« August 2005 | Main | October 2005 »
September 30, 2005
Somebody Ought to "Investigate" Elliot Spitzer
From the Wall Street Journal:
"Here's a case alleging deception, in which nearly everyone involved says that the full details were provided repeatedly. The public official who brought the case has indulged garish profiles of himself to publications like Vanity Fair, People and New York magazine, while at the same time resisting scrutiny of key facts in the case. And while his office recently said it is low on funds to pursue Medicaid fraud, he is devoting multiple lawyers to this case--which will benefit the state not one nickel. Medicaid spending by the way costs this state more than a quarter of its budget, in excess of $40 billion."
Sounds like another Martha Stewart case; a "big name" target to burnish the reputation of the state of New York's Attorney General who has already announced he is running for governor next year. Political prosecutions don't help anyone and as far as I can see Spitzer is a terrorist of the courtroom who persecutes prominent targets solely for the headline value rather than any real crime.
To the extent that NY state law has been broken the charges are mainly technical ones more suited to civil charges and rather than felony criminal prosecutions. And once ol' Eliot gets into the governor's chair they likely will be dealt with that way too. And too bad for the people and firms who are languishing in jail or home confinement, tagged with permanent criminal records, and fined thousands of their hard earned dollars, eh Eliot?
Posted by Ali Massoud at 01:36 PM | Comments (0)
"Bomb Iran!" Urges the Israeli Government
I realize that I'm likely to be labeled anti-Semitic in some quarters even for mentioning this, but I don't know how one can interpret this article in the Washington Times, hardly a hotbed of anti-Israeli sentiment, to mean anything other than that the Israeli government is attempting to get the U.S. government to threaten (and, if necessary, use) force against Iran for its alleged nuclear program.
According to reporter David R. Sands:
The United States and its allies must act to stop Iran's nuclear programs -- by force if necessary -- because conventional diplomacy will not work, three senior Israeli lawmakers from across the political spectrum warned yesterday. . . .
Iran will not be deterred "by anything short of a threat of force," said Arieh Eldad, a member of Israel's right-wing National Union Party, part of a delegation of Knesset members visiting Washington this week.
"They won't be stopped unless they are convinced their programs will be destroyed if they continue," he said.
Yuval Steinitz, chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said the best hope was for the United States and other major powers to make it clear to Iranian leaders now there was "no chance they will ever see the fruits of a nuclear program." . . .
The lawmakers met with their U.S. counterparts, as well as with senior administration officials, saying they highlighted the Iranian danger in all their meetings.
Asked if he thought the message got through, Mr. Steinitz said, "I did not get the feeling we were talking to the walls."
Oh, yes. The Israelis also pulled the old Iran-is-the-next-Nazi-Germany bit out of mothballs, too. Why not? It worked so well with Iraq. Said Steinitz:
"Despite all the different circumstances, we see similarities to what happened in the 1930s, when people underestimated the real problem or focused on other dangers. For us, either the world will tackle Iran in advance or all of us will face the consequences."
Posted by Mike Tennant at 09:03 AM | Comments (0)
September 29, 2005
Words of wisdom from Joseph Conrad, apparent psychic:
"To break up the superstition and worship of legality should be our aim. Nothing would please me more than to see Inspector Heat and his likes take to shooting us down in broad daylight with the approval of the public. Half our battle would be won then: the disintegration of the old morality would have set in in its very temple. That is what (terrorists) ought to aim at."--The Secret Agent, 1911
Are you listening, Alberto?
The same chapter contains the book's most famous quote:
"The terrorist and the policeman both come from the same basket." Why is this so? Says Conrad, "Revolution, legality--counter moves in the same game; forms of idleness at bottom identical. He plays his little game--so do you propagandists."
Conrad believed anarchism to be the philosophy of those with a "[w]arm heart and weak head," but he admits to being, at least during the writing of the book, "an extreme revolutionist," and it is this rigorous attention to putting himself in an otherwise unsympathetic character's place which led to the truths the character utters.
In point of fact, Conrad is never describing true anarchism in his books and stories on the subject. His anarchists are always socialists or communists, and as we now know, neither system can ever be truly anarchistic because both require coercion backed by force in order to get people to behave in ways counter to their desires and best interests. He compares anarchists to red republicans and socialist reformers, neither of which bears any resemblance to the true anarchist, who may not agress to impose views or make points by force.
Posted by Patrick Yancey at 02:41 PM | Comments (0)
September 28, 2005
Brown Out But Not Down
Boy, am I glad we got rid of the blame-shifting, corrupt Clinton administration! I mean, if Clinton (or any other Democrat) were still in office, we might encounter scenes like this:
In sometimes heated testimony before a congressional committee Tuesday, former Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown blamed Louisiana's leaders for dragging their heels last month as Hurricane Katrina approached the Gulf Coast. . . .
"My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday [August 27] that Louisiana was dysfunctional," he said in his opening testimony.
Got that? It's all the fault of local officials. Brown is completely blameless. (Yes, local officials are responsible for the mess in large part, but FEMA screwed up royally as well.)
At least now we have a president who fires (or forces to resign) incompetent types like Brown. If a Democrat were president, we might find out that Brown is still on the federal payroll as a consultant--to the tune of (according to the transcript) $148,000 a year.
Yessirree, I'm thrilled that George W. Bush has brought responsibility and integrity back to the White House! Aren't you?
Posted by Mike Tennant at 03:52 PM | Comments (0)
September 26, 2005
Teenaged WND Pundit Puts the Grownups to Shame
Kyle Williams at WorldNetDaily has an excellent column called "Look Ma, I'm a Partisan Hack!" When I clicked on the link to it, I expected to see the usual liberals-hate-Bush-because-they're-evil-partisans schtick. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Williams has come down hard on partisans on both sides of the aisle. He writes:
It is an ironic time in America when Republicans can generalize about liberals' socialism, while the GOP's own president makes Bill Clinton's presidency look conservative. The Right mocks liberals over welfare, but the Republican Party is building its own fiscally abhorrent welfare state. The GOP is unwilling to act on abortion, they're all talk on homosexual marriage, and they have yet to prove anything in judicial appointments – the only real issues for which the conservative base remains loyal. . . .
On the one end, there are far too many Americans who are filled with unfathomable hatred and fear of this administration. They virtually believe President Bush will any day dispatch federal agents to terrorize their family, while Dick Cheney secretly directs Halliburton to take over the world. Their absurd loathing of this president is purchased only by their blind partisanship. These people will not accept that George W. Bush is a real human being, who has feelings, and is not mentally incompetent. They hold Bush in the same class as Hitler or Stalin and look at the Republican Party as a Westernized version of the Taliban.
Then, you find the naive fools who truly believe the Republican Party is out to help them. They buy the marketed lie that President Bush is merely an altruistic public servant. These types seem incapable of realizing that individualism has vanished because they drank the Kool-Aid a long time ago and now fail to grasp the reality that Americans are divided into easily appeased demographics, catered to with false promises in return for votes. It is true that never has America been more wrapped up in the political and social debate, but it's all just reiteration. American politics has lost its voice for the individual as it slowly trades a constitutional republic based on the rule of law in exchange for a fiscally irresponsible socialist state ruled by an aristocratic class.
It's a sad state of affairs when a 16-year-old makes more sense than most of the adults on the same website. On the other hand, it could be a sign of a better future. Let's hope the rest of the WND pundits--and their readers--read Williams's column and take it to heart. It could just bring some much-needed honesty to the political debate.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 08:56 AM | Comments (0)
September 19, 2005
Mental Sanity of Statists
After my recent STR article on the Battered Statist Syndrome, I received a number of responses from people suggesting other, and perhaps better labels for the mental state of statists. One of them would perhaps be the “Stockholm Syndrome,” as one of them suggests. You know, the one where a victim of kidnappers fall in love with or begin to take sides with the kidnapper(s).
Of course, there should be a lot of psychological illness labels one can use for the state of mind of statists. Psychology is, after all, a science producing labels for states of mind of people acting irrationally, i.e. consciously distorting their view of reality or acting to their own disadvantage. “Projection” might be one, where the person projects his/her own secret, forbidden desires on others (like entrepreneurs or “the rich”).
An obvious psychological label for politicians is the “inferiority complex”; those not able to produce wealth of their own would of course, if they lack a sense of justice or morality, strive to steal the wealth of others.
No matter what label you use, our analyses have one thing in common: there is something mentally wrong with how statists hang on to the state no matter what it does. Let’s just leave it at that.
Posted by Per Bylund at 03:59 PM | Comments (0)
September 15, 2005
Govt. Police Protect and Serve in N.O.
From the diary of an anonymous news cameraman as reported by Boing Boing:
This is like a giant summer camp for law enforcement. There are hundreds of black and whites, armored cars, assault vehicles, and lawmen carrying every type of firearm ever made. It's as though every police chief in the country put 20 officers in 5 cars and sent them to New Orleans - on overtime.
Of course, many are helping, but some have no orders or task to complete. So they drive around all day taking pictures, and then they go and sleep in their cars with the engine running and the air conditioning on. They are sightseers with guns taking "happy snaps" to show to all the folks at home. Complete with long tales of how they saved New Orleans.
Posted by Rob at 08:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
More Words of Wisdom from RAH...
... for some of the whinier residents of the Big Easy, especially the ones screeching for help into TV cameras like the rest of the world owed them something:
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -Robert Heinlein
It is called "self-reliance." It is what you have if you are worth a damn.
Posted by Patrick Yancey at 02:32 PM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2005
Calling Mr. & Mrs. Jack Spratt
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an "ongoing victory," and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget.
Mr. DeLay was defending Republicans' choice to borrow money and add to this year's expected $331 billion deficit to pay for Hurricane Katrina relief. Some Republicans have said Congress should make cuts in other areas, but Mr. DeLay said that doesn't seem possible.
"My answer to those that want to offset the spending is sure, bring me the offsets, I'll be glad to do it. But nobody has been able to come up with any yet," the Texas Republican told reporters at his weekly briefing.
Asked if that meant the government was running at peak efficiency, Mr. DeLay said, "Yes, after 11 years of Republican majority we've pared it down pretty good."
There's everything you need to know about the Republican Party's vaunted conservatism.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 02:25 PM | Comments (0)
South African Businessman Stands Up for Property Rights
A Durban businessman who put up job advertisements described as offensive and derogatory says he is [not] racist -- just "frustrated and desperate" because of bad employees.
Tony Patel, who owns two clothing stores known as Apples, said he was tired of "undesirables" asking him for jobs and said the "laws of this country suck" because he was not allowed to specify what sort of workers he wanted.
Amen to that, brother!
Patel has made headlines with the posters on the windows of his shops which read: "WANTED PRETTY 'BLACK' FLOOR SUPERVISOR. NO FATTIES" and "WANTED SMART 'WHITE' SALESLADIES SUPERVISORS * NO CHANCERS" and "ATTRACTIVE INDIAN CASHIERS WANTED". . . .
Patel said he had been in the clothing business for 49 years and was only successful because of the way he ran his enterprise. . . .
"My business is run like the military. I'm a hard aggressive man. I'm a no nonsense man.
"I don't care what the Human Rights Commission or anyone else says about my business because they are not going to pay my rent.
"Why don't they worry about the people who are raped, murdered and robbed? They mustn't worry about someone who doesn't want to employ fatties."
He said he had no idea what the outcry was all about because many other business owners complained about the laws but did nothing about it.
"I don't moan I take action. I wear underpants, other businessmen wear panties."
The world needs more guys like this.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)
Cracking Down on Activities Inciting Terrorism
Before skeptical and silent world leaders, President Bush on Wednesday urged compassion for the needy and pressed the global community to "put the terrorists on notice" by cracking down on any activities that could incite deadly attacks.
Hmm . . . you don't suppose he meant things like attacking other countries under false pretenses, killing tens of thousands of innocent people, installing puppet governments, occupying foreign countries, or building military bases in those countries . . . do you?
Nah, I didn't think so.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 11:17 AM | Comments (0)
September 13, 2005
Why Not Just Hire Roger Ebert?
Obviously only people who "hate freedom" could object to practices like this and wish to retaliate against Americans as a result:
A masked teenager in an Iraqi army uniform walked slowly through a crowd of 400 detainees captured Monday, studying each face and rendering his verdict with a simple hand gesture, like a Roman emperor deciding the fate of gladiators.
A thumb pointed down meant the suspect was not thought to be an insurgent and would be released by U.S. soldiers. A thumb pointed up meant a man would be removed from the concertina wire-encased pen, handcuffed with tape or plastic ties and taken by truck to a military base to be interrogated. . . .
"Your source is not good, these are all innocent men," said a detainee wearing a gray dishdasha, who said he was a student in the city of Mosul, 40 miles to the east. "We are all Sunnis. That is why he chose us. He is Shia," he said, referring to the informant. [Capt. Noah] Hanners said the quality of the informants has varied widely. "Some seem to say what they think you want to hear," he said. "Others give us information that pans out."
Another soldier, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he said he would be punished by commanders for his criticism, had a more negative view of the sources' performance. "We almost never get anything good from them," he said. "I think they just pick people from another tribe or people who owe them money or something."
Thanks to Antiwar.com for the link.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 04:31 PM | Comments (0)
To Understand Resistance, Put Yourself in Iraqis' Shoes
A letter to the editor of the Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune:
How can you think that only terrorists, loyalists and extremists fight the American soldiers? What would you do if China occupied this country and you were randomly searched and jailed and your family members and friends were killed?
The insurgents are like me and you. They defend their homeland. The foreign occupiers insult them, shoot up mosques, steal their oil, shoot up hospitals and leave cancer-causing radioactive pieces of ammunition lying all over the place. The citizens have little electricity, clean water, medicine, food, oil and, most of all, security. At any time they could be shot by a soldier, a criminal or an Iraqi policeman. Ever been jailed for something unjust? Harassed by a cop? Had a vehicle-mounted machinegun pointed at your head?
I dont know about you, but I get really pissed off when a cop pats me down, feels my crotch and thinks he can do whatever he wants because he represents the law and has a gun. Imagine a whole army doing that in your country. Imagine jets screaming overhead, never knowing when a bomb is going to drop next to you. Imagine watching your child being blown apart. Imagine riding in a car and getting killed by a couple of 20-year-olds manning a barricade. How many of you would fight back? I mean, what are you going to do, just submit to all of the humiliation, death and rape of your country?
Mark Speckman
1408 Windsor St.
Believe it or not, I found this at FreeRepublic.com, where it was, predictably, met with the usual howls of outrage that anyone would dare question the received neocon wisdom.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 03:55 PM | Comments (0)
Somalia: Market vs. Government
As you're hearing all of the moaning about the so-called anarchy in New Orleans (which isn't anarchy but government-run chaos), recall that genuine anarchy in Somalia was supposed to be a bad thing, too. However, it's turned out to be much better than almost everyone expected, and the people there are still resisting the imposition of a government.
Now consider this bit of news:
Somafone, the newest GSM operator in Somalia, who is committed to delivering the highest quality of service, the latest GSM features and the lowest airtime and international rates, announced today that it has deployed international roaming and SMS capabilities from TECORE Wireless Systems, opening up the opportunity to establish roaming agreements with operators worldwide.
Note that no government was needed for that. In fact, if one existed, the company would probably still be mired in red tape instead of providing needed services.
Meanwhile, we find that
Police in the Somali town of Jowhar, where the transitional government is based, have stopped local UN staff from entering their offices.
The UN children's agency, Unicef, said no reason had been given.
Last week, foreign UN workers left the town because of security concerns after the arrival of some 1,000 troops to support President Abdullahi Yusuf.
The government is divided with several ministers in Mogadishu, refusing to join the president in Jowhar.
Unicef was operating several projects in Jowhar including education, health centres, water, HIV/Aids, youth projects and other humanitarian activities.
Thus we see that the government that wishes to control the country is making it impossible for good projects (yes, yes, I know it's the U.N., but still . . .) to get done. In fact, the very presence of government troops raises "security concerns" among U.N. workers.
The Somalis are wise to resist the imposition of a government. They can plainly see who is helping and who is hindering them. Would that more people around the world would recognize the same thing!
Posted by Mike Tennant at 01:02 PM | Comments (0)
September 09, 2005
Real Conservatism in the Funny Pages
Prickly City, a comic strip by Scott Stantis, has been running a series of strips this week about the liberal character, a coyote, as he wears a Che Guevara T-shirt. The conservative character, a little girl, has been getting in lots of good shots at Che-worship.
Stantis seems to be a genuine conservative for the most part, ripping Republicans for their now obvious desertion of conservative principles. He also understands communism well. Yesterday's strip actually links Stalinism and fascism, something that isn't done very often, even among supposed conservatives.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 10:04 AM | Comments (0)
It All Depends Upon Your Definition of "Moral" and "Righteous"
Heard on a local Christian talk show:
Caller: "[George W. Bush] led the country through 9/11 and Katrina in the most moral and righteous way possible."
Host: "I don't think it would have been possible for him to do it in an immoral way. It's his moral core."
The host, Jerry Bowyer, had previously been on a secular station here in town. Though he prides himself, as all talk show hosts do, on his objectivity and lack of partisanship, it's pretty easy to see where his sympathies lie, as evidenced by the all-smiles photo of him and Condoleezza Rice and the fact that he was invited to broadcast from the Bush White House on at least one occasion.
Apparently partisanship and access are more important than such things as the lies that led us into an unconstitutional war with Iraq, the fact that the White House lied to Congress about the proposed cost of the Medicare prescription drug benefit, the hundreds of billions of dollars in additional spending begun under Bush, and the fact that no one--but no one--is held accountable for any failures in this administration. For some strange reason I thought that these sorts of things qualified as immoral or unrighteous. Silly me. I forgot that they're only immoral and unrighteous when they're perpetrated by Democrats.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 08:27 AM | Comments (0)
September 08, 2005
9/11 Dollars to Donuts . . . and Bowling Alleys, Veterinarians, Etc.
Courtesy of Drudge, here are two fine examples of your tax dollars at work to help the suffering victims of the 9/11 attacks.
From Pennsylvania: "In the name of helping businesses hurt by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the federal government approved nearly $111 million worth of loan guarantees and low-interest loans for a motley mix of Pennsylvania enterprises, including doughnut shops, a bowling alley, an exercise gym, a flour mill and a tree nursery."
From Georgia: "While some businesses at New York's Ground Zero were turned down for the loans, 303 businesses in Georgia won more than $108 million in low-interest, low-cost government loans aimed at helping those impacted by the attacks, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press." Among those businesses: a day care center, a veterinarian, restaurants, and beauty salons.
Thank goodness we have Republicans in charge of the federal government to protect us from waste like this. At least the articles are good for a laugh when you read the justifications these people have conjured up for their loans.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 03:55 PM | Comments (0)
September 07, 2005
Charleston Screw-Up
A South Carolina health official said his colleagues scrambled Tuesday when FEMA gave only a half-hour notice to prepare for the arrival of a plane carrying as many as 180 evacuees to Charleston.
But the plane, instead, landed in Charleston, West Virginia, 400 miles away.
Oops. I guess these things just happen. It's the fault of "the system." Nobody in particular is responsible.
Oh, and anyone who criticizes the federal government's response is a Bush-hating commie. Criticism of the state and local governments' responses is permitted . . . because they're run by Democrats.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 01:12 PM | Comments (0)
September 05, 2005
Political Disaster
Since the hurricane, many folks seem to have gotten a handle on LA politics, but for those of you who may have some questions, here's a quick primer:
When someone, just about anyone, is elected to public office in LA, or appointed to a lucrative sinecure like warden of a state prison or chief of the NOPD, he is just taking a step on the road to higher ofice or a cushier, more lucrative appointment with even less to actually do. While he is in office, his job is not to do whatever he was elected or appointed to do, it is to do the favors which fall within the purview of his office for the people who got him there and to receive favors from those who owe him for services (awarding public works contracts, appointing "honorary" deputies, etc.) rendered. At no time is the politician to address any legitimate concern of any of the citizenry who elected him to office or otherwise pay his salary through taxes. If he did that, it might upset the status quo and inconvenience people who have either done him favors in the past (like the head of a corporation he awarded a contract to) or could potentially do him favors in the future (like that same corporate head giving him a seat on the board of directors should he fail to be re-elected). It goes without saying that, as a result of this system, no highly placed office holder or political appointee is ever competent to deal with something like a hurricane or other natural disaster, as they have not been put where they are based on competence or efficiency, but for the reach of their back-scratching hand.
The fact is, had the mayor and chief actually turned out to be up to the task without suffering mental breakdowns, I would have been shocked. The tears of those men were wept, not for the misery and devastation wrought by Katrina, but because they knew their political careers would be over when a national media spotlight was blazingly turned onto their utter unfitness for office.
But then, it is an axiom of politics is that no one capable of attaining high office should ever be allowed to hold it.
Posted by Patrick Yancey at 02:55 PM | Comments (0)
Who's Your Daddy?
Saturday afternoon, after a hard week’s toil, I’m watching an entertaining, highly competitive college football game. I’m thinking to myself how fortunate I am to be able to escape, for a time, all the depressing pictures I’ve looked at the past week showing Katrina victims and state incompetence. The football team that is trailing is making a final drive in the last couple minutes of the game to attempt a winning score. Suddenly, an ABC News info-babe interrupts the game broadcast to announce that an American terrorist by the name of William Rehnquist has died. “Okay,” I thought, “certainly a significant enough news event to justify a small interruption of the game.” But no, a simple announcement was not enough. For at least the next five minutes ABC News insists on reporting a biography of the man’s entire life! “This is not the Biography Channel,” I scream. Meanwhile, I’m missing the dramatic comeback drive that seals the win for the trailing team. ABC Sports does not even have the decency to replay highlights of the drive. It was much more important to for me to have been told the shocking news that an 80 year old man had died of cancer!
I have long thought the main stream media as mere party line parrots for whoever the ruling regime is at the time. I started to reconsider those thoughts after hearing media criticism of government failure involving Katrina victims. But this Rehnquist fiasco merely cements my original supposition. The state media is hell bent on continually reminding us just what is important and what events you should be paying attention to. Shame on you, you unpatriotic thug, if you have other priorities.
Posted by Roger Young at 10:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 04, 2005
Bush Visit Halts Food Delivery
By Michelle Krupa
Staff writer
Three tons of food ready for delivery by air to refugees in St. Bernard Parish and on Algiers Point sat on the Crescent City Connection bridge Friday afternoon as air traffic was halted because of President Bush’s visit to New Orleans, officials said.
The provisions, secured by U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, and state Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom, baked in the afternoon sun as Bush surveyed damage across southeast Louisiana five days after Katrina made landfall as a Category 4 storm, said Melancon’s chief of staff, Casey O’Shea.
“We had arrangements to airlift food by helicopter to these folks, and now the food is sitting in trucks because they won’t let helicopters fly,” O’Shea said Friday afternoon.
The food was expected to be in the hands of storm survivors after the president left the devastated region Friday night, he said.
Posted by Rob at 12:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 03, 2005
Greed Lured GIs Into Colombian Underworld
...because as the song Smuggler's Blues reminds us, "the lure of easy money has a very strong appeal". Indeed it does. From the AP story:
"U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Daniel Rosas was deployed to Colombia as part of the large U.S. mission to fight drug trafficking, but before long he found the lure of cocaine money too hard to resist.
He formed a smuggling ring involving U.S. soldiers that was eventually busted, deeply embarrassing U.S. officials.
A deposition obtained by The Associated Press shows Rosas' scheme was so amateurish that at one point he made a deal with a stranger he met in a Mexican nightclub bathroom and even saw a $140,000 payment vanish in the mail. The authenticity of Rosas' sworn statement was recently confirmed by a Colombian official familiar with the case."
And it seems the Colombian people are furious. Demonstrations fill the streets demanding US armed forces and DEA agents leave Colombia at once.
Once again we see why this war on the American underclass' recreational drugs only breeds corruption, violence, and the growth of the police-prison industrial complex. Our jails fill and our liberty diminishes.
America's elite's will never understand this ongoing tragedy either. At least not until they are the one's that need a joint to get gramps through his chemotherapy, or junior gets denied admission to college because he got caught with an ecstasy tab at party.
Posted by Ali Massoud at 09:39 PM | Comments (0)
September 02, 2005
Words of wisdom from Alexander Tytler, Lord Woodhouslee
"The interpretation of the laws [of ancient Athens] may... be said to have depended ultimately
on the judgment of a populace swayed by prejudices, divided by
faction, or the dupes of a worthless orator or demagogue. The
Athenian jurisprudence, therefore, rested on no fixed principles,
or solid basis. It is almost equivalent to a total want of laws,
to have such only as the passions and caprices of a people can
mould or distort, or at pleasure so interpret, as to accommodate to
the most opposite purposes."
--Universal History, from the creation of the world to the beginning of the eighteenth century, pub. ca. 1800, p. 106
Original text may be found here.
Anyone worried about who gets on some damn court would be well advised to recall that some things, such as the fact that the law is an ass any fool may ride, never change.
Posted by Patrick Yancey at 06:55 PM | Comments (0)
Why the People's Republic of California is Irredeemably Screwed
Governor Schwarzenegger is trying to help, but as Stephen Greehut has pointed out, even if these initiatives pass, it'll change nothing'. Here is what (very timid) reforms Schwarzenegger is attempting to put before the voters.
"a) A Schwarzenegger-backed, Chamber-of-Commerce/Business Roundtable plan to meekly control government spending, by restricting spending increases to the average revenue growth in the past three years.b) Another Schwarzenegger initiative, which would force teachers to work five years before being granted tenure, a nearly ironclad protection against firing barring some gross illegality.
c) An independent initiative that would limit the ability of unions to take money by force to fund the Democratic politicians who are bankrupting the state by giving unions everything they want (Look up "pension crisis," for an example).
d) The governor's redistricting initiative, which would let a nonpartisan panel, rather than politicians, create California electoral districts. Under the legislator-drawn districts currently in force, not a single legislative seat changed party hands in the last election cycle.
These initiatives (Propositions 76, 74, 75 and 77) are all worthy efforts as far as they go, as is Proposition 73, which forbids, say, the school nurse from taking your kid to the abortion clinic without bothering to tell you about it.Yet none of these initiatives really gets at what's at the heart of California's and the nation's fundamental problems, namely, an excessively large and arrogant government that never gets enough power, money, or special privileges to suit it.
Politics is the art of the possible, and the November initiatives certainly are politically possible. Fortunately, columnists have the luxury of living in the world of the philosophical, where we can think of ideas that seem impossible ... at least for now. Of course, for most of humanity's existence, the ideas enshrined in the U.S. Constitution were deemed unthinkable, so there's good reason to float a few trial balloons, to keep reminding Americans that real change could someday happen."
California is to American politics what New Orleans is right now to the natural world. Screwed up badly by forces larger than itself and irredeemably so except to the healer of last resort: Time.
In time this irrational situation they have will correct itself into some kind of equilibrium, just like water in time finds its own level. The human suffering that will take place in the meantime is sad, but apparently inevitable.
Posted by Ali Massoud at 01:01 PM | Comments (0)
See No Evil, Hear No Evil, . . . or Do Time
Talk about "red-state fascism!" Here's Ralph Hostetter at CNSNews.com:
Simply stated, if a person lives in the United States as a citizen and accepts the protection of the U.S. government against enemies, foreign and domestic, and shares in the prosperity of the nation as a result of this protection, there is an obligation on the part of that person, especially in wartime, to support the nation and its goals.
Got that? If you live a free country, you are not entitled to exercise your freedom when your government chooses to make war "for freedom" in foreign countries.
Recent statements made at events in Crawford, Texas, and on TV and radio commercials, while we are at war, would have been declared treasonous in World War II and would have resulted in prosecution. Freedom of speech claims would have provided no defense. . . .
Prior to World War II there was a period of "yellow" (irresponsible) journalism and further, there was a strong anti-war movement in the nation.
Aha! Antiwar sentiments arise because of yellow journalism, not because people have genuine reasons to oppose a war!
At the president's direction, Congress established the Office of Censorship, which brought all media, print, radio and cable under its jurisdiction. Byron Price, CEO of Associated Press, was put in charge.
This, apparently, is a good thing, according to Mr. Hostetter. What is not good is that the government didn't crack down on "irresponsible" journalism and public speech during Vietnam and thereafter, for "[p]ermitting the treasonable acts of the Vietnam War to go unchallenged has indeed allowed treason to prosper today."
Here are some more choice quotes from the rest of Hostetter's paean to censorship:
At the present time, the full volume of the voice of the Hollywood Left, backed by a less than honest mass media, is directed at President George W. Bush and his policies, both national and international.
The president is openly called a liar. These statements are intended to undermine America's confidence in its leadership in time of war and give aid and comfort to its enemies. Clearly, and by definition, treason is no longer hidden below the surface. . . .
Polls influenced by the press coverage have driven public confidence in the nation's leadership to an all-time low.
The group of dissidents in Crawford, Texas, has started a drumbeat to withdraw our troops from Iraq. The mass media has fallen in step.
The expansion of this protest across the nation could reach such volume that the political direction of the nation could be changed, posing a clear and present danger to the security of the American people.
Yes, folks, unless the government is allowed to control everything you see, hear, and say, you can kiss your "security" goodbye. If that ain't red-state fascism, I don't know what is.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 09:40 AM | Comments (0)
September 01, 2005
Another Victory for Women's Rights and the Free Market!
There is a report from South Africa that Rapex brand femine protection is now on the market. It seems that unwanted sexual advances up to and including forcible rape is a seriously problem in SA so the market has now produced this:
Women wishing to ward off sexual assailants can look forward to a new form of protection: the Rapex condom. The anti-rape device, created by South African inventor Sonette Ehlers, is made of latex and is held firm by shafts of sharp barbs. The condom is inserted into a woman's vagina like a tampon; during penetration, the condom's burr-like teeth clamp down on the tip of the rapist's erect penis. To remove the device, the man must undergo surgery, which will alert hospital staff (and probably the police). "Nothing has ever been done to help a woman so she does not get raped and I thought it was high time," said Ehlers. Critics caution the device could possibly escalate violent sexual assaults, and some lambaste the Rapex for being too barbaric."
Uh,...like being raped isn't violent or barbaric as well, eh critics? Another victory for human ingenuity as expressed through the free market.
Posted by Ali Massoud at 10:54 AM | Comments (0)
Repealing the Laws of Economics
The supply of gasoline has been restricted by the hurricane, but the demand has not changed (or perhaps has even increased). Therefore, the natural result is for the price to increase.
Fortunately, our Dear Leader is going to repeal the laws of economics to "protect" us from eeeeevil oil companies:
President Bush warned against price-gouging of gasoline Thursday in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and said looters should be treated with zero tolerance.
"I think there ought to be zero tolerance of people breaking the law during an emergency such as this, whether it be looting, or price-gouging at the gasoline pump or taking advantage of charitable giving, or insurance fraud," Bush said in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America."
However, the president also "said Americans should conserve more gasoline in response to the crisis."
Well, now, Mr. President, if you force the price of gasoline below the market level, people are going to buy more gas than they would if the price were allowed to rise naturally. Thus, by attempting to repeal the law of supply and demand, you are exacerbating the problem, making shortages even more likely than they otherwise would be.
Thank goodness we have a conservative in the White House! Imagine what a liberal president might do.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 09:40 AM | Comments (0)