News Clips: February 18

WND.com - In another evidence of reduction of freedom of speech, Oakland California police arrested Reverend Walter Hoye II for quietly picketing at an abortion clinic. Video evidence submitted by Rev. Hoye clearly shows he is quietly standing outside the abortion clinic, holding a sign which read "Jesus loves you and your baby. Let us help you." Security guards are visibly harassing Rev. Hoye by following him as he walked back and forth, and by covering his sign with prepared blank posters. The abortion clinic director, Jackie Barbic, testified in court that Rev. Hoye had physically intimidated her until she had to defend herself, shouting "Stay away from me! Back down!" Video evidence submitted to court clearly demonstrates that no such thing happened, yet Rev. Hoye was convicted of "unlawful approach."

NYTimes.com - Despite his campaign platform to end and withdraw from the ongoing war, Obama recently approved 17,000 additional troops for Afghanistan. The troops will be spread out over the spring and summer, totaling nearly 50 percent more troops. In a careful misdirected statement, NY Times quotes Obama as saying that "the fact that we are going to responsibly draw down our forces in Iraq allows us the flexibility to increase our presence in Afghanistan.” While Obama ran a specific campaign against the Iraq war, anti-war activists are disappointed that he is not withdrawing from Afghanistan.

LATimes.com - Sacremento homosexuals are working to overturn the recently passed Proposition 8, which clarifies marriages as between a man and woman. Proposition 8 was approved by voters, and passed by a 600,000 vote margin, passing in 42 out of California's 58 counties. While California is barely able to pay it's state workers, and has recently laid off around 20,000 employees, many in California are arguing that there are more important things needing discussion at the moment than a majority passed bill.

HumanEvents.com - In a long article by James Delingpole, a writer for the group Human Events, he articulates the danger of limiting freedom of speech against radical Islamic groups. In the article, Delingpole details the work of Dutch Parliament member Geert Wilder in the short movie Fitna, which parallels horrific terrorist attacks with verses from the Koran. Mr. Wilder's video has been a source of outrage from the Moslem community at large, and has resulted in his recent denial of entry into Britain. In Britain, only a few weeks ago, a nurse was nearly fired for offering to pray for one of her patients.

TimesOnline.com - One of India's biggest and oldest Hindu nationalist groups has announced a new drink, called "gau jal" or "cow water", made of cow urine. Hindus revere cows, and it is illegal to kill them in most of India. The drink is sponsored by the Cow Protection Department of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and may be launched by the end of the year. The RSS group has also used violent means of promoting it's agenda, including killing 67 Christians last year. According to Times Online, the RSS and it's offshoots began promoting cow urine as a cure for cancer back in 2001. India's national Hindu religion is seen as the main cause for it's food shortages, among other internal difficulties.

WND.com - A twelve year old girl, identified only as "Lia", took first place in a speech contest when she argued for the rights of the unborn, even though one judge was offended enough to quit. During the contest preliminaries Lia was "strongly encouraged" to pick a different subject, and was even later threatened with disqualification if she spoke on abortion. "Why do we think that just because a fetus can't talk or do what we do, it isn't a human being yet?" She asks in the video. "Some babies are born after only five months. Is this baby not human?"

AZCentral.com - It seems the anti-drunken-driving devices being installed in cars don't always help much after all. In Suffolk County, New York, police arrested a Marvin Rice after he crashed a rented vehicle while intoxicated. Mr. Rice had a previous DWI and agreed to have the breath testing equipment installed. The fact that a driver will find ways to circumvent the breath tester, by altering the equipment or finding a new vehicle, has been one argument against the devices from the beginning.

USAToday.com - In another brilliant act of bureaucratic, lobbyist guided legislation, a new federal law which aims to protect children from lead in toys has practically killed the entire sales of off-road vehicles built for young riders. Lead is used in many parts of motorcycles and ATVs for strengthening the metal, among other reasons. According to USA Today, Paul Vitrano, general counsel for the Motorcycle Counsel Industry, said the industry "estimates the retail value retail market value for all off-road cycles and ATVs is $14.5 billion a year, including sales, service, parts, accessories and payroll." With the economic recession already hitting noticeably, especially at the coasts, additional bureaucratic legislation like this is likely to cause even greater damage.

WasingtonTimes.com - After Arizona rancher roger Barnett attempted to defend his land from illegal immigrant trespassers in 2004, the falsely named Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) brought a $32 million lawsuit for "civil rights violations and the infliction of emotional distress." Now, a federal jury ruled that Mr. Barnett did not violate the illegal immigrants civil rights, and tossed charges of "false imprisonment, battery and conspiracy." The jury still awarded $78,000 to the illegal immigrants for "actual and punitive damages", whatever that may mean.