7:04 pm CST
Apparently, there are not enough people eating candy bars or talking loudly on their cell phones in Washington DC's Metro stations these days to keep police busy. So now they're going after people who avoid eye contact, look around too much, or loiter.

This disturbs me because, to tell you the truth, the last time I was in DC and rode the Metro, I seem to recall committing all three offenses. I did not do this intentionally, of course.

What happened was, I missed my train. (I always get confused. Should I take the red train or the blue? Thus, I miss a train at least once every time I go to DC.) This caused me to wait a considerable time for the next train--which could have easily been construed as loitering. Also, while I was "loitering," there was nothing else for me to do but look around. So I looked around. However, when I am in a public place such as a subway station, I make it a practice not to look at everything; that is, I avoid eye contact with strangers. Making eye contact with strangers has a way of inviting trouble, if you know what I mean, and it seems especially imprudent if the stranger is a cop. (Not that I'm guilty of anything, it's just that these days cops are likely to hassle you for anything, such as looking at them--or not looking at them!).

So, if I'm ever in DC again and miss my train, I guess I'd better leave the station immediately and hail a cab if I want to avoid trouble.

12:57 pm CST
Taser Report

Fans Zapped by Tasers at Football Game

Police officers to carry Tasers in schools

Heart expert warns about using Tasers

12:54 pm CST
Tsunami Report

Tsunami Bomb Developed As Far Back As 1944

US island base given warning: Bulletins sent to Diego Garcia 'could have saved lives'

Powell declares tsunami aid part of global war on terror: Imperialism in Samaritan's clothing

6:07 pm CST
A Bedtime Story:

Not very long ago, in a remote forest camp in Oregon, a jobless Vietnam veteran living on a $400-a-month disability check was raising his 12-year-old daughter.

Together, they tended their vegetable garden and every two weeks would walk to the nearest town to cash his meager check, buy some groceries, and attend church. And during this time, the man, who was college educated, schooled the girl himself with a Bible and a battered old set of World Book Encyclopedias.

By conventional standards, this was a substandard lifestyle that put the girl in physical danger and deprived her of a "normal" life and education. Yet, not only was she healthier than most children, she was more responsible, better behaved, better spoken, and far better educated than other children her age and older.

Then, one day, someone discovered them and called the police. The police searched for them and found them hiding behind a tree.

It is at this point that you would expect something like the following to happen:

The police yell at them to hit the ground. But they don't move fast enough so the police Taser them. Then, assuming they survive the Tasers, they are handcuffed and taken to jail.

The father is then charged with vagrancy, resisting arrest, child molestation--any charge that can be dreamt up and trumped up. Also, when it comes to light that the father was home schooling his daughter, it arouses the suspicion that he might be a terrorist--a suspicion that is soon confirmed by the discovery of a hand-held laser and an unauthorized Rubik's Cube within a mile's radius of the camp. As a result, the federal government gets involved, the charges are enhanced to terrorism, and the man is sent to prison for life without possibility of parole.

Meanwhile, the girl is delivered into the clutches of Child Protective Services. She is forced to take Ritalin; sent to a foster home where she is molested, fed junk food, and subjected to the most moronic television shows, mind-numbing hip-hop and pop music, and violent, foul-mouthed movies; and finally sent to public school where her peers introduce her to drugs and the incompetent teachers and dull, dumbed-down curriculum combine to kill all interest in reading and learning forever. At the end of this process, having been completely ruined--physically, mentally, and morally--the girl is pronounced normal.

But that did not happen. No, in this case, the unexpected happened.

You see, the policeman in charge of the case somehow got it into his head that police are supposed to serve the people, not the other way around. I know, it sounds unbelievable that a policeman would hold an opinion as odd and obsolete as that, but it's true, he did.

So, when the man and his daughter were discovered in the forest, and the policeman saw how healthy and intelligent the girl was, and confirmed that she had not been molested or harmed in any way, and saw how much the two loved one other and how they grieved to think of being torn apart, he kept Child Protective Services at bay, found the man a job, and found the two of them a home. And now, they are together and happy.

This story, as I say, is true. Read it in its entirety HERE. Read it and ask yourself why more such situations cannot be handled with the same common sense and compassion, and why we are allowing politicians to empower Child Protective Services when we should instead be demanding the curtailment of the powers of this Gestapo agency, if not its outright abolition.

A few educational links about Child Protective Services:

CPS Abuses Links Page

  Tyranny in Wenatchee: Foster Abuse and Cover-up

Stories of Malicious CPS Activities

Abolish CPS

Forced Drugging by CPS

6:51 pm CST
Today, we learn that the tsunami death toll could double to 300,000. Also, for what it's worth, a few days ago I posted a link to an article which said that, after the tsunami, we should watch for something big and military to happen in Asia. Today, we read that North Koreans are being told to prepare for war.

  6:45 pm CST
You may recall that on 11/8/04 I posted an email discussion between myself and my friend and fellow cartoonist Marcel Ruijters regarding the assassination of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh. In that discussion, Marcel mentioned a film van Gogh made about the assassination of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn; this film alleged that Fortuyn was assassinated on orders of the US Ambassador due to Fortuyn's objection to buying US fighter jets. LibertyThink has excerpted our conversation in the context of the late Prince Bernhard's posthumous admission that he accepted bribes of $1.2 billion in exchange for his help in getting contracts for the U.S. aircraft company Lockheed. See the following: Dutch royal bribery and the Fortuyn/vanGogh assassinations

7:04 pm CST
NWO Puppets Join Forces Publicly in Wake of Tsunami Disaster

12,600-Strong U.S. Military Team Aids Tsunami Relief

America urged to devise 'Marshall plan' for Asia

Welcoming "us" with open arms:

Tribe shoots arrows at aid flight

Why you may want to consider sending your tsunami donations somewhere other than Red Cross:

Red Cross Pocketed Half of 9/11 Donations

6:59 pm CST
Another Taser death:

Pacifica Taser Gun Death Under Investigation

Finally, some good news on this topic:

Eugene police set aside plans for Tasers

9:45 pm CST
Jack Blood Announces the Patriot of the Year 2004:

Rep. RON PAUL

3:45 pm CST
India Daily:

Thousands of US Marines to Lanka, Maldives relief work upsets India - how long will US Marines stay in Indonesia, Lanka and Maldives?

Human Hand behind earthquake and Tsunami? It is time for Indian Navy to  investigate

Also:

Geologist gave repeated alerts

7:11 pm CST
Via LibertyThink:

Jose Joaquin Sanjenis Perdomo, John Lennon's true assassin(?)

7:10 pm CST
From Wikipedia:

"The Indian Ocean provides major sea routes connecting the Middle East, Africa, and East Asia with Europe and the Americas. It carries a particularly heavy traffic of petroleum and petroleum products from the oilfields of the Persian Gulf and Indonesia. Large reserves of hydrocarbons are being tapped in the offshore areas of Saudi Arabia, Iran, India, and western Australia. An estimated 40% of the world's offshore oil production comes from the Indian Ocean. Beach sands rich in heavy minerals and offshore placer deposits are actively exploited by bordering countries, particularly India, South Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand."

7:03 pm CST
Day 2 of the New Year. Only 363 more days till the next one.

7:21 pm CST
After the Tsunami -- watch out for something big and military to happen in Asia

5:06 pm CST
A READER WRITES: Happy New Year Mack.

Here's a headline that popped up after I read your rundown of recent headlines. Not the best news to start off the new year, but a good reminder that we can't be complacent and settle into a "hope this year is a better one" comfort zone.

Republican leaders are considering a change in House ethics rules that could make it harder to discipline lawmakers.

Keep up the good work. Thanks for getting The Bush Junta published.

Thanks for writing! And thanks for the link. It's not surprising, but disturbing nonetheless, to learn that our "lawmakers" are changing the rules to lower their own standards of behavior, while passing laws that strip us of basic rights and exert more police state control over every aspect of our lives. Corruption in government has never been more blatant.

No, we can't be complacent that 2005 will be better. Just wishing won't make it so; we've got to work at it.

That said, here's wishing you a Happy New Year!

5:02 pm CST
Over the past month listenership for  RADIO MACK has mushroomed. Therefore, it has been much on my mind that, as soon as I finish my current comics project (SOON!), I need to update the playlist with new music and sonic oddities. Stay tuned for an announcement ...

11:32 am CST
An update from Michel Chossudovsky:
Foreknowledge of a Natural Disaster

Another article by Chossudovsky that is relevant to the present situation:
The Ultimate Weapon of Mass Destruction: "Owning the Weather" for Military Use

Putting the disaster in its political context:
A Wave of Questions