Chalk One Up For The Good Guys
Sep 24, 2005 Political
I wrote my previous post about gun confiscation in New Orleans earlier and posted it today. I seem to be a day late and a dollar short when it comes to the news. Yesterday, the good guys won!
(Fairfax, VA) — The United States District Court for the Eastern District in Louisiana today sided with the National Rifle Association (NRA) and issued a restraining order to bar further gun confiscations from peaceable and law-abiding victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
“This is a significant victory for freedom and for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The court’s ruling is instant relief for the victims who now have an effective means of defending themselves from the robbers and rapists that seek to further exploit the remnants of their shattered lives,†said NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre.
I am happy the courts got this one right.
Read it here.
Tags: Political
Local Government Violates Second Amendment Rights In New Orleans
Sep 24, 2005 Political
The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is the bedrock of our free society. When a society is not free to “keep and bear arms” then they in effect become slaves of the government. There has been a great deal of debate in the past about what the Amendment means but it is obvious that the phrase “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” means that the people (the citizens of the US) have a right that is not to be taken away. Unfortunately, in the anarchy that followed hurricane Katrina, the government seized firearms belonging to law abiding citizens.
This decision was made by local government officials:
According to The New York Times, the New Orleans superintendent of police directed that no civilians in New Orleans will be allowed to have guns and that “only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons.” ABC News quoted New Orleans’ deputy police chief, saying, “No one will be able to be armed. We are going to take all the weapons.”
This police officer had no authority to take such an action and when he did he violated the rights if the citizenry. The law abiding citizens of New Orleans had only their weapons to protect them in the aftermath when looting and other crimes were rampant. They had no other means because the police could not protect them. The police, those who remained, were busy taking care of other emergencies thus leaving citizens to protect themselves from armed thugs. By taking the weapons the police screwed people twice. Once by not protecting them and once by keeping them from protecting themselves.
The National Rifle Association has filed a lawsuit to stop the illegal seizure of the weapons belonging to law abiding citizens:
“New Orleans is the first city in the United States to forcibly disarm peaceable law-abiding citizens and it must be the last. Victims are dealing with a complete breakdown of government. At a time when 911 is non-operational and law enforcement cannot respond immediately to calls for help, people have only the Second Amendment to protect themselves, their loved ones and their property,” said NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre.
I have not seen a great deal of media attention on this issue. You can bet if they stopped some jackass from burning a Flag or some newspaper from printing an article there would be cries about Freedom of Speech. Hell, the media was crying about Freedom of Speech when they were not allowed to show dead bodies floating around New Orleans.
Without the right to keep and bear arms there is no right to free speech, nor any other right for that matter. It is disheartening that the public and the media would ignore such a blatant violation of the rights of our citizens. I can not speak for the law abiding citizens of New Orleans but as for me, they can have mine when they pry it out of my dead hand.
Read the issue here.
Tags: Political
It Does Not Look Good
Sep 24, 2005 Political
It would appear that tensions are running high along the Gaza Strip. Hamas launched a rocket attack into Israel and the Israelis have resumed air strikes against Hamas targets. Many had hoped that when Israel relinquished the disputed territory there would be peace. It does not look like this will happen in the near future.
It did not help that the Palestinians marched into Gaza with a show of weapons and that government officials allowed them to claim that they had run the Israelis out. I am sure, given their already bruised egos, the Israelis did not take kindly to this display. The Palestinians have allowed a free flow of arms into the territory and that does not look like a sign of peace.
I don’t think anyone has an accurate picture of what is going on. There is finger pointing going on on both sides but the Palestinian Authority contradicts the stories coming out of the area:
The escalation was set off by an explosion Friday at a Hamas rally in the crowded Jebaliya refugee camp that killed at least 15 Palestinians. Witnesses said the blast went off near a pickup truck carrying Hamas militants and homemade rockets.
Hamas blamed Israel and said it fired rockets on Israeli border towns in retaliation. However, the Palestinian Authority described the explosion as an accident that happened when Islamic militants mishandled explosives and renewed demands that armed groups stop flaunting their weapons.
I do not know what is going on but it is clear that there is a lot of unrest. It will not take long for the Israelis to flex its military strength so the Palestinians should be wary of taking aggressive actions. I am sure that a few more unprovoked attacks on Israel will cause the Israelis to launch an all out offensive. If that happens, there will be a blood bath in the area.
Read the story at My Way News.
Tags: Political
Terrorism Update
Sep 23, 2005 Political
- 09/21 (Asbury Park Press) — There is no one solution to making commuter trains, buses or highways immune to the types of terrorist attacks made on London’s Underground transit system or Madrid’s commuter trains, said a Rutgers University security expert Tuesday.
- 09/20 (AP) — A third-grade teacher in Maryland accused of supporting a Pakistani terrorist group was freed on bond Tuesday while he awaits trial, despite objections from prosecutors who fear he will flee the country.
- 09/20 (AP) — A suspected terrorist accused of conspiring to assassinate President Bush said he proposed the plot but it wasn’t pursued, and he was frustrated that other members of his al-Qaida cell lacked initiative, according to prosecutors.
- 09/21 (Bloomberg) — The Financial Services Authority urged U.K. companies to prepare for possible future terrorist attacks, saying the threat to Britain’s financial stability may be greater than the July 7 London bombings, which didn’t disrupt markets.
- 09/21 (Guardian Unlimited) — Liberal Democrats yesterday warned that the government’s counter-terrorism proposals would inflame community tensions and alienate young Muslims, as they unanimously passed a motion urging the party to defend civil liberties and oppose any move to water down human rights legislation.
- 09/20 (RIA Novosti) — The current level of terrorist threat requires that the international community avoid double standards on terrorism due to geopolitical reasons, the official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
- 09/21 (Al Jazeera) — Israel and Iran clashed at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, accusing each other of threatening Middle East security peace with their nuclear programs, AFP reported.
- 09/21 (Gulf News) — The UAE yesterday expressed its support for the Saudi initiative to set up an international centre to combat terrorism and said it would like to see more members on the UN Security Council.
- 09/20 (Agence France-Presse) — US forces have captured two doctors working for the Al-Qaeda terrorist group in Iraq, preventing them from setting up a clinic near Baghdad.
- 09/21 (BBC) — Two marines seized by villagers in Thailand’s troubled south in response to a shooting incident have been knifed and beaten to death.
- 09/20 (New Straits Times) — Malaysian armed forces chief Tan Sri Mohd Anwar Mohd Nor said the navy had sufficient capacity to deal with such threats.
- 09/21 (BBC) — Separatists in Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta region have threatened to sabotage oil installations as they call for the release of their leader.
Tags: Political
The Headline Is All Wrong
Sep 23, 2005 Political
A girl was suspended from a Christian school because her family did not live up to the policy that requires that at least one parent may not engage in practices “immoral or inconsistent with a positive Christian life style, such as cohabitating without marriage or in a homosexual relationship. These are the rules and the family did not follow them because the girl’s mother is a lesbian and has a live in lesbian girlfriend. You would not know this because the headline read:
The truth is, she was expelled because her family did not follow the policy of the school. In fact, the family deliberately deceived the school in this regard because the two women have been together for 22 years so it is not like the girl was already in school when the mother started the relationship. This is the kind of BS that has people believing that Bill Clinton’s problems were about sex when in fact they were about perjury.
The fact is, the Los Angeles Times used this headline to make a statement. If the school said that the child was expelled because her parents did not follow the dress code policy we would never hear about it. But since the policy infraction involved a gay couple it gets distorted. If this is actually newsworthy, then the headline might have read, “Girl Suspended For Family Violation of a School Policy.” It just does not sell as many papers.
The family has decided not to fight the ruling probably because they know they are wrong. I would suggest that if the school wants to make sure that they don’t have future trouble they change the policy to “the parent with whom the student lives…” The way it is written one could argue that if her father is not in violation then she may attend.
I think it is a shame the girl is punished for the behavior of her parent but these are the rules.
Tags: Political