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June 30, 2006
IRS Offices Closed for a Month for Flood Repairs
"IRS headquarters will remain closed for at least a month", reports Businessweek.com, "to repair extensive flood damage that destroyed electrical systems and computer equipment, the agency said Thursday."
Another sort of "invisible hand" at work perhaps? Hah! Pray for more floods and rain for Washington, DC then, if you are so inclined.
(And a high-five to Kathy Young for the link)
Posted by Ali Massoud at 10:41 AM | Comments (0)
June 29, 2006
Women Vote and Run in Kuwaiti Poll for First Time
Another shining page for the annals of democracy. Kuwait is a fookin' monarchy for cryin' out loud. Their tinker-toy parliament is about as powerful as is a typical high school student council. But it's all good, eh neo-cons? (NY Times).
Posted by Ali Massoud at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)
June 28, 2006
Bush Administration Discovers Encryption Technology!
"Stung by a series of data losses or disclosures at federal agencies over the past month, the White House is requiring all agencies to follow new guidelines when allowing employees to carry sensitive data on laptops or access the information from afar, according to the Washington Post. From the article: 'To comply with the new policy, agencies will have to encrypt all data on laptop or handheld computers unless the data are classified as "non-sensitive" by an agency's deputy director."
(via Slashdot.org)
Sheesh. And encryption technology has only been available to them for what..about a decade? Those of you who are ex-military (like me) are getting kind of annoyed at how an administration that is hell-bent on secrecy and "information awareness" is daily losing large chunks of our personal data to Internet evil doers. Only now is keeping private data via encryption technology occuring to them?
Posted by Ali Massoud at 10:21 AM | Comments (0)
June 27, 2006
Knock Knock Knocking on Troubles Door
From Cathy Young at Reason.com:
"Yet there is a major problem with Scalia's reasoning. He argues that while 50 years ago abusive police tactics were common and few remedies were available, the situation today is markedly different: Police forces are much more respectful of citizens' rights, and there are far more recourses to civil rights litigation. Yet Reason's web editor Tim Cavanaugh has noted an opposite trend toward increasingly militarized police forces and military-style raids—particularly in drug cases. In Mississippi, a man named Cory Maye now sits on death row for shooting a police officer whom he mistook for an intruder during a no-knock nighttime raid on his house, in search of drugs on what was apparently a false tip."
This ruling by SCOTUS (Hudson v. Michigan) proves that to some extent elections do matter. Without Bush's two SCOTUS picks this ruling wouldn't have come down this way. Hmm..
Posted by Ali Massoud at 12:54 PM | Comments (0)
June 25, 2006
IED's No Longer So "Improvised"
Despite what VP Dick Cheney and SECDEF Rumsfeld keep telling us the Iraqi insurgents aren't merely dead-end ex-Baathists, Saddam loyalists, bandits, Islamic fanatics or bloody-minded kooks and other disorganized rabble that get lucky once in a while. They are getting better at killing their occupiers all the time. They've "perfected" the roadside bomb which is equally good at killing dismounted infantry or police patrols or fully mounted troops and cops, and even tanks.
"The device," says the UK Telegraph, "described as an 'off-route mine', was seized by British troops in Iraq earlier this year and brought back to Britain where it underwent detailed examination by scientists at Fort Halstead, the Government's forensic explosive laboratory in Kent.
The Ministry of Defence has attempted to play down the effectiveness of the weapons, suggesting that they are 'crude' or 'improvised' explosive devices which have killed British troops more out of luck than judgement.
However, this newspaper understands that Government scientists have established that the mines are precision-made weapons which have been turned on a lathe by craftsmen trained in the manufacture of munitions."
Posted by Ali Massoud at 03:54 PM | Comments (0)
June 24, 2006
Tending the Sheep
Like a benevolent and protective shepherd, the District of Columbia wants to test all of its sheep for HIV. And just why does the DC mini-state want this information about all city residents age 14 through 64? Why for their own good of course! How can you naysayers and “libertarians” ask such a question?
"The citywide campaign,” says the Washington Post, “which appears to be unprecedented in its breadth, will target 400,000 men, women and teenagers and encourage them to learn their HIV status through an oral swab that delivers results in 20 minutes.
Organizers want the rapid test to become as common a part of any medical exam as blood-pressure monitoring or a cholesterol check. The hope is that the results, especially if positive, would influence a person's sexual behavior and motivate him or her to seek treatment.”
Being the ever-cynical sort that I am, I tend to doubt that this big expensive “Get Tested!” campaign will make very much difference for the overall public’s health. As with alcohol, drug, or tabacco usage or other risky forms of personal behavior the people who care about their health and have enough concern for the wellbeing and health of the people around them already take care of this aspect of their personal health. And the irresponsible and feckless couldn’t care less what they have and who they might spread it to.
What’s far more likely here is that some well connected people are trying to make some dough off the DC government through service and consulting contracts or as vendors. But I could be wrong and all the folks pushing for this may have wonderful and benevolent motives for it all. But I doubt it.
Posted by Ali Massoud at 08:09 AM | Comments (1)
June 22, 2006
Telling Officer Pig to Step Off...with a rock
It seems a loosely organized group called the Rainbow Peace Family wanted to have a rally on property "owned" by the USG and ruled by an armed gang called [the] US Forest Service. So this armed gang set up a checkpoint where they wanted to search and hassle everyone entering their turf. And so what happended when the Rainbows objected to all this stuff?
"The Rainbow Family peace gathering turned hostile Tuesday", said local news reports, "when a group of attendees began hurling rocks and sticks at law enforcement officers, U.S. Forest Service officials said.
The incident forced the officers to abandon a checkpoint they had established near the entrance to the Rainbow gathering campsite in North Routt County, Forest Service spokeswoman Diann Ritschard said. Officers had not returned to the checkpoint as of Tuesday afternoon."
Hah! Score one for the use of direct action in the quest to live free.
Posted by Ali Massoud at 02:28 PM | Comments (0)
June 21, 2006
A Simple Question
A Florida "corrections officer" who had been indicted for having sex with inmates under his custody and who was about to be arrested opened fire on the feds there to arrest him. A foolish move on the feds' part since he was armed. See they went to the institution where he worked to bust him. Sheesh.
As usual the media kinda spun this news report. On GoogleNews.com the headline was "FBI: Prison guard opens fire on feds sent to arrest him", which misrepresents what really happened here. I think the idea of requiring that the custodial staff of institutions that hold people against their will (I.e.- children, students, the mentally unbalanced, retardates, the elderly and prisoners),not have sex with them is sound and worth upholding. So why spin this as a "Live Free or Die" kinda issue?
What CNN's agenda is here (and Google's too), is sort of easy to figger out though, eh?
PS- What exactly is it that these folks are suppose to be “correcting” anyhow? They hold people against their will, for whatever reason, but they aren't “correcting” anything by having sex with them as far as I can see.
Posted by Ali Massoud at 02:20 PM | Comments (0)
June 10, 2006
The Meaning of One Man's Death
Symbols are important in politics. They convey meaning and context to the seeming chaos and fog of daily events. But in the end, what does it all mean? And says who? And, more importantly, why do they say it?
The USG's Bush administration anti-terror bureaucracy is giving itself high-fives and passing out cigars all around over its "victory" in killing the Islamo-fascist thug Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the late "Prince of al-Qaeda". Well, terrific guys! Now what? Like the dog that chases cars, what happens when, by some lucky happenstance, you actually catch one? Or kill one as the case is here? That the War on Terror is closer to and end? Oh no it isn’t.
Why do I say this? Al-Zarqawi was a sociopathtic thug who used religion to fulfill and justify his evil impulses. In another place or time he would have become an unknown serial killer, or perhaps have become a professional torturer for one of the tyrannies that pass for governments in the Middle East. He was what he was. His death saddens very few, and gratifies many. However the strategy of militant Islamism isn't put off or deterred one bit by his demise folks.
"Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar, Ayman Zawahiri and their revolutionary supporters", says an article in The Asian Times, "believe that international communism's collapse is directly attributable to the mujahideen's political and military pressure. It hardly matters whether this reading is correct (though, as we have noted, it seems unlikely that the Soviet collapse is single-sourced). The reason for the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Soviet Union's subsequent collapse is clear: a major Western power imploded as the result of a defeat at the hands of militant Islam. For al-Qaeda, the differences between the USSR and its American and European antagonists are marginal - Marxism is a uniquely Western worldview, rooted in the views of a German philosopher writing in a London library. The lessons derived from the Soviet collapse are, therefore, applicable to the United States."
In other words, this death changes nada.
Speaking three years before September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden laid out al-Qaeda's strategy, saying that just as the Soviets were defeated as a result of their failed war in Afghanistan, so now the United States would be defeated in the same way. But bin Laden implied that his would not be a military victory; rather, he said that the United States would turn in on itself from within, just as the Soviets had: "What is true is that God granted the chance of jihad in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Bosnia, and we are assured that we can wage jihad against the enemies of Islam, in particular against the greater external enemy - the Crusader-Jewish alliance."
Does that sound to you like one man's death is going change anything?
As Charles DeGaulle noted the graveyards are full of "indispensable men, and yet events continue". Go figger, eh?
Posted by Ali Massoud at 12:02 PM | Comments (0)
June 09, 2006
What Makes a Libertarian a "Libertarian"?
Here's an interesting read. It's a first person POV article by a "libertarian" member of the Maine legislature. Small "L" in this case because he's officially a Republican. What? Well, read this:
"I am a libertarian. I am also a Republican freshman member of the Maine House of Representatives. Some would say that being a libertarian legislator is like being a fish out of water; I would say it’s more like a fish learning to ride a bike. But anything is possible with enough determination."
He was a member of the LP even serving for a time on the the LP National Committtee, until he resigned in disgust over the inter-party squabbling of the late 1990's. And yet he claims the moniker "libertarian" any way.
And as for his principles? Well, he says this:
"My view is that an elected representative has a duty to represent his district first and his personal philosophy second. The people who elected me would be sure not to send me back if I failed to honor this maxim. On some issues, however, my constituents’ opinions are, or seem to be, in such conflict with my own principles that I cannot force myself to participate. One bill brought before the legislature would have required women to be subjected to graphic photos of aborted fetuses before undergoing an abortion procedure. I represent a socially conservative district and had promised to be respectful of issues important to the evangelical Christians in my district. I voted for a bill requiring parental notification when a minor receives an abortion. But I just couldn’t support the 'abortion education' measure, even though the bill had no chance of passing, and I could have voted for it without affecting the outcome. I chose not to be in the chamber for the debate or the subsequent vote."
And if you think that's a stretch, you should see his justifications for his budget ear-mark (i.e. "pork") and drug war votes!
Anyhow I found this article to be kinda of interesting for the way that this legislator "squares the circle" of the seeming contradictions to what (he says) he believes as opposed to how his brand of politics plays out in reality, or to be more blunt: Is it better to be inside the tent pissing out than to be outside the tent and pissing in?
Posted by Ali Massoud at 11:04 AM | Comments (0)
June 08, 2006
It's Hard Leaving Until..
From the No Force, No Fraud blog:
"Political party loyalty is addictive," says this blog entry. "and the old parties play it as well as any pusher does. They give you an occasional high, and celebrate your shared addiction with fabulous pomp and circumstance. When you're 'coming down' they sympathize and tell you just need a little fix to get back on track. That's what Pawlenty's apology was... that little nip to get you through the current discomfort. Just like a drug, it makes kicking the habit a little bit harder by putting it off again. But... it does feel good."
Which is why many of us don't trust 'em anymore. Like an old girlfriend or ex-wife that one still has some affection, a history with, and some memories of, the old party can be hard to walk away from without getting all teary-eyed. Until of course one remembers why one left and the entire sordid and sleazy history of the old party's betrayals, lies, and bullshit of course.
(Via freedomSLUT)
Posted by Ali Massoud at 10:31 AM | Comments (0)
Tax Gouging: The Real Problem
The Fed's inflationary polices often support illusions of something-for-nothing at the federal level, as we're seeing with the Iraq invasion. But at state and local levels, Fed counterfeiting takes a different twist, as Thomas Dilorenzo writes:
The Fed's expansionary monetary policy over the past decade has caused artificially low interest rates, which have fueled the real estate boom (or bubble, as some would say). Along with extraordinary increases in property values has come equally extraordinary property tax increases all across America.
Posted by George F. Smith at 09:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 07, 2006
Fool Me Once...
Some libertarian leaning sorts are disappointed but not surprised that Republican and ex-Massachusetts governor William Weld bailed on the NY state Republican primary and is instead gonna go with the NYLP nomination for NY governor. Well, at least he's honest enough to admit that LPers are routinely being swindled, duped, and lied to by Republicans for their own political gain and electoral benefit. And shame on them for falling for it too. Hey LPers! How many times are you gonna get hornswoggled before you get it?
Coalitions or fusion tickets with the GOP are not gonna work. Ever. Why do I say this? Because I've been there and done that.
And screw electoral politics anyhow. Most people don't want and can't fathom ever living in a condition of meaningful liberty, whether anarchist (no state) or minarchist (small & very limited state) in form. Efforts toward that end are just wankerism, pure & simple. Such conditions of liberty can only be made real,(IMHO), by voluntary efforts.
The only possible above ground collective political action that I can see ever working is something like the Free State Project. And I have doubts about them sometimes too. Crypto-anarchism or ex-pat enclaves in loosely (state)governed areas of the world are about the best people can do if they truly want to form liberty-based communities that might actually succeed and endure.
'Dats how I see it any how
Posted by Ali Massoud at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)
June 05, 2006
Beer as Cash
Crumplers is a NYC bag store that takes brew instead of cash for its wares. Whoa! Only in America eh?
"Apparently," says the news story, "the owners are huge beer lovers and welcome a fair swap. (Example: A fair swap would not be the $95 'Complete Seed' messenger bag for the five-month-old can of Bud you have lying around your fridge.) A paper wheel available at NY stores and online indicates the sanctioned tradeoffs, which include: one case of Leffe and one bottle of Chimay for the Complete Seed bag; one case of Coopers and two Fosters cans for the Barney Rustle bag; one case of Pacifico and a bag of limes for one bean bag chair."
The owners get beer and other potables and the customer gets a bag or other item of their choice that in Crumplers owner's opinion is a fair exchange of value. Hard to believe such practices being allowed in the uber statist entity that rules Manhattan Island.
But it's all good. The Dutch colonialists originally purchased Manhattan for beads and trinkets way back in the day, so it's a return to an old tradition, eh?
Posted by Ali Massoud at 02:06 PM | Comments (0)
June 04, 2006
Gives us liberty, security, and peace of mind! But not at a profit..
"Everyone agrees", says this statist UK politican, "with more money for the police and security services to combat terrorism, but the danger is that EU policy is increasingly skewed towards a particular brand of 'security', based on military, police and corporate interests."
Amazing how agitated the sheepherders become about being "spied upon". The odd part of it though is that, according to this goof quoted in the newstory, safety and security are only a good idea if the atate provides it and no one makes any money off it. The article's main complaint is that some private entity might actually you know, ah..make a profit supplying the spyplanes.
Whatever. As any decent economist will tell you, and empircal evidence shows conclusively, when there is a demand for a good or service someone will act to meet the demand. Spy planes included.
Posted by Ali Massoud at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)
June 03, 2006
Here Come the Food Nazis
The FDA has spewed forth a report advising restaurants to cut portion sizes and change marketing emphasis- all to help in the state’s War on Obesity. So now you get to look forward to the prospect of less food on your plate for the same price at your local eatery.
These are just the opening salvos of the state’s war against our diet. First they recommend- the people say, “shove it”. Next, they require- the people cower and obey.
Makes you wonder whether there are Stalinists in the ruling regime looking for a new twist on state engineered famine.
So many Wars to fight, so little time.
Posted by Roger Young at 02:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bullies Get Caught
Five Dallas police officers have been fired for “abusing their authority.” It seems these pompous piglets used the power of their badge to take retribution against those whom they had disagreements with in their private affairs. One officer even made threats to a TV reporter that caught him goofing off while “protecting and serving.” A more detailed look at the allegations can be seen here(registration required).
Such actions (and the mind-set that initiates them) are a consequence of a compulsory monopoly, a monopoly of power.
In War,Peace and the State Murray Rothbard wrote, “The State is a group of people who have managed to acquire a virtual monopoly of the use of violence throughout a given territorial area. In particular, it has acquired a monopoly of aggressive violence… The State then uses this monopoly to wield power over the inhabitants of the area and to enjoy the material fruits of that power.”
Makes you wonder how many other incidences of this type go unreported or ignored.
Posted by Roger Young at 12:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Saint Bill on Crony Capitalism..
Ex-President Bill Clinton spoke last night at a $500 a plate fundraiser on the subject of the other statist party's kleptocratic and corrutpt ways. No really. And all without a touch of irony too it was reported. Wadda surprise eh?
Posted by Ali Massoud at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)
June 02, 2006
Don't Be Afraid of the Neo-Cons
Don't send your money to Washington
To fight a war that's never done
Don't play their games don't be their pawns
And don't be afraid of the neo-cons
Some wise words from the song, “Don’t Be Afraid of the Neocons,” written by flatpicking guitar virtuoso, Norman Blake. Make sure to give it a listen.
Posted by Roger Young at 10:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Killers for Jesus- The Early Years
It’s good to see that an enduring tradition of the modern Amerikan, pseudo-Christian Church remains- that of encouraging children to kill in the name of Jesus and the Church’s closest ally, The State.
“Basic training” cannot be started early enough if we intend on getting a jump on the evil doers.
Posted by Roger Young at 10:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 01, 2006
The Collapse of White Supremacy Gave Rise to Age of White Guilt
“ ‘With the passage of both the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965,” says social historian Shelby Steele, “America finally ‘acknowledged that it had done something very wrong, that racism was wrong, that slavery was wrong, that segregation was wrong, that white supremacy itself was wrong,’ said Steele. But, he pointed out, this loss of white moral authority also gave rise to a phenomenon in American culture he calls ‘white guilt.’ White guilt is an extremely influential force, he said, not because people feel guilty but because living under the constant threat of being stigmatized as racist forces them to always prove the negative.”
Nah. If anything the elite don’t feel guilty enough. And probably most don’t feel any guilt at all. Token bullshit like affirmative action, job and business quotas for handpicked and carefully selected minorities is no skin off their nose. The elite’s kids won’t ever have to work at McJobs or enlist in the military because they’ve been displaced; their kids will always get be able to go to college. Their incomes, retirements and wealth will get passed on whatever laws they pass for others to follow.
I think Dr. Steele truly has it wrong here. Maybe he just wishes the (largely) white power elite felt guilt. But they don’t, and prolly never have. I am kinda surprised the Independent Institute buys into this whole idea too. For one “white supremacy” while diminished, hasn’t collapsed; and for another other than a few academics, Hollywood types, and public intellectuals, nobody as far as I can see feels too much “guilt” about what happened many years before they were born and had no control over.
Posted by Ali Massoud at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)