|
Libertarian
War on the News, 20 - 26 January, 2008
Since
Congress is so little in the news this week, lets start with them, then
move on to some other areas that haven’t had much coverage recently.
Sadly, once more the 2008 presidential election is taking up way too much
band width, but we have a lot of great news on self-defense this week.
Baboons:
Senate rejects restraints
on illegal domestic spy ops
MSNBC
“The Senate granted at least a temporary victory to the White
House on Thursday, turning back an attempt to increase court oversight
of the government’s surveillance of phone calls and e-mails that
involve people inside the United States. The 60-36 vote to reject increased
powers for the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court came as
senators worked against a Feb. 1 deadline to extend the law governing
how U.S. intelligence agencies carry out electronic eavesdropping.”
(01/24/08)
The only
news about our beloved monkeys in Congress this week: FISA will most likely
be the latest area in which the baboons will demonstrate that they aren’t
really of the family “Cordata” – they have no spines.
Canaanite
front:
Israel sees
upside in hole in Gaza wall
Christian Science Monitor
“When Palestinians toppled a metal wall separating the Gaza Strip
from Egypt Wednesday, many expected Israeli officials to howl over Egypt
allowing Hamas ‘terrorists’ to rearm. After all, a cornerstone
of the current peace process was supposed to be isolating Gaza. But the
Israeli response has been surprisingly muted. In fact, some Israeli officials
see some advantage in the breach. Israel, which occupied the Gaza Strip
in 1967, has since then clamored, intermittently and often privately,
for Egypt to assume greater responsibility for the impoverished coastal
strip, or even for Cairo to take control of Gaza. By breaking down the
wall and sending Egypt a tidal wave of people pressed to stock up on everyday
necessities, Hamas militants — who have been planning the break for
weeks, according to local media reports – may have inadvertently
brought Israel closer to this goal.” (01/25/08)
I find
it constantly disturbing that the evil situation in Gaza is blamed on
the “illegal occupation” of Gaza by the Israelis, although that
occupation has effectively ended and it is Egypt that has enforced the
true isolation of the Strip.
Mama's
Note: Let's face it, all of the factions in this mess have warts. Nobody
is totally to blame, and nobody is totally innocent - as far as governments
are concerned. And there will not be any real solution as long as governments
continue to struggle for control and shift the blame around. When the
individual people are left free to order their own lives and defend their
own property, only then will the problems have a real solution.
Chinese
front:
China’s
farmers protest a key Mao tenet
Christian Science Monitor
“The snowy, fogbound fields around this village in central China
do not look like a battlefield. But in recent weeks they have become a
flash point in a spreading peasants’ revolt against one of the key
aspects of Communist Party rule: state ownership of farmland. ‘My
ancestors bought this land’ before the 1949 Communist revolution,
says Cheng Zhenhai, a grizzled cotton farmer huddling close to the stove
in his dimly lit one-room home, ’so I have to keep it. As a peasant,
I want nothing else.’ Mr. Cheng was one of more than 10,000 peasants
in Shaanxi Province who signed a public letter last month renouncing the
collective land-ownership system that has governed China’s countryside
for the past half century and declaring the land they farm to be their
private property. At about the same time, farmers in four other provinces
signed similar declarations that appeared on the Internet.” (01/22/08)
They are
learning. Too little, too late, but they are learning.
Mama's
Note: It is never too late to learn. I don't think the Chinese have a
greater task to win freedom than people anywhere else. And I don't think
they have any less to work with to find it. Time will tell.
Chinese
front:
China:
“Kissing video” sparks debate on privacy
Hindu News Service
“A video clip of a couple kissing at a subway station posted on
a website has sparked a public debate on privacy and monitoring device,
prompting the authorities to launch a probe into the incident. The couple
aged around 20 unaware of the camera were captured in a passionate moment
at the entrance of a subway in Shanghai and the three-minute clipping
found its way into the internet and became a hit. Shanghai subway authorities
said they were investigating whether their staff used the monitoring device
and made the video. ” (01/20/08)
It is not,
apparently, the government surveillance that bothers people, it is the
use of the data collected. Sad. If the government wasn’t being Big
Brother, this would never have existed.
Mama's
Note: Oh, I don't know. Think about all of the really tiny cameras a lot
of people carry these days. Cell phones can take incredible video, and
more of the same will be available as time goes by. Of course state surveillance
is wrong and totally unnecessary, but people everywhere have to take responsibility
for their own privacy and adjust to the ever increasing inroads made by
technology. If you don't want to be recorded kissing at the bus stop,
then go home or get a room. The government isn't the only one taking pictures
and it's not really possible to be "private" in such a public
place.
Culture
wars:
UK: Three
Little Pigs story “too offensive”
Ananova [UK]
“A story based on the Three Little Pigs has been rejected by a
government quango in case it offends Muslims. The digital remake of the
children’s classic was criticised by Becta, the education technology
agency, because ‘the use of pigs raises cultural issues.’ Officials
also attacked the story — called The Three Little Cowboy Builders
— for stereotyping the building trade.” (01/24/08)
Of course,
the entire reason for the rewrite was to avoid “offense” –
a patently obvious failure from the gitgo. As a descendent and relative
of “cowboys” I find the rewrite far more offensive than the
original. As for builders being stereotyped, well, duh!
Mama's
Note: You are a descendent of the indians... how do you get to be a descendent
of the cowboys too? I guess there were indian cowboys... This gets just
sooo confusing if we have to be politically correct. LOL
Culture
wars:
Brandeis University tramples free
speech and academic freedom
FIRE
“Brandeis University declared a professor guilty of racial harassment
and placed a monitor in his classes after he criticized the use of the
word ‘wetbacks’ in his Latin American Politics course. Professor
Donald Hindley, a nearly 50-year veteran of teaching, has neither been
granted a formal hearing by Brandeis nor provided with the substance of
the accusations against him in writing. Hindley has turned to the Foundation
for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) for help. ‘Brandeis’s
actions demonstrate a fundamental disregard for academic freedom and for
fair, rational fact-finding procedures,’ FIRE President Greg Lukianoff
said.” (01/23/08)
Once more,
as in the previous story, a person’s efforts to avoid offense (or
teach against it) has backfired on them. Is this standard going to become
the latest fad in political correctness? Where the person trying to teach
people why some words should not be used will be punished for the very
mention of the forbidden word? How very twisted.
Economy:
Asian markets rebound on US Fed rate
cut
CNN
“Asian stock indexes have made sharp early gains Wednesday, bouncing
back from two days of big losses after a surprise steep rate cut by the
U.S. Federal Reserve. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 421.27 points, or
3.35 percent, to end morning trade at 12,994.32. Australia’s benchmark
S&P/ASX200 index rose 238.5 points, or 4.6 percent, to 5,426.3 around
midday.” (01/23/08)
I fear
we are just seeing more and more temporary and illusionary fixes to a
problem caused, ultimately, by exploding government spending worldwide,
and aggravated by government policies that reward murderous thugs who
happen to control a vital resource.
Mama's
Note: All of the government efforts to respond to the coming recession
and depression are like dipping a pail of water from the deep end of a
pool and pouring it into the shallow end. Only the end of government spending,
elimination of regulations that strangle the free market, and the total
destruction of government control of the money will actually cure the
disease. Everything they propose to do now simply increases the
debt, continues to distort the market and maintains government control
over everything. The disease pretending to be the cure.
Economy:
US pols react to economic meltdown
Eau Claire Leader-Telegram
“Jolted by global recession fears, the Federal Reserve slashed
interest rates Tuesday, and President Bush and leaders of Congress joined
in a rare show of cooperation in promising urgent action to pump up the
economy with upwards of $150 billion in tax cuts and government spending.
Market meltdowns overnight around the globe and growing anxiety at home
stirred lawmakers and the administration toward swift action, possibly
within a few weeks.” (01/23/08)
This bizarre
panic reaction stems from the fact that none of these people want to or
can afford to admit that government is the problem, so they repeat the
very mistakes that triggered the crisis in the first place.
Economy:
Black Monday continues: Asian markets
tumble on US worries
Bennington Banner
“Global stock markets extended their shakeout into a second day
Tuesday, plunging amid worries that a possible U.S. recession will cause
a worldwide economic slowdown. The dramatic declines in Asia and Europe
were expected to spread to Wall Street, where stock index futures were
already down sharply hours before the trading day began.” (01/22/08)
“Possible”
is not the right word, because in many parts of the US, the recession
is already here. It is a tribute to the robustness of the US economy that
it has been able to absorb exploding fuel costs AND exploding federal
deficits, but there is a limit, and I fear we are nearing it.
Euro front:
Spain: 14 arrested in
terror plot
MSNBC
“Police arrested 14 suspected Islamic militants in early morning
raids Saturday, amid fears the men were plotting a terrorist attack in
Barcelona, the interior minister said. The suspects, 12 Pakistanis and
two Indian nationals, were arrested less than two months before national
elections in Spain. The country’s last vote in March 2004 was held
just after the Madrid train bombings — Europe’s worst Islamic-linked
terror attack.” (01/19/08)
Spanish
officials rightly fear another repeat of the impact of the Madrid bombings
on their internal political situation.
Euro front:
Serbian
elections focus on keeping Kosovo
Christian Science Monitor
“The first round of key elections for a state half in and half
out of Europe takes place Sunday, as Serbs go to the polls amid a fantastic
focus on one issue: keeping Kosovo. The elections, closely watched in
the US and Europe, pit a moderate nationalist, Boris Tadic, against numerous
hard-edged nationalists, chief among them Tomislav Nikolic, who are deeply
opposed to the independence of Serbia’s mythic Kosovo heartland.
Many experts feel the West is unprepared for the implications of electing
a radical nationalist like Mr. Nikolic. The outcome will probably be clarified
in a second round of voting on Feb. 3.” (01/18/08)
What can
you say about the continuing mess in Serbia and Kosovo? Government IS
the problem, and no matter who gets elected, government will continue
to be the problem.
Mama's
Note: Indeed. What a horrible shame that the people feel they need to
fight and kill one another so they can "elect" a new set of
masters instead of getting free to run their own lives.
Government-ruined,
theft-funded schools:
GA:
Schools to pay students to study
Yahoo! News
“Learning is supposed to be its own reward, but when that doesn’t
work, should students get paid to do it? That’s the question two
Georgia schools are asking in a 15-week pilot program that is paying high-schoolers
struggling in math and science $8 an hour to attend study hall for four
hours a week. The privately funded ‘Learn & Earn’ initiative,
an idea from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, is touted as the first
of its kind in the state and one of a few similar programs nationwide.”
(01/24/08)
Good idea?
It might be if it were private business, but this is a government school,
even if it is privately funded. Among other things, here we will have
a large number of teens used to getting a government check for something
which is not viewed as productive work: a bad idea to set in a teen’s
mind.
Mama's
Note: I don't see it as a good idea in any context, but the whole purpose
of it is plain as you say. The more dependent and irresponsible these
kids can be made, the better for continued government control.
Government-ruined,
theft-funded schools:
IN: Student says, “anger-management
teacher broke my finger”
The Indy Channel
“A Cloverdale Middle School anger-management teacher resigned
after he broke a student’s finger during what began as horseplay,
school officials said. Scott Porter recently broke an index finger of
Jordan Mundy (pictured) as they were wrestling each other during an anger-management
class, Jordan and the school’s principal said. ‘It did start
off as kind of a fun horseplay type of incident. Whether or not somebody
got angry during that altercation is what is in dispute right now,’
Principal Charles Bollinger told 6News’ Rick Hightower on Wednesday.”
(01/24/08)
Never mind
what really happened and what was actually intended and done – in
government schools, there is no tolerance for anything that is not acceptable
to the powers that be. Everything not mandatory is prohibited.
Mama's
Note: Anger management teacher? Those used to be PARENTS, grandparents,
uncles, cousins, neighbors...
Government-ruined,
theft-funded schools:
College wealth soaring
USA Today
“The number of colleges and universities boasting endowments of
$1 billion or more climbed by 14 last year to a record 76, nearly doubling
the number of such schools five years ago. And as tuition increases continue
to outpace inflation, that’s prompting some critics to step up their
pressure on colleges to share more of their wealth. College endowments
averaged a 17.2% rate of return last year over the previous year, and
the billion-dollar-plus schools posted the best returns of all, says a
report released today by the National Association of College and University
Business Officers, a nonprofit group, and TIAA-CREF, an asset management
firm.” (01/24/08)
Of course,
one reason the endowments are growing is that the expenses are being paid
(and more) by the exploding tuition costs. I know personally of a mega-state-university
that recently received a multimillion dollar gift from the estate of an
alumni, one that will generate a hundred thousand or more income a year:
the equal of the tuition of five or more students. According to the records,
the school receives dozens of these bequests a year, yet according to
their testimony in front of the legislature, they are beggared and MUST
have more state taxpayers’ money and more tuition or it will close
its major programs.
Government-ruined,
theft-funded schools:
Study casts doubt on NCLB effectiveness
DC Examiner
“In an era of high-stakes testing brought on by the No Child Left
Behind Act, new research finds the overall quality of reading and math
instruction to be in decline, and the students most in need of high-quality
teaching as the least likely to receive it. Linda Valli, the University
of Maryland education professor who collected the data, said her findings
cast doubt on the effectiveness of NCLB, the federal legislation signed
in 2001 aimed at raising standards and closing the ‘achievement gap’
between high-performing and low-performing students.” (01/23/08)
Please
tell me, if you can, the last government program or law that really succeeded
in doing what the politicians CLAIMED it was supposed to do.
Government-ruined,
theft-funded schools:
Researchers’ assessment of NCLB
calls for improvement
DiverseEducation.Com
“With the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act looming
on the horizon this year, the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles
(CRP/PDC) at UCLA’s Graduate School of Education & Information
Studies recently completed a collection of essays containing several critiques
of the law as well as proscriptions for change. CRP/PDC K-12 senior researcher
Gail L. Sunderman edited the 280-page book, titled Holding NCLB Accountable:
Achieving Accountability, Equity, and School Reform, which was published
by Corwin Press.” (01/17/08)
A second
study, like unto the first. And similarly, (understandable, given the
sources) the solution is not less law and less government control, but
more.
Mama's
Note: And, so far, not one person has ever shown where or how the federal
government has any legal or moral place in the education of children at
all.
Government-ruined,
theft-funded schools:
WI: Milwaukee
school choice program under attack
Heartland Institute
“Wisconsin state Rep. Fred Kessler (D-Milwaukee) is pushing a
proposal to oust 7,000 students from the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program
(MPCP) — the nation’s oldest and most successful school voucher
program. In a January 7 memorandum to legislative colleagues, Kessler
said the purpose of his idea was to decrease enrollment in the voucher
program by 40 percent. He says the MPCP has created a ‘funding inequity’
in Milwaukee that could be alleviated by kicking students out of the program
and returning the subsequent ’savings’ to Milwaukee Public Schools
(MPS).” (01/22/08)
This comes
on top of a Wisconsin judge declaring that virtual schools, another form
of charter or voucher program, are illegal. Look to who donates to Kessler
to see who this proposal will really support.
Mama's
Note: I fully support the total end to all government funded "education"
methods. The idea of school "choice" is irrelevant if they are
paid for from theft.
Government-ruined,
theft-funded schools:
Congress is
getting closer to higher education reauthorization
School Reform News
“The U.S. House Education and Labor Committee has voted unanimously
to approve legislation to reauthorize federal higher education programs
for the next five years. The bill includes dozens of new federal programs
and new financial reporting requirements for colleges and universities.
The U.S. Senate approved a similar higher education reauthorization package
in summer 2007.” (01/08)
So, once
more, government control and funding EXPANDS. And who benefits? Government
employees (staff, administrators, and professors and DOE bureaucrats)
and those whose wonderful teaching ideas are not worth enough to get private
funding. The results? The next story explains one.
Government-ruined,
theft-funded schools:
Analysis: Universities overproduce
PhDs
Del Rio News Herald
“College students are getting a raw deal, a recent New York report
asserted. The problem is they’re taking too many classes from part-time,
or adjunct, professors. But that same report unwittingly revealed something
about how higher education is more culpable than it likes to admit when
it comes to creating the problem.” (01/20/08)
The definition
of “raw deal” is certainly subject to argument – someone
with one foot in the real world is often a far better instructor than
the “cream of the crop” who has never had to make a real living
beyond a student job washing dishes or slinging hamburgers. This is the
result of government-provided services, and ignoring the free market.
Even PhD’s are subject to market forces.
Government-ruined,
theft-funded schools:
UK: Teachers back metal detectors
for schools
Independent [UK]
“Airport-style metal detectors could soon be fitted in hundreds
of secondary schools in an effort to deter pupils from carrying knives.
Details of the initiative emerged as Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary,
admitted she would feel unsafe walking alone in London at night. Police
are investigating a series of stabbings this month and Gordon Brown has
expressed his alarm about ‘out of control’ gangs of teenagers
on the streets. More than three-quarters of knife crime is committed by
12- to 20-year-olds. The metal detector plan will be a key element in
a new government action plan on violent crime next month.” (01/21/08)
They can’t
keep them out of prisons and they think that they can keep them out of
schools?
Mama's
Note: And, of course, those gangs have nothing to do with the fact that
their victims are totally disarmed and helpless... Funny how we don't
have any such gangs in rural Wyoming, where many people are armed and
such behavior would not be tolerated. We also don't have "metal detectors."
Home front
(ID):
US to issue passport alternative this
spring
USA Today
“Starting Feb. 1, U.S. residents who travel frequently by land
or sea between the USA and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean or Bermuda can
apply for a cheaper, wallet-sized alternative to a traditional passport,
which is already required for all air travel outside the USA. The new
passport card, to be issued sometime this spring, will be valid for 10
years for adults, five years for children 15 and younger. The cost will
be $45 for adults, $35 for children — vs. the regular passport cost
of $97 for adults and $82 for children.” (01/24/08)
Sounds
more and more like a government-issued ID to me; and I find it incredible
that it is really costing so much, unless it is generating a good profit
for the government (same for the “real” passport). The problem
with this is that it is almost certainly easier to forge, and may be easier
to obtain “under the counter” than the regular passport. However,
I fail to see any reason for any requirement for a passport or some substitute
just to travel to and from the US to these nearby countries, anymore than
it would be to go from Germany to France.
Home front
(ID):
IN:
Carded at polls — no photo ID, no vote
Yahoo! News
“There’s the poor, 32-year-old mother of seven who says it
would cost her at least $50 to vote in person. There’s also the 92-year-old
woman who’s voted for decades in the same polling place, but now
can’t vote there because she let her driver’s license expire
when her eyesight began to fail. These folks live in Indiana, home of
the country’s most restrictive photo-identification voter law. The
U.S. Supreme Court is now scrutinizing whether that statute violates the
first and 14th amendments, in the most contentious legal battle over voting
since the high court issued a bitterly divided decision eight years ago
that stopped Florida’s recount and handed the presidency to George
W. Bush. If the law is upheld, voting rights advocates fear it will encourage
conservative lawmakers across the country to enact equally restrictive
measures.” (01/23/08)
Sorry,
but even in Indiana I don’t buy these sob stories: an absentee ballot
can be obtained and voted for the cost of a phone call to a county courthouse
and a 41-cent stamp; an expired drivers license is still a valid form
of ID for everything but driving. Voting SHOULD require proof of who you
are: the exact method might be (and should be) subject to argument, but
not the basic idea.
Mama's
Note: I suppose... But I can't figure out why anyone wants to "vote"
in the first place - unless they are happy being slaves of those they
"elect." And that's even assuming that there is any validity
to the process at all. "It isn't who votes who counts, it's who counts
the votes."
Home front
(ID):
Airports to inspect ID cards with
black lights
USA Today
“The newest tool at airport security checkpoints is 3 inches long
and costs only a few dollars: a handheld black light. Airport screeners
are starting to use them this month to examine driver’s licenses
and other passenger ID cards presented at checkpoints to spot forgeries
or tampering. Passengers with suspicious documents can be questioned by
police or immigration agents.” (01/20/08)
Tampering,
I can understand: forgeries must require a lot more thought to use: I
am sure that while more and more drivers licenses have some sort of fluorescing
element, not all do: nor do many other kinds of valid ID; but this does
NOT eliminate the best kind of false ID: one that is issued “under
the counter.”
Home front
(ID):
UK:
ID cards “in intensive care”
Independent [UK]
“The identity card scheme was said to be in ‘intensive care’
as leaked Whitehall documents showed it faced a new delay of two years.
The cards were set to be issued to Britons from 2010, when they apply
to renew their passports, but private Home Office documents show the introduction
is set to be put off until 2012. The likely postponement follows a series
of fiascoes over the security of personal data held by the Government.
Gordon Brown is also widely believed not to share the enthusiasm of his
predecessor for the scheme.” (01/23/08)
Every year’s
delay is another victory, although seeing as how the High Chancellor was
the Home Office boss when this dastardly scheme was hatched, his claim
not to be as “enthusiastic” as Tony Blair should be taken with
a grain of salt.
Home front
(ID):
MI: More anonymous, uninsured drivers
invited to roads
USA Today
“Michigan will no longer let illegal immigrants get driver’s
licenses, a practice just seven other states continue to allow. Michigan
Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, who oversees the motor vehicle department,
announced the new policy Monday and said it takes effect Tuesday.”
(01/21/08)
I fail
to understand the headline here: illegal immigrants are not all that likely
to get a drivers license in the first place, for fear of being found to
be illegal. But it does make it harder for native-born people to get licenses.
It also increases the likelihood of obtaining such documents “under
the counter” (as I am sure many illegals already do). And of course,
the constitutional authority for states to require drivers licenses in
the first place, much less use them as a de-facto state/national ID, is
just not there. And now that I think about it, what is wrong with being
anonymous on the roadway?
Mama's
Note: You can't have it both ways. If you want to be anonymous on the
road, or anywhere, everyone else must have that right as well. If you
insist that government should somehow prevent "illegals" from
living here, then you must agree to be stopped, photographed, IDd and
monitored so they can do so. If you want them to control some people,
then ALL people must be controlled.
Home front:
Flight instructor gets $5 million
for catching “20th hijacker”
CNN
“A Minnesota flight instructor who notified his bosses of student
Zacarias Moussaoui’s suspicious behavior received a $5 million reward
Thursday from the State Department, two government officials told CNN.
Clarence ‘Clancy’ Prevost was an instructor at the Pan Am International
Flight Academy in Eagan, Minnesota, when Moussaoui was a student there.”
(01/24/08)
Sounds
like too little, too late to me.
Home front:
Immigration thugs target workers far
from border
Yahoo! News
“Federal agents, with help from local law officers like McLendon,
a Pearl detective, have begun intercepting illegal immigrants and smugglers
along stretches of highway deep in the U.S. interior, where those who
have slipped into the country usually have little chance of getting caught.
… Operation Uniforce, as the two-week crackdown begun Jan. 13 is
called, ‘is pretty much a shocker for the smuggling organizations.’
More than 300 immigrants and suspected smugglers had been arrested as
of Tuesday, more than a week into the operation. Interstate 20 has become
a major corridor for immigrant smugglers. … About 40 Border Patrol
and customs agents who normally work at or close to the border have been
temporarily assigned to the crackdown. They and local law officers have
spread out along several miles of I-20 and some of its connecting highways,
parking their vehicles out in the open in the median or by the side of
the road.” (01/24/08)
We hear
about all the arrests, but we seldom hear about all the releases which
follow later: both because the original arrests were not correct and because
there is nothing else to do with them. The story and headline are wrong,
though, for these sorts of operations have long been carried out on interstate
highways, including I-25 in New Mexico, hundreds of miles from the border.
It is a chilling sight to see long lines of cars waiting to get through
a BP checkpoint in the middle of the state, and this is happening more
and more frequently.
Home front:
Ask.com’s
privacy tool tracks users, groups tell FCC
Wired
“A coalition of privacy groups filed a federal complaint Saturday
against Ask.com, alleging that AskEraser — the company’s recently
unveiled search engine history anonymization tool — doesn’t
actually protect users’ privacy and could be used to track people
when they thought they were anonymous. The groups, which include the Electronic
Privacy Information Center, are asking the Federal Trade Commission to
find that Ask.com is engaged in unfair trade practices by making false
promises to users.” (01/22/08)
I understand
what EPIC is doing, but I doubt that they will get any satisfaction from
the FTC, which will have the best interests of the government, and not
of people, at heart.
Mama's
Note: And, once again, it is the responsibility of the people to guard
their own privacy. Anyone who uses the internet thinking they can preserve
their privacy is a fool, especially if they expect government to help
them. Even proper encryption is not 100% foolproof.
Home front:
PA: couple protests jet noise with
obscene rooftop sign
Inquirer
“A couple fed up with the noise from jets flying over their house
expressed their anger at federal aviation officials by painting an obscene
message atop their home. The 7-foot tall expletive, with one of its four
letters replaced by an underscore, is directed at the Federal Aviation
Administration, which recently altered the plane routes around Philadelphia
International Airport. … Hall said he has called the FAA’s noise-complaint
hot line about 20 times but could never leave a message because the voice
mailbox was always full. … Airport spokeswoman Phyllis VanIstendal
said noise complaints have increased significantly since the new departure
headings took effect but that it is too early to tell if there’s
a correlation.” (01/24/08)
Civility
is virtually dead today and this is an example. I understand their anger
at the FAA, but we all get to “enjoy” their anger.
Mama's
Note: Not to mention that this kind of silliness is totally ineffective.
The FAA are not flying the airplanes.
Home front:
MA: Bill bans cellphone texting by
drivers
Boston Globe
“The grieving mother of a teenage crash victim watched yesterday
as the Massachusetts House passed a bill that would make the state just
the third in the nation to specifically ban text messaging while driving.
The bill, which would also prohibit drivers from making cellphone calls
without a hands-free device, faces an uncertain future in the Senate.
It passed by a vote of 107 to 47 in the House after at least a dozen similar
bills filed last year went nowhere. ‘Sometimes it takes a tragedy,’
said Representative Joseph F. Wagner, a Chicopee Democrat who sponsored
the bill and who cochairs the Joint Committee on Transportation. ‘In
this case, there were a number of tragedies.’” [Editor’s
note: The real question is, what kind of dumbass thinks (s)he can drive
a car while typing out messages? Using a phone while driving is at least
possible in some emergency situations - SAT] (01/24/08)
And exactly
how will this prevent stupidity? It is a tragedy when people die like
this, but it is NOT possible to prevent all such tragedies, and it is
NOT government’s role to do so despite a widespread belief that it
has been granted to the state to prevent all such problems.
Home front:
Drought could force nuke-plant shutdowns
Aiken Standard
“Nuclear reactors across the Southeast could be forced to throttle
back or temporarily shut down later this year because drought is drying
up the rivers and lakes that supply power plants with the awesome amounts
of cooling water they need to operate. Utility officials say such shutdowns
probably wouldn’t result in blackouts. But they could lead to shockingly
higher electric bills for millions of Southerners, because the region’s
utilities may be forced to buy expensive replacement power from other
energy companies.” (01/23/08)
Once more,
look to government to blame for this: government environmental regulations
allow only one “cycle” of water for cooling: they must discharge
the water instead of allowing it to cool and recycling, the way other
power plants do; apparently from a fear of irradiation.
Home front:
UT: Council supports measure
to ban protests near homes
Salt Lake Tribune
“Salt Lake County soon will give homeowners a safe haven from
the sidewalk sign-waving that has vexed University of Utah researchers.
The County Council backed a residential picketing ban Tuesday that would
push protesters at least 100 feet away from any ‘targeted’ home
in unincorporated areas. … The county’s picketing prohibition
could muzzle the Utah Primate Freedom Project, which recently resorted
to residential rallies in Millcreek Township to oppose the U.’s primate-research
methods. The group condemned the proposed ban as an unconstitutional stifling
of free speech ” (01/23/08)
I suppose
that the thought behind this is worthy, but what the county is doing is
(to my way of thinking) is unconstitutional. Either a street or road is
public or it is not: it can’t be “public” for travel but
not for speaking (which includes picketing). Of course, most of these
researchers, like doctors, are likely to have big houses and sites where
their houses are more than 100 feet from public rights-of-way. As usual,
it is the freedom that gets hit hardest.
Home front:
Canada stiffens border checks, lawyers
say
USA Today
“Americans are finding it increasingly difficult to get into Canada,
as border agents with better access to American criminal databases are
turning people back for offenses ranging from assault to drunken driving
to shoplifting. Canada has had better access to criminal records since
the Sept. 11 terror attacks but lawyers say they are now using the records
more aggressively.” (01/21/08)
In other
words, even without the silly passport-replacement card (see above story),
it is getting harder to go into Canada, due in very large part to a growing
fear of Americans by Canadians, or at least by Canadian bureaucrats, who
fear American freedoms, like carrying weapons and still being able to
speak out when your views do not agree with the government. And of course,
that assumes the database is correct.
Home front:
FL: Bankers
Association wants customer dress code
Fox News
“Responding to a more than one-third hike in bank robbery, the
Florida Bankers Association is urging its members to adopt new rules.
Not additional guards or cameras, but a dress code for customers. The
group rolled out a ‘No Hats, No Hoods, No Sunglasses’ program,
which includes lobby signs asking customers to remove those items before
approaching a teller. Those who refuse would be directed to an area with
more security or a more experienced teller. … The dress code is optional,
and some banks say they have no plans to adopt it. Wachovia, among the
largest banks in Florida, is one of them.” (01/21/08)
As private
businesses, they have a perfect right to these requirements. They are
wise in NOT attempting to forbid weapons, at least.
Mama's
Note: I've got a neat idea... How about an express lane for those who
are armed! That is, of course, if you bother with banks at all.
Korean
front:
US envoy breaks with administration
on nuke talks
MSNBC
“A U.S. official, in a rare public departure from Bush administration
policy, on Thursday criticized the nuclear talks with North Korea, which
he contended is not serious about disarming. Jay Lefkowitz, President
Bush’s envoy on North Korean human rights, said the North will likely
‘remain in its present nuclear status’ when the next U.S. president
takes over in January 2009, despite four years of nuclear disarmament
efforts.” (01/17/08)
In other
words, North Korea is playing the game as usual.
Mama's
Note: Why should they want to disarm in a hostile world? Even criminals
have a right to self defense.
Massa wannabes:
Thompson
quits presidential race
Arizona Republic
“Actor and former senator Fred Thompson abandoned his presidential
campaign Tuesday, making an early exit from a race that he entered perhaps
too late to gain traction in a crowded Republican field. In a characteristically
low-key manner, Thompson gave no news conference and stayed off television,
preferring simply to e-mail a one-paragraph statement to reporters. ‘Today
I have withdrawn my candidacy for President of the United States,’
Thompson said in the statement. ‘I hope that my country and my party
have benefited from our having made this effort.’” (01/23/08)
“Ten
little, nine little, eight little Indians, seven…” The good
news is, he’ll probably start substituting for Paul Harvey more,
and his news casts are as entertaining as Paul’s, and better than
other subs.
Massa wannabes:
Kucinich to abandon White House bid
Associated Press
“Democrat Dennis Kucinich, whose second White House bid yielded
only tepid support, now faces a fight to keep his job in Congress. Kucinich
was expected to formally announce Friday that he is abandoning his presidential
campaign. He revealed the decision in an interview Thursday with The Plain
Dealer. The six-term House member got only 1 percent of the vote in the
New Hampshire presidential primary and was shut out in the Iowa caucuses.
‘There is a point at which you just realize that you, look, you accept
it, that it isn’t going to happen and you move on,’ Kucinich
told the newspaper.” (01/25/08)
“Ten
little, nine little, eight little Indians, seven…” The campaign
just got a lot less humorous, though.
Massa wannabes:
CA: McCain, Romney in tight race
San Francisco Chronicle
“The withdrawal of GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson dramatically
tightens the Republican field in California, where John McCain and Mitt
Romney are now in a virtual dead heat for first place, and Rudy Giuliani
— once the party front-runner — has fallen to a distant third
place, a new Field Poll shows. The Field Poll of 377 likely California
GOP primary voters — taken between Jan. 14 and 20 — shows that
Thompson’s decision, announced Tuesday, to leave the GOP race will
probably benefit Romney and Giuliani most. … [W]ithout Thompson,
the poll showed McCain’s lead over Romney shrinks to a tight two
percentage points — 23 to 21 percent — while Giuliani gets 13
percent and Huckabee 12, with Rep. Ron Paul of Texas at 7 percent.”
(01/23/08)
More than
one pundit is already describing Giuliani (and Huckabee) as toast, leaving
it a three-way race between McCain, Romney, and … Paul!
Massa wannabes:
FL: Economy, taxes front and center
in GOP debate
Daytona Beach News Journal
“Locked in a tight race as the Florida primary nears, the Republican
presidential candidates tried to appeal to GOP voters Thursday by calling
for tax cuts to refuel the economy and largely defending the Iraq war.
Some of the candidates said an economic-stimulus package announced Thursday
by the White House and congressional leaders was a good start — but
that the country needs deeper tax cuts. … While the economy has drawn
heavy attention as the campaign has progressed, the Iraq war remained
a major issue in Thursday’s debate. All of the candidates, except
Texas Congressman Ron Paul, backed Bush’s decision to invade Iraq,
though McCain and Romney said they thought the aftermath of the invasion
had been mismanaged. Paul, however, said the United States should not
have gone to war. ‘It was a very bad idea, and it wasn’t worth
it,’ he said.” (01/25/08)
I feel
like these guys are playing a game called “Today’s Issue”
instead of seriously looking at what the FedGov needs to do (except for
Dr. Paul); it is nice to hear them all say the nation needs deeper tax
cuts, but it would nice if the other four or five left in the race would
also talk about necessary spending cuts to go along with tax cuts: cutting
Federal muscle as well as fat.
Massa wannabes:
AZ: Thousands switch parties for primary
Arizona Republic
“Thousands of Arizona voters apparently switched to the Democratic
and Republican parties to be able to vote in the Feb. 5 presidential primary.
But the numbers may be too small to influence an election much. The Arizona
Secretary of State’s Office reported Tuesday that since October,
registrations statewide have increased by 19,759 for Democrats and 15,760
for Republicans. At the same time, independent voters, whose numbers have
grown steadily for years, declined by 6,276, and Libertarians fell by
927. … On Tuesday, State Rep. Mark DeSimone, D-Phoenix, introduced
a bill in the House that would allow independents to vote in either party’s
presidential preference election. Any change in law wouldn’t affect
the Feb. 5 vote.” (01/23/08)
I know
a lot of people play this game, but I’ve never been able to stomach
it myself.
Massa wannabes:
Obama ad touts work with GOP
Boston Globe
“If Senator Barack Obama’s campaign is worried about relying
too much on independents and Republicans to win Democratic primaries,
it isn’t showing it. A new 60-second TV ad that’s running nationally
on CNN and MSNBC focuses largely on Obama’s work with Republicans
in the Illinois Legislature and in the US Senate, and it features yet
another clip from Obama’s now-famous rejection of the red state-blue
state dichotomy, during his address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention
in Boston. ‘This is a man who knows how to get things done,’
Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, who recently threw her support to
Obama, says in the ad. ‘He understands that we’ve gotta move
forward with a different kind of politics.’” (01/22/08)
Oh, please,
this is sickening.
Massa wannabes:
SC: Clinton, Obama do battle in insultathon
New York Daily News
“Flashing with anger and glaring at each other, Hillary Clinton
and Barack Obama traded their sharpest personal attacks of the campaign
in a donnybrook of a debate Monday. In one stinging exchange, Obama told
Clinton he was fighting on the streets of Chicago for workers when ‘you
were a corporate lawyer sitting on the board at Wal-Mart.’ Moments
later, Clinton fired back, telling him she was battling former President
Ronald Reagan’s bad policy prescriptions while he was practicing
law and representing a political contributor ‘in his slum landlord
business in inner-city Chicago.’ The volatile, in-your-face volleys
unfolded on Martin Luther King Day, just five days before Saturday’s
Democratic primary in South Carolina, where blacks constitute about half
of likely voters.” (01/22/08)
Well, it
seems to have worked for Mr. Obama: he got 55% to Hillary’s 27% this
weekend.
Massa wannabes:
FL:
GOP contenders arrive, aim at McCain
Miami Herald
“Rivals for the Republican presidential nomination sought Sunday
to chip away at any momentum John McCain rides to Florida as they planned
competing bus tours across the state that is poised to deliver a pivotal
verdict in an unsettled field. Rudy Giuliani, who has declared Florida
a must-win, and Mitt Romney, who sped to Florida late Saturday after winning
a caucus in Nevada, rapidly turned their sights on McCain, looking to
blunt any edge in Florida for the winner of Saturday’s primary in
South Carolina. … Giuliani, whose once commanding lead in Florida
polls has eroded as his rivals picked up primary victories, road-tripped
from Tampa to Orlando, telling crowds at stops along the way that he’s
the only candidate to succeed at cutting taxes.” (01/21/08)
The battle
in Florida seems to be as nasty as the SC fight was for the Dems; even
NYC firefighters are showing up in Florida to attack Giuliani, while he
and Romney go after McCain, who is said to be the most disliked of all
the GOP candidates. Huckabee, you notice, seems to have disappeared from
the radar, and Dr. Paul continues to plod steadily forward.
Massa wannabes:
Outright Libertarians endorse Phillies
Washington Times
“Former Republican George Phillies has just been endorsed for
the 2008 Libertarian Party nomination by ‘Outright Libertarians.’
… the country’s most influential LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender) Libertarian Organization.” (01/21/08)
It is obvious
that the LP nomination race this year is gathering spectacularly less
attention in 2008 than in decades, as more attention is paid to Dr. Paul.
Massa wannabes:
Poll: More Americans think US ready
for black president
CNN
“Four decades after Martin Luther King Jr.’s death —
and just weeks after Barack Obama’s win in the Iowa caucus —
a CNN poll finds more Americans than ever before believe the country is
ready for a black president. Seventy-two percent of white Americans and
61 percent of black Americans surveyed in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corp.
poll released Monday say the nation is ready for a black commander in
chief.” (01/21/08)
It is amazing
that we still believe that race really matters.
Massa wannabes:
Nader to decide soon on yet another
presidential run
Reuters
“Consumer advocate Ralph Nader said on Monday he will decide soon
on whether to make a another bid for the White House in 2008, eight years
after playing a key role as a third party presidential candidate. ‘I’ll
decide in about a month,’ he said in an interview broadcast on CBC
Radio’s Daybreak show in Montreal. ‘What I’m deciding on
right now is whether we can get enough volunteers, enough financial resources
to overcome the huge ballot access obstacles, which you don’t experience
here in Canada, but which are the worst in the Western world in the United
States,’ said Nader, who will turn 74 on February 27. Nader, who
made his name as a consumer crusader during decades of battling corporations
on matters from car to food safety, ran for president as an independent
in 2004 and as the Green Party candidate in 2000.” [Editor’s
note: Lessee now … McCain … Nader … Hillary … NOTA’s
looking better every day - SAT] (01/21/08)
I suppose
he is advocating a parliamentary “democracy” like the UK and
Canada have? Please, we have enough of a mess without that. Steve is right.
At the same time, there is no way he is going to replace either Kucinovich
or Thompson in amusement value.
Medical:
Bacteria race ahead of drugs
San Francisco Chronicle
“At a busy microbiology lab in San Francisco, bad bugs are brewing
inside vials of human blood, or sprouting inside petri dishes, all in
preparation for a battery of tests. These tests will tell doctors at UCSF
Medical Center which kinds of bacteria are infecting their patients, and
which antibiotics have the best chance to knock those infections down.
With disturbing regularity, the list of available options is short, and
it is getting shorter.” (01/21/08)
A serious
problem, triggered in part by ready availability of “free” or
highly-discounted medicine: when you have to pay out of pocket for the
stuff, you tend to take it a bit more seriously, in my opinion. Not using
antibiotics properly actually allows infectious diseases to gain strength
relative to the antibiotics.
Mama's
Note: Misuse of antibiotics is indeed a problem, but the greatest threat
to the health of most people is the fact that they have allowed their
immune system to become weak because of poor nutrition and ever increasing
stress in their lives. Dependence on chemical "medicine" of
all kinds will only increase the problems, not solve them.
Mesopotamian
front:
Iraq [sic]: Mosul explosion kills
15
Buffalo News
“A building rigged with explosives detonated Wednesday in Mosul,
creating a thunderous blast that killed at least 15 people in the northern
Iraqi city, which has become a gathering point and growing target for
Sunni insurgents. The late-afternoon explosion, which also wounded 132
people, occurred as Iraqi soldiers were investigating reports that weapons
had been stockpiled in the three-story building in a densely populated
area, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.” (01/24/08)
As with
any war, as the original targets become better defended, the attackers
move to other locations. It does sound like the soldiers were right, things
were being stockpiled. It also sounds like someone in the insurgent fighters
knows their business, as the next story relates.
Mesopotamian
front:
Iraq
[sic]: Bomber kills provincial police chief
Agence France-Presse
“A suicide bomber disguised as a policeman killed the provincial
police chief for Iraq’s main northern city of Mosul on Thursday as
he visited the scene of an earlier blast in which 34 people died, police
said. … The two attacks have both been blamed on Al-Qaeda, which
US commanders say has deep roots in the ethnically diverse city, 370 kilometres
(225 miles) north of Baghdad. … In other violence on Thursday, two
Iraqi policemen were killed in the heart of Baghdad when a roadside bomb
detonated as their convoy passed, medical and security sources said. One
policeman and two bystanders were also wounded in the 8 am (0500 GMT)
blast in the Karrada district, said a doctor at the Al-Kindi hospital
where the casualties were taken.” (01/24/08)
The Mosul
bombing uses a classic attack pattern that is almost always effective.
More deaths will follow, as Mosul is probably the most vulnerable city
left.
Mesopotamian
front:
Iraq[sic]: Bomber kills
18 at funeral
MSNBC
“A suicide bomber apparently targeting a senior security official
blew himself up inside a funeral tent Monday, killing 18 people in the
latest of a series of deadly attacks chipping away at the notion of a
calmer Iraq. The U.S. military has repeatedly warned that the fight against
insurgents is not over, and the bombing in a village north of Baghdad
was the third in as many days in Sunni Arab areas thought to have been
largely rid of al-Qaida militants.” (01/21/08)
I just
hope that those people from Topeka that keep protesting at military funerals
don’t decide this is a tactic to emulate. Killing the mourners at
a funeral is pretty nasty, to my way of thinking. At the same time, attacks
like this are going to continue for decades, no matter who is in power;
it does not mean that things are not calming down somewhat.
Mesopotamian
front:
New armored truck sees first Iraq
[sic] death
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
“A soldier killed over the weekend south of Baghdad was the first
American death in a roadside bomb attack on a newly introduced, heavily
armored vehicle, military officials said Tuesday. The death, however,
has not changed the Pentagon’s mind about its plans to spend more
than $22 billion to buy thousands of the mine-resistant, ambush-protected
vehicles, known by the acronym MRAP, for the Army and Marine Corps to
use in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell.”
(01/22/08)
No defense
is perfect, and it is impossible to build something invulnerable, as the
name indicates: “mine-resistant” and not “mine-proof.”
Mesopotamian
front:
Study: False statements preceded war
Beloit Daily News
“A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that
President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false
statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years
following the 2001 terrorist attacks. The study concluded that the statements
‘were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized
public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly
false pretenses.’” [Editor’s note: Glad to see the
“Well … Duh!” Foundation’s grant program swing into
action there - TLK] (01/23/08)
These studies
were hardly unbiased, of course, since the media has been opposed to the
Administration on this since before 9-11.
Mama's
Note: There are plenty of independent studies to support the findings,
however.
Nazgul
Padilla sentenced on terror
charges
MSNBC
“Jose Padilla, once accused of plotting with al-Qaida to blow
up a radioactive ‘dirty bomb,’ was sentenced Tuesday to 17 years
and four months on terrorism conspiracy charges that don’t mention
those initial allegations. The sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge
Marcia Cooke marks another step in the extraordinary personal and legal
odyssey for the 37-year-old Muslim convert, a U.S. citizen who was held
for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant after his 2002 arrest amid the ‘dirty
bomb’ allegations.” (01/22/08)
One of
the few “combatants” that should have gone to trial. I know
that this is not what he had hoped for. The appeals might lead to a far
different result, however, despite the fact that he essentially admitted
to all the charges.
Nazgul:
Missouri must allow inmates
to have abortions
MSNBC
“The state of Missouri must provide transportation to clinics
for inmates who want to have an abortion, a federal appeals panel ruled
Tuesday. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the state had to allow
a specific inmate, listed as Jane Roe, to have an abortion after the state
tried to end the practice of driving prisoners to clinics for elective
abortions.” (01/22/08)
Funny,
isn’t it? Convicts can be denied virtually every right of a citizen
explicitly stated in the Constitution, including free speech, keeping
and bearing arms, peaceful assembly, and even have their practice of religion
significantly restricted, but vaguely implied “rights” like
abortions – which involve killing another person – are protected?
Mama's
Note: And, unless they entered the system in that condition... just how
do they get pregnant if they are prisoners?
Nazgul:
Supreme Court
rules against inmate in Koran case
Fox News
“The Supreme Court said Tuesday that a Muslim inmate cannot sue
the government over the disappearance of the prisoner’s copies of
the Koran and a prayer rug. In a 5-4 ruling, the justices said the federal
law the inmate relied on prohibits lawsuits against federal corrections
officers. Abdus-Shahid M.S. Ali says the missing books and rug reflect
widespread harassment against Muslim inmates in federal, state and local
prisons stemming from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. ‘Reports from
all over the country have come in’ on Muslims’ religious property
that ‘has been destroyed, confiscated, looted, lost, stolen or taken
without cause,’ Ali said in the lawsuit he filed in federal court.
Ali is serving a sentence of 20 years to life in prison for committing
first-degree murder in the District of Columbia.” (01/22/08)
The reasoning
for this decision seems sound enough, IF you believe that it is right
to shield government employees from lawsuits. BUT the case itself seems
bogus, to me. A Koran can (and probably was) easily and quickly replaced,
just as a missing Bible would be; and I can find nothing in the Koran
which says that a “prayer rug” is an essential aid to worship,
just as a Pentecostal convict can’t expect to get the usual “gospel-rock”
band that he is used to, to accompany (entertain?) him for his Sunday
worship. The Pentecostal might have to settle for a recording or even
using his own unaccompanied voice to praise God: the Muslim might have
to pray to God without his knees being padded by the rug.
New religions:
environism:
Study: Rich countries
do $1.8 trillion damage to poor ones
Raw Story
“University of California at Berkeley researchers report that
environmental damage caused by rich nations affects poor nations so much,
it costs them more than their combined foreign debt. The study examined
the impacts of the expansion of agriculture, deforestation, overfishing,
loss of swamps and ozone completion [sic] from 1961 to 2000. When all
these impacts are added up, the portion of the footprint of high-income
nations falling on low-income countries is greater than their entire financial
debt, or about $1.8 trillion, according to lead researcher Thara Srinivasan.”
(01/22/08)
Speaking
of religions, once more we see another dogma of the environists: the West
is evil and is destroying Mother Earth, and must be stopped. Although
western armies frequently visit these poor nations, it is NOT for the
purposes of forcing them to grow more coffee, bananas, or whatever to
export to the West, nor is it to facilitate deforestation, overfishing,
wetland destruction, or all these other things. These countries are doing
this all by themselves, usually as the result of bogus, stupid schemes
for the rulers to gain wealth for themselves.
New religions:
global warming:
Researchers: Methane from belching
cattle can be reduced
Arizona Republic
“Researchers have stumbled on a way to stop cattle from emitting
methane, a potent greenhouse gas, when they belch, a finding that could
help the fight against global warming. Methane generated when livestock
belch while eating is said to account for 5 percent of global greenhouse-gas
emissions. Supplementing the animals’ diet with cysteine, an amino
acid, and nitrate can reduce the methane produced by the animals, researchers
say. Methane is generated in the stomachs of ruminants, such as cattle
and sheep, as bacteria break down plant fibers. The gas is emitted into
the atmosphere when the animals belch as they chew cud.” (01/22/08)
Hmmm. Wonder
what this does to the quality and quantity of meat, milk, and other products
produced by the animals? This becomes another tool to demand that livestock
be removed from public lands, or that vegan diet be mandated. As Mama
said, “This is too funny. What’s next?” I like her idea
of fish tanks – do you know what they do in creeks and lakes? And
diapers on mice: remember Jerry’s (of Tom and Jerry) little nephew?
Mama's
Note: I want to see the BIG plug these folks propose to use in order to
stop the next volcano from erupting. Now THER'S a belch!
New religions:
global warming:
States combat global warming
USA Today
“With proposals to cap greenhouse gas emissions stalled in Congress,
more than half the states are moving aggressively to combat the pollution
that causes global warming. This year, eight states are slated to release
plans to slash emissions of the heat-trapping gases and at least several
are likely to recommend specific reduction targets, say state officials
and the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. Seventeen states already
have such targets in place.” (01/20/08)
Notice
the dogma “pollution that causes global warming.” Garbage. Stupid.
For
an excellent discussion, visit this page. Just one quote: “This
sort of behavior is demented.” Amen.
Page
2 Click HERE Link checked!
OUR RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS ITEMS ON PAGE 2
Finally,
the mailbag is
back! We want your feedback. Your
comments are welcome! Please copy/paste the items you comment on
into your email. Then we'll know what you are talking about!!
Nathan
Barton is writing this from a wonderful place in the West, which might
be in the Black Hills of South Dakota or Wyoming, or might be in one of
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.
Be sure
to visit my blog, Liberty's
Outpost.
Special
Feature! Add your signature to the NEW
Declaration of Independence
By Robert Greenslade
Several
people have asked about buying Gadsden Flags (the rattlesnake "Don't
Tread on Me flags used by the June 23d Movement and other Property Rights
Organizations: you
can get them for $10.00 plus shipping here.
To Read
previous Commentaries, go
to the archives page and click onto the link for the week. The commentaries
are linked from the weekly front pages.
Please
note: Information about readers is never given or sold to anyone
for any purpose. Remember, however, that many people can read and recover
anything posted to web sites or email unless it is carefully encrypted.
Please take personal responsibility for what you post anywhere. MamaLiberty)
Visit the
Rational
Review News Digest - Subscribe to the daily email edition
To contribute
to RRND using PayPal or e-gold, see the sidebar of any page at rationalreview.com.
If you
prefer tax deductibility, support
ISIL and "earmark" your contribution for the support of
Freedom News Daily.
And if
you'd like to physically ship us checks, money orders, wampum, bullion,
Federal Reserve Notes, used bottles that can be returned for deposit refunds,
or pieces of toast with images of the Virgin Mary on them that we can
auction on eBay, just drop me a line for instructions on how to do that.
(Seriously: We're always looking for computer hardware -- if you've got
a reasonably recent desktop or laptop that you're looking to unload, let
me know).
THANK YOU
for your continuing support!
Yours in
liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review
[Please
note: The Price of Liberty is a non-commercial website and does not derive
any income from the support of RRND or anything else. ]
|
