Man Charged for Protecting Son from Bear

This is insane.

A man charged after he shot a grizzly in Kananaskis Country says he killed the bear only because his 13-year-old son was in danger.

Joe Lucas, a Canadian calf roping champion from near Carstairs, has been charged with five counts under the Parks Act and the Wildlife Act.

But Lucas said he had no choice but to shoot the grizzly as it was approaching his son Kyle.

“I had my boy there, and the bear was heading almost directly towards him,” Lucas said.

“He was 16 yards away, actually, when I shot him. It’s not fun being attacked by a grizzly bear, that’s for sure.”

Lucas said he has fully co-operated with the investigation. He even rode by horseback three hours to his truck to charge his cellphone and call authorities about the death.

“They’re wanting me to become accountable for killing that bear,” he said. “I wonder who would be accountable if my son was dead or I was dead?”

Seriously… if this guy wanted to poach a Grizzly Bear, he would have shot it, processed it, and headed home.  Nobody would have ever known.  Instead, he called authorities to notify them.  Sure, he may have misinterpreted the bear’s intentions and shot it without malicious provocation, but I would argue that a bear less than 50 feet away from me and my son is a concern.  Now this guy is facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines - Canadian dollars, no less, which are worth more than American dollars. 

Sorry, but no bear is worth the life of a human.  Period. 

Hat tip Firearms & Freedom.

Chavez Nationalizes Steelmaker

The tyranny of socialism continues.

President Hugo Chavez has signed a decree to nationalise Venezuela’s biggest steelmaker, Ternium-Sidor.

Argentina’s Techint, which owns 60% of it, has been given until the end of June to hand it over.

In the past two years the Venezuelan state has taken over foreign-controlled companies including cement, telecoms, oil, gas and electricity firms.

President Chavez threatened to nationalise the steelmaker after trade union talks broke down last month.

Al-Qaida Leader Captured?

Let’s hope this is true.

Iraqi police commandos captured the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq in a raid in the northern city of Mosul, Iraqi officials said Thursday, in what could mark a significant blow to the Sunni insurgency in its last urban stronghold.

Iraqi Defense Ministry Spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said the arrest of Abu Ayyub al-Masri — also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir — was reported by the Iraqi commander in Mosul, where insurgents have sought to establish a foothold after being widely uprooted from Baghdad and surrounding areas last year.

The U.S. military in Baghdad said it was “checking with Iraqi authorities to confirm the accuracy of this information.”

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said the arrest occurred “at midnight and during the primary investigations he admitted that he is Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir.”

UPDATE: Nope. 

Fight Over Women’s Right to Sexual Happiness in Ecuador

Interesting.

A woman from the governing party in Ecuador has proposed that a women’s right to enjoy sexual happiness should be enshrined in the country’s law.

Her suggestion has provoked a lively debate in conservative Ecuador.

Maria Soledad Vela, who is helping to rewrite the constitution, says women have traditionally been seen as mere sexual objects or child bearers.

Now, she says, women should have the right to make free, responsible and informed decisions about sex lives.

[...]

Opposition assembly member, Leonardo Viteri, accused her of trying to decree orgasm by law.

Another called the proposal “ridiculous” and said that such an intimate topic should stay intimate and not be enshrined in law.

It would seem that recognizing one’s right to one’s own person would cover this just fine. 

Remittances Continue to Increase

That’s a lot of money. 

U.S. Census estimates for 2006 put the Latino population in Wisconsin at about 261,000, with about 21,000 in Dane County. Local United Way estimates suggest the county numbers may run much higher, perhaps 45,000 or more. It’s not known how many in that group are here illegally.

The average adult Latino immigrant in Wisconsin sends home about $2,700 a year, according to 2006 figures collected by the Inter-American Development Bank.

Families on the other end can be hugely dependent on that money to meet basic needs like food, shelter, clothing and medicine.

According to a recent IBD report, remittances “are essential to lifting millions of families out of poverty, particularly in Mexico, Central America, Bolivia, Ecuador, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.”

Indeed, the transfers account for a significant part of the gross domestic product of several countries in the region, including 43 percent in Guyana, 35 percent in Haiti, 25 percent in Honduras, and 18 percent in Jamaica and El Salvador.

Mexico is the largest overall recipient of remittances, topping $23 billion in 2006, followed by Brazil and Columbia, at $7 billion and $4 billion respectively, according to the IDB. Remittances to Mexico, however, account for just 3 percent of its GDP because of its much larger economy.

Last Would-be Hitler Assassin Dies

Thanks for trying… RIP. 

Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager, believed to be the last surviving member of the inner circle of plotters who attempted to kill Adolf Hitler in 1944 with a briefcase bomb, has died. He was 90.

The German military said in a statement Friday that the former army major died Thursday night. It did not give a cause of death.

Von Boeselager was part of a group of officers who tried to kill Hitler on July 20, 1944, supplying explosives for the operation led by Col. Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg.

[...]

Though many of those rounded up by Nazi officials were tortured in the hopes they would give up other conspirators, von Boeselager’s name was never divulged and he was never found out.

Still, he carried a cyanide capsule with him until the end of the war in case his secret was revealed.

Conservative Is New Mayor of London

Is a tide turning in Britain?

Conservative Boris Johnson has defeated the ruling Labour Party’s two-term mayor of London, election officials announced Friday.

The results cap a miserable election for Labour, which appeared headed for its biggest nationwide council losses in 40 years.

Trouble in Paradise

Yikes.

A Native Hawaiian group that advocates sovereignty locked the gates of a historic palace Wednesday in downtown Honolulu, saying it would carry out the business of what it considers the legitimate government of the islands.

State deputy sheriffs weren’t allowing anyone else to enter Iolani Palace grounds as unarmed security guards from the Hawaiian Kingdom Government group blocked all gates to the palace, which is adjacent to the state Capitol.

CIA Puts Taliban On Their Heels

The CIA is working hard for America. 

The Taliban and their al-Qaeda associates, in what they considered a master stroke, this year started to target the Western alliance’s supply lines that run through Pakistan into Afghanistan.

Their focal point was Khyber Agency, in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas, a key transit point for as much as 70% of the alliance’s supplies needed to maintain its battle against the Afghan insurgency.

The spectacular blowing up on March 20 of 40 gas tankers at Torkham - the border crossing in Khyber Agency into Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province - sent shock waves through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led (NATO) coalition. So much so that it made a deal for some supplies to transit through Russia, a much more arduous route.

[...]

Then came this week’s incident in which the Taliban seized two members of the World Food Program (WFP) in Khyber Agency, and it became obvious the Taliban had been betrayed, and all for the princely sum of about US$150,000.

Their Khyber dreams are now in tatters.

[...]

The Americans were fully aware of the Taliban’s designs on Khyber Agency and invested a lot in the tribes to protect the route. In response, the Taliban threatened tribal chieftains, and launched a suicide attack on a jirga (meeting) convened to discuss eradicating the Taliban from the area. Over 40 tribals were killed.

US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte also visited Khyber Agency to meet with chiefs, but out of fear for the Taliban only six tribal elders showed up. It appeared the Americans had been outwitted, but their game was not over.

[...]

Unlike in previous Taliban attacks in the area, local paramilitary forces chased the Taliban after this incident. The Taliban retaliated and five soldiers were killed, but then their ammunition ran out and they surrendered the two workers and tried to flee, but they were blocked.

The Taliban called in reinforcements, but so did the paramilitary troops, and a stalemate was reached. Eventually, the Taliban managed to capture a local political agent (representing the central government) and they used him as a hostage to allow their escape.

They retreated to their various safe houses, but to their horror, paramilitary troops were waiting for them and scores were arrested, and their arms caches seized. A number of Taliban did, however, manage to escape once word got out of what was happening.

The only person aware of the safe houses was Namdar, their supposed protector: they had been sold out.

[...]

The immediate result is that Taliban operations in Khyber Agency have been cut off. This in itself is a major setback, as the attacks on supply lines had hit a raw NATO nerve.

In the broader context, Namdar’s betrayal vividly illustrates the dangers of traitors within the ranks of the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The fear is that the various peace deals being signed now between the Islamabad government and selected tribal leaders could lead to a whole new batch of betrayals.

It sure would be nice to have read this story on CNN or MSNBC instead of the Asia Times. 

Hat tip Pine River World News.

Man Blogs When Arrested in Egypt

Back in MY day, this guy would have sat in an Egyptian prison and LIKED it!

Buck, a graduate student from the University of California-Berkeley, was in Mahalla, Egypt, covering an anti-government protest when he and his translator, Mohammed Maree, were arrested April 10.

On his way to the police station, Buck took out his cell phone and sent a message to his friends and contacts using the micro-blogging site Twitter.

The message only had one word. “Arrested.”

Within seconds, colleagues in the United States and his blogger-friends in Egypt—the same ones who had taught him the tool only a week earlier—were alerted that he was being held.

Good for him for thinking on his feet. 

NK Trains Syrians in Nukes

Stunning.

The United States has accused North Korea of helping Syria build a nuclear reactor that “was not intended for peaceful purposes”.

The site, said to be like one in North Korea, was bombed by Israel in 2007.

Syria must “come clean” about its secret nuclear programme, the White House said in a statement after CIA officials briefed members of Congress.

Syria has repeated denials that it has any nuclear weapons programme, or any such agreement with North Korea.

But the White House said the “cover-up” operation that Syria carried out after the Israeli air strike reinforced the belief that the reactor “was not intended for peaceful activities”.

[...]

One of the images, which shows two men standing side by side, was said by the CIA to be of the head of the North Korean nuclear plant and the head of the Syrian atomic energy commission together in Syria.

The images - said to have been obtained by Israel - showed striking similarities between the Syrian facility and the North Korean reactor at Yongbyon, the US said.

Maybe Obama can go offer them a cup of tea and clear all this up. 

Darth Vader Attacks Jedi Church Members

I wasn’t sure what to do with this… so here you go. 

A man posing as Darth Vader attacked a Star Wars fan, who had founded a Jedi Church, a court has heard.

[...]

The court heard he had jumped over a garden wall wearing the bin bag before the attack.

Outlining the case againt Hughes, prosectutor Nia Lloyd said Barney Jones had recently started the Jedi church in Holyhead - in honour of the Star Wars’ good knights.

It had about 30 members locally and “thousands worldwide”.

The cousins had been filming themselves playing with light sabres in the garden before the attack.

Hughes admitted two charges of common assault.

The court heard he has a “chronic alcohol problem” and had drunk the best part of a 10 litre box of wine.

Mrs Lloyd said: “He was wearing a black bin bag and a cape and had a metal crutch in his hand.”

Mrs Lloyd said he was shouting “Darth Vader”.

Clinton Would Nuke Iran

Clinton’s getting downright hawkish.

In the interview Monday, Clinton affirmed that she would warn Iran’s leaders that “their use of nuclear weapons against Israel would provoke a nuclear response from the United States.”

She said U.S. allies in the Middle East were being “intimidated and bullied into submission by Iran,” raising the prospect of an “incredibly destabilizing” arms race in the region.

“I can imagine that they would be rushing to obtain nuclear weapons themselves” if Iran were to develop a nuclear arsenal, she said.

Clinton said it was vital that the United States create a new “security umbrella” to reassure Israel and its other allies in the region that they would not be threatened by Iran. She said she would tell them that “if you were the subject of an unprovoked nuclear attack by Iran, the United States, and hopefully our NATO allies, would respond to that.”

Of course, that’s all well and good, but what if Iran launches a non-nuclear attack on Israel?  Given that every war in history except one has been fought without nuclear weapons, it’s evident that nuclear weapons are not required for complete destruction.  How would she respond if Iran launched a conventional attack?  A biological or chemical weapons attack? 

Clinton’s position is the correct one, but incomplete. 

The ship carrying weapons to Zimbabwe may return to China

Good.

The ship carrying weapons to Zimbabwe may return to China after being prevented from unloading in South Africa, a Chinese official has said.

Zambia’s president has called on other African countries not to let the ship enter their waters, in case the arms escalate post-election tensions.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said the weapons were ordered last year and were “perfectly normal”.

But she said the ship’s owners were considering bringing the ship back.

Ms Jiang said this was because it was proving impossible for Zimbabwe to receive the arms but this has not been confirmed by the Chinese shipping company.

It’s good to see the nations of Africa taking some action regarding Mugabe’s oppression. 

.su Lives On

Huh.

Sixteen years after the superpower’s collapse, Web sites ending in the Soviet “.su” domain name have been rising — registrations increased 45 percent this year alone. Bloggers, entrepreneurs and die-hard communists are all part of a small but growing online community resisting repeated efforts to extinguish the online Soviet outpost.

Perhaps they are just anticipating the future if Putin gets his way.