Terri Schiavo Dies: Debate Far From Being Over

Terri Schiavo starved to death this morning.

There are no winners in this tragedy and the debate is a long way away from being settled. May her soul rest in peace.

Petting Zoo Sickness Update: More Bad News

Twenty-two children are confirmed as being afflicted with the Florida petting zoo sickness which has left many of them fighting for their lives.

Twenty-four others are under observation as well.

It may well be time for the states to regulate petting zoos if they haven't already, or ban them. Kidney failure in so many kids is no isolated incident.

The E. coli bacteria is suspected of making many of these children sick. The bacteria can be passed on via animal droppings, the animals sleeping in it and unsuspecting children petting them. Others have been diagnosed with the potentially deadly hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can also be passed on the same way.

Here's the story.

Starving to Death is Not a Nice Way to Die

The last caller of the day today on Limbaugh's radio program was a woman who watched as her mom starved to death after having her feeding tube removed. It was not a pleasant death.

She described her mom's skin as taking on a liquid look, her ears curving inward from the lack of moisture, her eyes sinking into the back of her head, diarrhea, skin rashes, sores in her mouth and on her skin, blindness, no gumline left in her mouth to put her teeth in, and five long days later, death.

The culture of death lets people believe that this is a humane way to let someone die. It's not humane, it's so damned barbaric that it belongs to a medical profession...from about four hundred years ago.

Cruel and unusual punishment for someone (Terri Schiavo) who has become an inconvenience to her cheating husband.

Project Minuteman: What's Going to Happen?

There have been ramblings in the news about a group calling itself the Minutemen who are heading to the U.S./Mexico border to assist the Border Patrol in stopping illegal aliens from crossing over into U.S. territory. An organized crime syndicate has vowed to "teach the Minutemen a lesson" and the U.S. government is sending additional border guards to the areas where the Minutemen will be operating. Here's the deal:

The Minuteman Project was started by a group of American citizens who believe that the United States border is under constant attack from waves of illegal border crossers from Mexico.

They will be taking up roving patrols along the Arizona/Mexico border, where 52% of the illegal border crossings occur. According to the Minuteman Project website, they have 1,022 men and women who will be participating in the project, which runs from April 1-April 30 and is headquartered in Tombstone, Arizona. Many of the volunteers will be armed.

They will be joined by a battery of ACLU attorneys, who have vowed to keep a close eye on the activities of the Minutemen, to make certain that those who are caught are not deprived of rights.

In addition, the crime syndicate called Mara Salvatrucha, which has 20,000 members in the United States and branches on the Mexican side down to Central and South America, has been making noise about teaching the Minutemen a lesson. They have a reputation for being ruthless killers. Here's a story on them.

The Mexican government is also threatening legal action against the Minutemen.

Finally, white supremacist literature has been found in and around Tombstone. Everyone's getting into the act.

No one wants to see the U.S./Mexico border turn into a war zone between vigilante groups and gangs. But things are going to be tense down there for some time. Illegal border crossings are a major issue and need to be addressed, but this probably isn't the best way to do it.

Newly Discovered Documents Show 1981 Assassination Attempt on Pope John Paul II Was Planned By Soviets

According to just-released documents from the former East German secret police files, the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II was organized by the Soviet Union. While that is no great surprise, this treasure trove shows that the KGB organized the plan, ordered their Bulgarian counterparts to do the hit, and had the East German Stasi coordinate the operation and then cover the trail and eliminate any loose ends.

The Bulgarians then recruited Turkish extremist Mehmet Ali Agca to kill the Pope. Letters were found by the Germans which indicated the Stasi requested Bulgarian intelligence to help cover up the operation.

After the Pope was shot, and the would-be-assassin was arrested, Agca claimed the operation was under the control of the Bulgarian embassy to Italy. The Bulgarians denied involvement and said that the Italian secret police force was trying to smear Bulgaria and socialism.

Because John Paul II had gone after communism and was preaching about freedom, dignity and religion in his native Poland (and in Eastern Europe), which was under the control of the Soviets, Moscow perceived him as a threat and decided to kill him to silence him.

They failed and Pope John Paul II's leadership and outspokenness helped free Eastern Europe from Soviet domination. It's good that the truth came out now; John Paul II is approaching the twilight of his reign and his life, and it's entirely appropriate for his questions (and the world's questions) about the assassination attempt to be answered.

Here's the story.

Blockbuster Video Decides to Throw in Towel on "End of Late Fees" Scam

Blockbuster Video has agreed to pay $630,000 to claimants in 47 states who were taken in by their "End of Late Fees" campaign and to issue refunds to thousands of others.

The problem started when Blockbuster announced that they were ending their late fees. What they didn't tell customers was that if a video wasn't returned after a certain amount of time, the customer's credit or debit card would be charged to replace the video. Once the video was returned, the replacement charge on the credit card would be returned EXCEPT for $1.25 or the full price of the rental which Blockbuster would keep to "restock" the video.

That is a hidden late fee.

So Blockbuster was sued by an unknown number of people, claiming to have been taken in by this and today's action by Blockbuster is meant to rectify the situation.

Here's the story.

Quick Question on Schiavo Story

A quick question...

If starvation is supposed to be painless for a truly vegetative person, why does Terri Schiavo need a morphine drip to stop the pain?

U.S./Pakistani/Indian Arms Triangle: What is the U.S. Government Doing?

The Bush Administration announced plans to sell F-16 and F/A-18s to Pakistan in appreciation for its support in the war on terror.

Pakistan's nuclear rival, India, threw a fit and so now Washington has announced plans to sell the fighters to India as well.

Why is the U.S. selling arms to these nations who are already armed to the teeth and don't like one another? They've fought three wars already. Now they're nuclear armed, and the last major confrontation that they had over Kashmir and a terrorist attack on the Indian government two years ago led to 1.5 million soldiers from both sides being deployed to their common borders and waiting for the order to start fighting.

Until Pakistan and India move their militaries away from their borders, sign a non-aggression pact, settle the Kashmir issue and resume trade and travel, the U.S. government should not be selling top-model fighters like the F-16 to either side. They're liable to use them on one another or adapt them to carry their nuclear bombs.

A nuclear exchange between these two rivals will have worldwide effects as radioactivity will not be contained to Pakistani and Indian territory, so it's in our best interests to help keep the lid on and not provide first-strike weapons to either side.

The U.S. can find better rewards for Pakistan that won't threaten India's security, thereby necessitating the need for Washington to offer India a similar deal. That would also be true in the opposite direction.

Petting Zoo Sickness: Six Children in Critical Condition

What in the world is going on?

Children are suffering from kidney failure and are struggling to stay alive after being exposed to a deadly bacteria at petting zoos in Florida.

At least six children are known to be sick; an unknown number might be suffering as well. Doctors at one Orlando hospital diagnosed hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can be caused by the e. coli bacteria via an animal's droppings. Other sources other than the petting zoos are also being investigated, such as contaminated food or drink.

At least one child was already on kidney dialysis.

This is unbelievable!

Kids Under Seige: Keep Sex Offenders Locked Up

An Amber Alert that had been issued for ten year-old Jetseta Marie Gage was cancelled after her body was found in rural Iowa.

The young girl was allegedly taken from her home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and killed by an aquaintance who had a criminal record for sex crimes against kids.

This follows a terrible situation in Florida where a sex offender kidnapped and killed young Jessica Lunsford. The entire nation hoped that Jessica would turn up safe, but was disappointed when it was discovered that Jessica had been murdered more than a week later.

We either need to lock up these offenders permanently or change the system so that they can be closely monitored and tracked. Enough of this! The police have a difficult enough time finding first-time offenders, but to lose track of these idiots who have already been convicted of crimes against children is intolerable.

Kids are dying at the hands of these crazed lunatics. The criminal justice system needs to do much more to prevent this from happening again and again.

Schiavo Case Hopeless: Governor Bush, Bypass the Courts

Governor Jeb Bush needs to take radical action to save Terri Schiavo's life. Civil authorities have passed a death sentence on this woman, though she has done no wrong.

When will people wake up and realize that a human life is not something to be thrown away? Abortion is wrong, the death penalty is wrong and withholding food and water from a woman who may well live for decades and improve is definitely wrong. This is the culture of death that has been created in the United States. And Terri will die to satisfy that culture.

The federal judges won't touch this case for two reasons: Congress flouted established procedure by ordering federal courts to look at the case instead of BANNING the practice of withholding food and water from the terminally ill; AND they don't want to make a decision that might start to unravel Roe v. Wade. So the courts are sidestepping the issue of slapping Congress around AND protecting unjust laws that allow things like abortion and the death penalty, which has been imposed on Terri.

This is not about the right to die. This is about the system executing a woman who can't speak for herself and arbitrarily deciding that a dead Terri would protect the system. They have no moral authority to make a decision like that.

Governor Bush needs to realize that an innocent woman is being executed for no reason, and the courts are upholding that sentence because of ego and because they are protecting the death penalty, Roe v. Wade and other anti-life measures. The system is broken down; Terri shouldn't die because of that breakdown, so Governor Bush should break some rules, rescue Terry, and do what he can to save her life if it's not too late and worry about the consequences later.

Enough litigation, already! Oh, and for those who would compare an action like this to what Janet Reno did with Elian Gonzales, Elian was not being starved to death by his Florida relatives and wasn't in danger of dying. That was Reno's impatience with the courts. In Terri's case, time is not on her side. She's starving to death and ten year-olds are being arrested for trying to bring her a glass of water!

Who Knows Best: A Pregnant 14 Year-Old's Mom, or an Abortion Clinic?

Some parents have had some issues with groups like Planned Parenthood telling them that they have no right to stop their young daughters from getting contraceptives or getting an abortion. Here is a story of this scenario run amuck down in Illinois. Read the article first then read the rest of this post.


It's shocking, it's morally offensive, and it should be illegal for what happened in Illinois to happen. A fourteen year-old does not have the judgement to analyze possible long-term consequences of getting an abortion. GROWN-UPS sometimes don't either. The girl's mom had every right to tell them to stop as her daughter is a minor and lives under her roof.

The mom of the rapist should be thrown in jail along with her pedophile son for allowing this to happen to a young teenager, and for trying to cover up the statutory crime with a murder of an unborn child.

Who loves the girl and has her best interests at heart? The clinic, or the girl's mom?

Terri Schiavo Case Headed to U.S. Supreme Court

The Terri Schiavo case headed to the Supreme Court early today as two lesser federal courts ruled against restoring the feeding tube to her as her parents had wanted.

The Supreme Court may not even take the case, or if it does, may not issue a ruling until it is too late. But then again, the conservative-leaning court may intervene quickly. It's hard to tell.

Terri's case appears doomed. This is a major setback for the extended pro-life movement and only goes to show that everyone needs living wills so that if they become too sick to communicate that the person's wishes will be followed.

Most judges are not medical doctors and cannot personally examine the patient and form a medical opinion. How many MDs are in Congress? A handful?

Congress got involved for all the wrong reasons and passed faulty legislation. This is a way of saying "See? See what we did? We did good, voters. But the evil courts ruled the wrong way!!" It just smells of politics all around; that stupid memo that circulated through the GOP Congressional ranks stating that this act would play well with their conservative base is the proof of it. The ugliness of American politics really came out on this.

If Congress wanted to do this correctly, then they should have passed a law banning the removal of feeding tubes from the terminally ill until a group of doctors and the person's family agreed that there was no hope of recovery or something along those lines.

Then the Congress would have been challenged in the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the law. The key would have been to keep this between the family and the doctors who were providing care and keep it out of the courts.

Instead Congress ordered the higher courts to examine this one case. Can one branch of government order another to do something like this? The checks and balances system has been weakened by Congress and only the Supreme Court can fix it now.

Constitutional scholars seem to agree that Congress overstepped its bounds by doing what it did in the way that it did. Follow that?

Terri should be kept alive. This is no ordinary case of a comatose woman; she was clearly responding to her parents; her mental capacity may have been diminished a great deal, but mere mental incapacitation is not grounds for starving her to death.

Put the tube back in and allow her to die in her own good (natural) time. And the Supreme Court should put Congress into its place by slapping down this law.

Not Again: Teen Gunman Kills Family & Shoots Up School

In the worst school shooting spree since the April 1999 Columbine High School massacre, a Minnesota student went on a rampage and killed his grandfather and his grandfather’s girlfriend before he drove to his school, killed an unarmed school guard and six others before killing himself.

Seven others were wounded at the school, which is in the Red Lake Ojibwa Nation. Police were also fired on as they stormed the building to save the students and staff. One officer was said to have returned fire.

With heavy hearts we again find ourselves asking “why did this happen again?”

The metal detectors at the school worked fine but didn’t stop this kid from killing the guard manning the checkpoint and opening fire on his fellow students.

Armed guards might have stopped the shooter, but then again, they might not have. Do we turn our schools into fortresses to stop things like this from happening?

It’s a very disturbing question to a very serious problem.

U.N. Security Council Reform Badly Needed

Kofi Annan announced a proposal to reform the United Nations and to add more permanent seats to the U.N. Security Council and, presumably, the all-powerful veto that goes with those seats. He wants to add two from Africa, three from Asia and one from Latin America.

Consider this: why should the permanent seats have resolution-killing veto power?

Because the U.S., Russia, China, France and Great Britain possess nuclear weapons? Other countries do too (in varying states of development): Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, India and others that are suspected of working on developing these weapons. Does military might make a country eligible to have a permanent seat and the super-veto power on the Council?

Because the five permanent members were victorious in World War II sixty years ago? To the U.S., that was about five wars (and countless smaller campaigns) ago. Germany and Japan ceased to be the enemy after they surrendered and were rebuilt by the victorious Allies.

Proof of U.N. Security Council bumbling: Europe and the U.S. did not intervene in Rwanda. They haven’t done anything to stop ethnic cleansing in Darfur. It was not the Security Council that stopped the Serbs in Bosnia, it was NATO air strikes; Russia vetoed U.N. action. Now a renewed conflict appears to be just over the horizon there too. Serbia wants Kosovo territory back, and Macedonia is moving toward an independence vote in 2006.

The U.N. Security Council was paralyzed over Iraq; they couldn’t enforce seventeen often-quoted resolutions calling for Iraq to disarm and gave the U.S. administration a silent (and unintended) affirmation to go after Iraq’s (still) sought-after WMDs by trumping one another's motions with their all-powerful veto. It was like watching five bullies beat up ten weaklings to get their way while they were trying to beat the tar out of each other.

While the Security Council bickered under the current system, 200,000 lives were extinguished in Darfur, one million Rwandans were murdered, 200,000 people were killed over the years while the Security Council bickered over Bosnia, 1/3 of all Catholics living in East Timor were killed by the Muslim government of Indonesia between 1975-1994; the list is too long and too tragic to continue.

Failure after failure can be laid at the Security Council’s feet because the permanent members have trump veto power; it doesn’t matter what the other fourteen members wanted; if one permanent member vetoed a resolution, the resolution died on the spot.

That power should be ended and resolutions should be passed with a simple majority. The U.N. needs consensus, not obstructionism.

The current U.N. Security Council is broken and will remain broken while five members have super-veto power. It needs to be ended. That's what the Secretary-General should be doing instead of adding more permanent seats.

Rwanda Genocide Revisited: UN Failing in Darfur

"Those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it."

It's happening.

Rwanda 1994: Rwandan soldiers and Hutu gangs slaughtered an estimated 800,000-1,000,000 people, mostly Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The U.N. tucked tail and ran out of Rwanda, leaving the gangs to slaughter who they wanted when they wanted for whatever reason they wanted. Combat troops from Europe were sent in to evacuate Westerners from Rwanda and then left. While they were there, U.N. peacekeepers were armed, but not allowed to shoot; at least eighteen peacekeepers were killed by the militias. The events of that genocide were portrayed in the 2005 film "Hotel Rwanda."

Darfur 2005: The body count there is 200,000 and still rising. The U.N. is again preparing to evacuate from the region after being threatened by the gangs, militias and government soldiers who are more interested in slaughtering members of different tribes than listening to the U.N. men who have guns but won't intervene. The U.N. Security Council has threatened sanctions against Sudan, but they pull back when the metal meets the meat.

Instead of tucking tail and running again, the U.N. ought to send in reinforcements who can intervene and arrest the Janjaweed butchers and government people who are participating in the genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Instead of watching news reports of what's happening, saying "that's terrible" and then turning the channel, all Westerners should go see "Hotel Rwanda" and then tell their leaders to pressure the U.N. to do much more. The U.N. is falling down on the job. Again.

Most Americans cannot imagine how slaughters like what happened in Rwanda can take place. It's inconceivable to most.

The closest approximation to something like that taking place in America would be an all-out collapse of authority nationwide and the emergence of a dominant group that had all the weapons, and sent their thugs into the streets to drag people out of their homes and murder them only because of their skin color or because a military warlord wanted a section of town cleared out for their own purposes.

That's what happened in Rwanda in 1994, and what has happened for the last year in Darfur.

And all that most Westerners are willing to do is say "that's terrible" and then flip the channel. Talk about a major disconnect.

Jessica Lunsford: What Was Her Killer Doing Out of Jail?

The second major story coming out of Florida last week was the abduction and murder of nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford. A convicted sex offender confessed to her kidnapping and murder.

What was this animal doing out of prison in the first place??! With a rap sheet as long as his, he should never have been allowed to walk the streets as a free man ever again.

There's something to be said for "three strikes and you're out" laws. If Florida had this in place, he could have been stopped years ago.

Instead, we are left with utter devastation, recriminations and a legal system that isn't doing enough to stop these terrible crimes before they happen.

Schiavo Bill: Good and Bad

The nation has been captivated by the Terry Schiavo case down in Florida and everyone is getting involved.

Congress and the President signed off on the Schiavo bill early this morning, which transfers the case to federal court. This was done after a state court judge allowed the feeding tube to be removed from the Florida woman fifteen years after she went into a vegetative coma. The parents want to keep her alive, the husband wants to allow her to die. Very nasty things have been said by both sides about the other, which is very unfortunate.

Republicans in Congress circulated a memo saying that strong action on this case on their part would play well with their religious voters and so the rush was on to intervene. Democrats decided that this belongs in state court and that the bill was/is unconstitutional.

Analysis: Is Terry really brain dead? She reacts to people around her; if she simply laid there, hovering between life and death, that question would be easier to answer. She does not show any brain-wave activity, yet her body is communicating with people when they talk to her. The definition of what brain-death is needs to be decided in the court system, so they should not be rushing to allow this woman to die. Her parents are right on this.

Analysis: The Constitution is being trampled in favor of brownie points for certain politicians who want to please their constituents. This is a bad move. Congress does not have the authority to move a court case from state into federal courts. The independent judiciary does not take orders from Congress in this way; it is questionable as to whether a federal judge will even look at the case and may cite separation of powers between the branches of federal government and the relationship between the states and the federal government. A federal judge may rule this law to be unconstitutional instead of ruling on the case itself.

Conclusion: while the politics are going on, Terry is starving to death. Shame on Congress for acting in their own interests instead of Terry's, shame on our culture for propagating a culture of death, shame on the GOP for putting so much political capital into a very bad law that weakens the Constitution, and shame on the courts for ruling against right-to-life measures in general.

A living will would have ended this debate long ago, but since there wasn't one, everyone is taking advantage of a terrible situation. The long and the short for the public: make a living will that explains exactly what you want if you are unable to make decisions for yourselves anymore. Don't allow the courts to get involved because they will make a mess of things.

Law of the Sea Treaty Needs to be Rejected by the U.S. Senate

It's been brought to light recently that the U.N.-brokered Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST) is due to be voted on by the U.S. Senate.

Originally designed by the U.N. in the 1970's, the treaty turns over control of the ocean floor to the United Nations, who have the responsibility of creating a beaucracy to oversee activities on, over and beneath the world's oceans. President Clinton signed a modified version of the treaty in the 1990's, but the bill just got around to being voted on by the Senate.

According to Research International, the treaty ".. focuses primarily on navigational and transit issues. The Treaty also contains provisions on the regulation of deep-sea mining and the redistribution of wealth to underdeveloped countries--as well as sections regarding marine trade, pollution, research, and dispute resolution."


The Bush Administration has indicated support for the LOST agreement, but it's a very bad idea. President Reagan objected to this treaty in the 1980's for the following reasons (and they are still valid today):

• Restriction and regulation of the movement of warships on the high seas.
• Restriction of free enterprise in favor of redistribution of wealth.
• Regulation of deep-sea mining with yearly payoffs to the U.N.
• Corporations cannot protest U.N. actions; the country of origin of the corporation can.
• Nations are taxed for use of the oceans without the consent of the people of those nations.
• Redistribution of minerals to landlocked nations in disproportionate numbers restricts available minerals for the rest of the world.
• A U.N. court decides disputes over and above previous international treaties.

A treaty that demands that its signatory nations turn over their sovereignty on the high seas to the United Nations is a bad thing. Control of the world's oceans belongs to the entire world, not one nation or organization.

Sink this treaty and fast, Senators.

Congress & Baseball: Let the League Tend to Itself

Why is Congress getting involved in pro baseball?

Don't they have more important things to do than spend time and resources questioning baseball players on whether or not they used steroids?

This is political grand-standing in an American past-time and Congress ought to investigate how much it's spending on this photo op. Get to work, people, and let baseball tend to baseball.

Hezbollah As a Legitimate Political Force in the Peace Process? BS!!

The Bush Administration has begun making noise about accepting Hezbollah as part of the political mainstream in the Middle East if it were to lay down its arms and push for peace.

HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!!

Before Hezbollah is accepted into the mainstream, it ought to produce the people who engineered the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beruit in 1983. 241 American soldiers died in that deadly blast and led to the U.S. withdrawing its peacekeeping force from Beruit.

Hezbollah was responsible for that outrage. Those troops were there to stop the mass- killings that Hezbollah was carrying out against the Lebanese. So before we go welcoming Hezbollah to the mainstream, it has to prove that it wants peace and apologizes to the 241 families that its suicide bombers murdered and hands over those responsibile to either the U.S. or to the Hague.

This olive branch is inappropriate until Hezbollah gets out of the terrorism business permanently.

China Will Invade Taiwan--What Will the U.S. Do?

Efforts to find a peaceful settlement to the China/Taiwan situation suffered a huge setback when China passed a law authorizing use of overwhelming military force if Taiwan declares its independence. Chinese President Hu Jintao told his military to prepare for war in accordance with the unanimous vote of the Chinese assembly.

Washington should immediately throw out the "One China" policy and go with "One China, One Taiwan" policy and recognize Taiwan as a free and independent democracy. Europe should stop making plans to lift an arms embargo against China and should also recognize Taiwan should it declare formal independence.

Think about it: communism was abhorant enough to the Nationalists that they fought a war against the Red Chinese and fled for their lives when they lost. Why would they now accept it? China's behavior in Tibet is the perfect example of what will happen if Taiwan falls to Chinese military aggression.

So, what will happen if Chinese shock armies begin coming across the strait and make landfall on Taiwanese territory? What will Washington do?

Hopefully whoever is U.S. President when China invades will feel that Communism itself is a crime against humanity and will not allow a democratic Taiwan to fall to that evil. And hopefully the European Union chooses democratic principals over money.

Jackson Accuser's Brother Lies Under Oath

The prosecution's case against Michael Jackson suffered a major setback today when the brother of Jackson’s accuser admitted he was lying on the stand and that he had lied in another unrelated case.

Did anyone bother telling this kid that lying under oath is a crime, and that the damage he may have done could have ruined a man’s life? Crimes have been committed, and it's not just Jackson who stands accused now.

This trial is a long way from being over, but the prosecution suffered heavy damage to its case today.

This kid will have to live with what he has done for the rest of his life, and if the boy’s mother put him up to this, she ought to go to jail, regardless of the outcome of the trial.

U.S. Military Wounds Recently-Released Hostage

The U.S. military suffered a major embarrassment over the weekend when it shot at a vehicle that was carrying a recently-released Italian reporter to the Baghdad International Airport, killing her escort and wounding her. Two different interpretations of the incident are being circulated.

The military is claiming that the car approached a checkpoint outside the airport and refused to stop, ignoring warning shots and bright lights that were intended to make the driver of the car stop. The Italian reporter is claiming that U.S. troops were targeting her and that there were no warnings. She had no proof of her version of the events.

It seems more likely that a mistake was made; who is more at fault will become clearer as time goes on. It seems like this reporter, who works for a Communist Party newspaper in Italy, has taken full advantage of this situation to drive a wedge between the U.S. and Italy by claiming that U.S. troops were out to kill her. She got her story, and international journalistic integrity will suffer because of it.

Even before this incident, the majority of Italians supported pulling their troops out of Iraq. With images of the flag-draped casket of the intelligence officer who was escorting her to the airport being broadcast throughout Italy, that will probably add fuel to the fire and add weight to the reporter’s version of events.

She has no proof that the troops were trying to kill her; she would be dead if they were. That part of her claim is utter nonsense.

It should be noted that this reporter went through a very bad experience in Iraq, being kidnapped and threatened by the insurgents for weeks before she was mysteriously released. Some are saying that someone paid off the kidnappers to release her, which will only encourage them to continue doing it.

Two possible outcomes from this: she'll set the record straight, or she won't and will continue to use the outpouring of Italian public support to influence public discourse on the war. Given the choices and her political affiliation, it seems likely that she'll choose the latter.

Supreme Court Finally Bans Executions of Those Who Commited Death-Penalty Crimes While a Juvenile

The U.S. Supreme Court decided to ban executions of people who committed death-penalty crimes when they were under the age of 18.

This will put the United States in line with the rest of the civilized world in terms of how the death penalty is applied. Each time an adult sentenced to death (for a crime committed before the age of majority) was executed, the U.S. violated international treaties that it had signed.

This is an important decision and a great victory for the American justice system, but it does not go far enough.

All uses of the death penalty must be abolished. No system is foolproof; many states do not even use DNA testing to verify if they have the right man (or woman) on death row. The states don’t want to spend any money on the people they condemn.

We cannot tolerate a system that may err (and send someone who didn’t do the crime) to their death with NO chance for them to fight back and prove their innocence. That is just plain wrong.

The DNA evidence may well prove that they are guilty too, so shouldn’t we AT LEAST have DNA testing in every case where another person’s life hangs in the balance?