding why anyone would be forced to participate
in a parade of any kind?
Culture
wars – environists:
Environmental group aims to save the
sky
Arizona Republic
“An environmental advocacy group has put the sky up for ‘adoption’
to press the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for tougher smog standards.
‘Adopt the Sky’ is an online petition asking the EPA to approve
stricter ozone pollution standards. The site then assigns signers a patch
of polluted sky to symbolically adopt as their own. As of Friday, 336
miles of Arizona sky had been adopted. Ozone, a colorless, odorless gas,
is at dangerous levels in metropolitan Phoenix. The sponsor, the Washington,
D.C.-based nonprofit Earthjustice, hopes to have 50,000 signatures by
Oct. 9.” [editor’s note: It’s encouraging to see someone
promoting “property ownership” as a spur to responsibility,
though this effort does seem a bit skewed in its mission - SAT] (08/06/07)
It shows
that even nut cases can sometimes do something with common sense. Of course,
these environists apparently do not understand that (warning, spoiler!)
air moves, and all those nasty molecules of ozone and CO2, as well as
those smog particles, don’t stay in one “patch of polluted sky.”
Even in Arizona. (And I’m not sure how you measure sky in “miles”
anyway: square miles, maybe, or more likely, cubic miles. But still…)
Mama's
Note: Did both you guys miss the zinger? These nutcases want government
to "fix" the problem with more legislation, and never mind that
the air is getting cleaner all the time without them. More regulations
can only slow the process and screw up the economy even more.
Culture
wars – human caused global warming
Walking
worse for environment
The Times of London
Food production is now so energy-intensive that more carbon is emitted
providing a person with enough calories to walk to the shops than a car
would emit over the same distance. The climate could benefit if people
avoided exercise, ate less and became couch potatoes.
If you
believe in global warming caused by humans, then you should take this
article seriously: and understand WHY “carbon footprint reduction”
is being pressed so heavily as the next stage of the evolution of tyranny:
the article continues on to cite facts and figures as to why many “everyone
knows” things are just plain wrong – if global warming is your
thing.
Mama's
Note: I see one real benefit if these morons take the advice and become
couch potatoes... they'll die sooner and we'll have than many fewer damned
fools underfoot!!
Culture
wars:
AZ: Colorado City police torn between
religion & law
Arizona Republic
“One by one, police officers in Colorado City are being stripped
of their law-enforcement certification because they cannot serve two masters:
a polygamous church and their oath to uphold the law. In a police department
normally staffed with just six full-time officers, four have lost their
badges in recent years. Two more, including town Marshal Fred Barlow,
are awaiting decertification rulings from the Arizona Peace Officer Standards
and Training Board, or Arizona POST. All the ousted officers belong to
the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a sect
that teaches salvation is attained through plural marriage. Authorities
from Utah and Arizona have cracked down on FLDS child marriages and fraud
in this isolated red-rock country.” (08/09/07)
I am no
more a supporter of polygamy than I am of many other evils, including
the police state. But this seems (besides being a biased article) to be
an example of anti-religious action on the part of the POST. As more and
more states adopt so-called “homosexual marriage” and “civil
unions,” the prohibitions on polygamy, child marriages, and a lot
of other things exist on ground that becomes ever more shaky.
Economic
news:
American Home Mortgage files for bankruptcy
MarketWatch
“After laying off nearly all of its staff and closing down most
of its business operations, American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. on
Monday filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The filing caps off the rapid demise
of a real-estate investment trust that once ranked as the No. 10 mortgage
lender in the U.S. … American Home Mortgage had been facing margin
calls from its own lenders following the recent shakeup in the mortgage
markets. The trouble started in subprime mortgages, which are designed
for home buyers with shakier credit histories, but has spread into other
credit markets. Delinquencies have surged after the housing bust, which
has strained lenders who wrote the loans.” (08/06/07)
The ripples
continue to widen from the apparent housing bubble. While the stock market
bounces all over the place, other indicators are not as upbeat. Whether
this is accurately reporting problems or is someone trying to make it
seem like problems is still to be seen.
Economic
news:
Signs of
faltering US economy surface
Christian Science Monitor
“The economy is losing its umph as summer winds to a close. For
one, it’s looking as if the downturn in housing is spreading to other
parts of the economy. Investors, watching this happen, are becoming increasingly
nervous and more selective with their loans. The tightening of credit
standards is taking place at a time when trends in consumer spending and
the labor market are sending mixed signals. These developments create
a complex challenge for the Federal Reserve governors, whose role is to
stimulate the economy in times of trouble. The Board of governors meets
Tuesday to set interest rate policy. Already, the bond market has factored
in an interest rate cut or two by December -– if not by October.”
(08/06/07)
Together
with the mortgage company bankruptcy, galloping fuel and food inflation
(caused by the fuel, I suspect), and other signs… As I said in the
last comment, there is way too much conflicting information, and most
of it from suspect sources.
Economic
news:
Can a bitter taste find sweet life
again?
Boston Globe
“Moxie, the bitter soda that once outsold Coke nationally before
fading to a quirky regional curiosity, is finally developing some …
well, moxie. Earlier this year, Cornucopia Beverages Co. of Bedford, N.H.,
bought the long-neglected brand from an Atlanta business, bringing it
back to its New England roots and launching an ambitious plan to save
Moxie, the country’s first mass-produced soft drink, from irrelevance.
In recent weeks, the company has sent vendors across New Hampshire and
Maine to peddle the carbonated beverage at places where prospective Moxie
fans might congregate: at minor league baseball games, at a lottery for
moose hunting permits, and at Wal-Mart stores.” (08/05/07)
I’ve
never tasted the stuff, but I am sure that it has its followers. This
is an interesting enterprise, but unfortunately, like too many others,
it isn’t CREATING anything new, just recreating something for an
admittedly-niche market.
Economic
news:
Stocks rebound in volatile trading
El Paso Times
“Wall Street surged higher in a volatile session Monday, offsetting
the losses it incurred Friday but showing more fractiousness than conviction
in an advance that lifted the Dow Jones industrials 286 points, its biggest
gain in nearly five years. Investors tried to balance their concerns about
the availability of credit with hopes that Tuesday’s Federal Reserve
meeting will be a calming influence after two weeks of frenetic trading
on Wall Street.” (08/06/07)
Given all
the conflicting information and the almost-daily actions by Congress-thugs
to pass new taxes, is it any wonder that the normally-flighty buyers and
sellers are even more panicked and hyper than usual?
Economic
news:
Bank
freezes funds, markets plummet on sub-prime fears
USA Today
“For investors, the only thing worse than bad news is uncertainty,
and thanks to a French bank’s decision to freeze $2.2 billion in
funds Thursday, uncertainty rocked the markets and sent the Dow Jones
industrials tumbling 387 points to 13,271. BNP Paribas said in a statement
that it barred the doors on three funds that were invested in subprime
mortgages because the bank didn’t feel it could calculate a fair
value for those assets. Two financial services firms in Germany have also
halted redemptions from funds connected to the U.S. subprime market. Those
moves come on the heels of the collapse of two Bear Stearns hedge funds
that were heavily invested in subprime mortgages.” (08/10/07)
To top
this week off, we had this happen. Part of this is a result of old-fashioned
greed: greed overcoming common sense investing in these sub-primes in
the first place. But it is important to remember, I think, that there
are RISKS associated with hedge funds and similar activities – that
is why they exist. Sometimes those risks turn into real problems, and
real people lose money! But in today’s risk-free (or at least, risk-adverse)
world, people panic when a risky investment lives up to its name, and
who is better at panic than the Wall Street crowd?
Mama's
Note: It's not rocket science... people with poor credit are apt to be
a poor risk for a loan... DUH!!! If the property is subsequently not worth
as much as the loan, or the costs to recover it are high, then the investors
lose.
Free speech:
Aussie Actress
Arrested for “Fair Dinkum”
Fox News
[When told on a Delta Connection Skywest flight that pretzels were
not available, Australian actress Sophie Reynolds replied, “Fair
dinkum?” (for real?)] The flight attendant misunderstood what Reynolds
said and thought she was cursing at her. The crew asked for her passport
and told her swearing at attendants was against the law. When Reynolds,
41, emerged from the plane in Pittsburgh, Pa., there were three uniformed
police officers waiting for her to tell her about the federal rules prohibiting
cursing at the flight crew.
Seems to
me like the flight crew ought to have SOMEONE that speaks Strine, in Atlanta
at least. But what really gets me mad about this is that it now apparently
a federal felony to cuss a flight crew. I wonder, does that apply to USAF
crews as well? If so, we aren’t going to have many soldiers available,
pretty soon; they’ll all be in prison and disarmed as felons.
Mama's
Note: As far as I know, it's not a "felony" to curse the Pope,
or much of anyone else. Just how do these people rate anyway - and what's
the point? I never heard of anyone actually endangered by a bad word or
three, much as I'd prefer not to hear them.
The
airline accused the lady of being "aggressive," but the news
story didn't elaborate. Even if true, that would be no surprise, of course.
She'd just gone through the groping, humiliation, insulting and time wasting
process of getting on the stupid airplane! I'm afraid I'd have been far
more than just "frustrated." That's why I stay far away from
airports!!
Home front
– politics:
SC: GOP
bumps up primary
Tampa Tribune
“South Carolina Republicans pushed up their 2008 presidential
primary to Jan. 19, an earlier-than-planned date that provokes a dramatic
shift in the nominating calendar and could mean the first votes are cast
in December 2007. New Hampshire is sure to follow suit to protect its
first-in-the-nation primary status, and Iowa, home to the leadoff caucuses,
left little doubt it would do whatever necessary to ensure it kicks off
the nominating process as it has for three decades.” (08/10/07)
As I discuss
more in “thugs” (below), we already get little enough out of
our wonderful elected leaders, who are so busy campaigning for their next
job that they can’t find any time to do the work they are theoretically
getting paid for. At this rate, the 2012 Presidential campaign will begin
in July or August of 2009. These states’ “leaders” are
acting like children squabbling over a piece of lint. If NH is serious
about “whatever necessary” I suggest that they go ahead and
hold the 2012 primary on the same day as the 2008 general election: it
will save a lot of hassle.
Home front:
Bush signs controversial wiretap bill
CNN
“President Bush signed a controversial bill Sunday that temporarily
revises federal electronic surveillance laws. ‘This law gives our
intelligence professionals this greater flexibility while closing a dangerous
gap in our intelligence-gathering activities that threatened to weaken
our defenses,’ Bush said in a written statement issued by the White
House.” (08/05/07)
I touched
on this last week – there is no indication this is a magic bullet
that will suddenly make our intel community, well, intelligent! All the
power in the world does not change an incompetent organization into an
effective one, and the cost in liberty lost isn’t worth it. Not at
all. But at the same time, WHERE are all these anti-Bush Democrats and
weak-sister Republicans that everyone was saying would stop such things
from getting passed by this Administration? Sounds like they wimped out
– again.
Home front:
FL: Teen stopped
from chalking names of Iraq war dead
WINK News
“Fort Myers police have stopped a teenager from chalking the names
of Iraq war casualties on downtown sidewalks. Willie Filkowski had begun
his chalk work on July 1 and had worked on his memorial most nights along
with his parents, sister and friends. The 15-year-old had written almost
300 names before being stopped Monday evening. Officers thought the chalking
could distract drivers and pedestrians, causing accidents or affecting
foot traffic. They told him to apply for a permit. Filkowski won’t
necessarily be chalking again any time soon, however. The acting city
manager says he wouldn’t grant a permit.” (08/03/07)
Hard decision,
hard to understand what is the right and wrong of this one. Remembering
the dead is one thing, and a good thing (no matter which side of the occupation
debate you are on), but doing it where it is defacing other peoples’
property and creating other problems is ignoring other peoples’ rights,
isn’t it?
Mama's
Note: Downtown sidewalks are not private property. If the writing actually
could distract drivers and cause accidents - which seems silly - how does
getting a "permit" change that? In any case, while the thought
was no doubt good, it would have been much better if he had found people
to help him put up some sort of memorial on private property and written
the names there.
Home front:
SC: Two charged for pipe bombs near
Navy base
Cadillac News
“Two men found with several pipe bombs in their car near a Navy
base were charged Monday with possession of an explosive device, authorities
said. A joint state-federal investigation was under way to see whether
there was any terrorism connection, said FBI spokeswoman Denise Taiste,
but no link had been found. The Navy base is the site of a brig where
enemy combatants have been held.” (08/07/07)
What this
story doesn’t report (and no story except for the very initial reports
does) is that the two men are foreign students on visas in the United
States, from Egypt. The description of the items found do NOT sound like
leftover 4th of July fireworks, and their incredible stupidity (in driving
70 in a 45 mph zone and voluntarily letting cops search their car) indicates
that they are stupid enough to be terrorists.
Mama's
Note: Hmmmm, if "terrorists" are so stupid, why should anyone
be afraid of them? This doesn't track.
Home front:
MN: Navy divers join bridge search
Buffalo News
“An elite team of Navy divers joined the search for victims of
the interstate bridge collapse Tuesday, bringing to the job lessons learned
from such disasters as TWA Flight 800 and the loss of the space shuttle
Columbia. The team of 16 divers and a five-member command crew arrived
a day earlier. Once their gear arrived before dawn Tuesday, several divers
immediately entered the Mississippi River even though local officials
encouraged them to wait until daybreak.” (08/07/07)
I am amazed,
every time I hear a report from the Twin Cities, that more people are
NOT missing, given traffic conditions and the sudden failure.
Home front:
IN: TSA checks IndyGo bus passengers
Indianapolis Star
“Screeners from the Transportation Security Administration checked
passengers at two Downtown city bus stops this morning, looking for weapons
and suspicious behavior. David Kane, federal security director for TSA
in Indianapolis, called it a ‘VIPR’ operation. ‘It’s
called Visual Intermodal Prevention Response. We have plainclothes inspectors,
blue-gloved uniformed security officers who are checking baggage, the
behavior detection officers, and federal air marshals, which are the law
enforcement arm of TSA.’ … Some passengers were patted down
or submitted to having bags checked. TSA said the searches were ‘by-permission,’
meaning patrons could decline to be checked. Those who did would not be
turned away, an official said, unless they otherwise appeared to be a
security threat.” (08/02/07)
Is this
a form of immersion therapy? Get people used to having the goons molesting
them? Last weekend, we may have seen a similar, if lower-key operation
on a famous mountain pass in a certain Rocky Mountain state, with at least
one marked DHS van, several contractor vans loaded with lots of “nice”
young men, and a convoy of SUVs that were all unmarked, but again filled
with “nice” young men, apparently setting up surveillance or
even checkpoints at an altitude of more than 11,000 feet! Similar reports
of incidents like this that do NOT make the papers would be appreciated.
Mama's
Note: "Behavior detection officers?" What in the world is going
on? This is sounding more and more like 1984 - the book, not the year.
Home front:
In Big Easy,
slow headway against crime
Christian Science Monitor
“In the two years since hurricane Katrina soaked the Big Easy,
the murder rate has soared, and street justice has prevailed over the
notoriously ineffective halls of justice. But there are signs now that
this city, famous for its laissez-faire lethargy and laid-back detectives,
is gaining some ground against a tide of criminality that residents say
threatens to sweep away the promise of recovery. From Coronado Heights
to Lakeview, hope is returning that ‘the battle for New Orleans,’
as residents call it, is winnable — on the streets and inside the
city’s corruption-tinged criminal justice system. Reforms in the
squad room and the courtroom have lifted the rate of solved murders here
from 16 percent to 42 percent since January. Moreover, a new violent-crime
unit has won convictions in 19 of 20 cases since April. It’s a dramatic
turnaround that may indicate an abrupt awakening to the need to check
crime at this particular juncture in city history.” (08/07/07)
We should
have turned the whole thing into a national memorial to something –
or a training ground for troops deploying to Baghdad. Amazing! They know
who killed more than 4 out of every 10 people murdered in this snakepit!
And 95% of the cases prosecuted – but what, 10%?, 20% of the violent
crimes even are investigated enough to bring to trial?
Home front:
"Homeland
Security" to make new anti-employment threats
Yahoo! News
"The government is planning a workplace crackdown on illegal immigrants
after Congress failed to overhaul immigration laws, a Homeland Security
Department spokesman said on Wednesday. The department will announce in
the next several days the final version of a rule that would require employers
to fire workers who falsify identity documents. Those that don't comply
would face fines of up to $10,000. The rule, proposed last year, was delayed
when Congress took up immigration reform, an attempt that failed in June
despite heavy lobbying by the Bush administration." (08/08/07)
What can’t
be pushed through Congress is apparently to be implemented by decree –
just like South America! Seriously, this is another example of businesses
being forced to play cop and getting punished if they don’t. And
all the regs in the world don’t mean a thing if there is no actual
enforcement.
Local tyranny:
MA: Nantucket seethes over whether
to meter taxis
Boston Globe
"Residents of this breezy island resort cherish their history,
and they tend to cling to vestiges of a simpler past: cobblestone streets
instead of pavement; gray-shingled houses instead of contemporary palettes;
the old-fashioned downtown drugstore instead of a pharmacy chain. This
summer, in an unlikely twist on the theme, islanders find themselves fighting
over a Nantucket custom that decidedly lacks the rustic charm of Siasconset
window boxes or the salty history of scrimshaw: the way taxi drivers charge
their passengers. The debate in this quaintly preserved former whaling
port is mired in mundane problems of 21st-century life -- nightmarish
traffic, the plight of taxi drivers, and veiled charges that some taxis
are fleecing customers." (08/08/07)
Folks,
it is called a “free market” – if the customers think that
they are getting ripped off by one cabbie, they should either contract
with another one or walk. Either way, it is not government’s business
to “fix” this problem.
Local tyrants:
TN:
Metro wants money back from local nonprofit
Nashville City Paper
“Metro has asked nonprofit group NEON to return part of community
grants sponsored by Councilwoman Pam Murray. Metro has asked a local nonprofit
closely linked with a district Metro Councilwoman to return nearly $23,700
of a total $92,416 in grant money the city has provided it since 2005
— much of which was used to help start the small organization. Saying
no expenditure of the dollars was accounted for, Metro wants the North
Edgefield Organized Neighbors (NEON) — which facilitates tutoring
services for students in low-income East Nashville neighborhoods near
Councilwoman Pam Murray’s fifth district to pay some of the money
back.” (08/07/07)
“Put
not your trust in princes” – even if they are the local oligarchs.
When will people learn that “grants” are nasty and vicious and
dangerous to their health, sanity, and liberty?
MSM garbage:
Minneapolis
shows why it's rated No. 1 in volunteerism
Christian Science Monitor
"As Dave Scharnhorst drove the final spans of the I-35W bridge
last week he saw a construction worker run, then seem to shoot, into the
air. In reality, the road underneath Mr. Scharnhorst's car had given way.
Driving steeply up to safety, he parked and headed back with some of the
workers to help. 'I found myself wandering around, feeling: Somebody tell
me what to do and I'll do it,' says Scharnhorst. Then he spotted a woman
emerge from a car, shaking. He comforted her and helped her find her husband.
'I got to talk with her and calm her down, which coincidentally was calming
me down,' he says. 'I had something to do.'" (08/08/07)
Oh, for
crying out loud – first off, any small town in the West provides
more hours of volunteer labor per capita than this big urban sick-zone.
Second, human nature and benevolence in a crisis like this has nothing
to do with day-in, day-out volunteering for civic action and similar work.
Third, even in NYC during Bloody Tuesday, standard New Yorkers were willing
and did help perfect strangers. It is called (or was) “the Christian
thing to do.” I’m glad we still do it – but it is NOT any
proof of the superiority of the People’s Socialist Democracy of Minnesota.
Nazguli:
CA:
Navy barred from using sonar
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
“A federal judge on Monday banned the Navy from using high-power
sonar during a series of upcoming training exercises, ruling the technology
can cause widespread damage to dozens of species of whales and marine
mammals. U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper issued the temporary
injunction in response to a Navy request to dismiss a lawsuit filed by
the Natural Resources Defense Council. The group says the Navy planned
to use mid-frequency sonar over thousands of square miles of ocean that
can cause strandings and other harm to marine animals. The training exercises
are planned for the waters off Southern California, an area rich in marine
life.” (08/06/07)
The judge
made this decision based on data a lot more inconclusive than this article
seems to state, so this isn’t a clear victory, by any means. Again,
the mainstream media has taken sides and is an advocate, not a reporter.
New religions
– global warming:
Ten-year
climate model unveiled
BBC News [UK]
“Scientists say they have developed a model to predict how ocean
currents, as well as human activities, will affect temperatures over the
next decade. By including short-term natural events, such as El Nino,
a UK team says it is able to offer 10-year projections. Models have previously
focused on how the globe will warm over a century. Writing in Science,
Met Office researchers project that at least half of the years between
2009 and 2014 are likely to exceed existing records. However, the Hadley
Centre researchers said that the influence of natural climatic variations
were likely to dampen the effects of emissions from human activities between
now and 2009.” (08/10/07)
Sorry,
we still can’t predict what the weather tomorrow afternoon will be,
to a reasonable level of certainty; so I can hardly imagine that this
model is going to be any good. Especially since revelations this week
indicate that the data from as recently as the 1990s is bad in several
ways: first, hundreds of weather stations shut down in Russia and the
‘stans after the collapse of the USSR, skewing total worldwide data;
second, changes in weather station locations in the US in recent decades
have resulted in very poor data for many locations; and third, NOAA and
NASA missed a Y2K bug glitch that corrupted data and analysis for a lot
of late 1990s data; and this adds up to bad data = bad results.
New religions:
evolution:
Fossil find casts doubt on origins
of man
ABC News Online [Australia]
"It all seems so simple on the evolution diagrams we are used
to seeing. The ape gradually stops dragging its arms along the ground,
becomes upright and evolves into modern man -- the homo sapien. But the
analysis of two fossils from Kenya is throwing all that into question.
Research published in the journal Nature today has thrown up a serious
challenge to the widely accepted view on human evolution. An international
team of researchers, including a geologist from the Australian National
University (ANU), has found that two different species of early man lived
side by side in the same place for almost half a million years."
(08/09/07)
So often,
like the infamous Piltdown Man and numerous other hoaxes, what is claimed
to be “different species” fall well within the normal range
of human form. Evolutionists are desperate for new “evidence”
to prop up their failing scam, at the same time that they launch hundreds
of ad hominem attacks and seek government protection for their “correct”
view of life and the world – a view that promotes the evils of government
and has helped to give us the social mess we have today.
North American
union:
Edwards blasts Bill Clinton over NAFTA
Arizona Republic
“Democratic presidential contender John Edwards on Monday criticized
former President Clinton, arguing that he allowed corporate insiders to
shape the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement and sacrifice U.S.
jobs. Edwards’ complaints about the former president beloved by voters
in his own party was a defiant move meant to highlight rival Hillary Clinton’s
relationship with special interests. It comes two days after Clinton refused
Edwards’ challenge to stop taking campaign donations from lobbyists,
saying many represent good causes.” [Editor’s note: Whoops!
So much for Edwards’ shot at VP … unless with Obama! - SAT]
(08/07/07)
Although
this is presented as campaign news, I’m commenting on this because
it should remind us that the last Democratic president was as much a disaster
for the nation as either the Bush before or after him, and is scarcely
“the last, great president” that his loving wife proclaims.
Neither of the big parties are going to produce a decent president.
Politics
USA:
Internet-based PAC driving Democratic
push
Boston Globe
“The new headquarters of ActBlue, with its tangled cords, leftover
Deval Patrick signs, and 20-somethings tapping on white MacBook laptops,
is what a political campaign would look like if it shared space with a
dot-com start-up. ActBlue is in fact both — an Internet-based political
action committee that is quietly becoming one of the biggest forces in
Democratic politics. Its founders aim for nothing short of revolution,
and they are already partway there. The PAC, operated from a former architecture
studio on Arrow Street near Harvard Square, functions as an online clearinghouse
for campaign contributions to Democrats of all stripes, allowing anyone
in the country to donate any allowable amount to any candidate with the
click of a mouse.” (08/07/07)
Expect
the Congressional thugs to outlaw this as soon as possible. And of course,
this is based on the false beliefs that elections do anything except keep
the rabble down a little bit, and that the Democrats will change anything
important – anywhere.
Stupid
cop tricks:
Thai cops
punished by Hello Kitty
Ananova [UK]
“Police chiefs in Bangkok have come up with a new way of punishing
officers who break the rules — an eye-catching Hello Kitty armband.
The armband is large, bright pink and has a Hello Kitty motif with two
hearts embroidered on it. From today, officers who are late, park in the
wrong place or commit other minor transgressions will have to wear it
for several days, reports the BBC. The armband is designed to shame the
wearer, police officials said.” (08/06/07)
Gee –
doesn’t this weaken the respect which cops “deserve” to
get from the public? And couldn’t this trigger abusive actions by
the humbled cops on people who can’t push back?
Stupid
government tricks:
WI: Divorce bill would set rules for
pet custody
Arizona Republic
“Talk about treating Fido like one of the family: Wisconsin legislators
have introduced a bill that outlines how divorcing couples and the courts
should handle custody battles over pets. The bill would let couples specify,
among other things, visitation rights and the right to move the animal
out of state. If the feuding spouses can’t agree on what to do with
the pet, the solution is simple: A judge can either pick a spouse —
or ship it off to a local humane society facility or similar shelter.
Whoever gets there first owns the dog, cat or even goldfish. If they wait
too long, someone else could adopt their beloved animal or, depending
on the shelter’s policies, it could be euthanized.” (08/05/07)
Haven’t
we given enough power over our lives to government? Now we must surrender
the fates of our pets as well?
Stupid
government tricks:
NY:
Judge orders release of ‘04 surveillance reports
New York Times
“A federal judge yesterday rejected New York City’s efforts
to prevent the release of nearly 2,000 pages of raw intelligence reports
and other documents detailing the Police Department’s covert surveillance
of protest groups and individual activists before the Republican National
Convention in 2004. In a 20-page ruling, Magistrate Judge James C. Francis
IV ordered the disclosure of hundreds of field intelligence reports by
undercover investigators who infiltrated and compiled dossiers on protest
groups in a huge operation that the police said was needed to head off
violence and disruptions at the convention. But at the behest of the city
and with the concurrence of civil liberties lawyers representing plaintiffs
swept up in mass arrests during the convention, the judge agreed to the
deletion of sensitive information in the documents to protect the identities
of undercover officers and confidential informants and to safeguard police
investigative methods and the privacy of individuals caught up in investigations.”
(08/07/07)
Dear, oh
dear – what interesting things are likely to be found in all these
documents! It may make a difference in the 2008 conventions and the prep
these cities will be going through.
Stupid
government tricks:
Fed
leaves interest rate alone
Houston Chronicle
“The Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged on Tuesday
and signaled that it still expects to avoid cutting short-term rates despite
the recent tumult in credit markets and on Wall Street. The Fed suggested
that it would change course only if economic conditions deteriorated badly
in the weeks and months ahead. In a statement announcing that the federal
funds rate, the overnight lending rate it controls, would remain unchanged
at 5.25 percent, the Fed’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee
did not drift significantly from its core message that inflation remains
a greater risk to the economy than recession. The central bank, however,
softened its tone slightly by making a nod to worsening conditions in
financial markets, adding a new phrase to its statement saying that the
risk of an economic downturn has ‘increased somewhat.’”
(08/07/07)
According
to a lot of folks I am corresponding with, and at least some TV
financial analysts (see video) this was a very serious error on the
part of the Fed, if they want to avoid still further meltdown of the housing
and mortgage market. A lot more indicators are scaring a lot of people,
but apparently NOT the Fed.
Stupid
government tricks:
Same agencies to run, oversee surveillance
Washington Post
“The Bush administration plans to leave oversight of its expanded
foreign eavesdropping program to the same government officials who supervise
the surveillance activities and to the intelligence personnel who carry
them out, senior government officials said yesterday. The law, which permits
intercepting Americans’ calls and e-mails without a warrant if the
communications involve overseas transmission, gives Director of National
Intelligence Mike McConnell and Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales responsibility
for creating the broad procedures determining whose telephone calls and
e-mails are collected. It also gives McConnell and Gonzales the role of
assessing compliance with those procedures.” (08/07/07)
Simplifies
things, doesn’t it? Again, this reminds me of incidents in “It
Can’t Happen Here” by Sinclair Lewis.
Mama's
Note: I don't suppose it really matters who "oversees" this
thing since it's totally illegal (unconstitutional) and immoral. It doesn't
need to be supervised... it needs to be eliminated.
Stupid
government tricks:
MA:
Big Dig contractor indicted in fatal ceiling collapse
Houston Chronicle
"The company that provided the epoxy blamed in the fatal Big Dig
tunnel collapse was indicted Wednesday in the death of a motorist crushed
by ceiling panels. Powers Fasteners Inc. of Brewster, N.Y., was charged
with one count of involuntary manslaughter, Attorney General Martha Coakley
said. ... Milena Del Valle, 39, was killed when 26 tons of concrete panels
and hardware crashed from a tunnel ceiling onto her car." (08/09/07)
And who
designed, specified, purchased, tested, and approved the epoxy and other
materials? State DOT or the local transit authority – government
employees. No indictments for them – yeah, some may have lost or
may lose their jobs, but no fines or jail times or legal fees for them.
Back in the old days when “road building” consisted of emptying
out the county jail and setting up a chain gang to build dirt roads, highways
could be left in such incompetent hands. Today?
Stupid
people tricks:
TN: Church members sue pastor
Tennessean
“Members of a Nashville church that was the scene of a melee last
weekend turned to the courts last week, claiming their pastor has mortgaged
the church without permission, has taken money and refuses to step down.
The lawsuit, filed against the Rev. N. Curtis Bryant by members of Jackson
Street Missionary Baptist Church near Jefferson Street, paints a picture
of a congregation deeply divided and in utter turmoil. ‘Without the
assistance of this court, (church meetings) and the worship service will
not be able to be held without the fear and real threat of physical intimidation
and confrontation,’ the suit states.” (08/05/07)
Clearly,
these people haven’t bothered to study the Bible that they claim
to be following - for several reasons.
Stupid
people tricks:
TX:
Store clerk opens fire on would-be robber
ABC 13 News
“A convenience store clerk opened fire on a possible would be
robber trying to make his way into the store. It happened off the East
Freeway and Hurley in the northeast side of town overnight. Authorities
say the suspect walked up to the window and attempted to smash it with
a brick wrapped in a T-shirt. It cracked, the window didn’t break.
The clerk who was inside of the bulletproof glass came out and fired a
shot at the suspect. The suspect managed to get away.” (08/09/07)
This isn’t
in “Our right to defend ourselves” because the point of this
story is the stupidity of the store clerk. A rock in a tee-shirt does
NOT justify the use of deadly force, and the clerk should NOT have left
the building to shoot at the perp. To top it off (fortunately), he missed!
Stupid
people tricks:
IN: Parents
upset about strip-search at day camp
Fox News
“Parents say their children were strip-searched at a [East Chicago]
city-run day camp by counselors who were searching for $140 that went
missing from another worker’s backpack. April Hinton said her 8-year-old
son told her about the search that happened at the Martin Luther King
Center last week. The camp director who ordered the search has been suspended,
and an investigation by the city Human Resources Department is expected
to end this week, city spokesman Damian Rico said Wednesday. ‘We
are interviewing everybody that was involved. Parents, workers, everyone,’
Rico said.” (08/09/07)
Idiotic
acts like this just fuel more and more government regulation of such activities.
In this case, however, note that it WAS a government agency running the
place. Of course, this specific incident will probably be swept under
the rug, since the city is so busy investigating itself.
Mama's
Note: It would seem logical to do what was needed to insure that the next
"day camp" offered by the city would be echoingly empty... But
then, remember that these are the same parents who send their children
daily to the government indoctrination centers anyway, so they already
have consented to this outrage and more.
Tech and
pork news:
Oak Ridge selected for 2nd supercomputer
Tennessean
“The Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee
took another quantum leap in the computing universe Wednesday with a decision
by the National Science Board to underwrite a second world-class supercomputer
in Tennessee. The board authorized the National Science Foundation to
award $65 million over five years to build a supercomputer capable of
nearly 1,000 teraflops — or 1,000 trillion calculations a second
— at UT’s Joint Institute for Computational Science. The institute
is located at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a Department of Energy
facility managed by UT and Battelle Memorial Institute. The announcement
means that the Oak Ridge lab, which currently hosts the second-fastest
supercomputer in the world, could have the world’s two fastest machines
by 2009.” (08/09/07)
As with
the new underground laboratory at the old Homestake Mine in the Black
Hills, this is another pork-barrel project. And also like it, at least
all the money won’t be totally wasted: there will be some useful
research done. Unlike the SD project, this is going to a part of the world
that is rolling in wealth from generations of federal pork, right back
to the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Tech news:
Nissan gets testy with drunk drivers
Yahoo! News
“Beer-breaths beware. A new concept car with breathalyzer-like
detection systems may provide even greater traction for Japanese efforts
to keep impaired drivers off the road. Nissan’s alcohol-detection
sensors check odor, sweat and driver awareness, issuing a voice alert
from the navigation system and locking up the ignition if necessary. Odor
sensors on the driver and passenger seats read alcohol levels, while a
detector in the gearshift knob measures the perspiration of the driver’s
palm when starting the car. Other carmakers with detection systems include
Sweden’s Volvo, which has developed technology in which drivers blow
into a measuring unit in the seat belt before an engine can start.”
(08/03/07)
Unintended
consequences of this? I can think of several, and a dozen ways this equipment
could go belly-up at a critical time.
Mama's
Note: What can be built, can be disabled... And I don't know anyone who
will pay for this nonsense voluntarily.
Tech news:
Plug-in Prius — The Ferrari of
hybrids
San Francisco Chronicle
“It looks pretty much like any other Toyota Prius, sitting in
its Redwood City garage, but there is that telltale yellow industrial-strength
power cord coming out of its tail and snaking around to a 120-volt electrical
outlet. Yes, this is one of the nation’s few plug-in hybrids, and
The Chronicle took a ride in it the other day to see what the future might
look like. The future, if Toyota and a few other car makers have anything
to say about it, will see a lot more of these cars. Technological hurdles
on the cost and efficiency of hybrid-car batteries will have to be overcome,
but in the past couple of weeks, two major developments seemed to encourage
the possibility that these cars may actually get built and sold to the
public.” (08/06/07)
Interesting,
yes, but useful? Maybe in urban areas, but not a good deal of the nation.
(How long is your yellow extension cord?)
Mama's
Note: These manufacturers can produce all the silly stuff they want, but
they won't be able to sell it without a government club unless it is what
people want.
Page
2 Click HERE Link checked!
Lots of other good stuff on page 2!
Nathan
Barton is writing this from a wonderful place in the West, which might
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the Four Corners States. Exactly where it is, the breezes blow with the
scent of liberty, and the sound of the pines or the pinions is the sound
of freedom. For thousands of years, people have fought and died for the
liberty that Americans in the great spaces of the West enjoy, and he writes
these commentaries in the hopes that continued generations will be able
to do so, until the end of Time.
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Outpost.
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