Venezuela Boots DEA

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Mon, 08 Aug 2005 12:00:00 GMT
From smith2004:
In a letter sent to the Washington Post, a letter which the paper still has yet to run, Dr. Norbert Bikales compares the home invasion [of Elian Gonzalez] to a similar event he experienced in a Berlin apartment more than 60 years ago -- when the Nazis came to his house and took his father and brother. "But unlike the Clinton-Reno goons who first gained admittance by breaking down the door," Dr. Bikales says, "even the Gestapo men who came that night rang the door bell, wore no masks, spoke quietly, and did not remove their sidearms from their holsters."

# I wrote to Steve Preisler (aka Uncle Fester) about his letter in this week's Libertarian Enterprise. He responded that he is "still running around free to fill book orders..." Apparently, the email was a hoax. I told him that I'm glad he's still running around.

# Thomas L. Knapp - Making good, part 3 - commentary on Eric S. Raymond's (ESR) Libertarian Realism, which I didn't link to when I first saw it because it was so stunningly wrong. Linked to from Jorge's Responding to irrationality over at sunni's blog. Follow the links back to part 2, and part 1, which counter ESR's The "Bush Lied" Lie. [sunni]

# Electronic Frontier Foundation - FCC Issues Rule Allowing FBI to Dictate Wiretap-Friendly Design for Internet Services - the referenced FCC release extends already-mandated surveillance backdoors in the public switched telephone system (PSTS) to internet service providers who connect the internet to the PSTS. Will this include Skype? Don't know. [clairefiles]

# Don Wilson at The Libertarian Enterprise - Is the NRA a Second Branch of Gun Control Inc? - Mr. Wilson has quit the NRA after five years' membership. He sent them a list of actions they would have to take to win him back. Well done, Mr. Wilson. [tle]

# Chris Claypoole at The Libertarian Enterprise - A Tale of Two Stonings - on the arrest of Maribel Cuevas and the need for Americans to grow up and once again take responsibility for their own lives and their own security. [tle]

# CN BC via Victoria News - Just Say No To Extradition - editorial encouraging the Canadian courts to refuse to send Marc Emery to Amerika. I hope they listen. [mapinc]

The prevailing sentiment in Canada is to legalize and regulate pot so that the trade is removed from the hands of criminals. Pot needs similar controls to alcohol to keep it away from children and people who are driving. It also makes sense to prohibit pot smoking in public places as is the trend with tobacco. All of this makes more sense than the hysterical war of marijuana.

If legalizing and controlling pot turns Emery into a legitimate businessman, then so be it.

We suspect that the Canadian government has stalled on pot legalization over fears of U.S. government retaliation. For a nation that professes to stand for individual liberty, it's odd it would make such a huge crime out of smoking, possessing and selling a herb that most of its citizens over a certain age have experimented with at least once. Aside from being paternalistic, that's just insane. And legislators on both sides of this border know it.

# Patricia Rondon Espin of Associated Press via Yahoo! News - Venezuela Leader Accuses DEA of Espionage - President Hugo Chavez has "suspended cooperation" with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. They've been using the war on drugs as a pretext for spying on the Venezuelan government. Bravo, Mr. Chavez. Arrest the offending agents, and hang them in the square. [loretta]

# Jim Rawles - SurvivalBlog.com - very interesting. Especially the profiles. Claire Wolfe disagrees with Mr. Rawles that if the SHTF, city dwellers will leave en masse. [claire]

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