By Fred Burton and Scott Stewart
Courtesy of Strategic Forecasting

Diplomatic relations between Colombia and Nicaragua are once again in the news, with the two countries trading broadsides over the Nicaraguan government’s recent decision to grant asylum to three female members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). 

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega in June said that the FARC members in question reportedly survived the March 1 attack on a FARC camp just over the Colombian border in Ecuador that resulted in the death of Raul Reyes (Luis Edgar Devia Silva), FARC’s No. 2 and one of its most long-standing and experienced operational commanders. After the March 1 raid, Nicaragua briefly severed diplomatic relations with Colombia in protest of the country’s violation of Ecuador’s sovereignty.
 
Ortega accused the Colombian government of conducting “state-sponsored terrorism” against the FARC members in his explanation of why he granted them asylum. To emphasize this point, Ortega further accused the Colombian government of plotting to assassinate the three FARC members in Nicaragua. He then stressed that the three need Nicaraguan protection so they can serve as witnesses in a future trial of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez for “crimes against humanity.” 

By George Friedman
Courtesy of Stategic Forecasting

On June 20, The New York Times published a report saying that more than 100 Israeli aircraft carried out an exercise in early June over the eastern Mediterranean Sea and Greece. The article pointed out that the distances covered were roughly the distances from Israel to Iranian nuclear sites and that the exercise was a trial run for a large-scale air strike against Iran.

By George Friedman
Courtesy of Strategic Forecasting

The creation of a European state was severely wounded if not killed last week. The Irish voted against a proposed European Union treaty that included creation of a full-time president, increased power to pursue a European foreign policy and increased power for Europe’s parliament. Since the European constitutional process depends on unanimous consent by all 27 members, the Irish vote effectively sinks this version of the new constitution, much as Dutch and French voters sank the previous version in 2005.

By Fred Burton and Scott Stewart
Courtesy of Strategic Forecasting

In a June 10 press conference, Rehman Malik, the internal affairs advisor to Pakistan’s prime minister, reported that a suicide bombing plot had been thwarted when Pakistani authorities arrested nine individuals and seized four apparent vehicle-borne improvised explosives devices (VBIEDs) containing a total of over 1,100 kilograms of explosives.

The VBIED seizures follow the June 2 bombing of the Danish Embassy in Islamabad, which left eight people dead and many more wounded. In his press conference, Malik noted that three would-be suicide bombers were among those arrested. He also noted that the militants’ attack plans were “fully mature” and that the group was close to launching attacks with the VBIEDs at the time they were arrested.

I support and vote for Republicans for just two reasons.  One is the party’s strong, pratical views on self-defense and the exercise of power as the world’s policeman.  The other is that the GOP offers the only viable option for preventing tax rates’ reaching the level of extortion, which they do anyway, of course.  I used to support the party for spending restraint, but they lost their senses on that issue.

On all other matters, except the appointment of Supreme Court justices, I’m generally a libertarian and often side with the Demofiends on some social issues, specifically that party’s benign lack of intervention in pornography.

To wit, one example:

Max Hardcore (an alias, obviously) uses adult models to play children with whom he has sex on film.  A Los Angeles jury failed to convict him on obscenity charges after a law ruling that adults couldn’t play children in sex films was ruled unconstitutional.  However, a jury in Florida convicted him this month after the jury, hopelessly deadlocked and almost evenly divided, was ordered to try one more time.

The result?  The self-proclaimed "moral majority" of jurors badgered the others into voting for conviction even though the latter felt that people should be able to watch porn if they like to do so.  They said they personally found the videos offensive but felt that if others didn’t, they should have the right to view them. 

Now, the hypocrisy of preventing people from viewing what they like has reached new lows in Los Angeles.  A federal judge, a Reagan appointee and reputed "social conservative," has had to postpone a pornography trial over which he was presiding because he maintains a Web site with similar pornographic images himself.

Alex Kozinski, chief judge of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, yesterday took down his site, www.alexkozinski,com, after the L.A. Times discovered hidden images:

The sexually explicit material on the site was extensive, including images of masturbation, public sex and contortionist sex. There was a slide show striptease featuring a transsexual, and a folder that contained a series of photos of women’s crotches in snug-fitting clothing or underwear.

Bottom line: Stop wasting taxpayer money on trying to stop something that people clearly enjoy. Pursue the criminals and terrorists and leave ordinary people–and yes, even pornographers–alone.