Libertarian War on the News, 02 - 08 March, 2008

Let’s head straight to the news, which includes the major threat of active war very close to home.

American front:
Venezuela: Chavez warns of war with Colombia
Marion Chronicle Tribune
“President Hugo Chavez ordered tanks and thousands of troops on Sunday to the border with Colombia, accusing it of pushing South America to the brink of war by killing a top rebel leader on Ecuadorean soil. Denouncing Colombia’s slaying of the rebel commander in a cross-border raid into Ecuador, Chavez said Venezuela will respond militarily if Colombia violates its border. He ordered Venezuela’s embassy in Bogota closed.” (03/02/08)

Methinks that as Chavez’s plans mature, Columbia will “violate” the border, just like Poland attacked Germany in 1939. Chavez seems bent on being a new Stalin, perhaps?

American front:
Colombia: Chavez funding FARC rebels
Connecticut Post
“Venezuela and Ecuador sought Monday to make Colombia pay a high price for killing a leftist rebel leader in the Ecuadorean jungle — expelling its diplomats, ordering troops to the border and cracking down on trade across the border. But Colombia quickly struck back, revealing what it said were incriminating documents seized from the rebel camp that suggest its neighbors have been secretly supporting the leftist rebels’ deadly insurgency.” (03/03/08)

Columbia believes the evidence is strong enough to bring Chavez before an international war-criminal tribunal, in fact, and has filed paperwork to do so. Apparently, the support was to the tune of $300 million dollars. Of course, the presence of ten battalions of troops moving to line up on the border between Venezuela and Columbia does not make Columbia feel any better – and unlike Iran’s president’s statements (who speaks Farsi?), millions of Americans can understand Spanish well enough to listen to Chavez order the preparations for war.

Baboons:
Unlike Obama, Homosexual Lawmaker Won’t Use Bible to Justify Same-Sex Unions
CNSNews.com
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), one of two openly homosexual members of Congress, said he isn't a biblical scholar, but he does not think politicians should use the Bible as a playbook. Frank was asked about Sen. Barack Obama's recent comment that the Sermon on the Mount justified his support for legalizing same-sex unions...

I do not respect Mr. Frank, I think he is evil, both for what he does in his personal life and what he participates in, in Congress (on the chamber floor, not just in his private office). But he is less despicable, in this, than the so-called Christian Obama. Frankly, I see little difference in Obama’s positions and those of Frank, considered perhaps THE most liberal member of Congress. Both support wide-open abortion, both support same-sex marriage, both support the nanny state in its worst forms, and both support more spending and more taxes. Yes, I know that some recent, well-publicized statements from Obama claim otherwise, as did this statement that Frank is commenting on. (In the statement about the Sermon on the Mount, he rejected the idea of “same-sex marriage” in favor of “unions” but his on-line statement to the LGBT “community” states his support for both “unions” and “marriage” for homosexuals (to each other, that is).) Likewise, Obama’s ideas on abortion have not changed since 2001. (See separate article about Obama and several “culture war” issues.)

Mama's Note: As we've both said, over and over, the state should have nothing whatsoever to do with marriage or any other mutual contract. The family, church, even the voluntary community is well able to help people arbitrate private contracts, so "laws" either for or against are equally unnecessary and destructive of freedom. And yes, all of the current contenders for political office - with a few possible exceptions - are evil and hypocrites. It's not about what's right, religion or moral living... it's about control over other people, just like everything else they say or do.

Baboons:
Reyes: Deal coming to protect telecrooks
USA Today
“The House Intelligence Committee chairman expects a compromise soon on renewal of an eavesdropping law that could provide legal protections for telecommunications companies as President Bush has insisted. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, in a television interview broadcast Sunday, did not specifically say whether the House proposal would mirror the Senate’s version. The Senate measure provides retroactive legal immunity to the companies that helped the government wiretap U.S. computer and phone lines after the Sept. 11 attacks without clearance from a secret court.” (03/02/08)

Amazing how a whole class of people (or baboons) can sell out like this, isn’t it? It is so blatant that even the electors are noticing, as the next story relates.

Baboons:
Congressional incumbents on shaky ground in ‘08
Christian Science Monitor
“It’s shaping up to be a perilous election year for members of Congress, even in primary season when the iron law of incumbency typically prevails. The defeat of two longtime incumbents in Maryland primaries last month stunned official Washington. It’s a rare event for members of Congress to lose, but the new element in these races is the role of activist groups on the right and left in defeating incumbents deemed too conciliatory to the other side. Meanwhile, the 2008 campaign is producing unusually high numbers of credible primary challengers. Reps. Ron Paul (R) of Texas and Dennis Kucinich (D) of Ohio curtailed their presidential campaigns to shore up support in Tuesday primary races — and the congressional primary season, unlike the presidential primary period, is just beginning.” (03/03/08)

As the Paul challenge might hint, the death-by-primary is not always a “grassroots” effort, but still, more and more people are waking up to the fact that the baboons are not supposed to be sent to DC to slice off fat chunks of pork for their districts.

Baboons:
Arizona congressman pleads not guilty to federal charges
USA Today
“Rep. Rick Renzi pleaded not guilty Tuesday to all charges in a federal indictment accusing him of abusing his office for financial gain and for raising campaign funds by embezzling insurance premiums collected by his family’s firm. Renzi was arraigned on charges including wire fraud, insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, extortion and money laundering.” (03/04/08)

Nasty, if proven. But I encourage people to consider even baboons as “innocent until proven guilty.” Let us see if these charges are real or just the fevered imagination of some federal lawyers. (One thing this sort of thing makes it easier to do is for an unscrupulous executive office (i.e., administration) to use legal pressure to force the baboons to vote their way or even to remove said Congresscritturs from office.

Baboons:
Congress targets corporate tax dodgers in Cayman trip
CNN
“Congressional investigators are in the Cayman Islands this week to determine if some U.S. businesses are taking a vacation from paying their taxes. By establishing bogus headquarters in the British territory and in other nations, some American businesses are avoiding paying their share of federal taxes, according to the Senate Finance Committee, which requested that Government Accountability Office investigators visit the Caribbean islands.” (03/04/08)

Imagine having to travel so far, under such difficult conditions, to such an appalling and dreary place just to research how their constituents are being defrauded of their rightful money by these evil firms and their dastardly advisors and accountants, to say nothing of the evil Cayman government itself.

Mama's Note: Indeed! Imagine the horror of people actually keeping and using the money they earn. Such nerve!

Canaanite front:
Terrorists Kill Israeli Soldier Patrolling Gaza Border
CNSNews.com
Israel came under attack Thursday, both on the ground and from human right organizations. An Israeli soldier was killed and three others wounded when their patrol was ambushed on the Israeli side of the Gaza security fence, the army said. But it's Israel's attempts to curb the terrorists that are drawing condemnation...

The biggest problem is the fact that the Israeli response is not proportionate (at least in the eyes of many people) to the threat posed by the rocket attacks. Admittedly, many of the civilian deaths are due to the Hamas rocket-gunners using civilians to hide among and shield themselves with, but it might be better to let the launches continue and hold back a whole lot longer – not that the Israelis are going to listen to my advice!

Canaanite front:
Ain al-Hilweh children protest attacks on Gaza
Daily Star [Lebanon]
“Hundreds of children from across Lebanon took part in a protest at the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp on Wednesday against Israel’s deadly military attacks in Gaza. Israel’s “incursions” into Hamas-controlled Gaza have killed more than 120 Palestinians in the past week, over half of whom were civilians. Poor governance, the increasing isolation of Hamas and Palestinian infighting have worsened the humanitarian situation of Palestinians in Gaza, and this has set off a series of protests in Lebanon and elsewhere. The protest was marked by singing of revolutionary songs and poetry recitals praising the glory of Palestine.” (03/05/08)

Both sides, of course, use “children” to excuse and justify their attacks on the other, but this is a pretty blatant example of abusing children for propaganda’s sake: almost equal to American schoolchildren marching in support of pay raises for the NEA and AFT. As the story itself points out, the Israeli attacks DID kill a lot of enemy soldiers, but way too many civilians; and the listing of things which make the situation in Gaza worse include far more than just Israeli actions. However, the “spontaneous” protests in Lebanon (how Russian-sounding that is) aren’t against the scum in Hamas or the “Palestinian infighting” or the inability of Arabs to govern themselves except in tyrannies, but just against the Israelis and their retributive attacks against the Gazan rocket bombardment. The blood on the hands of the Israelis is not nearly as thick or stinking as on Hamas and its ilk.

Canaanite front:
Israel: Eight killed in attack on seminary
Los Angeles Times
“A man concealing an assault rifle and handgun in a box slipped into a cherished Jewish seminary here and opened fire in the library Thursday night, killing eight people in the deadliest attack in Israel in nearly two years. Witnesses said the assault lasted more than 10 minutes before a seminary student and an off-duty army officer killed the gunman, identified by police as a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem.” (03/07/08)

Seemingly, this is an internal problem, and the facts of the event are very clouded and being argued over. I wrote the following when it was being reported that the attacker(s) were defeated by a single student-soldier with a rifle: For years, pro-self-defense advocates in the United States have been pointing out the track record of Israel: that few schools in that embattled country have had the almost monthly bloodletting endured the United States' government-run, tax-funded schools.  Many people are armed in Israeli schools, including teachers, staff, students, and parents, unlike American schools, which are officially "gun-free zones" or as many people prefer, "victim disarmament zones." In other words, like the attack several months ago on a Colorado Springs church, the killing spree was stopped by an armed person, and many lives were undoubtedly saved.  Without this still-unknown student's wisdom in carrying a weapon and being willing and able to use it, there would likely have been considerably more than 20 casualties in a religious school. 

Sad though the deaths and injuries are, everyone can be glad that more did not die.  Everyone, that is, except for the "Palestinian" Arabs who were dancing in the streets to rejoice over the deaths, the attacker himself, and his possible accomplice. It shows, though, that just one person being armed is often NOT enough.  As events proved last year in a shopping complex in Salt Lake City, and in the church parking lot in Colorado Springs more recently, and now outside Jerusalem, just a very small number of armed persons is NOT enough: we are in a period of history where it is increasingly obvious that a sizable portion of the population needs not just to own weapons, but to CARRY those weapons and be prepared to use them to defend themselves, their family, friends, coworkers, customers, and community without any warning.  And the best weapon for this is the good old standard handgun - semiautomatic probably preferred, but traditional six-shooters certainly not unwelcome: convenient, proven, safe, easy to train with and deploy.  And exactly the weapon that hoploclasts of the world wish to make illegal and unavailable to peaceful, law-abiding people. 

It should not be A teacher or A student or A staff member that is armed in a school, it should be many of each, and pistols should be as common as cellphones or I-pods on the belts or in the purses or backpacks of those in these targets. Just as people don't think that we are "showing fear" by carrying a spare tire or buying and installing a fire extinguisher, so we should teach each other to not consider carrying a weapon: to work, to school, to worship, to community meetings, to the store or anywhere else, to be a sign of fear, but a sign of defiance, of respect, of responsibility, indeed, of love.  As people mourn their students' deaths today, they will hopefully offer thanks to the Lord for the one student who did NOT have to run and cower in fear, but stood up and saved his friends and teachers - yes, and even the administrators and the bullies.

Since then, at first reports were that the student wasn’t even in school, but came from his home some distance away, and did the rescue, which meant that THIS Israeli school, at least, was no more able to defend itself than Horace Mann Elementary down the street in Anytown USA. Since then, still MORE information has come out that there was a second, non-soldier student in the school with a handgun, and he was then JOINED by the soldier-rifleman. Whatever the truth of the matter is, we may never know. What we should LEARN though, is pretty obvious:
1. Even in the most militarized of societies with cops and soldiers on every corner, bad people will still find a way to attack and kill the innocent.
2. The more armed good people you have (whether it is a school, church, hospital, city hall, restaurant, store, etc.), the more likely it is that very few people will die, and one of them will be the attacker.
3. The more you disarm, or claim that weapons are the devil’s tool, the more you expose yourself and make yourself a target for people even more evil than you are. (And yes, I am saying that people who advocate disarmament and claim that weapons themselves are evil are really just as evil as those who use weapons to threaten and harm others aggressively.)

Canaanite front:
Palestinian Arabs suspend talks with Israel
Seattle Times
“The Palestinian president suspended peace talks Sunday as Israel brushed off international criticism and vowed to press ahead with its Gaza offensive until militants halt rocket attacks. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said an even broader Gaza operation was possible, aimed at crushing militant rocket squads but also to ‘weaken the Hamas rule, in the right circumstances, even to bring it down.’” (03/02/08)

The question is not whether Israel has a right to respond to attacks from Gaza, but whether the response is appropriate. Killing a bunch of people that have nothing to do, at least directly, with the rockets falling on Israeli towns, is very unlikely to be deemed “appropriate” by a reasonable person. It is wrong. At the same time, even if no or very few Israelis were killed by the actual missiles, the perps are legitimate targets of deadly force: their intent is clear.

Chinese front:
Report: China trying to crack US computers, buy nukes
CNN
“The Chinese military continues to increase spending on efforts to break into U.S. military computer systems, expand its Navy, and invest in intercontinental nuclear missiles and weapons to destroy satellites, according to the latest U.S report on China’s military power. The annual report from the Pentagon to Congress says China’s total military spending in 2007 was between $97 billion and $139 billion, but it is hard to tell exactly how much was spent and on what.” (03/03/08)

There is no question that China fears, hates, and is planning to deal with the US; for one thing the US is the major obstacle to acquiring the island of Taiwan for the Middle Kingdom, to say nothing of Korea and even, oddly enough, Vietnam. But it is not JUST the US that prompts this kind of investment and garnering of resources: the Chicoms are almost as hated by the Mullahs and Imams and others of the Ummah, who see Beijing as a threat third only to the US and Israel.

Mama's Note: I do have some serious questions about this supposed hate, but my question for US citizens is: Why would anyone expect China to make their plans and spending an open book? I suspect strongly that the US government would consider such a demand from China - to examine all US plans and expenditures - ridiculous. What a shame that the most evil people imaginable in each country are in control of such power, wealth and influence and will gladly disrupt the trade and peace of the world for their petty squabbles and lust for power.

Culture wars:
Victory over unconstitutional speech codes
FIRE
“Yesterday, San Francisco State University (SFSU) settled a lawsuit challenging its speech codes by agreeing to modify several unconstitutional policies to make them consistent with the First Amendment. The settlement also requires SFSU to pay damages to members of the university’s College Republicans as well as to pay the College Republicans’ attorney fees. The lawsuit—part of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education’s (FIRE’s) Speech Codes Litigation Project—was filed in July 2007 by attorneys from the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF). ‘Unconstitutional speech codes have been dealt yet another blow,’ FIRE President Greg Lukianoff said.” (03/04/08)

Another blow, maybe, but don’t think this sort of tyranny is on the run. Far from it: the number of cases grows each month.

Culture wars: abortion:
KS: Abortion clinic avoids indictment
Rockford Register Star
“A Kansas grand jury that investigated a Planned Parenthood clinic has refused to issue an indictment on allegations that it violated restrictions on the procedure. The Johnson County, Kan., grand jury’s decision was announced Monday evening, Planned Parenthood officials said. Abortion opponents, through a petition, had forced the court to convene the panel and investigate the clinic in Overland Park, Kan., to determine whether it violated laws on parental notice and informed consent.” (03/03/08)

Another minor battle, where the winners are the attorneys (as always).

Culture wars: homosexual “marriage”
CA: Marriage case reaches last stop
San Francisco Chronicle
“Following a string of defeats and near-misses elsewhere, same-sex marriage supporters are hoping for the legal equivalent of a home field advantage on Tuesday when the state’s high court hears long-awaited challenges to California’s marriage laws. The California Supreme Court has set aside three hours for arguments on the conjoined lawsuits brought by the city of San Francisco, 15 gay and lesbian couples and a pair of gay advocacy groups. The suits were filed in March 2004 — the day after the court halted a monthlong wedding spree that took place in San Francisco at Mayor Gavin Newsom’s direction. In the four years since then, gay rights advocates have asked the top courts in six other states to legalize same-sex marriage. A ruling is pending in Connecticut, and New Jersey adopted civil unions as an alternative, but none of the other courts were persuaded. Massachusetts is the only U.S. state where gays and lesbians can legally marry.” (03/02/08)

Ain’t holding my breath for a reasonable and logical decision as the result of these arguments.

Culture wars: killing babies:
TN AG: State law banning partial-birth would be suspect
Tennessean
“Tennessee’s attorney general says the Legislature’s adoption of a law similar to a federal measure banning partial birth abortion would be constitutionally suspect. The opinion was requested by Sen. Diane Black, a Gallatin Republican who sponsored a resolution that would change the state’s constitution to allow more limits on abortion. The resolution passed the Senate in January, but failed in a House subcommittee last month. At the time it passed the Senate, several unsuccessful amendments to the measure included partial birth abortion. That’s when Black asked Attorney General Bob Cooper to weigh in on the issue.” (03/04/08)

Protecting the innocent from those who would kill them is “constitutionally suspect?” What sick and convoluted reasoning this Cooper must have.

Culture wars: Trashing religion:
Israeli researcher: Moses was high on drugs
Raw Story
“High on Mount Sinai, Moses was on psychedelic drugs when he heard God deliver the Ten Commandments, an Israeli researcher claimed in a study published this week. Such mind-altering substances formed an integral part of the religious rites of Israelites in biblical times, Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem wrote in the Time and Mind journal of philosophy. ‘As far Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don’t believe, or a legend, which I don’t believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics,’ Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday.” [Editor’s note: Whoah, Dude! You be takin’ on a LOT of dogma (including Christian ones) in drawing this line … - SAT] (03/04/08)

Whatever he says about Moses, he has demonstrated his own insanity. For all the problems with Zionism and secular Jewry in the 20th and 21st century, the history of the Law of Moses and the Gospel of Christ which followed and built on it are NOT something that could come out of the mind of a deranged druggie. And for that matter, the physics, chemistry, and biology of the situation are very strong arguments against his foolish conjecture: somewhere between 2 million and 3 million people, spread out in an encampment of perhaps 5,000 acres (that is about 8 square miles, folks) were exposed to a narcotic drug in sufficient dosage to cause hallucinations, but there were not massive drug overdose fatalities AND they all had the same hallucination? Please, this is sheer fantasy. Mr. Shanon, sorry, I don’t believe YOU.

Euro-front:
Italy election symbols: From garbage to impotence
Yahoo! News
“From the ‘No Garbage’ party, to the ‘Don’t row against the tide’ party, to ‘Dr. Cirillo’s party of existentialist impotents,’ there will be something for everyone in Italy’s general election in April. Nearly 180 symbols of political parties, movements, lists, sub-lists, sub-parties and a myriad of other groupings were presented to the Interior Ministry by Sunday’s deadline. Amid the usual forest of symbols with shields and crosses, flags, hammers and sickles, doves, suns, trees and seas, there are some symbols that raise eyebrows more than normal.” (03/02/08)

As Mama commented, “at least the Italians know that elections are a joke…” But then, so is Italian government; for that matter, so is virtually all government; a killing joke, unfortunately.

Euro-wars:
Europe Braces for Release of Film Linking Koran to Terror
CNSNews.com
A leading U.S.-based Internet company says it’s ready for any electronic attacks that may come its way for hosting a Web site featuring a provocative short film critical of the Koran. The soon-to-be-released movie has sparked protests in the Islamic world and concerns in Europe...

Heaven forbid that the Europeans disturb their new masters, the Islamic Imperialists who seem to gain more power in the EU with each month, by telling the TRUTH. Or even allowing someone else to do so.

Government run, tax funded schools:
TX: Bible class lawsuit ends with agreement
MSNBC
“Both sides in a lawsuit challenging a school district’s Bible course claimed victory after they agreed to allow the course to continue but with curriculum developed by a superintendent-appointed committee of local educators. A mediator developed the proposal, which was approved Wednesday by the Ector County Independent School District’s trustees and earlier in the week by plaintiffs. The high school elective, approved in 2005, teaches the King James version of the sacred text using material produced by the Greensboro, N.C.-based National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools.” (03/06/08)

Well, you know just how good a curriculum written by a committee made up of educators is going to be: absolutely worthless. Odessa deserves better, and it is getting spit on with this kind of thing. Fortunately, Odessa and Midland offer a wide range of alternative, private education opportunities for K-12, and smart parents will continue to keep their children out of the garbage-bins that ECISD (and most other GRTF schools) has become.

Government run, tax funded schools:
CA: Unless Nazgul say no, up to 166K parents may face charges for “illegal” homeschooling
World Net Daily
A "breathtaking" ruling from a California appeals court that could subject the parents of 166,000 students in the state to criminal sanctions will be taken to the state Supreme Court. [Appellate Court] Justice H. Walt Croskey, whose opinion was joined by two other judges, then ordered: "Parents who fail to [comply with school enrollment laws] may be subject to a criminal complaint against them, found guilty of an infraction, and subject to imposition of fines or an order to complete a parent education and counseling program." [The ruling] said under a section titled "Consequences of Parental Denial of a Legal Education," that "parents are subject to being ordered to enroll their children in an appropriate school or education program and provide proof of enrollment to the court, and willful failure to comply with such an order may be punished by a fine for civil contempt."

What can I say? Why are your children still in public schools? Is that $2000 or $3000 a year of government welfare payments (what it would cost for curriculum and materials to home school your child, or what an average church-affiliated private school costs a year), the “joy” of social interaction with bullies (both adult and classmate bullies), of sports and field trips, really worth turning your children into the monsters that the state-run schools what to make them? Is it?

Government-run, tax-funded schools:
Changes to rules governing homeschooling irk advocates
DC Examiner
“The D.C. State Superintendent’s Office is proposing regulations for homeschoolers that are among the strictest in the country and, in the view of the homeschooling community, completely unconstitutional. For years, parents in the District have been largely free to educate their children as they wished. But that could drastically change with the new rules, which authorize public school officials to make home visits several times a year, mandate the subject areas families cover and require parents to submit evidence that their children have been immunized.” (03/05/08)

On the opposite end of the country, even while their illegal, draconian, and evil antigun laws are being challenged in the court system, the DC thugs-in-charge (allowed to run wild by the baboons of Congress) see fit to try increasing their tyrannical actions in another important part of human life. I suspect that these educrats are betting that the Nazgul (the Nine Supremes) are going to rule in favor of DC’s disarmament laws; otherwise, these officials wouldn’t dare be as obnoxious and prying as they plan to be.

Mama's Note: Actually, it's a bit encouraging to learn that there are homeschoolers even in the cesspool called Washington DC. The real mystery is why anyone with an ounce of freedom in their hearts would want to live there at all.

Government-run, tax-funded schools:
Teen appeals vulgar Web speech punishment
MSNBC
“A teen who used vulgar slang in an Internet blog to complain about school administrators shouldn’t have been punished by the school, her lawyer told a federal appeals court. But a lawyer for the Burlington, Conn., school told the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday that administrators should be allowed to act if such comments are made on the Web. Avery Doninger, 17, claims officials at Lewis S. Mills High School violated her free speech rights when they barred her from serving on the student council because of what she wrote from her home computer.” (03/05/08)

We’ve seen things like this happen more and more. The educrats aren’t content to dictate and micromanage children’s and teen’s lives for six or seven hours a day – they want to rule every waking moment. What is next? Going after graduates who say bad things about their alma mater? Administrators going after the PARENTS of students who badmouth the school their child is attending? I cannot believe that this case got past a jury and the initial trial.

Home front:
Canada: Privacy czar okays spy cameras
Toronto Star [Canada]
“The TTC can go ahead with plans to dramatically increase its video camera surveillance, Ontario’s privacy commissioner says. Toronto’s plan for 10,000 additional cameras on buses, streetcars and subway cars complies with the province’s privacy standards, Ann Cavoukian said today when she released her report. But the TTC still has to make some changes to make sure the privacy-invasive technology is only used for legitimate crime fighting purposes and not voyeurism as has happened in some other cities, she said.” (03/03/08)

In other words, the “privacy standards” are worthless.

Mama's Note: Just for the sake of curiosity, I'd like to see some solid statistics - collected by disinterested parties if possible, on any real relationship between these cameras and reduced crime. It would also be interesting to determine (how that would be done is a good question) if people would be more apt to trust the cameras than to take reasonable measures to safeguard their own lives and property.

We know that video in parking lots and stores are often used to sort out the facts after a crime, but it seems obvious they can't contribute much to preventing criminals from acting. Only alert, involved and, especially, ARMED citizens can effectively defend themselves. Invasion of privacy and cost are only two of the real issues.

Home front:
More FBI privacy violations confirmed
AP
“The FBI acknowledged Wednesday it improperly accessed Americans’ telephone records, credit reports and Internet traffic in 2006, the fourth straight year of privacy abuses resulting from investigations aimed at tracking terrorists and spies. The breach occurred before the FBI enacted broad new reforms in March 2007 to prevent future lapses, FBI Director Robert Mueller said. And it was caused, in part, by banks, telecommunication companies and other private businesses giving the FBI more personal client data than was requested.” (03/05/08)

What goes for Canada (previous story) goes double for the US. If the FBI had ever had a reputation for good service, this would trash it.

Mama's Note: Indeed, and should serve as a reminder that banks, phone companies, etc. are no better at safeguarding personal information. Be your own bank, and use encryption as much as possible.

Home front:
Authorities examine NYC bombing clues
WMTW 8 News
“A trail of possible clues stretched from New York to Washington after a bicycle-riding bomber struck the landmark Times Square military station, injuring no one but scarring one of the world’s most recognizable locations. On Friday, FBI agents in Los Angeles questioned a ‘person of interest’ about letters sent to members of Congress. However, the person who sent those letters was not connected to the bombing itself, the FBI said. … Authorities were also examining strikingly similar bombings at two foreign consulates in Manhattan in the last three years. Authorities also were scrutinizing surveillance video and forensic evidence. The Times Square bomb, contained in a metal ammunition box, produced a sudden flash and billowing cloud of white smoke. When the smoke cleared, there was no serious damage, nor any clear indication of a motive.” (03/07/08)

Since then, someone unknown has claimed responsibility. However, this will give NYC authorities yet another excuse to continue the “improvement” in the police state that they have built. As for a motive, good grief, isn’t it obvious? Either it is a direct attack on the US military infrastructure as a warning OR it is someone attempting to simulate such an attack to discredit the anti-Iraq occupation movement.

Mama's Note: You have to wonder sometimes just why so much time and effort is put into finding a "motive," when it is obvious from many years of such investigations that they are not in the least interested in the real motive at all. Of course, such an attack and property damage - even, thankfully, with no injuries or fatalities - is an act of aggression and wrong. Unfortunately, as an act of protest and demonstration of resistance, it is also futile.

Home front:
Pentagon: No Google Earth maps of bases
USA Today
“The Pentagon has banned Google Earth teams from making detailed street-level video maps of U.S. Military bases. A message sent to all Defense Department bases and installations around the country late last week told officials to not allow the popular mapping website from taking panoramic views inside the facilities.” (03/06/08)

Duh. The only question is why it took so long for the counterintelligence types to wake up.

Home front:
Commander warns of al Qaeda threat to US
Norwalk Hour
“Al-Qaida terrorists may be plotting more urgently to attack the United States to maintain their credibility and ability to recruit followers, the U.S. Military commander in charge of domestic defense said Thursday. Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, chief of the U.S. Northern Command, also told reporters he has not seen any direct threats tied to the U.S. presidential elections. But he said it would be rash to think that such threats are not there.” (03/06/08)

This doesn’t take years of experience in military or strategic intelligence or fighting Al-Qaida to realize this. The big question is just how many OTHER organizations are out there plotting something, as things continue to deteriorate in the United States and around the world.

Home front:
VA: First felony spam conviction upheld
ars technica
“Virginia’s Supreme Court on Friday upheld the first US felony conviction for spamming. The spammer will serve nine years in prison for sending what authorities believe to be millions of messages over a two-month period in 2003. Jeremy Jaynes is the man who will make history. A Raleigh, North Carolina, resident who made Spamhaus’ top 10 list of spammers, Jaynes was arrested in 2003 even before the CAN SPAM act was passed by Congress. Jaynes was convicted in 2005, but his lawyers appealed the conviction. This past Friday, the Virginia Supreme Court upheld that conviction, but the vote was a narrow 4-3.” (03/02/08)

Not certain how to take this. Spam is nasty enough, and is basically a theft of services and of time. At the same time, does it do any good to use the judicial system to try and control it? Or will the very inability of government to do anything right make it a complete waste of effort?

Mama's Note: Of course it is a complete waste of effort and money. Those who do not want spam simply get the best filtering software. It gets better all the time. Of the hundreds of emails I get each day, only a few spam type items manage to get through, and are easily eliminated. As with any other self defense function, the individual - and in voluntary association with others - has a far better chance of being both effective and cost efficient.

Home front:
Man aquitted in terror case faces deportation
Washington Post
“The case of the ‘Liberty City Seven’ stymied jurors. After a three-month trial late last year, they deadlocked on nearly all of the charges regarding the purported plot by several men to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago. The one thing jurors could agree upon, however, was that one of the men, Lyglenson Lemorin, 33, was not guilty. ‘I was excited,’ Lemorin said of his reaction on the December day that the verdict was announced. ‘I wanted to see my family.’ Yet more than two months after his acquittal on charges of supporting terrorism, Lemorin remains incarcerated, and U.S. immigration officials are moving to deport him to Haiti, which he left more than 20 years ago. Officials are asking an administrative judge to order his deportation based on the same charges that the jury dismissed.” (03/02/08)

The US and the states have created a bogus “court” system every bit as evil as the Star Chamber system in the United Kingdom, with these administrative judges and their system of “justice” without such pesky details as juries, evidence, civil rights, or “innocent until proven guilty.”

Home front:
UT: Feds search home in ricin case
MSNBC
“FBI agents on Sunday searched a Utah house and two storage units linked to a man whose hospitalization led to the discovery of deadly ricin in a motel room he had occupied on the Las Vegas Strip. The search of the home and units at a self-storage facility outside Salt Lake City was expected to be a long, tedious process as agents operated carefully at sites where they could find the dangerous substance, FBI spokesman Juan Becerra said.” (03/02/08)

I get so tired of the slander that passes for news: the lead of several stories about this were that a “gun” and “anarchist-type” books were found in the man’s room. So, I imagine, were such things as toothpaste, shaving cream (or a shaver), and toilet paper. None of which have any more bearing on the case than a gun or a book that is probably just some cop’s idea of “anarchist.” Still, it is distinctly possible that this guy was an idiot playing around with things that he didn’t know how to deal with, and is paying the consequences.

Mama's Note: Agreed, Nathan, but since he didn't try to harm anyone, it's a moot question. How many of us have cupboards full of "dangerous substances?" I have several bottles of bleach, ammonia, 95% alcohol, insecticide, weed killer and probably a hundred other things that could cause serious damage or even death if not handled correctly. They could be used to harm others as well. The possession of a bottle of such poison is probably not wise, but unless someone else was seriously threatened, should represent no more of a threat to the public than the possession of a gun or a cell phone.

Home front:
AL: Civil rights activist Tillman alleges police brutality
CNN
“Civil rights activist Dorothy Tillman claims she was brutalized by hospital security and police as she sought medical attention for her ailing aunt. Tillman was arrested Sunday at a hospital in Montgomery, Alabama, and charged with trespassing. The arrest came after a confrontation with officials at Jackson Hospital over access to medical records for Tillman’s 86-year-old aunt.” (03/03/08)

This sort of callous treatment is common nationwide, but it takes someone of her standing to get the media to listen to it, or a YouTube video tape.

Mama's Note: If I remember this right, it's one of those true dilemmas in the battle to keep our personal lives private. We don't want a hospital to hand out our records to anyone who claims a relationship, but we don't want our loved ones left out either. One good way to get around this is to give one or two special people in your life a written, notarized document giving them a medical power of attorney, jointly if more than one, so they can immediately access records and make life saving decisions if you are not able to do so. It is only effective when you can't make decisions, and can easily be revoked or the designates replaced. Your wishes are spelled out, and decisions cannot usually be made contrary to them. You can obtain forms at any hospital. They can be customized to suit your needs very easily. Do not confuse these with the regular "power of attorney" or will you might have for your financial affairs, though that is equally important no matter how much or little you own. It is best to keep all three separate, since a will is useless as long as you are alive. It is also probably best if the same person doesn't hold both powers of attorney, for obvious reasons - no matter how much you trust them.

This, rather than courts or lawyers, is the intelligent way to deal with such a problem.

Home front:
CA: Advocates organize to thwart US immigration thugs
Chicago Tribune
“When federal immigration officers visited over three days last October looking for an illegal Salvadoran immigrant, a neighborhood watch kicked into action each time. Dozens of immigrants, legal and illegal, phoned one another, warning of a raid. … As the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency beefs up home-visiting teams seeking illegal immigrants, doubling arrests in each of the past two years, migrants and advocates are initiating countermeasures to make legal and illegal immigrants aware of tactics such as not answering their door or remaining silent. The grassroots efforts try to help many immigrants who live in fear and ignorance of the law, but an ulterior goal is to stymie agents’ door-to-door hunts and thwart ‘collateral’ arrests — illegal immigrants who are discovered accidentally in a questioning for someone else who has absconded from a deportation order.” (03/01/08)

Funny, isn’t it? These groups can mobilize to protect these people, but can’t be bothered to teach these people about REAL liberty and how to deal with the law and get rid of their ignorance.

Mama's Note: Maybe they don't understand it themselves...

Home front:
University shares its Lincoln letters online
MSNBC
“Barely a year into the Civil [sic] War, President Abraham Lincoln suggested buying slaves for $400 apiece under a ‘gradual emancipation’ plan that would bring peace at less cost than several months of hostilities. The proposal was outlined in one of 72 letters penned by Lincoln that ended up in the University of Rochester’s archives. The correspondence was digitally scanned and posted online along with easier-to-read transcriptions. Accompanying them are 215 letters sent to Lincoln by dozens of fellow political and military leaders.” (03/02/08)

By then, of course, he was having to build up support from the very Abolitionists he claimed to be willing to ignore when he started the war, and he knew that slavery was NOT the real issue at stake for the Southron states.

Mama's Note: Besides which, if this is even true, he was proposing to do so with stolen goods. I'll bet he wasn't proposing to do this with his own money or from voluntary contributions. Two wrongs don't make a right.

Home front:
Feds warn states of ID deadline, travel hassles
MSNBC
“Homeland Security officials are pushing recalcitrant states to adopt stricter driver’s license standards to end a standoff that could disrupt domestic air travel. States have less than a month to send a letter to the Homeland Security Department seeking an extension to comply with the Real ID law passed following the 2001 terror attacks. Some states have resisted, saying it is costly, impractical and an invasion of privacy.” (03/03/08)

The problem is, asking for the extension tacitly means that you will comply with the requirement, ultimately. But there are not enough votes in most states to just tell DHS to stuff it.

Mama's Note: I think there are some others who are pretty set against it, but Montana has clearly told DHS to go pound sand... I hope Wyoming and some others out here join them, in more than one way.

Home front:
DHS warns about March Madness … but no specifics
ABC News
“As the spring sports season moves into high gear, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI today issued an assessment, called ‘Potential Threats to Popular Sports and Entertainment Venues,’ that said arenas and stadiums are attractive ‘potential targets during events.’ The assessment repeatedly noted that the FBI and DHS have no ‘information on any credible or specific current terrorism plots to attack stadiums or arenas in the United States.’ The report, however, said ‘operational planning and surveillance against sporting facilities are often difficult to detect,’ and college and professional basketball playoffs, the stock car racing season, hockey playoffs and horse racing’s Triple Crown are among the events that ‘regularly bring tens of thousands of fans … into large open-access facilities.’ Prepared at the request of the private sector with input from federal agencies, the report is intended to provide ‘decision makers with the broad, analytically-based threat information necessary to inform investment priorities and program design.’” (03/04/08)

So far, we’ve had no real “terrorist threat” carried out at a major sports event, for whatever reason. However, it is a lucrative way for the DHS to gain popular support: the idea of being the victim of a suicide bomb, a gas attack, or a rocket attack at a baseball, basketball, or football game has got to be really horrible to those at risk.

Mama's Note: And a false flag attack (like 9-11 in New York) can easily be supplied if the sheep begin to lose their fear and start to think for themselves...

IM Tech News:
CA: Google gives free voice mail to homeless
International Business Times
“Google on Thursday unveiled its plan to give San Francisco’s homeless lifelong phone numbers and voice mail. Google through its Grand Central telephony service and Mayor Gavin Newsom’s project Homeless Connect (PHC) launched the social program on Thursday at the bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.” (02/28/08)

Lifelong? Most of us who are NOT homeless aren’t able to have such a promise honored. It does not detract from the fact that a private company is attempting to help in this way, and not counting on the government.

Mama's Note: While this PHC program is certainly a cut above the usual welfare, it remains tied to government programs and money. See more about Mayor Gavin Newsom’s project Homeless Connect here.

IM-Tech news:
Final goodbye for early web icon
BBC News [UK]
“A web browser that gave many people their first experience of the web is set to disappear. Netscape Navigator, now owned by AOL, will no longer be supported after 1 March 2008, the company has said. In the mid-1990s, as the commercial web began to take off, the browser was used by more than 90% of people online. Its market share has since slipped to just 0.6% as other browsers such as Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) and Firefox have eroded its user base.” (03/02/08)

Firefox is a more than adequate replacement for it. As with Hupmobile, Stanley, and other early automobile brands long gone, Netscape will be missed but time marches on.

Islamic Imperialists:
South Africa: Protest over miniskirt attack
BBC News [UK]
“Hundreds of South African women have marched to a Johannesburg taxi rank, where a woman was sexually assaulted for wearing a miniskirt. Nwabisa Ngcukana, 25, returned to where she was allegedly attacked by a group of taxi-drivers and street hawkers, who said she was indecently dressed. … The taxi drivers shouted insults at the women, some of whom wore miniskirts. Some shouted that South African women were being given too many rights. … There were angry scenes on Friday at a similar march, when both women and taxi-drivers removed their clothes. … ‘What we want to highlight is that women have rights — they have the right to choose what to wear,’ said Nonhlanhla Mokeona from the People Opposing Women Abuse (Powa) organisation. She urged men to take part in the protest, to show they supported women’s rights. During Friday’s march, some of the women exposed their thighs and breasts — a traditional form of protest in Africa amongst those who consider themselves powerless.” (03/04/08)

What this does not point out (how convenient) is that a good many cabbies in SA are (as in some US cities) Muslim – no wonder they think that “women were being given too many rights.” It is more than just mini-skirts.

Mama's Note: The real problem is that these women have little or no way to defend themselves from anyone who would like to trample their rights. I suspect that a nice sidearm would cool the ardor of anyone who would like to attack a woman because of her skirt length.

Islamic imperialists:
Malaysia:Woman jailed for tea-pot worshipping
Ananova [UK]
“A woman has been jailed in Malaysia for joining a “teapot worshipping” cult. Kamariah Ali, a 57 year old former teacher, was arrested in 2005 when the government of the Muslim majority country demolished the two story high sacred tea pot of the Sky Kingdom cult. For the sect, which emphasised ecumenical dialogue between religions, the tea pot symbolized the purity of water and “love pouring from heaven”. But in Malaysia, despite constitutional guarantees of freedom of worship, born Muslims such as Mrs. Ali are forbidden from converting to other religions.” (03/05/08)

Wonderful, isn’t it, how the Islamic nations work so hard to protect the basic human rights of their people.

Islamic Imperialists:
Slavery Persists In Mauritania Despite Laws
CNSNews.com
In August, four months after taking office, the newly elected Mauritanian government criminalized slavery. Human rights advocates, however, are concerned at the lack of progress on prosecution...

Yeah, it really is 2008, and yes, it was only in 2007 that this filthy little excuse for a “country” decided that slavery was a crime; not that they have gotten RID of slavery or even made a serious effort to do so. And yes, this little pocket of evil and misery is an “Islamic” state: part of the glorious “God-serving” Dar al-Islam: literally part of the “House of Submission” – except the submission isn’t to God, it is to evil people who obviously think they are superior to Him.

Mama's Note: Obviously, passing a law against something doesn't have a lot to do with how well the population will comply with it. If most of the people fail to see slavery as evil, it will be an uphill battle to do much about it for a long time, even with heavy handed police state tactics. The hypocrisy of the Islamics is just the frosting on the cake.

Local government tyranny:
WI: Woman jailed for overdue library books
WISC News
“In Beloit, failing to return overdue library books is apparently a serious offense. It landed Keely Givhan behind bars for six days. Beloit Public Library director Dan Zack said when books aren’t returned, the library sends three overdue notices. After the third notice, a citation is sent that could include court date. Givhan said she was in the process of moving so she never got the notices. When a police officer pulled her over for a traffic violation in November, the officer found out about her outstanding warrant and took her to jail. She and her family couldn’t afford to pay her fine so she remained in jail for six days.” [Editor’s note: And if she’d resisted arrest, they’d have shot her - MLS] (03/02/08)

Oh, well, Mary Lou, I guess that is what that nice brick wall on the outside of the library is for, eh? Backstop for the bullets. Maybe they could just take a tip from Islamic law and do something like gouge out an eye for the first offense?

Massa wannabes and cultural wars:
Obama promotes “Biblical” same-sex “unions”
CNSNews.com
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) told a crowd at Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio, Sunday that he believes the Sermon on the Mount justifies his support for legal recognition of same-sex unions. He also told the crowd that his position in favor of legalized abortion does not make him "less Christian." When he was in the Illinois Senate, [Obama] repeatedly opposed a bill that would have defined as a "person" a baby who had survived an induced-labor abortion and was born alive. In a 2001 Illinois Senate floor speech about that bill, he argued that to call a baby who survived an abortion a "person" would give it equal protection rights under the 14th Amendment and would give credibility to the argument that the same child inside its mother's womb was also a "person" and thus could not be aborted.

Well, we could already figure out that Obama was no Biblical scholar, based on his “pastor” and his United Church of Christ congregation’s afrocentrism, Farrakan-honoring, beliefs (available on their website). He does seem to go out of his way to anger all the evangelicals who supposedly are leaning more left. They will find his liberal views easier to swallow than his bogus justification from the Bible for them. And it is clear that he sees no problem in killing babies (black or white). How can this person claim to be a follower of the Prince of Peace? (Of course, the question has to be asked of his two opponents, McCain and Clinton, as well.)

Mama's Note: Indeed... the only question to be decided this election cycle is: Do you want to be hung, shot or drowned. Those seem to be the only options if you insist on sticking to electoral politics. I choose "NONE OF THE ABOVE."

Massa wannabes:
Clinton stays alive; McCain clinches GOP nomination
NewsDay
“Hillary Rodham Clinton shattered Barack Obama’s monthlong winning streak Tuesday night, scoring Rhode Island, Ohio and Texas, as John McCain clinched the Republican presidential nomination. Clinton’s Ohio and Texas victories revived a campaign that had been expected to disintegrate if she didn’t carry at least one of the delegate-rich states. … McCain — who carried Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Texas — secured the 1,191 delegates he needed and was expected to appear at the White House Wednesday for an endorsement by President George W. Bush. … Mike Huckabee, who had been trailing far behind McCain, conceded Tuesday night and called for unity in both the party and the country.” (03/05/08)

Well, it is a horse race, at least on the Democratic side. Clinton has proved she can tapdance more than Obama (not that he doesn’t step out in a lively manner, but she IS older and more experienced). McCain seems to be the nadir of the Republican Party, which after Bush many claimed couldn’t go down hill any farther: they didn’t realize what could climb out from under the rocks there in the gutter. Seems to me like we have a real good chance of having not just one but THREE Manchurian candidates: one Vietnamese, one Islamic, and one Bill-Clinton.

Massa wannabes:
Exit Polls: McCain Still Not Attracting Evangelicals
CNSNews.com
Evangelicals sent a strong message in Tuesday’s Republican primaries in Texas and Ohio by voting overwhelmingly for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, while almost every other Republican demographic group chose Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz), exit polls show…

Oh, my, I cannot understand why this would be. It would not because the man looks more and more like a real world version of Lord Pavel Young (a villain in the popular Honor Harrington series of military SF novels) or because his voting record proves that he is a typical baboon. Would it?

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