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Friday, June 02, 2006Via Instapundit:The head of the FBI says Internet companies should retain customer records for two years to help the federal government investigate not only porn but also terrorism. . .Also noted, our fine government's crackdown on allergy medication. We love the second one in our household - here in California Walgreen's seems to have pulled the generic for the one antihistamine that worked for the Turkeygal. In other words, in the name of their little drug war, they've doubled our monthly non-prescription drug costs. One day, the FBI will get together with the building inspectors and require that every new room have video monitors that keep tape for two years so that if granny smokes marijuana to counteract nausea from her cancer medication or some health nut takes supplements for medicinal purposes they'll have the evidence to "keep our communities safe." Indeed, between drugs, porn and terrorism, one wonders how long it will be before we each have our own individual law enforcement official - who still won't do anything if someone takes our tv set, but who will make time to sniff our cigarettes to make sure there aren't any drugs other than nicotine therein. And then they'll wonder why the public suddenly sides with the hippies whining about money for prisons not schools instead understanding the importance of keeping our communities safe from... from... from everything. And we'll have the FBI and the Republican party to thank. 
posted by gbarto at 2:48 PM Thursday, June 01, 2006The Deadliest War in the World...We mentioned this a week or two ago. Now Time has done an article and Everyday Thoughts has, well, thoughts. The deadliest war in the world, at this moment, is of course not Iraq or Afghanistan, which have been relatively small - fewer casualties in years than occurred in hours on the battlefields of old. The deadliest war is not in Darfur - the atrocities are shocking but there aren't enough people involved to make it the deadliest in raw numbers. Nope, it's the Congo. Four million dead since 1998. Remember that the next time you hear about the devastating this or unprecedented that from the Iraq war.
posted by gbarto at 12:24 PM Support the AzerisInstapundit flags a Gateway Pundit report on ethnic violence in Iran. So far, it is estimated that 50 Azeris (Turkic) have been killed after peaceful demonstrators were set upon by Iranian security forces. The Turk(o)men population (also Turkic) appears to be supporting the Azeris. Now, the time that Turks and Persians have been battling over these lands is measured in centuries - in ways, this is nothing new. At the same time, this is not without importance. Ever since 9/11, different bad guys from Osama to Saddam and now Iran's fearless nutcase have tried to seize the moment to become leaders of Islam at large. Whether this is a serious pretention to Caliphate or just the more standard desire for Empire, it has been a troubling thing because one thing the world doesn't need is a unified Islamic "republic" stretching across a whole continent and at the service of the Islamonutters. We owe the Azeris some measure of gratitude here. While more cynical observers might suspect they'll want to coopt us to their cause, they're definitely serving ours. As Iran seeks to be the next great hero facing down Israel, it's good to see them having problems close to home, as opposed to giving serious indications of becoming the new leader of Muslim dominated regions further afield. While the history of the Turks and Persians is a messy one, and both sides have their good and bad points, we should support all peoples who are oppressed, and those who are oppressed by the Islamists with particular fervor. So without calling for the Islamic Republic of Iran to collapse outright, the US should press and press hard for the Azeri and Turkmen people within Iran to have a voice, to enjoy liberty and to have equality with their Persian brethren. It's the right thing to do, and in our interest.
posted by gbarto at 9:55 AM |
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