Pro-Liberty News and Opinion | Libertarian Voluntaryist

A manhunt is on for the cold-blooded killer who, early Sunday morning, shot four people in the head exection-style after lining them up against a wall near a set of bleachers at the K-8 Mount Vernon School. Only one survived.

The killer struck at random when, according to police, the four victims were sitting outside of the Newark, N.J. school listening to music.

Ofemi Hightower, Deshawn Harvey and Terrance Aeriel were shot and killed. Natasha Aeriel, Terrance’s sister, was able to survive when the bullet entered her ear and lodged in her sinuses.

Natasha and Terrance were both students at the University of Delaware. Natasha will have to continue there, as a Biology major, without the support of her brother.

Hightower was her best friend who hoped to attend the University of Deleware with Natasha and her brother. She was currently working in Newark at a nursing home.

Family members had been told that the four friends were going to a party the night that the incident occurred.

Politicians and Law Enforcement Officers are admittedly stumped. They do not have answers for the devastated family members.

“The only thing I can think of is mandatory curfew, because nothing else works,” said Beverly Reid, the great aunt of two of the victims.

The question is: Will a mandatory curfew actually have prevented this crime?

The likely answer is a resounding “No”. The victims were all adults which means — unless we want curfews for adults — that they would not have been affected by the law.

If we are talking about a curfew for adults then there is a bigger issue. When does the government have the authority to enact and enforce such laws? These are the kinds of questions that need to be thoroughly considered before enacting such Draconian laws.

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In a 1 hour, 17 minute-long video American Al Qaeda Member Adam Gadahn threatens the U.S calling embassies in the Islamic world “spy dens”. The video also contained a computer simulation of a March 2006 suicide attack that killed U.S. diplomat David Foy.

“We shall continue to target you, at home and abroad, just as you target us, at home and abroad, and these spy dens and military command and control centers from which you plotted your aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq,” said Adam Gadahn, also known as Azzan al-Amriki.

Gadahn has been wanted by the FBI since 2004 in relation to treason charges. There is a $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction. He recently appeared in another video threatening the U.S. with attacks worse than those that occurred on September 11th.

“Years of bitter trial and experience have revealed the danger (embassies) pose and shown that the only way to deal with them when they refuse to leave of their own accord is to expel them by force,” Gadahn said.

In this video, he is wearing a traditional red and white checkered scarf. The authenticity or date of the video could not be confirmed because Gadahn failed to name any recent events. It did, however, carry the official logo of Al Qaeda’s media production house, as-Sahab.

The video first appeared on the Web site of terrorism expert Laura Mansfield. The U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group has also claimed to have received a copy of the video.

The Iowans love him! Romney tries to pull a Giuliani and says, “Has he forgotten about 9/11,” but Paul sticks his finger up saying, “Just a moment,” and continues on with his answer.

A military jury at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base sentenced Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III to 15 years in prison for the murder of an Iraqi grandfather. Hutchins, a U.S. Marine squad leader, had bragged to his colleagues that he had “got away with murder.”

Hutchins was charged with unpremeditated murder, larceny and other crimes, along with receiving a reprimand and dishonorable discharge.

When the verdict was read his wife and mother sobbed; Hutchins’s face conveyed no emotion or guilt. He lowered his head to the table once.

The former U.S. Marine leader is the father of a 2-year-old daughter was also in the courtroom. He was allowed to spend a short period of time with his family before he was transported to a military brig.

The sentence related to an April 2006 incident in which seven Marines and a Navy medic captured and shot 52 year old Hashim Ibrahim, a father of eleven and grandfather of four. Ibrahim was captured in the dead of night when the Marines could not find his neighbor who was a terrorism suspect.

According to witnesses, the gang of armed men planted an AK-47 and a shovel next to his corpse to make it appear as though he had been planting a road side bomb.

Hutchins applauded his men saying, “We just got away with murder.”

Hutchins convictions makes him the eight person to be sentenced in relation to the crime. He was the only one convicted of murder.

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Three armed robots, nicknamed SWORDS, have begun patrolling the streets of Iraq. The robots “haven’t fired their weapons yet,” says Michael Zecca, the SWORDS program manager, “But that’ll be happening soon.”

Robots on the streets of Iraq is far from a new occurrence. In fact, they have been there since the beginning of the occupation. This is, however, the first time in the history of armed conflict that the patrolling robots have been equipped with weaponry.

SWORDS, an acronym meaning “special weapons observation remote reconnaissance direct action system”, are equipped with M249 machine guns.

Robots, in the past, have mainly been used for surveillance and bomb-disposal.

The SWORDS were originally declared ready for duty in 2004 but safety concerns kept them off the streets. Some of the machines had a problem where they would inexplicable spin out of control.

Hopefully these problems have been fixed.

The ‘bots now have kill switches and electronic and manual safeties to help prevent any disastrous mistakes.