Libertarianism

Extraordinary Rendition

This entry was posted in ashcroft bush Domestic Terrorism Iraq Libertarianism US Foreign Policy War on Terrorism on by

No matter your politics you should be outraged by this:

That’s all they had: guilt by the most remote of computer- generated associations. But, according to Attorney General John Ashcroft, that was more than enough to justify Arar’s delivery to Syria’s torturers.
Besides, Ashcroft added, the torturers had expressly promised that they would not torture him.
Our intelligence agencies have a name for this torture-by-proxy. They call it “extraordinary rendition.” As one intelligence official explained: “We don’t kick the s — out of them. We send them to other countries so they can kick the s — out of them.”
This secret program for torturing suspects has been authorized, if that is the right word for it, by a secret presidential finding. Where the president gets the authority to have anyone tortured has never been explained.

Read Maher Arar’s story here.
Brad Delong thinks this is worth an impeachment and Brian Weatherson wonders how many conservative bloggers will condone this behavior and thinks that the perps should at minimum spend time in jail.
I’ll go along with Brad on the impeachment idea.

Drug Money

This entry was posted in Capitalism Constitution Democracy Domestic Terrorism Drug Laws Law Enforcement Libertarianism on by

In Calgary, drug money is at the heart of gang violence:

Greed and infighting between members of a large Asian street gang over drug money splintered the group, leading to a spate of Calgary shootings, stabbings and at least two murders in the past 13 months.

I wonder if these street gangs and their counterparts in the US have lobbyists working to stiffen existing drug laws?
Via The Media Awareness Project.

McCrackin Reassigned

This entry was posted in Constitution Domestic Terrorism Drug Laws Libertarianism on by

In November I called for the firing of Goose Creek principal George McCrackin. You may remember him as the man responsible for this.
Now, via Drug WarRant, I learn that he his no longer at Goose Creek:

Floyd has not decided to what position McCrackin will be reassigned, but he said McCrackin would probably spend time in the coming weeks preparing for two lawsuits filed by students stemming from the incident.

While this is a step in the right direction I still believe that this is a person that has no business being anywhere near or involved in education.

No They do Not

This entry was posted in Capitalism Constitution Democracy Libertarianism Religion on by

As many of you know the French government is dabbling with dress codes:

President Jacques Chirac of France has called for a law banning Islamic head scarves and other religious symbols in state schools, strengthening France’s commitment to secularism.

Sadly, at least one major Muslim cleric thinks that this is ok:

The grand sheik of Al Azhar, Muhammad Sayed Tantawi, told reporters that although wearing the head scarf, or hijab, was a religious duty, governments of non-Muslim countries had the right to pass any laws they liked.

He argues first that Muslims living in non-Muslim countries must follow the local laws even if they conflict with Islamic law. This is fine.
However his argument that governments have the right to pass any laws they like is false and we all need to speak up and say no when we hear arguments like this.
What folks wear as they go about their daily lives, even in tax funded schools, is not a legitimate interest of any government.
A French spokesperson says:

“You shouldn’t see in it a humiliation for anyone,” Mr. Sarkozy said. “You shouldn’t see in it a lack of respect for your religion. You must understand that secularism is our tradition, our choice.”

Sorry, it is a lack of respect for their religion and, more importantly, it is a lack of respect for the targeted individuals.