Friday, September 26, 2003

* NRA Pitch Angers 2 L.A. Officials. When it comes to gun policies, the city of Los Angeles and the National Rifle Assn. could hardly be farther apart. Los Angeles passed one of the nation's first assault weapons bans and has pushed other measures opposing the proliferation of firearms, while the NRA tirelessly defends the right to bear arms. So two City Council members were outraged to learn that Los Angeles police officers are receiving solicitations to join the NRA when they buy Glock pistols at the city Police Academy's gun shop. The membership pitch is sealed inside the packaging with the gun's warranty and safety information. [FirearmNews.com] The City Council certainly is determined to make sure that LA police officers know what political beliefs are considered acceptable. 10:31:22 PM    comment () Will the US Privatize Iraq? Should It? [LewRockwell.com] More on the planned "economic reforms" in Iraq. 11:48:31 AM    comment () Did you know that it's against US law to conspire to deprive anyone of their rights? If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same; or If two or more persons go in disguise on the highway, or on the premises of another, with intent to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege so secured - They shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death Title 18, Part I, Chapter 13, Section 241 US Code Needless to say this law is never enforced. However, look around at the government employees you come in contact with or read about. How many of them should be in prison? In particular, consider the private security guards, FAA bureaucrats, and members of Congress responsible for depriving the people on the 9/11 flights of their right to bear arms. Because death resulted from their violation of this section, every single one of them may be sentenced to death--and I would add that because of the huge number of deaths caused by their actions, every single one of them should be put to death. 10:16:21 AM    comment () Amina Lawal's victory. Al-hamdulillah, an Islamic appeals court in Nigeria has overturned the conviction of Amina Lawal: Reading the hour-long ruling in the local Hausa language, Judge Ibrahim Mai-Unguwa argued that only one judge was present during Lawal's initial conviction in March 2002, instead of the three required under local Islamic law. He noted that under some interpretations of Shariah, babies can remain in gestation in a mother's womb for over five years, opening the possibility that her ex-husband -- whom she divorced two years before giving birth -- could have fathered the child. Mai-Unguwa also said the policeman who first arrested Lawal in 2002 should have been flogged because he did so in violation of Islamic law, which requires four witnesses to the crime. Lawal was not "caught in the act," Mai-Unguwa said. Ibrahim, the defense lawyer, welcomed the decision. "It's a victory for law. It's a victory for justice, and it's a victory for what we stand for -- dignity and fundamental human rights," she said, smiling broadly. Lead prosecutor Nurulhuda Mohammad Darma said he was "satisfied" with the ruling. The state has 30 days to appeal, but Darma said that was unlikely. As I explained when I first posted on this issue last December, the conviction of Lawal was a travesty perpetrated by people who are either ignorant of Islamic jurisprudence or uninterested in applying it properly. [Al-Muhajabah's Islamic Blogs] There's considerable irony in this poor woman being spared from a barbaric punishment for a non-existent crime in part because of a ludicrous defense that nobody could possibly take seriously. I very much doubt the policeman will receive any punishment, flogging or otherwise. They never do. 10:05:22 AM    comment ()

© Copyright 2006 Ken Hagler. Last update: 2/15/2006; 1:57:04 PM.