Recovery from knee surgery is going really well, but it has set me back on posting here, which is a tad frustrating with so many relevant things going on. This post will consist of snippets and links to a few of those stories.

Beginning with last week, there was the story about federal bureaucrats spending your tax dollars on all sorts of frivolous and luxury items by charging them to federal credit card. Giving them the cards was supposed to help cut down on bureaucratic red tape, enabling them to make essential purchases without having to submit a lot of forms, etc. So much for that idea.

There is also the NY Times story about the Department of Justice arranging it so major corporations can defer trials and essentially get a “get out of jail free” card. So the rich get richer. There actually is a kernel of reason in the idea, but the current situation is over the top.

More recently, the Texas polygamy community story, in which the state took custody of hundreds of children, has been in the headlines. There are questions about how the Child Protective Services agency has performed in the case, and it invites comparison to the Island Pond Raid here in Vermont in 1984.

Last for now is Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice having chaired meetings authorizing torture, and then lying to Congress about it. Here’s the video:

Peace.

Deborah Alicen