WikiLeaks CAN Be Stopped: The Feds Must Use the Same Law That They Used to Take Down 75+ BitTorrent Web Sites in the Last Few Days

ICE Investigations has been seizing web sites that have been pirating video and music stuff in the last few days, and it’s using a new law that is also the key to putting a stop to WikiLeaks and their reign of releasing information that doesn’t belong to them.

The new law is called the “Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act” and provides for the government to seize domain names of suspected sites that are in violation of U.S. copyright laws.

They can also use this law to order international web sites to be taken down as well, if they are violating copyright laws.  It also allows for charges and fines to be levied against the web site owners.  By all means, take them WikiLeaks sumbitches DOWN!  It won’t stop them completely, but it’ll slow them down for a while.

It’s better than a government like Russia’s, or Israel’s, to order hits on WikiLeaks employees who dare to participate in the release of information that isn’t theirs to release, which is now inevitable. 

Sooner or later, WikiLeaks will anger the wrong people, and a government will order up their dirty tricks squads to take out some button pushers who release the wrong information, regardless of the consequences.

The sooner that WikiLeaks is held to account for their actions, the better.   No one needs to get shot or blown up, but it will probably start happening soon if WikiLeaks isn’t reined in.

U.S. Government Must Not Back Down from North Korea: They’ll Run Roughshod Over the Entire Region if U.S. and South Korea Don’t Powerslam North Korea

North Korea needs to be put into its place as soon as possible.  And after they pull the trigger first.

Its leadership is too immature to possess the kind of firepower that it does have, at the costly expense of ignoring the plight of its own people.  No responsible government would allow over a million of its own people starve to death, while arming its military to the teeth. 

Why does North Korea need the fifth-largest army in the world when its people are starving to death?  They rank just behind Russia in active duty personnel, and first in the world in reserves with 4.7 million people under arms.  And they’ve engaged in a massive arms build-up in the last ten years.

The U.S. government needs to help South Korea deal with the North Korean problem permanently.    The Obama Administration cannot back down from North Korea, under ANY circumstances.   Give them an inch, and they’ll take the entire field.

The South Korean public is really upset over their government’s lackluster response to North Korea’s aggression.  Demonstrations are really heating up in Seoul.

The U.S./South Korean war games need to proceed as planned.  And if North Korea is crazy enough to take a shot at a U.S. Navy carrier, the Navy had better blow everything with a red star out of the water, and out of the air in reply.

There’s little chance of North Korean citizens rising up against Kim Jong Il; they worship him like a god.   I don’t think the North Korean military will rise up either, until Kim Jung Il dies and his son tries to take over.  

But then, would dealing with North Korea’s generals be any better than dealing with Kim Jung Il, or his hand-picked brat?   Is there anyone with any amount of sanity in North Korea’s military?

Does South Korea Have the Nerve to Defend Itself From North Korean Aggression? Lack of a Response Leads Defense Minister to Resign Under Heavy Pressure

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak accepted his Defense Secretary’s resignation after he came under heavy fire from politicians inside South Korea, who felt that South Korea hasn’t done enough to respond to North Korean aggression in the last year.

The first act by North Korea was the destruction of the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan eight months ago by a North Korean submarine, which resulted in the loss of 46 lives, followed by the artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island by North Korean military forces two days ago.  In both cases, the South Korean military was restrained from launching retaliatory strikes against North Korean targets.

There have been other sea battles between North and South Korean warships in the Yellow Sea over the years, but the last two engagements have been really nasty, with a heavy loss of life in the sinking of the Cheonan, and heavy damage to Yeonpyeong Island.

The current South Korean government took a hard line against North Korea, but so far they haven’t lived up to their promises.   Now the South Korean government is rushing troops to other South Korean islands that might be North Korea’s next target.  The South Korean press and public are commenting that the move is too little, too late.

When North Korea strikes again, will South Korea sit back and let it happen again?  Or will they make North Korea pay for what they’ve done?

North Korean Artillery Barrage of South Korea Raises New Questions About What’s Happening in North Korea

Yesterday morning’s artillery duel between the North Korean and South Korean militaries doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.   The talking heads on TV are speculating that the North Korean leadership perceives its world-stage image as weakening, and took advantage of South Korean military maneuvers to demonstrate its strength.

I’m not sure that’s it. 

I think it’s more likely that they perceive the United States leadership as weak, and that they (North Korea)  want more bargaining chips for the six-party nuclear talks. If that’s what they were trying to do, I think it’s had the opposite effect that they were looking for.  South Korea is looking for an excuse to knock out the North Korean base that opened fire on Yeonpyeong.

I also think that the talking heads are correct in saying that this move coincides with the transition of power from Kim Jung Il to his son.

The saber rattling sure hasn’t let up either.  South Korea has promised “enormous retaliation” if North Korea puts one toe out of line, and North Korea has promised “merciless strikes” on South Korea if its sea border is “violated” again.  The western sea border was set by the U.N. and has never been recognized by North Korea.

I think that there’s a good possibility that there will be some major sea battles in the days and weeks to come, regardless of what the North Korean leadership is doing.  I hope it doesn’t spill over onto the rest of the DMZ.  We don’t need three wars right now.

See What Happens When A Country That Has No Military Has a Dispute With a Nation That Does? The Non-Militarized Country Gets Invaded

The border dispute between Costa Rica and Nicaragua is an example of why a military force is necessary.

The two Central American counties have had a dispute for many years about a piece of land that runs along their common border.  It belongs to Costa Rica and has been recognized as Costa Rican territory by the international community.  A couple of weeks ago Google Maps showed that it was Nicaraguan territory, and Nicaragua used the mistake as a pretext to invade Costa Rica to enforce its claim of the area in question.

Since Costa Rica has no military, it cannot repel the Nicaraguans on its own, or keep the Nicaraguans from occupying the rest of Costa Rica if they so please.

This is an illustration of why a military force is necessary and that not having a well-disciplined military which obeys its elected leaders is a bad idea.  The time has not yet come to beat the swords into plowshares either; there are too many aggressors in the world who are willing to  use force to settle their disputes.

It can be argued that Costa Rica has been at peace without a military for many years; and that was true.  But it’s not exactly helping them right now, is it?

All Costa Rica can do now is take this dispute to the U.N. and the International Court and see 1) if they can win a decision and 2) if Nicaragua will heed the decision should the case go in favor of Costa Rica.

Why Are American Kids Being Required to Say the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish? And Why in Oklahoma of All Places?

A mom in Oklahoma is very upset that her eighth grader is being required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in a language other than English.

I don’t blame her.

Our pledge should not be required to be said in any language other than English.  And school districts should not  be threatening to give students zeros on an assignment like this.  

It’s bad enough that they’re taking down American flags over schools on American soil in favor of the Mexican flag so as not to make Mexican students uncomfortable, while spitting on everybody else’s feelings every 5th of May.

It’s bad enough that they’re sending kids home for wearing American flags on their shirts.

It’s bad enough that they’re requiring teens to remove American flags from their own vehicles while on school property.

If they’re going to persist in this behavior, perhaps they should take the Pledge of Allegiance out of school.  If they’re going to force people to say it in a way that is coercive, then it should be banned.  We don’t currently require students to say it in English, so why is this school in Oklahoma trying to force students to say it in Spanish?

They need to stop trying to turn the United States into Mexico.  We don’t want to be Mexico.