Month: July 2002

Big Orange goes red, white, blue: Home Depot decides to do business
with the feds. Patti Bond at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution –

Big Orange goes red, white, blue: Home Depot decides to do business
with the feds – they apparently found a way to avoid some of the
reporting requirements that were irking them. Or they just caved under
pressure. [unknown] [End the War on Freedom]

The article makes it clear Home Depot caved under pressure. It’s a shame, but not surprising. I was surprised that a company had the courage and decency to stand up to the government at all, so it’s hardly unexpected that they backed down in the end.

July 4, 2002: Americans Celebrate Dependence Day!. The Declaration’s appeal to the sovereignty of each individual has become weaker over the decades, as most of us accept the propriety of others exercising authority over our lives. We increasingly accept the proposition that we are not to be trusted with any genuine power over our lives and that, for our “own good,” the state must act on our behalf. Even such limited power as is found in firecrackers, sparklers, and Roman candles, are deemed too “dangerous” to our well-being and so, on July 4th, we allow the government, with its fireworks displays, to celebrate our “liberty” and “independence” for us! [LewRockwell.com]

Mourn on the Fourth of July: 2002. Yes, the hope has faded. For many, I suspect that it has disappeared entirely. The United States bequeathed us by the Founders and preserved, to some degree, for more than two centuries by successive generations, has met its match in a pack of hyenas: carrion eaters, their lips stained with the blood of the 3,000 whom they did not kill but whose corpses they now feast on.

The goal, if any goal is possible to us, is no longer reform or restoration: it is resuscitation or reincarnation. This Fourth of July is no longer a holiday. It’s a funeral or, just possibly, a wake. [Rational Review]

Pakistani Cleric Warns of Upheaval. A top Pakistani Muslim cleric said Monday that the fiercely independent tribesmen living near the Afghan border may resort to violent protest if the military continues a major U.S.-backed search for al-Qaida fugitives in the mountainous area. [AP World News]

Normally I’m in favor of avoiding civilian casualties, but after reading this article I find myself thinking that if a few Pakistani tribesmen (emphasis on men) get themselves killed, the world will be a better place.

Afghans Say U.S. Attacked Wedding. U.S. helicopter gunships and jets attacked a house Monday while a wedding was under way, killing and injuring scores, witnesses and hospital officials said. U.S. officials said an AC-130 fixed-wing plane and a B-52 launched an attack after American forces came under fire. [AP World News]

This looks bad. It’s clear from the article that nobody knows for sure yet, but it sure sounds like some American helicopter happened to fly nearby and mistook celebratory gunfire for an attack. While “shoot first, ask questions later” is a reasonable response for an occupying army, it also makes it that much more likely that the next helicopter passing over that area will really be fired on.

I wuz robbed. Today I was in a hurry, walking down to my local subway station, the 16th and Mission BART, and, as usual when I’m too late to take Valencia, this took me past the cluster of drug-dealers who hang out on my corner, in the north Mission. I was wearing the groovy MiG goggles I’d bought last month in London at the Camden Market and have been using as shades, and this big drug dealer cornered me and started harassing me to try them on. Then he started rambling about what he does for a living, just talking a load of really boring rounder horseshit that probably sounds good and Elmore Leonardy when you say it to yourself in your head but just sounds banal and incoherent when you’re standing on a corner.

He’s a big guy and so I “let” him try on my shades. Then it transpires that he wants me to buy drugs from him in exchange for my goggles. I explain that I’m not in the market for drugs, but he won’t give back my shades and he’s talking more bullshit. Finally I say, “So, you’re robbing me, right?” and more bullshit ensues. I repeat the question a couple times, then walk off. [Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things]

The author of that weblog is Cory Doctorow, about whom I know nothing. San Francisco, however, is famous as the most liberal city in the country. It’s hardly surprising that the affects of liberal policies would be so apparent there. I would suggest that Mr. Doctorow start carrying a pistol, but I suspect from his story that he would probably end up giving it away to the first street person who asked for it.