Early Edition

1. South Dakota Social Services Is Kidnapping Children
I understand that when underprivileged folks have a microphone thrust into their face and a sympathetic ear offerred that embellishment is a common occurrence, but regardless of whether the Howes are embellishing their story for the benefit of the reporter, this situation is still totally unacceptable. Social workers unilaterally empowered to take your children away on suspicion of wrongdoing? Forget the cultural elements of this story, this is wrong no matter where it occurs. Are there families out there neglecting, abusing and exploiting their children? Absolutely there are, and that is unforgivably tragic. But empowering government bureaucrats to steal your children and bar you from accessing them without due process of law? The absolute apathy of the bureaucrats interviewed in this piece is staggering.

2. More On Tunisian Elections
I’m heartened by what I’m reading on this. A youth demographic that is suspicious of the leading Islamist party, a population jealous of its accumulated rights, and no clear majority in Parliament, meaning a coalition of secular and religious parties will be required in order to govern. The voting occurred without violence or, as far as we can tell, massive fraud.

3. Feds Targeting California Marijuana Growers
Given the way our government usually works/thinks regarding lining its pockets and increasing the breadth of its authority, I’m continually amazed that legalization of marijuana has not gotten more traction. Legalizing would afford federal and state governments an enormous source of new tax revenues, a brand new industry to regulate, and so much else. But I guess then the US attorney’s office couldn’t order private landowners to use their property in a certain way or risk losing it altogether.