Libertarian War on the News, 16 - 22 March, 2008

Although fuel and other prices surged up and down this week, there was little in the news about it – while the incredible antics of Barak and Hillary and their friends dominated the talk shows, and “antiwar” protests got little coverage. For many lovers of liberty, attention was on DC and the arguments on the DC Vs Heller case on the Second Amendment. The end of the week was dominated by flooding stories from heavy rains in the Midwest: of which we shall no doubt hear more next week. Let us start with some news from the Mideast, not the Midwest.

Afghan front:
Afghanistan: Five occupation troops killed in attacks
Times Online [UK]
“Four Nato soldiers have been killed and four injured in a suicide car bomb attack on their armoured convoy in southern Afghanistan today. In a separate incident, a Canadian NATO soldier was shot and killed while on foot patrol near Kandahar.” (03/17/08)

The four were Danes, who among other things are paying back the Brits and Amis and Canadians for the liberation of Denmark from the Nazis a half-century ago.

Afghan front:
Canada confident of extra NATO troops
Wilmington Star-News
“Canada expects NATO allies to soon offer 1,000 more soldiers to support the Canadian contingent in Afghanistan, the foreign minister said Sunday. Canada’s Parliament agreed last week to extend Canada’s 2,500-troop mission in Kandahar province to 2011, provided NATO sends more troops and equipment to back them up in the former Taliban stronghold.” (03/16/08)

Canada, on the other hand, doesn’t need to pay back anything to anybody: Canada bled itself dry for King and Empire in WW1 and WW2, and helped liberate millions more than, say France ever did (the French didn’t even liberate themselves). In a lot of ways, the Afghan situation is like a running sore. Even if the bandage doesn’t seem to be working, and the wound is not healing, you don’t rip the bandage off while you figure out how to treat the problem. Sadly, I suspect that NATO, the US, and the UN have not the slightest idea how to treat the underlying problem.

Mama's Note: Which is, I maintain, simply one more reason for ALL of them to go home and leave these people to manage their own affairs. The running sores were there before the invasions, and will be there long years from now - provided anyone on earth survives, of course.

Arabian front:
US: Yemen blast aimed at embassy
USA Today
“Three mortar rounds targeting the U.S. Embassy crashed into a high school for girls next door Tuesday, killing a Yemeni security guard and wounding more than a dozen girls, officials said. The embassy issued a statement in Arabic saying none of its employees was wounded, adding that ‘we pray for the victims and their families.’” (03/18/08)

Once more we find the so-called Arab “patriots” busy killing their own people, even when they actually are not intending to do so.

Canaanite front:
Rights group challenges Israel’s airport security
MSNBC
“Israel’s renowned airline security faced a legal challenge Wednesday from a civil rights group charging that its practice of ethnic profiling is racist because it singles out Arabs for tougher treatment. At a Supreme Court hearing, civil rights lawyers demanded an end to the policy, which they say violates Israeli law. Such profiling is illegal in the U.S., where passengers must be singled out for security checks on a random basis.” (03/19/08)

Which makes more sense, whether we are talking government security or private security? This is insane to say that when the threat is primarily people of one ethnic, cultural, or religious set, to “randomly” choose to investigate anyone. Yes, I’ve heard the arguments that a person of a completely different “profile” can be forced into carrying out the bombing attack or whatever, but they still do not constitute the major threat.

Central Asian front:
Occupied Tibet: Unrest spreads
BBC News [UK]
“Protests in Tibet over Beijing’s rule have spread to neighbouring parts of China, after days of demonstrations and violence in Tibet’s main city, Lhasa. Clashes between Tibetan protesters and police in Aba, Sichuan province, saw a police station and cars attacked. Rights groups said several people had been killed in the clashes. Protests were also reported in Gansu province. The unrest came after exiled Tibetan leaders said a Chinese crackdown had killed at least 80 people in Lhasa.” (03/17/08)

I just realized I should stop assigning Tibet to the Chinese Front category. More and more, it seems that people are unwilling to accept 58 years of injustice, just as has happened in Eastern Europe and the old Soviet Union.

Chinese front:
The China “Exception”
Reuters
When it comes to speaking out on Tibet, China has just got too much economic clout for Western powers to talk too loudly. In contrast to Western condemnation of a crackdown on demonstrations in Myanmar (Burma) last year, Western criticism of China's handling of protests in Tibet have been much more muted.

In other words, easy living is preferable to standing for the truth and having ethics.

Chinese front:
Tibetans continue to defy Chicom occupiers’ crackdown
CNN
“New video from China suggests that security forces have yet to gain complete control of Tibet and neighboring provinces which have suffered eruptions of anti-Chinese violence since last week. Film of a crowd — some on horseback — attempting to storm a government building has been shot by a Canadian television crew that managed to gain access to a Chinese town in Gansu province despite attempts by Chinese authorities to keep foreign media away from the region.” (03/19/08)

This article, if accurate, is telling: Tibet seems to be in active rebellion, and the Chicom government has to Regain control. Hopefully, they will not, and the West will again be reminded that Communism is as much an evil as Islam and our regular varieties of dictatorship.

Culture wars:
AZ: Traveling “aborted fetuses” display upsets ASU students
The Raw Story
“A graphic display of aborted fetuses is causing concern at Arizona State University. The traveling exhibit is sponsored by Justice for All, a group that aims to ‘train’ thousands against abortion. ‘Our goal is to educate the college campus of what the choice of abortion entails,’ Rebeccah Wagner, a representative for the group told Phoenix’s ABC affiliate. ‘It’s a shock campaign, I honestly think it’s less effective, I don’t want to walk around campus and see that stuff,’ ASU student Mike Zocchi tells the network. A March 14th letter printed in a New Mexico college newspaper argues that the Justice for All exhibit displays false information.” (03/18/08)

Life is disturbing; taking life away from the innocent SHOULD be more disturbed. This is not the only place Justice for All is making a splash: U-Georgia and UNM both have numerous calls for censorship of the group and for creating “Women's Study Centers” to “combat” the evils, but the “false information” claimed to be displayed seems to be of the same nature as “false information” regarding Creation, abiotic origins of oil, and climate change: subject to bias and interpretation. A 2006 letter at UNM claims to present the “truth” but seems to me to be nothing but an advertisement for abortion services. Clearly these people are creating the kind of furor that pro-abortion groups do NOT want, in the abortion groups most lucrative market.

Culture wars: environists:
Death by environmentalism
Liberty Unbound
Review of Eco-Freaks: Environmentalism Is Hazardous to Your Health by John Berlau: “For the last half century, the environmentalist movement has been a dominant influence on the cultural and political scene. This is widely viewed as a blessing, whose progressive result has been without exception the improvement of our society. John Berlau has written a book aimed at kicking that smug sense of green achievement smack in the teeth.” (For publication 04/08)

Definitely worth looking at in detail.

Economic news:
CA: Junking stuff has gotten more complex
San Francisco Chronicle
“The junk-hauling business is starting to think outside the box — er, dump. A growing number of small Bay Area hauling firms are promising to recycle or find new homes for people’s unwanted stuff rather than sending it straight to the landfill. They market themselves as environmentally friendly and often boast green-sounding names such as EcoHaul, iReuse and Blue Sky Hauling. But their business models and approaches to recycling vary widely — from one company with a sophisticated Web site that matches unwanted corporate furnishings with needy nonprofits, to another that simply leaves items outside its facility for low-income neighbors to take.” (03/16/08)

As usual, the mainstream media doesn’t have a cue. This kind of thing has been going on for years but it isn’t sexy enough for the papers and TV stations. Oh, and it isn’t a “dump,” you turkeys, it is a “landfill.” Your office and your house may be a dump, but where solid waste is processed, reused, recycled, and sometimes buried in federally-mandated coffins is a landfill. Many of which have their own recycling center/”shops” for people to keep things out of the big tombs.

Economic news:
Fed cuts interest rate; stocks soar
Miami Herald
“The Federal Reserve slashed a key interest rate by three-quarters of a point Tuesday, capping its most aggressive two months of action in a quarter-century in a battle to halt a spreading credit crisis. Wall Street loved it, bursting to its biggest gain in five years. The strong Fed action seemed to convince investors, at least for now, that the central bank will do whatever it can to keep the country out of a steep recession.” (03/18/08)

We are definitely living up to the predictions of several knowledgeable friends, working our way down to zero and a collapse that is not going to be pretty, for much of the country. The attitude of too many people is that we WILL dodge the bullet because we have to. Bad attitude.

Economics:
Stocks slip on profit taking a day after big rally
USA Today
“Stocks closed lower Wednesday in volatile trading as oil prices plunged and investors took profits a day after a Federal Reserve rate cut spurred a powerful rally. News that the government plans to free up billions of dollars at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a move that could help struggling homeowners, appeared to quell some of the market’s fears.” (03/19/08)

Less than 10% drop does NOT constitute a plunge, especially when the root causes are still not resolved.

Economy:
Netherlands: Dollars tough to sell
Yahoo! News
“The U.S. dollar’s value is dropping so fast against the euro that small currency outlets in Amsterdam are turning away tourists seeking to sell their dollars for local money while on vacation in the Netherlands. ‘Our dollar is worth maybe zero over here,’ said Mary Kelly, an American tourist from Indianapolis, Indiana, in front of the Anne Frank house. ‘It’s hard to find a place to exchange. We have to go downtown, to the central station or post office.’ That’s because the smaller currency exchanges — despite buy/sell spreads that make it easier for them to make money by exchanging small amounts of currency — don’t want to be caught holding dollars that could be worth less by the time they can sell them.” (03/18/08)

This and other stories make you wonder if the fall is being engineered. This also points out a theme that the BBC and other British and Continental analysts have been making: a worthless dollar is a disaster for Europe, as well, no matter what that does to the price of oil for them. Tourism, electronics, and many other things come with dollars.

Euro-front:
Kosovo: Occupation troops clash with Serb protesters
Reuters
“NATO troops came under fire during Serb riots in the northern Kosovo flashpoint of Mitrovica on Monday, in the worst violence in the territory since the Albanian majority declared independence last month. The rioting was a challenge to the authority of NATO, the United Nations and a fledgling European Union justice mission, underscoring fears that Kosovo could be heading for ethnic partition exactly one month after breaking away from Serbia. Reuters witnesses in the town reported hearing gunfire as hundreds of Serbs clashed with the NATO peacekeeping force KFOR, and with U.N. police.” (03/17/08)

As in Afghanistan, NATO troops in Kosovo are facing the problem of an internal struggle fueled by religious tensions masked by ethnic issues. “Blessed are the peacemakers…”

Mama's Note: Indeed, but "peace" cannot be imposed on people by invaders with guns. Peace must start and grow in the hearts of the people themselves to be worth anything or to last.

Euro-wars:
Kosovo: NATO occupiers clamp down on Mitrovica
Al Jazeera [Qatar]
“The Kosovan city of Mitrovica has in effect been put under military control, with NATO-led peacekeeping troops on the streets after riots which left a UN policeman dead and 130 people injured. French troops with the NATO-led KFOR force fired warning shots and a shock grenade in an attempt to disperse stone-throwing Serbs on Tuesday. There was a tense standoff following the incident but no repeat of the previous day’s violence when rocks, hand grenades and Molotov cocktails were thrown at the NATO-led troops and UN police. The clashes began after the police took back UN court buildings seized by Serb protesters on Friday.” (03/18/08)

After decades of dominating the minorities, the Serbs are now the minority in newly independent Kosovo and misbehaving in the same way that they used to fight against. Does it ever occur to anyone that it might be better to have NO coercive, authoritarian government at all, but let people work out things with their neighbors in a voluntary manner? It might not always be peaceful, but peacefulness does not seem an option here WITH government.

Freedom’s loss:
Arthur C. Clarke, 1917-2008
BBC News [UK]
“British science fiction writer Sir Arthur C Clarke has died in Sri Lanka at the age of 90. Born in Somerset, he came to fame in 1968 when a short story The Sentinel was made into the film 2001: A Space Odyssey by director Stanley Kubrick. Once called ‘the first dweller in the electronic cottage,’ his vision of future space travel and computing captured the popular imagination. A close aide said he died after a cardio-respiratory attack.” (03/18/08)

Arthur Clarke was one of the three deans of Science Fiction, and if not as liberty-oriented as Robert A Heinlein, he was certainly a proponent of human freedom and no fan of the state (unlike the third, Isaac Asimov).

Mama's Note: I've not read much SF, aside from most of what Heinlein wrote, so can't say I'm well read in this genre... but I have read some of Asimov's work and can't see him as a "fan of the state." He wrote about highly state dominated societies (as did Heinlein) and explored other kinds, but his heroes always seemed to be those who thought for themselves and went about their lives in spite of the state when they were not frankly at war with it. His non-fiction (he's a real scientist first) sparkles with humor and stimulation for rational thought.

Freedom’s loss:
Kenneth Gregg, RIP
Hit & Run
“I’m sorry to report that the libertarian historian Kenneth Gregg died Friday of congestive heart failure. Gregg was especially interested in recovering the precursors to modern libertarianism, and he found antistatist currents in places ranging from the cooperative movement to the Georgists; he also explored topics ranging from radical puppetry to the life of the early civil rights activist Timothy Thomas Fortune.” (03/17/08)

A second lost this week: no where as well known as Arthur C. Clarke, but still important. Like Clarke, his legacy will live on.

Government-run, theft-funded schools:
UK: Free children from national curriculum, says watchdog
Independent [UK]
“The head of the body responsible for monitoring teaching standards will make an impassioned plea today for ministers to release pupils from the stranglehold of the national curriculum and give teachers the freedom to decide what should be taught. Keith Bartley, chief executive of the General Teaching Council (GTC), will warn that the current primary school timetable presents pupils with lessons that are ‘too formal, too early.’ A relaxation of the strict regime based on tests, targets and league tables may be the best way to motivate and inspire children, he argues.” (03/17/08)

Hmm, sounds like it is time for Marshall Frtiz to set up a branch of his Separation of School and State society in the UK. For most of a century, the Brits prided themselves that their education system was NOT like that of the French: now they are running it the same way as the French do. President Charles DeGaulle had a special cabinet in his office, with a schedule on it. He could look at the schedule and open and take out a book and know exactly what page students of a particular age were reading in a specific test at the time he pulled out the book. I wonder, does the High Chancellor do this now?

Government-run, theft-funded schools:
Houston Indept. School District under federal investigation
KHOU.com
“The federal government has provided millions of dollars called E-Rate funds to school districts across the country for years. The money is designed to improve technology and wire schools for the internet. For six years, HISD used Micro System Enterprises of Houston as a vendor. But now, that relationship is at the center of a federal investigation.” (03/14/08)

Welfare breeds corruption, a situation pointed out in a variety of ways over the years.

Government-run, theft-funded schools:
States to get leeway on school sanctions
Washington Post
“The Bush administration is trying to address one of the most common complaints about the No Child Left Behind education law: It treats schools the same, regardless of whether they fail to meet annual benchmarks by a little or a lot. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings plans to announce Tuesday that she wants states to submit proposals for assigning different consequences to schools based on the degree to which they miss annual progress goals. Those goals are largely based on reading and math tests given in grades three through eight and once in high school.” (03/18/08)

What? How can we violate that basic principle of nanny-state government, “One size fits all”? We need to continue to emulate Procrustes at all levels of government, do we not? Especially in education; surely we do not want children who stand out among their peers to any meaningful degree.

Government-run, theft-funded schools:
UK: “Big brother” schooling predicted
BBC News [UK]
“Education in England could soon become ‘Orwellian’ under a regime of targets, testing, tables, inspections and observation, teachers’ leaders warn. Julia Neal, president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said this was the likely outcome of over-measured, over-monitored schools. The focus is on tests and targets, not personalised learning, she told her union’s annual conference in Torquay. Ms Neal imagined a sinister future with CCTV surveillance in every classroom.” (03/18/08)

It isn’t already? Of course, the question is WHO is Big Brother. Ms. Neal and her ilk think that they, not Home Office bureaucrats, should be. Of course, he who pays the gold (or fiat money) makes the rules.

Mama's Note: And, heaven forbid, we can't let lowly parents into the process... even though they really do ultimately pay the bills.

Government-run, theft-funded schools:
IL: HS student threatens to sue school
Fox News
“An Illinois high school senior is threatening to file a discrimination lawsuit against his school district after he says a teacher told him he fit the stereotype of a terrorist and humiliated him in front of his peers. Maysam Amanishourbariki, 17, who was born in the United States and is of Iranian heritage, claims his Italian language teacher told him last semester that he fit the stereotype of a terrorist during an exchange in class over his clothing, said Tamara Holder, his attorney. Two other students also called him a terrorist, which was reported to school officials. ‘Everyone started to laugh,’ Amanishourbariki told the Waukegan News-Sun. ‘I just sat there. I was confused. I didn’t know what to do. I was angry and upset.’” (03/18/08)

This strikes me as a tempest in a teacup. If someone dresses or behaves in a manner that gives the appearance of being a gang-banger, a thug, or a terrorist, then is told that is what he looks like, there is no discrimination or crime committed (except that in public schools, telling the truth often IS a crime). If an Anglo kid showed up in a black uniform, jackboots, and a high-peaked hat, even without any insignia, and was told he fit the stereotype of a Nazi, would THAT be discrimination? Kids who wear long black dusters and boots are regularly dragged into school admin offices and grilled for being Columbine-wannabes and Matrix killer-imitators. The kid needs to learn that people respond to you according to what you look like, how you dress, and how you act: there ain’t no free lunch.

Government-run, theft-funded schools:
US eases “No Child” law as applied to some states
New York Times
“The Bush administration, acknowledging that the federal No Child Left Behind law is diagnosing too many public schools as failing, said Tuesday that it would relax the law’s provisions for some states, allowing them to distinguish schools with a few problems from those that need major surgery. ‘We need triage,’ said Margaret Spellings, the secretary of education. In a speech in St. Paul, Ms. Spellings said she would use her executive powers to allow potentially far-reaching changes to the way some states carried out the law this year, at a time when efforts by Congress to rewrite the law have stalled.” (03/19/08)

Gee, do you think that the NCLB might be right? That a lot more public schools ARE failing. Heaven forbid. Honestly, all public schools need major surgery: cutting the apron- and purse-strings that tie them to the state. But that sort of life-saving surgery isn’t what Bush and Spellings have in mind, of course. By the way, can someone point out to me just WHERE in the Constitution Ms. Spellings is given “executive powers”?

Government-run, theft-funded schools:
Schools nationwide hide teacher misconduct, incompetence
School Reform News
“New reports show teachers nationwide are allowed to continue teaching, or are paid not to teach, after being found guilty of misconduct. Expensive, difficult, union-mandated rules prevent them from being dismissed. Over the course of a two-year investigation culminating in mid-December 2007, Florida’s Herald Tribune newspaper uncovered what likely is the tip of an iceberg — a confidential, nationwide list of 24,500 teachers who have been punished for a wide array of offenses.” (03/08)

As I said, it just might be that NCLB actually IS right: that massive numbers of public schools are failing even by the ridiculous standards of political action. And also, as pointed out earlier, welfare breeds corruption – of all kinds. The public school system is corrupt, and getting more so with each year.

Mama's Note: Did you ever work in a place dominated by a union? I did once, for a very short time. Talk about a "hostile work environment," and don't even mention trying to get rid of the well connected incompetent. But those who insist on thinking for themselves and telling the truth? HAH! You're fired...

Government-run, theft-funded schools:
UK: Excessive testing making kids mentally ill
Independent [UK]
“The excessive testing regime in schools is making children mentally ill, a teachers’ leader warned yesterday as she condemned the Government’s hands-on approach to primary education. Pupils were branded ‘failures’ even before they moved up to secondary school, said Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers. ‘Children suffer stress and anxiety as the test looms and the rise in children’s mental health problems cannot be divorced from their status as the most tested in the world,’ she added. ‘The tests label young people as failures, and this leads to one of the lowest rates for staying on post-16 of any industrialised country.’” (03/20/08)

Echoing her boss’ comments, I guess; frankly, I suspect this is more about teachers not wanting to have their success (or lack thereof) measured and monitored. It appears to me that it is their failure to teach that results in low student scores on tests more than any student anxiety.

Mama's Note: Sounds to me more like the PC crap about eliminating "winners and losers" so as not to bruise their little psyches with any perceived "failure." This, of course, only teaches children that it doesn't matter what they do because they should expect "rewards" whether they work or not, and regardless of their natural talents or strengths. Of course, when failure is rewarded, you get more and more of it.

Government-run, theft-funded schools: NOT!
Private colleges proliferating worldwide
Inside Higher Ed
“With the demand for higher education ever-growing and unmet internationally, the private sector continues to grow. A paper to be presented this week at the Comparative and International Education Society conference in New York explores global patterns in the growth of private higher education — how it increases access and who for, how private institutions expand, and what the worries are. ‘Fewer and fewer countries disallow private higher education, whereas many did several decades back,’ writes Daniel C. Levy, a professor and director of the Program for Research on Private Higher Education at the State University of New York at Albany.” (03/19/08)

Strange as it may seem, yes, many countries have exercised a government monopoly on higher education, stemming (as I recall my history) a reaction to church-run colleges and universities. (The reaction was such that even seminaries were operated by the State for many years in some countries.) This was as true in the West as in Communist countries, where presumably, private schools are still illegal. But this can change: as last week’s article about K-20 education reminds us, and the judge’s ruling in California from several weeks ago, most people still believe that only the State should control education. Too, licensing and financial aid., and the regulations that accompany it, have made most “private” schools in much of the US nothing but government-run schools anyway. Still, this is good news.

Home front:
Liberals Predict ‘End of Conservative Movement’
CNSNews.com
The conservative era that began with Ronald Reagan’s presidency in 1980 is dead, according to a liberal advocacy group. At a press conference last week in the nation’s capital, the Campaign for America’s Future drew parallels between the Carter-Reagan years and the current election year...

If the conservative movement is dead, it is a suicide. The liberals are not really winning so much as the conservatives are surrendering without a fight, because they have betrayed all their basic principles while keeping the name. (It reminds me of many (if not most) so-called “christian” churches and colleges.)

Mama's Note: Since Reagan was no real friend of individual liberty, I'm not sure just what "basic principles" were being conserved. Hopefully, the death of the "conservative movement" will make room for more individual sovereigns. But I won't hold my breath.

Home front:
Poll: More see government as secretive
USA Today
“Nearly nine in 10 Americans say it’s important to know presidential and congressional candidates’ positions on open government, but three out of four view the federal government as secretive, according to a survey released Sunday. Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University conducted the survey in conjunction with Sunshine Week, a nationwide effort by media organizations to draw attention to the public’s right to know.” (03/16/08)

No, really? Can you possibly imagine why?

Mama's Note: Far too much emphasis on the "right to know." It's far more important to eliminate the government power to pry and spy than to know - sort of - who or why. After all, if government has this power, what good does it do to know what was done after the fact? The damage is already done then.

Home front:
Veterans recall horrors of war in live broadcast
Boston Globe
“Liz Jackson’s eyes were fixed on a screen showing a live broadcast of anguished testimonies by Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans describing what they had seen and done during their combat tours. Jeffery Smith recalled how his Army unit beat and humiliated Iraqi prisoners. Former Marine Bryan Casler recounted how fellow Marines urinated and defecated into food and gave it to Iraqi children. Former Marine Matthew Childers talked about how he used to humiliate Iraqi civilians during predawn raids on their homes. When he described turning away an Iraqi father who was asking American troops to help the badly burned baby he carried in his arms, Jackson began to weep silently. ‘These soldiers are saying: ‘I’m complicit,” said Jackson, 29, a community organizer from Cambridge. ‘But every American citizen who saw this happen and isn’t out there protesting is complicit. I include myself.’” (03/16/08)

So far, everything is hearsay – surely they can provide some proof of their statements? Only then can things like this (if they happened) be corrected.

Mama's Note: Seems to me that personal experience and confession is pretty powerful proof. How would you go about "proving" much of this otherwise?

Home front:
Protests to mark 5th anniversary of Iraq invasion
Orlando Sentinel
“Opponents of the Iraq war [sic] will gather for vigils across the country today in the culmination of a series of protests marking the fifth anniversary of the conflict. … A variety of liberal groups, including MoveOn.org, are hosting 800 vigils across the country today, including one this evening in front of the White House.” (03/19/08)

Yeah, there were a lot, but the total number of people participating indicates that the vast majority of people in this country either (a) don’t agree with the opponents or (b) just plain don’t care. The opposition to occupying Mesopotamia is nowhere near the critical 1/3 needed for anything beyond answering poll questions.

Mama's Note: Seems to me that there are a lot of people who DO care and DO oppose the "war," but don't believe that street demonstrations are of any use to effect change.

Home front:
War protesters halt traffic, recall dead
Sioux Falls Argus Leader
“Protesters blocked traffic and government buildings in Washington, acted out a Baghdad street scene in Syracuse, N.Y., and banged drums in a parade through San Francisco on Wednesday to mark the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. In other, more somber observances, organizers set up a 2-mile display of about 4,000 T-shirts in Cincinnati, meant to symbolize the members of the U.S. military killed in Iraq, while in Louisville, Ky., demonstrators lined rows of military boots, sandals and children’s tennis shoes on the steps of a courthouse.” (03/19/08)

Some examples of the many protests, well-displayed on the media but also all carefully coached and orchestrated actions, hardly the stuff of the heady days of the 1960s. And in fact, several sympathetic commentators have pointed out that the now grey- and bald- ‘60’s “peace” protesters have co-opted this modern movement and are destroying it for the sake of reliving their childhood (assuming they ever grew up), as the next story illustrates.

Home front:
NY: Grannies, occupation supporters clash
Yahoo! News
“Grannies holding a knit-in to protest the war in Iraq clashed in a shouting match with pro-war activists in Times Square on Wednesday, the fifth anniversary of the start of the conflict. About 30 member of the Granny Peace Brigade, some sitting in rocking chairs and wheelchairs, were knitting stump socks for veteran amputees and baby clothes for Iraqi families at the Times Square military recruiting station that was damaged by a small bomb on March 6. … ‘You want a piece of granny?’ Frederick Olbrey, 70, yelled at about half a dozen war supporters gathered across the way as the grandmothers sang ‘God Bless America.’ Olbrey, a 1950s air force veteran, was campaigning with the granny brigade to demand that troops be brought home now. … Granny groups in 20 cities were holding similar protests at recruitment centers and veteran hospitals, the brigade said.” (03/19/08)

Of course, the story doesn’t point out that there are just as many “grannies” firmly in support of the continued occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan as these who showed up to protest against it: many grannies are “warmongers” as well. This is typical: the country is indeed split, as even polls are showing. (And Mr. Olbrey doesn’t sound like exactly a poster child for peace, does he? Lets see, he is 70, which means that in 1972, he was 34: nope, he can’t use being a child of the ‘60s as an excuse.)

Home front:
WA: SCOTUS upholds “top two” primary
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
“Washington voters might again enjoy free-for-all primary election ballots, thanks to a Supreme Court decision that struck a blow to political parties’ long-running battle to control the rules of such elections. The high court voted 7-2 Tuesday to uphold the state’s ‘Top Two’ primary, which allows voters to select freely among political parties for various contests without pledging even temporary allegiance to a party. While the political parties said their legal battle is far from over, Secretary of State Sam Reed said Washington will use the ‘Top Two’ system for the first time in August. … Under a ‘Top Two’ system, whichever two candidates get the most votes advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation or the preference of the state party organizations. Handily approved by voters in 2004, the system has never been tried here because of the parties’ lawsuit.” (03/18/08)

Of course, this “Top Two” system just continues to support the two-party system while giving lip-service to anything else. The only possible way to advance to the general election is to have a massive party machine behind you; the one exception to that might be a very popular, charismatic demagogue – the proverbial man on a white horse. I am frankly amazed that the Demons and GOPers even fought this.

Home front:
MO: Paul supporters seize control at GOP caucuses
Kansas City Star
“Ron Paul’s Missouri supporters aren’t giving up. Despite his distant fourth-place finish in the state’s presidential primary, with just 4.5 percent of the vote, more than a thousand Paul supporters crowded into Republican county caucuses last weekend, electing hundreds of delegates to upcoming congressional district and state conventions. Those caucus results aren’t expected to change Missouri’s votes at the party’s national convention — they should still go to Sen. John McCain. But they’re a complication for McCain, the presumptive nominee, and an embarrassment for party regulars across Missouri. … Some county conventions passed resolutions endorsing some of Paul’s positions, including repudiation of the Federal Reserve and income taxes. ‘There’s a potential for embarrassing press coverage,’ said state Republican committeeman David Buie, ‘with no substantive effect on the outcome.’” (03/17/08)

Grass-roots wisdom or folly? Now, if the Paul supporters REALLY took over the Missouri GOP machine and spent the next two years working it over, they might have a chance to get some of their agenda passed. But at the same time, I suspect that they would lose their souls in the process.

Home front:
CA: Anti-war protesters arrested
San Jose Mercury News
“Demonstrators marched through downtown San Francisco today holding signs, chanting antiwar slogans and handing out ‘unhappy birthday’ cake as part of a day of nationwide protests to mark the fifth anniversary of the U.S. Invasion of Iraq. About 100 protesters had been arrested by early afternoon for blocking traffic and chaining themselves to buildings, police said. The rallies, which drew hundreds to the city’s busy financial district, were mostly peaceful, though some demonstrators threw glass Christmas ornaments filled with paint at police, said Sgt. Steve Mannina, a San Francisco police spokesman. Black balloons were tied to trees along the city’s main downtown thoroughfare, and protesters at a table offered coffee and oranges and a cake reading ‘Unhappy 5th Birthday — Stop the War Now’ to passers-by.” (03/19/08)

This is, I suppose, “civil disobedience” although I’ve never understood how things like this do anything for their cause except gain a bit more press-time. This is different from actually breaking the law you are protesting, as Rosa Parks and others have.

Islamic empire:
Saudis to retrain clergy
BBC News
Saudi Arabia is to retrain its 40,000 prayer leaders - also known as imams - in an effort to counter militant Islam. The plan is part of a wider programme launched by the Saudi monarch a few years ago to encourage moderation and tolerance in Saudi society.

Now, I do NOT have any liking whatsoever for Islam, “militant” or not – it is an evil religion. However, I have far LESS liking for any government program to “encourage moderation and tolerance” by mandatory training of religious leaders. Whether it is the Saudi gang or any other government, this leads to worse and worse. We are seeing a training of the new religious caste of a new Islamic caliphate, with its goal to dominate and eventually absorb the world. I love the “retraining” word – the Soviets have permanently tainted that word, indeed.

Islamic imperialists:
Bin Laden slams EU over prophet cartoons
La Crosse Tribune
“Osama bin Laden, in a new audio message posted Wednesday, condemned the publication of drawings that he said insulted the Prophet Muhammad and warned Europeans of a ’severe’ reaction to come. The message, which appeared on a militant Web site that has carried al-Qaida statements in the past and bore the logo of the extremist group’s media wing al-Sahab, showed a still image of bin Laden aiming with an assault rifle.” (03/19/08)

One of the problems with these folks, including the elusive Osama, is that they seem to have a single response to ANYTHING they view as an attack or evil. Whether it is a few pen-and-ink drawings (see the display elsewhere on TPOL) or an air attack on a village or a massive invasion, they respond with threats to “kill the infidels” and then actually go out and maybe kill a few “infidels” but in reality kill a lot more of their old fellow Muslims, including those blowing themselves up to kill still more Muslims.

Mama's Note: Sadly, this is not unique to the Muslims. I've just been reading the history of Britain and Europe of the 12th century with the new "Christians" - private efforts and those officially sanctioned by both church and state - doing their best to eliminate everyone who practiced the "old religions," including any Christians who opposed the massive campaigns of arson and torture/murder, which wiped out men, women, children and even their animals.

Massa wannabes:
Obama attacks racial divide in speech
Baltimore Sun
“Trying to quell a ‘firestorm’ that threatens his presidential chances, Barack Obama delivered a sweeping address yesterday that bluntly challenged Americans to move beyond ‘the racial stalemate that we’ve been stuck in for years.’ He repeated his criticism of racially charged remarks by his former pastor that, he acknowledged, have raised ‘nagging questions’ about his candidacy. But he also used the controversy as a springboard for wide-ranging remarks that touched on the nation’s legacy of racial division and long-simmering animosities that, he said, have hindered social progress. Before an invited audience in downtown Philadelphia, near where the Declaration of Independence was signed, Obama spoke sympathetically about the way that affirmative action has stoked racial resentment among whites. But he also called on whites to recognize the burdens that blacks still face, almost a century and a half after slavery was outlawed.” (03/19/08)

The reactions to this speech are a stark contrast with each other, but he certainly did not lay to rest the firestorm over his “pastor” and his hateful and racist views, nor explain why he has been associated with the fellow for 20+ years. Nor can he address the fact that he would NOT be where he is if he were not passing for black. Though I am very much a detractor of Martin Luther King, Jr., the impression that Obama left with this speech can in no way be compared to the efforts of that arch-demogogue. Besides, the politics of groups (racial or otherwise) is a major part of our modern political and national problems. His speech just plays on those.

Massa wannabes:
Desperate, Clinton presses Obama for “do-overs”
New York Daily News
“Hillary Clinton rolled into Detroit Wednesday and pressured Barack Obama to agree to primary do-overs in Michigan and Florida, declaring anything short would be an ‘un-American’ disenfranchisement of voters. ‘Sen. Obama speaks passionately on the campaign trail about empowering the American people,’ Clinton told a crowd of hundreds at a Detroit union hall. ‘Today I am asking him to match those words with actions.’ Michigan and Florida were stripped of their delegates to the Democratic National Convention because both states held their primaries before Feb. 5 in violation of party rules.” (03/20/08)

I’ve heard claims this week that both Clinton and Obama are toast, while McCain continues to surge against either of them.

Mama's Note: That has the comfort of being given a choice between hanging, drowning or being shot. Guess I'd rather be shot... but dead is dead. I think I'll puke on the next person who gushes about how much McCain is "for" second amendment rights. What do I care what he's "for?" Why should he have anything to say about my rights either way?

Massa-wannabes:
Poll: McCain, Obama, Clinton in dead heat
CNN
“Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would both statistically tie Republican John McCain in a general election matchup, a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll indicates. According to the poll released Tuesday morning, both Obama and Clinton are locked in a dead heat with the Arizona senator. If Obama were to win the nomination, he would get 47 percent of the vote compared to 46 percent for McCain — a statistical tie given the poll’s 3 percentage point margin of error. Should Clinton win the nomination, the poll suggests she would get 49 percent compared to McCain’s 47 percent — another statistical tie.” (03/18/08)

Assuming that the poll is really valid, this points out that the country is once again very deeply split, and opens the door for another Nader or Perot type spoiler candidate. The question is, are we seeing a repeat of 2000? Or of 1860?

Massa-wannabes:
MI: Primary “do-over” plan collapses
Las Vegas Review-Journal
“The drive for a second Michigan presidential primary collapsed Thursday, and a fresh dispute broke out between Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton over the fate of the state’s 156 national convention delegates. Obama’s campaign said a fair resolution would be to split them evenly with Clinton. Aides to the former first lady instantly rejected the idea and said they would consider a mail-in primary — even though Obama has raised concerns about the security of a vote by mail organized so quickly.” (03/20/08)

Oh, dear, oh dear. My heart just bleeds for those people.

Medical news:
Two-week old blood no good [?]
New Scientist
The common practice of storing blood for more than two weeks could be proving fatal for thousands of heart surgery patients, according to a major study. Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio have found that patients who receive blood that is more than 14 days old are nearly two-thirds more likely to die than those who get newer blood. … Koch's team note that in the US the average age of transfused blood is more than two weeks - and that around half of all heart surgery patients receive blood transfusions.

I’ll leave this to Mama Liberty to comment on fully, but it seems that one mystery about survival of heart patients MAY be solved: this makes it more critical than ever that people volunteer to donate blood regularly, and that a NON-government system continue to manage blood supplies.

Mama's Note: Nathan and I exchanged so much about this that it grew into an independent article. See Can Government Guarantee the Safety of Donated Blood?

Mesopotamian front:
Bush says Iraq war was worth it
Fremont Tribune
“President Bush says he has no doubts about launching the unpopular war in Iraq despite the “high cost in lives and treasure,” arguing that retreat now would embolden Iran and provide al-Qaida with money for weapons of mass destruction to attack the United States. Bush is to mark the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq on Wednesday with a speech at the Pentagon. Excerpts of his address were released Tuesday night by the White House.” (03/18/08)

As a military commentator pointed out, the problem was not so much with the initial war, as it is with the occupation. Even when the US foolishly engages in an aggressive war, he advocates that it never be followed by an occupation. Bush, of course, is self-serving here, but people are believing him. And with the current Obama-Clinton mess, McCain is doing much better, and this supports his candidacy.

Mesopotamian front:
Iraq [sic}: Reconciliation conference stalls
Belleville News-Democrat
“Major Sunni and Shiite political blocs Tuesday boycotted a national conference aimed at reconciling Iraq’s rival communities — underscoring the deep divisions tearing at the country despite a decline in violence. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, opened the two-day conference, pledging that no religious or ethnic group would suffer as Iraq tries to heal its internal rifts.” (03/19/08)

“Humpty-dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty-dumpty had a great fall, and all the king’s horses and all the king’s men, couldn’t put Humpty together again.”

Mesopotamian war:
Bush to public: “Don’t believe your lyin’ eyes!”
Philadelphia Inquirer
“President Bush sought yesterday to convince a skeptical public that the United States is on the cusp of winning the war in Iraq, arguing in a speech that the recent buildup of U.S. forces has stabilized Iraq and ‘opened the door to a major strategic victory in the war on terror.’ Vice President Cheney said separately that it did not matter whether the public supported a continued U.S. presence in Iraq, and likened Bush’s leadership to that of Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. After a reporter cited polls showing that two-thirds of Americans opposed the Iraq war, Cheney responded: ‘So?’” (03/20/08)

Cheney is right: as long as all people do is answer poll questions, it doesn’t matter. The “antiwar” demonstrations this week clearly demonstrated that this opposition is paper-deep. And despite the headline, things ARE going much better in Mesopotamia, even though it is not well enough to overcome the really bad problems, most internal and some imposed by the US. Nor does it take into account the cost in treasure (not in lives; 4,000 dead and 50,000 maimed is a drop in the bucket in 300 million Americans, to anyone but people raised in our sanitized, risk-adverse society of the early 21st Century) that is bleeding the US monetarily dry.

Mama's Note: I'm afraid I can't discount those dead and maimed quite so casually. They were and are real people. This tragedy involves far more than money. It represents a seemingly final destruction of America's dignity, integrity and spirit of independence. America was sick for a very long time, of course, but death seems to be approaching fast now.

Nazgul:
Court to White House: Three days to explain emails
Associated Press
“A federal court on Tuesday gave White House officials three days to explain why they should not be required to make copies of all e-mails on computers in the Executive Office of the President. In a three-page order, U.S. Magistrate Judge John Facciola expressed concern that a large volume of electronic messages may be missing from White House computer servers. That’s the allegation made by two private groups that are suing the White House. Facciola’s proposal would require the White House to make copies of all e-mails from the period of March 2003 to October 2005.” [Editor’s note: “Proposal?” I’ve never heard a court order called a “proposal” - TLK] (03/18/08)

Huh? Tom is right.

Mama's Note: It's been a long time since a "court order" to the executive branch had any kind of "or else" attached to it. Neither the court or congress seem to have any real teeth anymore. The Imperial President must enjoy that very much. And can you even imagine Hillary with that much raw power?

New religions: environism
Feds OK LNG terminal between NY, CT
Lima News
“Federal energy regulators on Thursday approved a $700 million liquefied natural gas terminal proposed for Long Island Sound, a facility opposed by the state of Connecticut and other critics who say it would damage the environment and be vulnerable to a terrorist attack. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission voted 5-0 to approve the terminal, which would be located 9 miles from Long Island and 10 miles from Connecticut.” (03/20/08)

The only surprise is that it was a 5-0 vote; the opponents want to see nothing built anywhere that might allow energy supplies to be more efficiently delivered, of course. ANYthing, including your house and your car, can have potential to damage the environment, and Anything (especially in the Greater New York area) can be a terrorist target. But all things considered, this site makes sense.

New religions: global warming
Japan, Peru join hands in fight against climate change
Earth Times
“Leaders of Japan and Peru on Monday in Tokyo signed a joint statement to strengthen cooperation in the fight against global warming in their first summit talk in nine years. The statement stipulates that Japan and Peru would focus on mitigation and adaptation measures, and pollution issues. Japan promised financial aid to Peru in its effort to fight against climate change. Ahead of a meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Peruvian President Alan Garcia, foreign ministers from both nations agreed on 785 million yen (7.8 million dollars) in aid to rebuild schools and water towers destroyed in an earthquake last August.” (03/17/08)

Notice the new buzzword “climate change” is increasingly replacing “global warming” as “global warming is increasingly debunked (whatever the political scientists and leaders say). Japan thus extends more control over the Peruvian economy (which sometimes resembles a Japanese colony, even now).

New religions: global warming:
NASA: Thickest, oldest Arctic ice is melting
Reuters
“The thickest, oldest and toughest sea ice around the North Pole is melting, a bad sign for the future of the Arctic ice cap, NASA satellite data showed on Tuesday. … This adds to the litany of disturbing news about Arctic sea ice, which has been retreating over the last three decades, especially last year, when it ebbed to its lowest level. Scientists have said the trend is spurred by human-generated climate change. Melting Arctic ice does not raise sea levels as the melting of glaciers on Greenland or Antarctica could, but it does contribute to global warming when reflective white ice is replaced by dark water that absorbs the sun’s heat.” (03/18/08)

SOME scientists – as we’ve talked about time and again. Again, this is cyclic: Arctic ice has grown and shrunk over the centuries – it was just that we didn’t have anyone with satellites to measure each and every gain and loss. But this builds NASA’s credibility (no matter how much a losing battle THAT is) and revs up the masses and the Congressional dollar-shovels.

North American union:
Drug trade tyranny on the border
MSNBC
“More than 20,000 Mexican troops and federal police are engaged in a multi-front war with the private armies of rival drug lords, a conflict that is being waged most fiercely along the 2,000-mile length of the U.S.-Mexico border. The proximity of the violence has drawn in the Bush administration, which has proposed a $500 million annual aid package to help President Felipe Calderón combat what a Government Accountability Office report estimates is Mexico’s $23 billion a year drug trade.” (03/16/08)

Why not just send in the troops? Well, for one thing, we don’t have enough of them. For another, we don’t want to destroy Mexico’s government OR its economy (sensible as both might be, because something could emerge from the ashes that is much, much better). Of course, with the new North American Union, maybe it could be Canadian troops withdrawn from Afghanistan that are sent to clean up Mexico. That would be a hoot.

North American union:
Border fence still bogged down in court
MSNBC
“Some resistant South Texas landowners and a federal judge have come between the government and its goal of nearly 700 miles of Mexican-border fencing by the end of the year. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen has ordered the government to negotiate with owners over the price of access to the land, an extra step that has slowed the project.” (03/16/08)

Let’s see: crossing into the country without a permission slip is illegal. Trespassing is illegal and immoral. Stealing someone’s land is immoral. Stealing someone’s land, unless you are the government, is illegal. Hmm, so who are the worse criminals?

Our British cousins:
UK: July 7 inquests “could be secret”
BBC News [UK]
“Relatives of those who died in the 7 July bombings fear the inquests into their deaths could be heard in secret. Proposals in the government’s Counter Terrorism Bill could see a special coroner appointed for an inquest where national security is an issue. The Justice Secretary could also ensure the coroner could sit in secret and without a jury. …. The clauses involved are clauses 64 and 65 of the Counter Terrorism Bill currently going through Parliament. … If it became law, it would allow the justice secretary to decide that an inquest needed special measures for reasons of national security. The coroner could be replaced by a government-appointed coroner and could take place in secret, without a jury.” (03/19/08)

Without a jury? Things are bad in the UK.

Our right to defend ourselves:
81-year-old defends self, wife
Atlanta Journal Constitution
Eighty-one-year-old Robert Jenkins said he loaded his wife's handgun and tried to scare off a burglar in his Tucker home, but he fired when the intruder rushed him, according to a family friend. DeKalb police said the shooting was justified, and Jenkins will not be charged in the death of the suspect, a man possibly in his 20s who had not been identified Wednesday. "He defended his home, defended his wife," police spokesman J.T. Ware said. "He did what everybody would hope to do in a situation like that." Jenkins was being treated at a hospital Wednesday for a minor gunshot wound. His 78-year-old wife was unharmed.

What is great is not only did he protect his wife, but the POLICE guy thought he did a great job. Tucker and DeKalb are lucky to have a cop system that isn’t so much into the victim disarmament system.

Mama's Note: Maybe if he had kept the gun loaded, he wouldn't have been injured at all. It takes time to load a gun, even a semi-auto - and spare time is what you don't have in an emergency like this. I'm glad they had a gun. Now they need to learn a lot more about self defense, both of them.

Our right to defend ourselves:
NM: Great-Granny fights off purse snatcher
Fox News
“An 83-year-old great-grandmother thwarted a would-be purse snatcher with a gas nozzle and an iron grip. Bernie Garcia said a young man approached her at a gas station as she was buying fuel for her van and asked for money. When she told him she had spent all her spare change on gas, he tried to grab her purse. ‘But I had it wrapped around my wrist twice,’ Garcia said, and he was unable to pull it away. She fought back, spraying his shirt with some gasoline.” (03/15/08)

I say, isn’t spraying gasoline on someone a felony? It is assault, with a cancer-causing chemical, at the least. Watch this would-be mugger sue her for illegal dispensing of gasoline and probably a dozen other things.

Mama's Note: I suspect it was not intentional, but simply the result of the struggle while she held the gas nozzle. But gasoline is a poor substitute for an intelligent self defense tool.

Our right to defend ourselves:
IL: House committee defeats ammo trace scheme
Herald Review
“Legislation intended to help solve gun-violence crimes that opponents said could have shut down a major ammunition plant in Alton was defeated Wednesday. It was among a handful of gun-related legislation acted on by lawmakers in a House committee. One plan, proposed by state Rep. Will Davis, D-Homewood, would have required ammunition in Illinois to carry a laser-inscribed code on both the casing and bullet. Davis said the matching codes could help identify killers at crime scenes. But opponents said that the process of etching the codes would cost the ammunition industry millions and all but force the Winchester Ammunition plant in Alton to close.” (03/14/08)

Good news, but don’t think Davis and his backers are going to give up. The issue here is not whether it would help solve crimes. (Hardly will it deter them: professional gunners will remove the inscriptions or get their ammo elsewhere; people who kill in passion won’t think about being traced; suicide-school-shooter types won’t care.) No, this is about pricing ammo higher and higher and closing plants like the Alton one. Nice as it is to buy cheap Wolf ammo or some other brand made in the Russias or Romania, we NEED ammo plants close to home – indeed, in every state and region.

Mama's Note: More than one way to skin a cat... Since elimination of the guns seems to be such a difficult task, those who wish us dead will simply work underground to make it almost impossible to use those tools effectively. And no, they will never stop trying to disarm us all.

Our right to defend ourselves:
MI: Homeowner shoots man in stomach
Flint Journal
“The city’s first homicide of the year occurred Saturday morning when police said a 72-year-old man shot his 37-year-old housemate in the stomach. Police were called to the scene about 7 a.m. and found Jonathon Joseph Stevens dead on the sidewalk next door to the home where he’d been living. Police have not released the name of the accused shooter. Flint police Sgt. Roderick LeGardye said Stevens and the older man got into an argument early Saturday morning inside the home at 2518 Bagley St. During the fight, Stevens allegedly hit the elderly man with a large wooden stick. The 72-year-old then pulled out a gun and shot the victim at least once in the stomach, LeGardye said.” (03/16/08)

Flint seems to be doing well; here we are at the end of the first quarter, and their only homicide is a justifiable one!

Our right to defend ourselves:
Supreme Court hears arguments on gun ownership
CNN
“The Supreme Court on Tuesday took up gun control, hearing arguments concerning a District of Columbia ban on handguns more than two centuries after the Second Amendment gave Americans the right to ‘keep and bear arms.’ Lawyers for both sides tried to strike a moderate tone before the court, arguing that there was an individual right to own a weapon, but that governments could impose reasonable gun-control legislation.” (03/18/08)

How does the one stem from the other? Can we have “reasonable speech-control legislation?” How about “reasonable religious control legislation?” Let’s limit free-speech to only certain small areas of towns or campuses, on regular schedules. Let’s limit worship only to certain buildings on certain days of the week. Oops, we already do, at least in some places in what used to be a land of liberty.

Our right to defend ourselves:
Justices agree on right to own guns
Yahoo!News
“Americans have a right to own guns, Supreme Court justices declared Tuesday in a historic and lively debate that could lead to the most significant interpretation of the Second Amendment since its ratification two centuries ago. Governments have a right to regulate those firearms, a majority of justices seemed to agree. But there was less apparent agreement on the case they were arguing: whether Washington’s ban on handguns goes too far. …. Inside the court, at the end of a session extended long past the normal one hour, a majority of justices appeared ready to say that Americans have a “right to keep and bear arms” that goes beyond the amendment’s reference to service in a militia. …. The basic issue for the justices is whether the amendment protects an individual’s right to own guns no matter what, or whether that right is somehow tied to service in a state militia. A key justice, Anthony Kennedy, seemed to settle that question early on when he said the Second Amendment gives “a general right to bear arms.” He is likely to be joined by Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas — a majority of the nine-member court. Gun rights proponents were encouraged.” (03/18/08)

This is a very optimistic report, but I really hope it is accurate.

Our right to defend ourselves:
SCOTUS gun case draws protesters
Associated Press
“Advocates of gun rights and opponents of gun violence demonstrated outside the Supreme Court Tuesday while inside, justices heard arguments over the meaning of the Second Amendment’s ‘right to keep and bear arms.’ Dozens of protesters mingled with tourists and waved signs saying ‘Ban the Washington elitists, not our guns’ or ‘The NRA helps criminals and terrorist buy guns.’ Members of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence chanted ‘guns kill’ as followers of the Second Amendment Sisters and Maryland Shall Issue.Org shouted ‘more guns, less crime.’” (03/18/08)

It sounds really entertaining. I suppose it gains publicity, but really, what other purpose does it serve? I support their right to do it, but it seems to be a waste of time that could be used to educate people better.

Our right to defend ourselves:
TX: Homeowner shoots intruder
Dallas Morning News
“A homeowner shot an intruder early Friday morning, and North Richland Hills police were investigating whether criminal charges would be filed. … The 30-year-old homeowner heard some noises outside and confronted a person in his backyard. The homeowner told the person to stay put, but the man advanced, police said. Samuel Thomas Ford, 27, was shot in the shoulder and taken to John Peter Smith Hospital with a non-life threatening injury, police said.” (03/14/08)

I assume the investigation is to figure out what charges the man who was shot will be given, and NOT what the landowner will get. He seems to clearly be in the right.

Our right to defend ourselves:
UT: Man shoots intruder
KUTV News
“A man shot an intruder in the stomach after the suspect attacked his girlfriend in her South Salt Lake home. The woman was sleeping in her home in Mountain Shadows Apartments on 3900 south and 700 west, when around 5:45 a.m., she was awakened by a loud bang. A man, who police have identified as 18-year-old, Daniel Glen Larson, allegedly kicked in the apartment door and shattered the door frame. The woman immediately alerted her boyfriend, who was also in the apartment and began calling 911. Just as she was dialing the numbers into her phone, Larson allegedly grabbed the woman and began attacking her. Seconds later, the woman’s boyfriend retrieved his loaded handgun and shot Larson in the abdomen.” (03/15/08)

Sounds like the boy-friend shot a little too high.

Our right to defend ourselves:
DE: Homeowner returns fire, intruders flee
News Journal
“According to investigators, two or three men entered the home in the 3000 block of Hourglass Road by an unsecured ground-floor door about 2 a.m. When the intruders were confronted by the homeowner, one of the intruders fired a gun at him. The homeowner returned fire at the suspects using a handgun, Barnett said. After several shots were fired, the intruders fled without taking anything.” (03/18/08)

No wounds, apparently, but at least some crime was prevented, because the homeowner was prepared. Are you?

Mama's Note: I wouldn't call this homeowner particularly prepared. Yes, it's good he has a gun, but leaving a door unlocked like that is just plain stupid. He also obviously needs some training and serious practice with the gun. Self defense involves a great deal more than gun ownership.

Our right to defend ourselves:
MO: Man thwarts three would-be burglars
Kansas City Star
“The pounding of feet against his front door awoke a 56-year-old Kansas City man early Tuesday. “Was that you?” Les Daniel called to his 10-year-old grandson in another bedroom. “No,” the boy replied. Daniel climbed from bed, grabbed two handguns and prepared for a showdown. …. When he peered into his darkened dining room, fish tank lights illuminated a hooded stranger slinking across the room to inspect a home computer. “Who is it?” Daniel asked. “KCP,” the stranger replied, an apparent reference to Kansas City police. Daniel saw a second stranger and heard a third. He wondered whether to confront them or just kill them. “I was behind two of them, and they didn’t even know it. I could have killed them really quick,” he recalled. “But they looked young. And if I start shooting, they’re gonna shoot back.” Not wanting to endanger his wife and grandson, Daniel called out: "Whatever you think I got, you’re wrong! There ain’t anything in here! You’re about ready to die over $8!” He chambered a round in his .357-caliber Glock with a loud click. The intruders fled.” (03/18/08)

Similar to the previous story, and again, a wise and prepared man. And no shots fired!

Mama's Note: Big difference I can see is that this guy really used his head and took rational defensive moves. The sound of any autoloader being chambered, however, would help motivate most criminals to leave. Most wouldn't stick around to learn the caliber or the brand name of the gun.

Our right to defend ourselves:
IN: Man shoots intruders on father’s property
WHAS News
“Police are investigating after a Southern Indiana man shot two people on his property late last night. It happened just outside of Austin, Indiana. A business owner near Austin says he’s been robbed recently, and last night his son shot two men on the property that he thought were trying to rob his Modular Home business. The police were called and when they got there, they found two men in a nearby field with gunshot wounds. It is not clear at this point whether or not the two were just trespassing, or trying to rob the man.” (03/19/08)

This does seem to merit more investigation. Hopefully, the son was careful to establish and follow some basic rules of engagement to be able to defend himself against claims that he overreacted. Frankly, the benefit should be given to the shooter: why would they be trespassing if not to either steal or vandalize?

Mama's Note: "JUST trespassing?" In the middle of the night? So what were they doing trespassing at all? I've lived for 61 years without once ever trespassing anywhere, let alone in the middle of the night. Of course, in a society where nobody really OWNS anything, the idea isn't as strange as it would have been a hundred years ago when "just trespassing" was plenty of reason to be shot dead - even in broad daylight.

Our right to defend ourselves:
KY: Judge issues injunction over non-citizens carrying guns
WLKY News
“A federal judge has stopped enforcement of a Kentucky law barring non-citizens from carrying concealed deadly weapons. U.S. District Judge Thomas Russell said the law is written too broadly and violates the rights of attorney Alexander M. Say, a British national who has lived in Kentucky for 15 years. …The [ACLU] sued the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department and Kentucky State Police on behalf of Say. The ACLU challenged the citizenship requirement, saying Kentucky lawmakers should not have passed the law. …Say argued that no federal law requires U.S. citizenship for people to be licensed to purchase, carry, transport or carry a concealed deadly weapon, and neither should state law.” (03/15/08)

Great news! Human rights are NOT based on such ephemeral things as citizenship or voting power – but upon being created in the image of God, responsible to Him and made free.

Our right to defend ourselves:
Empty holster rallies planned on campuses
TMJ 4 News
“A number of so-called empty holster rallies are being planned next month at college campuses around the country. The gatherings are planned to protest licensed and trained gun holders not being able to carry guns on campuses. Some of those holsters are to be collected and-or donated by a Green Bay company. It is T-G-S-Com Incorporated, which runs more than 100 gun and sporting goods Web sites. That’s the same firm that sold a gun to the campus shooter at Virginia Tech and some accessories to the Northern Illinois shooter. Eric Thompson of T-G-S-COM says — and we quote — ‘These killers are going into their classrooms and lecture halls with the full intention to kill as many people as possible and the full intention of killing themselves before the police can get there. And they’re doing it in minutes. And no matter how good the law enforcement is, they’re still late.’” (03/19/08)

Ah, don’t you just LOVE unbiased reporting? Kathy DeLong certainly makes her position clear. This seemed to spark debates and some moves to get changes started last time, and I expect it will do even more this time. This is far more effective than throwing ornaments with paint at cops or chaining yourselves to meaningless buildings (see “antiwar” protest arrests in separate article).

Our right to defend ourselves:
NY: Resident shoots at robbers
Anton News
“A resident of Elmont shot at two suspects who broke into his residence in an attempted burglary. According to police, at approximately 1:25 a.m. on Feb. 28, two male suspects kicked open the side door of a Post Avenue home and ordered the 36-year-old male resident not to move. Police said the suspects then removed cash that was on a piece of furniture in the living room. Police said the resident was a licensed pistol permit holder and produced a handgun. The resident then chased after the suspects, firing one shot, police said. It is not known whether one of the suspects was struck.” (03/20/08)

What difference does it make that he was “licensed?”

Mama's Note: The only difference I can see is that the story takes place in New York where the "license" is the difference between being thrown in jail for an "illegal" gun and not having a gun at all.

Our right to defend ourselves:
NC: Home invasion victim shoots, kills suspects
WCNC News
“Police say two suspects are dead after an attempted home invasion. Catawba County sheriff’s deputies say two men dressed in black and carrying pistols forced their way into a home on 33rd Avenue in Hickory around 11:00 last night. According to a sheriff’s official, the homeowner was armed with his own gun, and shot the suspects. Both suspects were pronounced dead at the scene. … At this time, no arrests have been made.” [Editor’s note: And who is left to arrest? - MLS] (03/20/08)

Good point, Mary Lou. Once more, we see the bias of the media here.

Science news:
Methane found on distant planet
BBC/Nature
A carbon-containing molecule has been detected for the first time on a planet outside our Solar System. The organic compound methane was found in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting a star some 63 light years away. Water has also been found in its atmosphere, but scientists say the planet is far too hot to support life. [Dr Giovanna Tinetti said] "I definitely think that life is out there. My personal view is it is way too arrogant to think that we are the only ones living in the Universe." The number of known planets orbiting stars other than our own now stands at about 270.

This news presents a dilemma for scientists, especially those who are materialists (evolutionists): for years they have been viciously attacking anyone who advocates an abiotic origin even of methane (yes, humans can make methane without biological materials, but they apparently claim that since WE are organic, it is still a biotic origin). Now, guess what: either they have to change the conditions under which life can spontaneously develop so that it can produce the methane, or they have to decide that methane CAN form from non-organic sources. I find Dr. Tinetti’s statement quite fascinating: we are too arrogant to believe in God, but we can believe in little green men?

Mama's Note: I find it very strange that anyone considers that belief in God must exclude the possibility that He created other beings in other places. The universe is a very large place, and we can only see a tiny sliver of it. Yes indeed, it is incredibly arrogant to think that we know anything about what God has or can do beyond the bit we see "in a mirror darkly."

South Asian front:
Pakistan: 18 killed in missile strike
Los Angeles Times
“A missile strike Sunday destroyed the compound of a suspected militant leader in Pakistan’s tribal belt, killing at least 18 people, officials and local residents said. The Pakistani military disavowed responsibility for the strike in the South Waziristan tribal region, raising the possibility that it was carried out by U.S. Forces American military officials in neighboring Afghanistan had no immediate comment, though U.S. troops are believed to have carried out several similar attacks in recent months.” (03/17/08)

It probably is the US; the location may or may not be in Pakistan or Afghanistan. The border between the two “countries” is vague to say the least. It isn’t like the border between Kansas and Oklahoma, a straight line marked by the precisely surveyed centerline of a paved road. And the Pakis aren’t likely to do anything more than they absolutely have to, to rile the tribes, Al Qaeda-supporters or not.

South Asian front:
Four FBI agents hurt in Pakistan bombing
CNN
“Four of the 12 people wounded in the weekend bombing of an Islamabad restaurant are U.S. FBI agents, the bureau confirmed Sunday. The attack occurred Saturday when a bomb was hurled over a wall surrounding the Luna Caprese restaurant, an outdoor cafe frequented by Westerners, journalists and diplomats.” (03/16/08)

What? Isn’t there enough work for FBI agents in the US, investigating corrupt governors, bad medical clinics, and whoring judges?

Stupid government people tricks:
Anti-Iraq war US diplomats poorer but proud
Yahoo! News
“In 2003, three senior U.S. diplomats abruptly ended prestigious careers and gained international attention by noisily resigning in protest over the U.S. war in Iraq. In interviews on Tuesday on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the invasion, the three said they have lived more modestly without government salaries but the chaos that has followed President George W. Bush’s Iraq policy shows their actions were justified. … The three former diplomats did not know each other before, but have written a joint opinion article they hope to publish on Wednesday’s anniversary. ‘The war happened, with tragic but predictable consequences,’ they wrote. ‘The invasion of Iraq had a terrible impact on America’s relationship with the world.’ ‘Our gesture earned us a brief moment in the media and the cautious respect of our colleagues. Five years later, we do not regret our decision to leave the profession we loved.’” (03/18/08)

This reminds us that some people do have and live by their principles. What is sad about this article is that the giving up of a government salary should be viewed as such a tremendous hardship and sacrifice. I am glad that they don’t regret it.

Stupid government tricks:
Fed cuts discount rate as US banks tank
USA Today
“The Federal Reserve, in a series of emergency moves to try to stabilize world financial markets, voted Sunday to cut its interest rate on direct loans to banks by a quarter of a percentage point, and to provide a new line of credit to securities dealers. The Fed acted on a day that saw JPMorgan Chase acquire faltering investment bank Bear Stearns at a fire sale price. On Sunday night, the Fed also provided financial backing that facilitated the Bear Stearns sale.” (03/16/08)

It is nearing closer and closer to a ZERO discount and prime rate, as predicted by a number of insiders. The Fed and the Federal Government are stealing the savings of hundreds of millions of people, just as they are looting other banks (or helping them be looted).

Stupid government tricks:
Audit: Bush barely trims FOIA backlog
Greensboro News-Record
“Despite ordering improvements more than two years ago, President Bush has barely made a dent in the huge backlog of unanswered requests under the Freedom of Information Act. At the same time, an audit by the National Security Archive found that Bush has provided citizens someone to talk to about how long it is going to take to get the government records they want or to be turned down.” (03/16/08)

I get this (wrong) vision of his desk piled high with requests and documents to be reviewed, but of course, it isn’t the Prez that authorizes money be spent to deal with the “backlog.”

Stupid government tricks:
Fed cuts interest; stocks soar
Miami Herald
“The Federal Reserve slashed a key interest rate by three-quarters of a point Tuesday, capping its most aggressive two months of action in a quarter-century in a battle to halt a spreading credit crisis. Wall Street loved it, bursting to its biggest gain in five years. The strong Fed action seemed to convince investors, at least for now, that the central bank will do whatever it can to keep the country out of a steep recession.” (03/18/08)

If you didn’t think the dollar was worth much last week, now watch and see. Yeah, the stock market is coming up, but the dollar is dropping so fast that the tourists can’t keep up with it, so in reality, the stock market is dropping.

Mama's Note: What still amazes me is how the price of some electronic merchandise continues to drop. Maybe some retailers are worried they won't be able to sell the stuff at all if the dollar continues to free fall, and are just taking a bit less of a loss now. I don't know, but none of it feels right. My last trip to the grocery store was painful...

Stupid government tricks:
Affirmative action foes point to Obama
Boston Globe
“Leading opponents of affirmative action are increasingly seizing on Illinois Senator Barack Obama’s historic run for the presidency as proof that race-based remedies for past discrimination are no longer necessary. Influential Republicans and a growing number of policy specialists at conservative organizations, including the Goldwater Institute, Project 21, and the Manhattan Institute, are citing the fact that large numbers of white voters are supporting Obama, who leads in the race for Democratic delegates, as evidence that affirmative action has run its course. Ward Connerly, a black conservative who is leading a national effort to ban racial preferences, vowed to use Obama’s success as evidence for anti-affirmative action ballot initiatives his organization is promoting in five states.” (03/18/08)

So in other words, if he LOSES, then will this be proof that MORE affirmative action is needed? I fear that is what the liberals will take away. Still, the entire idea of affirmative action is so evil and distasteful, any way of attacking it should be used, provided it is moral and effective.

Stupid government tricks:
States weigh lowering drinking age
USA Today
“Debate over lowering the drinking age is heating up in several states, fueled in part by legislators who contend that men and women who are old enough to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan are responsible enough to buy alcohol legally. Legislation introduced in Kentucky, Wisconsin and South Carolina would lower the drinking age for military personnel only.” (03/20/08)

These people haven’t bothered to do their historical research. The argument for raising the age to 21 (as essentially mandated by the federal government through the withholding of highway trust funds) was that because some states had 21 and others had 18, a bunch of young people were killing themselves going to a state with a lower age and driving home drunk. Of course, a mandate of 18 would have done the same thing, but government goons don’t ever think that way. This is another indicator of stupid thinking: to create a special class of person allowed more under the law. The logic seems to be unmistakable (and echoes that used during the Vietnam era): military personnel have (theoretically) some self-discipline, and are under stricter military discipline than your average lazy, carefree civilian. But things don’t always work out logically. Why not consider just reducing the age to 18 and getting rid of the federal mandate? Or leaving it up to parents?

Mama's Note: There's more to it even than that. Most 18 year olds are no longer living at home anyway. Parents are a good place to start, but remember that with all the PC "zero tolerance" a parent can be sent to jail for giving a child a sip of beer. The "war on drugs" and the war on people won't change whatever age is chosen as the magic number. It's not about safety, it's about control.

Stupid government tricks:
CA: Olsen released from prison
San Francisco Chronicle
“Former Symbionese Liberation Army member Sara Jane Olson, who hid for years by posing as an ordinary housewife, was released from prison Thursday after serving time for attempted murder and second-degree murder in two separate cases, authorities said. Olson, 61, formerly known as Kathleen Soliah, walked out of the Central Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, prisons spokesman Bill Sessa said. For almost 24 years, Olson was one of the nation’s most sought-after fugitives — she disappeared in 1975, the same year two Los Angeles police cars were bombed. She changed her name from Kathleen Soliah and, over the years, lived as a mild-mannered Midwestern housewife.” (03/21/08)

Apparently a lot of cop groups are really ticked off about this – believing that cop-killers (or wannabe killers) are worse than “normal” killers. The prison term (which has apparently been made much shorter) was a plea bargain, and she still insists that she did not build or set the bombs, but the cops won’t let that alone, it seems.

Stupid people tricks:
Philippines: Government warns of danger of crucifixion
Ananova [UK]
“The Philippines government has issued an Easter public heath warning — on the dangers of crucifixion. Thousands of worshippers in the Philippines will this week practice crucifixion and self flagellation to show their faith. The government is encouraging them to get a tetanus shot first and be sure to use a clean whip or nails.” (03/20/08)

This is a rather strange custom seemingly unique to Hispanic cultures: you don’t see this sort of thing in Belgian or German or Italian Catholics, but do in Spain, Mexico, South America, the Philippines, and New Mexico and even southern Colorado. (I don’t hear about it in California, except in San Francisco, and I suspect those are not Catholics doing it). The Penitente sects of New Mexico and Colorado still have some adherents, and this seems to appeal to many Hispanics: their chapels and holy places reflect this theme to a scary degree, and I personally think it is tied to the common Hispanic glorification of the military and the state – a trait dating back to the 700-year Reconquista against the Moors in Spain and Portugal.

Mama's Note: This always struck me as sick and even sacrilegious. I have talked to Philippine people about it, and understand they think it is an act of sincere worship (for those relative few who practice it), but it seems like blasphemy to me. I know from experience that extreme asceticism is frowned on by even the Catholic Church because it is not an act of love for God, but for self aggrandizement.

The African collapse:
Kenya passes power-sharing deal
CNN
“Kenyan lawmakers unanimously approved a power-sharing deal Tuesday aimed at salvaging a country once seen as one of the most stable and prosperous in Africa, bringing together two men whose dispute over the presidency unleashed weeks of deadly violence. President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga both claimed victory in the December 27 presidential election, which observers said was so flawed by rigging that it was impossible to say who had won.” (03/18/08)

So the massa-wannabes win and the people lose. And this is good?

The African collapse:
UN report: Darfur attacks broke human rights law
CNN
“Attacks in January and February by Sudanese forces on Darfur villagers are described in a U.N. report as ‘violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.’ Between January and February, Sudanese forces killed 115 people — including women, children and elderly — in air and ground attacks on four Darfur villages, according to the report.” (03/20/08)

Duh! Don’t hold your breath expecting any Sudanese thugs to be brought to justice, much less their national leadership.

Theft by government:
TN Audit: Over $2 million in lottery tickets that couldn’t win
Tennessean
“Tennesseans bought over $2 million in lottery tickets that could never win last year when a software glitch kept repeat digits from appearing in winning numbers, according to an audit released Tuesday. The sweeping audit from Comptroller John G. Morgan reviewed the entire episode last summer when a programming error in the state’s new computers for generating lottery numbers affecting lottery drawings for several weeks. The audit, which found no fraud associated with the episode, also found that the lottery had no in-house system for checking its drawn numbers. Smartplay, the company that created the draw system, had opportunities to identify the programming error on the first day the computers went into use, ‘and they did not do so.’” (03/18/08)

It may not have been intentional, but it still seems like fraud to me. Bad enough that the state-run gambling is much more in favor of the state than any numbers racket run by the mob was in favor of the mob, but now they’ve come up with a way to cut out the prizes completely.

Mama's Note: Neat racket, if they can get away with it. I hope nobody is gullible enough to think this was the first or the last time such a thing happens... regardless of who was at fault. But there is one surefire way for everyone to avoid being defrauded by this sort of thing... don't buy the tickets at all. That would fix their little red wagon.

War on some drugs:
AL: Have a crack baby, go to jail
Raw Story
“Covington County, Alabama prosecuting attorney Gregory L. Gambril interprets a 2006 child ‘chemical endangerment’ law to include the unborn, prompting concern over patient privacy and judicial precedent. Section 26-15-3.2 (Act 2006-204, §2) of the Code of Alabama makes it a felony to expose a child to a controlled substance or drug paraphernalia. The punishment becomes more severe if the child suffers injury or death as a result. ‘The unborn children are not making the choice,’ explained Gambril to the Birmingham News in February. ‘It’s the mothers who are making the choice to do it to them.’” [Editor’s note: It’s hard to know where to begin on this one; how about for starters the fact that the “crack baby” fear-campaign was debunked years ago? - SAT] (03/15/08)

I was not aware that “crack babies” was yet another hoax of the War on Some Drugs, until this article, Steve and Mama Liberty enlightened me that it is like the lie of reefer-maddened killers and others. At the same time, there IS some serious questions about the psychotropic affects of many LEGAL drugs administered for “combating depression” and other mental illnesses. True, unborn children have no choice as to what they get (or don’t) from their mothers’ body. Sadly, at the same time that Alabama has this law, based on a hoax, it has, like every other state in the Union, allowed the same baby to be intentionally killed in the name of “choice.”

Mama's Note: Yes, and the children who survive abortion are increasingly force fed all kinds of chemical poison in the name of "mental health," among other things. There ARE some serious potential risks to the unborn if their mothers take certain herbs, alcohol, medication, drugs, even some foods without great caution, but none of them are as deadly as the surgeon's knife and the suction tube that destroys all hope of life for them. Just another example of the insane hypocrisy all around us.

War on some drugs:
FL: Move to outlaw hallucinogenic salvia
Arizona Republic
“On Web sites touting the mind-blowing powers of Salvia divinorum, come-ons to buy the hallucinogenic herb are accompanied by warnings: ‘Time is running out!’ and ’stock up while you still can.’ That’s because salvia is being targeted by lawmakers concerned that the inexpensive and easy-to-obtain plant could become the next marijuana. Eight states have already placed restrictions on salvia, and 16 others, including Florida, are considering a ban or have previously. ‘As soon as we make one drug illegal, kids start looking around for other drugs they can buy legally. This is just the next one,’ said Florida state Rep. Mary Brandenburg, who has introduced a bill to make possession of salvia a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Some say legislators are overreacting to a minor problem, but no one disputes that the plant impairs judgment and the ability to drive.” [Editor’s note: Of course, merely expanding the list of “intoxicants” already prohibited while driving would only serve to address the problem, without further criminalizing otherwise peaceful behavior - SAT] (03/16/08)

The “next marijuana?” We’ve heard that before but cannabis has been grown by humans for thousands of years. Steve is correct, but doesn’t perhaps go far enough – let us see some actual studies that demonstrate that all these things DO actually impair judgment and driving ability, and at what level they do so.

Mama's Note: I don't know where anyone gets the idea it is inexpensive or easy to get, except for the fact that it is not YET "illegal." It does not grow anywhere but a narrow strip of land near the Mexican border, and it does not often set viable seed so can't readily be grown commercially. Just repeal the idiot "laws" against cannabis and hemp, and it would vanish back where it came from. It is an ancient sacred herb in some native cultures according to what I've read, but it would never replace marijuana.

And as for driving (or a lot of other things) while "impaired, that's a highly individual thing. The amount of alcohol (or probably anything else) that would put me under the table would not even be noticed by a big man. People are much more often "impaired" by anger, fatigue, illness, distraction and plain stupidity, but there is no arbitrary blood test for any of those - at least yet. Preemptive "laws" do little to inhibit those who have so little sense as to drive or operate machinery when they shouldn't, of course. But it's not about safety anyway, it's about power.

War on some drugs:
NH: House votes to reduce marijuana penalties
WMUR News
“New Hampshire residents could possess one-quarter ounce or less of marijuana without facing jail under a bill headed to the state Senate. The House voted 193-141 Tuesday to make possessing a small amount pot a violation subject to a $200 fine. Under current law, possessing that amount could mean spending a year in jail and paying a $2,000 fine.” (03/18/08)

The current law is insane, and used to railroad people when a single seed is found in the seat cracks of their used cars (at least in other states: don’t know if that has actually happened in NH). But a quarter-ounce? That is seven grams: seven standard paperclips in weight: For a $2000 fine? And the state claims that drug-dealers make a fortune?

World wars:
Military to boost cyber-protections
Military.com
“The military is beefing up efforts to gather intelligence, fend off cyber-attacks and improve relations with other nations as part of a strategy for keeping the U.S. safe while fighting two wars, according to a Pentagon document. The four-page plan acknowledges there is still a significant risk that the military cannot quickly and fully respond to another outbreak in the world and outlines what must be done to counter that threat.” (03/19/08)

The two-war plan has long been a staple of American military planning, and it isn’t like there is not already a lot of effort going to deal with cyber-war (hacker attacks are a daily event on various Pentagon computer systems), but the military is so spread out and already committed to two occupations and hundreds of other missions that I am not surprised that the planning has faltered.

World wars:
France to reduce nuclear warheads
BBC News [UK]
“President Nicolas Sarkozy has said France will reduce its number of airborne nuclear weapons by one third. Mr. Sarkozy said the reduction to fewer than 300 missiles would leave France with ‘half the maximum number of warheads we had during the Cold War.’ But he also insisted he was committed to France’s nuclear deterrent, saying it was its ‘life-insurance policy.’” (03/21/08)

Truth or propaganda? There has always been some doubt about exactly how many weapons France had, and this number is probably no more accurate than any others.

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