People should not fear their governments; governments should fear their people.
Four British Soldiers Charged With Abuse [AP World News]
bq. “It involves photographic evidence developed in this country and referred to the U.K. police,” he said, adding that the case had already been referred to in the press.
That sounds an awful lot like the case that the Crusaders were insisting was a hoax.
Report: Eudora. Just how much email can Eudora actually handle, anyway? [MacInTouch]
Less than I get, as all my attempts to revisit Eudora have ended when I got tired of it crashing.
Liberty Action of the Week:
Flag Day. Last year this time, I wrote in my annual “Flag Day” column (Flag Day 2003) that I had no idea that by Flag Day 2003 the American flag would not only be commercialized and debased at home, but would be seen as a symbol of tyranny and imperialism, not freedom, worldwide. Last year (and in 2002), I suggested that we celebrate Flag Day by flying one of the true flags of freedom, one of the rattlesnake flags, instead of “Old Glory” as a protest against the increasing police state. Flag Day 2004 is [Rational Review]
I don’t fly any flag, living as I do in an apartment building, but I have the Gadsden flag on the wall of my apartment.
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Joseph Sobran –
They Aren’t What They Used to Be – the United States, that
is. Hints at the crimes against humanity that
Abe Lenin used to change “United States” from a plural to a
singular noun.
bq.
In essence, Lincoln made it a crime — “treason,” in fact —
to agree with Jefferson. Northerners who held that free and
independent states had the right to leave the Union — and who
therefore thought Lincoln’s war was wrong — became, in
Lincoln’s mind, the enemy within. In order to win the war, and
reelection, he had to shut them up. But his reign of terror in the
North has received little attention.
He may have “saved the Union,” after a fashion, but the Union he
saved was radically different from the one described in the
Constitution. Even his defenders admit that when they praise him for
creating “a new Constitution” and forging “a second American
Revolution.” Lincoln would have been embarrassed by these
compliments: He always insisted he was only enforcing and conserving
the Constitution as it was written, though the U.S. Supreme Court,
including his own appointees, later ruled many of his acts
unconstitutional.
The Civil War completely changed the basic relation between the
states, including the Northern states, and the Federal Government. For
all practical purposes, the states ceased to be free and independent.
[End the War on Freedom]
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Security Arms –
AWC G2 Bullpup – a 30″ overall length M14 with a 22″
barrel. Drool. Unfortunately, it’s no longer in production, and was
last seen, by one smith2004 reader, over 5 years ago for $3,000. You
can buy a
Springfield SOCOM 16, 37″ overall length and 16″ barrel, but it
ain’t cheap either at $1,727 MSRP. [smith2004]
It’s an interesting idea, but there’s nothing about how much it weighs. I have a Springfield M1A Scout, which is a nice rifle (2 inches longer than the SOCOM), but it’s really too heavy to be practical outside a shooting range.
If I had one of these G2As I’d get rid of the ridiculous telescope and put either a Leopold scout scope or iron sights on it. I’d also want to get rid of the muzzle brake, which would make this rifle much less painful to shoot without hearing protection
A Great Leader Passes. It’s time to stop the divisions and the carping. Let us unite as one and recognize that we have lost a great leader, indeed a world leader. One doesn’t have to agree with his every act to know that here was a great man. Where does America get such men? A leader who put a apring in our step and a song in our hearts, a man who served the people until illness struck him down. Forget tax cuts. Here is a man who never taxed us to begin with, who never waged a war and bombed the innocent, a man who dealt only in the voluntary market with willing consumers. To politicians, what I’d say: Hit the road, Jack. But Ray Charles, RIP. [LewRockwell.com Blog]
New: U. S. Constitution for iPod. iCon is a complete text copy of the U. S. Constitution formatted and hyperlinked for the iPod. [MacInTouch]
bq. The free download, dubbed iCon, comes courtesy of the American Constitution Society, a national organization made up of moderate and progressive law students, lawyers, judges, academics, policymakers and advocates.
It’s kind of ironic that a bunch of socialists would form such an organization. Maybe it’s like a big-game hunter keeping trophies of the animals he’s killed? When I get home I’ll download their version and see if it’s correct.
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Elena Lappin at Guardian Unlimited –
Welcome to America – another journalist forgets to get an I-Visa
before visiting the U.S. and is treated like dirt by the INS
goons. [root]
bq.
Since September 11 2001, any traveller to the US is treated as a potential security risk. The Patriot Act, introduced 45 days after 9/11, contains a chapter on Protecting The Border, with a detailed section on Enhanced Immigration Provision, in which the paragraph on Visa Security And Integrity follows those relating to protection against terrorism. In this spirit, the immigration and naturalisation service has been placed, since March 2003, under the jurisdiction of the new department of homeland security. One of its innovations was to revive a law that had been dormant since 1952, requiring journalists to apply for a special visa, known as I-visa, when visiting the US for professional reasons. Somewhere along the way, in the process of trying to develop a foolproof system of protecting itself against genuine threats, the US has lost the ability to distinguish between friend and foe. The price this powerful country is paying for living in fear is the price of its civil liberties.
…
“Yes, I understand,” I sighed, and signed the form. The instant faxed
response was an official, final refusal to enter the US for not having
the appropriate visa. I’d have to go back to London to apply for it.
At this moment, the absurd but almost friendly banter between these
men and myself underwent a sudden transformation. Their tone hardened
as they said that their “rules” demanded that they now search my
luggage. Before I could approach to observe them doing this, the
officer who had originally referred me to his supervisor was unzipping
my suitcase and rummaging inside. For the first time, I raised my
voice: “How dare you touch my private things?”
“How dare you treat an American officer with disrespect?” he shouted
back, indignantly. “Believe me, we have treated you with much more
respect than other people. You should go to places like Iran, you’d
see a big difference.” The irony is that it is only “countries like
Iran” (for example, Cuba, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe) that
have a visa requirement for journalists. It is unheard of in open
societies, and, in spite of now being enforced in the US, is still so
obscure that most journalists are not familiar with it. Thirteen
foreign journalists were detained and deported from the US last year,
12 of them from LAX.
…
As documented by Reporters Without Borders and by the American Society
of Newspaper Editors (Asne) in letters to Colin Powell and Tom Ridge,
cases such as mine are part of a systemic policy of harassing media
representatives from 27 friendly countries whose citizens – not
journalists! – can travel to the US without a visa, for 90
days. According to Asne, this policy “could lead to a degradation of
the atmosphere of mutual trust that has traditionally been extended
professional journalists in these nations”. Asne requested that the
state department put pressure on customs and immigration to “repair
the injustice that has been visited upon our colleagues”. Someone must
have listened, because the press office at the department of homeland
security recently issued a memo announcing that, although the I-visa
is still needed (and I’ve just received mine), new guidelines now give
the “Port Directors leeway when it comes to allowing journalists to
enter the US who are clearly no threat to our security”. Well, fine,
but doesn’t that imply some journalists are a threat?
Maybe we are. During my surreal interlude at LAX, I told the officer
taking my fingerprints that I would be writing about it all. “No
doubt,” he snorted. “And anything you’ll write won’t be the truth.”
[End the War on Freedom]
Actually the author writes in the article that she didn’t forget to get a journalist visa–rather, she had no idea there was such a requirement.
Ex-C.I.A. Aides Say Iraq Leader Helped Agency in 90’s Attacks. Iyad Allawi, now the designated prime minister of Iraq, ran an exile organization intent on deposing Saddam Hussein that sent agents into Baghdad in the early 1990’s to plant bombs and sabotage government facilities under the direction of the C.I.A., several former intelligence officials say.
Dr. Allawi’s group, the Iraqi National Accord, used car bombs and other explosive devices smuggled into Baghdad from northern Iraq, the officials said. Evaluations of the effectiveness of the bombing campaign varied, although the former officials interviewed agreed that it never threatened Saddam Hussein’s rule. [New York Times]
In other words, the new puppet is a terrorist. So much for the “war on terrorism.”
I just received the following email announcement:
bq. At the VON Europe conference on 08 June 2004, Skype CEO Niklas Zennstrom announced that “soon” Skype would enable calling to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) system around the world. This new service will be called “SkypeOut” and is currently in beta testing to be released as soon as possible. When it is released, we’ll send you another note to let you know. Thanks for your ongoing interest in Skype.
I’ve commented on this before. The new announcement is vague, but I think it’s safe to say the service will be available by the end of summer.