Murderous Buffoons

The Daily Mail has an interesting article on the clownish yet deadly Baader-Meinhof gang. It is an ugly picture of a group that epitomized the worst of the late 1960s Western "revolutionaries". Partnered with the PLO and a lot of other very unsavory elements, they ran wild for a while, only to kill themselves in the end. They were incompetent in most of what they did, other than in killing.  I'll send readers over there to read it for themselves rather than try to excerpt it.

Here's the Wikipedia entry on the Red Army Faction. 

Sweden’s Latest State Monopoly

Pharmacies in Sweden are run by a state monopoly, in much the same way that alcohol sales are run exclusively by the Canadian government. But the Swedish stores will be branching out a bit from selling the usual health goods when June rolls around. 

They'll be selling sex toys.

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - Swedish pharmacies, which are run under a state monopoly chain called Apoteket, will begin selling sex toys such as dildos in June, a spokeswoman for the chain said on Friday.

"It's a trial that will begin in June. We're going to sell a small selection of sexual products in about 50 stores," Elisabet Linge Bergman told AFP.

The range of articles will include "massage oils and dildos," she said.

Apoteket decided to introduce the products "because we know that sex is an important part of our well-being and our health," Linge Bergman said.

"We want to help play down (the use of sex toys), so that it doesn't have to be something secret or shameful," she added.

In other words, the state has substituted itself for parental judgment in Sweden. If some parents would rather not have their children exposed to these sorts of things, for whatever reason, the parents will now have to keep their kids out of drugstores instead of relying on the state to ensure that only adults can go into establishments that cater to more adult oriented merchandise. (I haven't a thing in the world against people who want to use these, BTW.) Many decisions should not be made by the state. In fact, most should not. I would submit that this is one of them. 

But had this story originated from a country just west of Sweden, I could have had a really good time playing off the title of a Beatles song. Dang. Missed it by *that* much. 

Lend A Hand To FARC

Colombia announced today that FARC could use a hand. After all, the Colombian government has one that formerly belonged to one of their to commanders.

BOGOTA, Colombia - A top rebel leader was killed by his own chief of security, who gave Colombian troops the leader's severed hand as proof, the defense minister said Friday.

Ivan Rios was the second top rebel killed in a week, a major setback for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the country's largest rebel force.

No top Colombian rebel leader had ever been slain until Raul Reyes was killed Saturday in a cross-border raid by Colombian troops into Ecuador that set off an international diplomatic crisis.

"The FARC has suffered a new, major blow," Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos told reporters, calling Rios' death "yet another demonstration that the FARC is falling apart."

He said troops launched an operation designed to capture Rios on Feb. 17 after receiving tips that he was in a mountainous area straddling the western Colombian provinces of Caldas and Antioquia, and engaged the guerrillas' outer security ring seven times.

Thursday night, he said, a guerrilla known as Rojas came to the troops with Rios' severed right hand, laptop computer and ID, saying he had killed his boss three days earlier. Rojas handed himself over to the soldiers.

A couple of FARC bigwigs sent to the afterlife in only a week. Things are beginning to unravel for that gang of drug traffickers. No wonder (T)Hugo Chavez is backing off from his threats against Colombia. He's been backing a loser. 

Message To The Nutroots

Well, I missed the big ruckus over Obama advisor Samantha Power resigning when her remarks about Hillary Clinton were revealed. Ok, so she called Hillary a monster. Politically, that is never a good move. But Ben Smith at The Politico points out that the remark that cost her a job is minor compared to the real blockbuster. Obama, it turns out, isn't really promising what he is promising the nutroots.

For all the chatter about Obama adviser Samantha Power's calling Clinton a "monster," another set of remarks made on her book tour in the United Kingdom may be equally threatening to the Obama campaign: Comments in a BBC interview that express a lack of confidence that Obama will be able to carry through his plan to withdraw troops from Iraq within 16 months.

"He will, of course, not rely on some plan that he’s crafted as a presidential candidate or a U.S. Senator," she said at one point in the interview.

Power downplayed Obama's commitment to quick withdrawal from Iraq on Hard Talk, a program that often exceeds any of the U.S. talk shows in the rigor of its grillings. She was challenged on Obama's Iraq plan, as it appears on his website, which says that Obama "will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months."

"What he’s actually said, after meting with the generals and meeting with intelligence professionals, is that you – at best case scenario – will be able to withdraw one to two combat brigades each month. That’s what they’re telling him. He will revisit it when he becomes president," Power says.

The host, Stephen Sackur, challenged her:"So what the American public thinks is a commitment to get combat forces out in 16 months isn't a commitment isn't it?"

"You can’t make a commitment in March 2008 about what circumstances will be like in January of 2000…"

Oh, goodness. A candidate who panders and doesn't tell the real truth about what he will actually do when he gains the office he seeks. Gee, that's a change. Perhaps the correct slogan is "Yes we can - get fooled again." Or maybe "We are the suckers we've been waiting for!"

Meet the new boss….. 

Britain’s Shame

British Air Force personnel from at least one base were advised to only wear civilian clothing when going off the base. Why? Because civilians had subjected uniformed personnel to harassment. To his credit, Gordon Brown has intervened   in the matter and stated flatly that uniforms should be worn proudly and treated with respect by civilians. He roundly condemned those who disrespected the people wearing their nation's uniform. 

Gordon Brown has said military personnel should be encouraged to appear in public in uniform after it emerged that some RAF servicemen and women have been advised only to wear civilian clothing outside their base.

The order was given to personnel at an air base in Cambridgeshire on the advice of RAF police after reports of verbal abuse from members of the public.

The Prime Minister today condemned people who showed disrespect to members of the military and urged the police to intervene to prevent harassment.

Britain's armed forces should be "encouraged to wear their uniform in public and have the respect and gratitude of the British people", Mr Brown said at Downing Street.

"I encourage the local police to back up our armed forces so that not only can our armed forces wear their uniforms in public, but they should have the gratitude of the British public for the work they do," he added.

The decent British people should also intervene as necessary if they witness this sort of incident. I would if I ever see anything like this here. This is just wrong. If you have a disagreement with government policy, you should not be taking it out on the troops.  

Watch Your $#$#@@! Language

The California city of South Pasadena has put the foul of mouth on notice. No more bad language in public.

SOUTH PASADENA, Calif. — What the @$%#? This community on the edge of Los Angeles has become a cuss-free zone.

So if you're headed to South Pasadena this week, be sure to turn down the volume on that Snoop Dogg CD, and, if the little old lady from Pasadena cuts you off in traffic, don't even think about flipping her the bird.

Not that police will slap cuffs on you and haul your sorry, er, butt off to jail in light of the proclamation passed Wednesday by the City Council. But you could be shamed into better behavior by the unsettling glares of residents who take their reputation for civility seriously.

"That's one of the purposes of this," Mayor Michael Cacciotti said of his city's proclamation designating the first week of March as No Cussing Week. "It provides us a reminder to be more civil, to elevate the level of discourse."

The proclamation will be in effect until Friday, and then the first week of every March hereafter.

South Pasadena, a tranquil city of tree-shaded cottages at the base of a mountain range eight miles north of downtown Los Angeles, isn't the first to try to rein in potty mouths. Earlier this year, the St. Louis suburb of St. Charles, Mo., proposed banning swearing in bars. Last year, hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons called for an industrywide ban on racially and sexually charged epithets.

Well, if it applied to  many nutroots blog comment sections, they would disappear altogether. (Remember our comment policy here at the Crabitat if you leave a comment!)

Terrorist Ties Exposed

The Washington Post has been given copies of a number of memos and emails obtained by the Colombian government in the raid they conducted on a FARC camp just over the border into Ecuador.  The Post  says that the correspondence, if genuine, proves that senior Venezuelan government figures are eagerly seeking ties with the narco-terrorist group. While FARC is very eager to get friendlier with Venezuela. 

BOGOTA, Colombia, March 6 — A trove of correspondence recovered during a raid on a guerrilla camp is providing a rare window into how Colombia's largest rebel group has drawn closer to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in an effort to acquire money, arms and the political recognition the organization craves.

If authentic, the documents would make clear for the first time that Chávez's affinity for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, has translated into more than rhetoric on its behalf.

The documents were discovered Saturday on three laptop computers and two hard drives after Colombian forces bombed a rebel camp 2,000 feet inside Ecuador, killing 24 guerrillas, including Luis Edgar Devia, a member of the FARC's ruling secretariat who used the name Raúl Reyes.

The correspondence appears to show that Venezuelan officials are eager to work with rebel commanders to isolate Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, an ally of the Bush administration. The documents also include letters to Chávez from FARC leader Manuel Marulanda.

There are no missives from Chávez, however, and on Wednesday the Venezuelan president called Colombia's characterization of his ties to the FARC a lie.

"I deny it. I have to deny it as absolutely false," he said.

The e-mails and letters that form the brunt of the correspondence recount meetings with Chávez, top Venezuelan intelligence officials and other emissaries sent by the government in Caracas to convene secretly with FARC commanders. Colombia's National Police released 15 documents culled from the computers and hard drives this week. Another 30 documents, provided on two CDs to The Washington Post by senior government officials, paint a fuller picture of the rebels' ties with Chávez.

"What's important is for your government and the FARC to have ample relations as friends and good neighbors for the future of our two people," Marulanda said in a letter dated Sept. 22. 

The Colombian government has already asked Interpol to examine and authenticate the seized laptop computers that the material was found on. Colombian officials are adamant that the files are genuine and are willing to let experts verify them. The documents apparently show increasing monetary support for FARC by the Chavez goverment, as well as detailing drug transactions and political support for FARC. The picture is not a pretty one. Venezuela is apparently supporting FARC in an effort to isolate Colombia.

It is past time for the US Congress to send a message of support to Colombia. Pass the free trade agreement with that country - it may avert a war.  

We Sent Men To The Moon

The United States is the only nation on earth that has sent men to the moon. But in two years we will be reduced to paying the Russians to keep us in space, just as the International Space Station becomes fully operational. The US will have no heavy launch capability whatsoever until 2015 at the earliest.

Tomorrow night, a European spacecraft is scheduled to blast off from French Guiana on its maiden voyage to the international space station, giving NASA and the world a new way to reach the orbiting laboratory.For NASA, however, the launch of the Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) also highlights a stark reality: In 2 1/2 years, just as the station gets fully assembled, the United States will no longer have any spacecraft of its own capable of carrying astronauts and cargo to the station, in which roughly $100 billion is being invested. The three space shuttles will be retired by then, because of their high cost and questionable safety, and NASA will have nothing ready to replace them until 2015 at the earliest.

For five years or more, the United States will be dependent on the technology of others to reach the station, which American taxpayers largely paid for. To complicate things further, the only nation now capable of flying humans to the station is Russia, giving it a strong bargaining position to decide what it wants to charge for the flights at a time when U.S.-Russian relations are becoming increasingly testy.

In addition, some fear the price will be paid not only in billions of dollars but also in lost American prestige and lost leverage on the Russians when it comes to issues such as aiding Iran with its nuclear program.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin calls the situation his "greatest regret and greatest concern." For most of the five-year gap, he said, "we will be largely dependent on the Russians, and that is terrible place for the United States to be. I'm worried, and many others are worried."

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), chairman of the subcommittee that oversees NASA, went further. "This is a very serious betrayal of American interests," he said. "This will be the first time since Sputnik when the United States will not have a significant space superiority. I remain dumbfounded that we've allowed this serious threat to our national security to develop."

If the space budget were increased by about $2 billion annually, the gap could be shortened by about two years. The is also an option for SpaceX, the private company to get manned flight operational by 2011 - although they have yet to orbit anything. Read it all, it isn't a pretty picture.

How did we get here? Myopia of the political sort. Looking at glad-handing tax money away on pork barrel projects instead of the long-range interests of the nation itself. Washington should be ashamed - both parties, all branches of government. 

We sent men to the moon once. Too bad our politicians have their heads stuck firmly in the earth. Or someplace else.