05/22 -- Recasting Romney; The debt ceiling is coming again
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Thomas L. Knapp
May 22, 2012, 12:03:15 AM5/22/12
to Freedom News Daily
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Yemen: Suicide bomber kills 96
2) NATO protest: Almost 50 US vets return service medals
3) Iraq: 13 killed, 19 wounded
4) Afghanistan: Five private guards killed by roadside bomb
5) Pakistan: Seven killed in Karachi attacks
6) No verdict yet in Edwards trial
7) CA: Four tons of pot found floating off SoCal coast
8) OH: Student may wear "Jesus is Not A Homophobe" t-shirt to school,
says court
9) Mali: Protesters storm palace, beat interim president
10) Sri Lanka: Former army chief freed from prison
11) NATO accepts Obama's Afghanistan exit timetable
12) New Zealand to pull Afghanistan troops next year
13) NATO: European missile shield "provisionally operational"
14) SCOTUS will take up wiretaps lawsuit
15) NC: KKK fliers distributed, promoting cross-burning
16) Study: Youth diabetes, prediabetes soaring
17) SIM card alleged to help parents protect children from bullying
18) EU antitrustocrats hector Google for bribe
19) France: Strauss-Kahn faces US gang rape investigation
20) Study: 2000 convicted then exonerated
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Recasting Romney
22) The debt ceiling is coming again
23) Obama or anarchy?
24) The idea of resistance against the state
25) You do not provide
26) Fantasy vs. reality
27) Rob Reiner: Funny as ever
28) What to do when you think (or know) you've uncovered a snitch
29) When red tape is a good thing
30) Police entrapment of non violent movements
31) What happened to the land of the free?
32) Should we obey all laws?
33) It's time to investigate the IRS
34) JPMorgan Chase and casino banking
35) The GOP's Dukakis problem
36) The police state is here
37) France: Liberty, fraternity ... austerity?
38) Obama: Promises broken, promises kept
39) Break up the big banks; here's how
40) Give a man a fish
41) The "vetting" obsession
42) The hand-sanitizer martini
43) Original intent, original understanding, original meaning
44) Why is NATO necessary?
45) How to leave Afghanistan
46) A report the government can't afford to ignore
47) A case for defunding public broadcasting
48) A defense of tax havens
49) China and the lure of the status quo
50) Market failure: The case of organic food
Today's Freedom Audio and Video:
51) Free Talk Live, 05/20/12
52) Doug Bandow on Antiwar Radio
53) Cato Daily Podcast, 05/18/12
54) Automation Nation: Will robots take our jobs?
55) Freedomain Radio #2137
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FREEDOM NEWS
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1) Yemen: Suicide bomber kills 96
Source: Chandigarh Tribune [India]
"A Yemeni soldier packing powerful explosives under his uniform blew
himself up in the middle of an army battalion in Sanaa today, killing
96 troops and injuring 300 others, a military official and medics
said. The suicide attack was the deadliest in the country's capital
since newly-elected President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi pledged to oust Al-
Qaida militants from Yemen's mostly lawless and restive southern and
eastern provinces." (05/21/12)
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120522/world.htm#1
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2) NATO protest: Almost 50 US vets return service medals
Source: The Raw Story
"Nearly 50 U.S. military veterans returned their service medals on
Sunday during a protest against NATO in Chicago, with each of them
throwing their medals over a security fence in a symbolic protest
meant to evoke images of the Vietnam war era. The soldiers'
demonstration came at the tail end of protests that ground Chicago to
a standstill over the weekend as tens of thousands marched against the
continued war in Afghanistan, inaction on climate change, income
inequality and a litany of other progressive causes." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/dyh2tss
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3) Iraq: 13 killed, 19 wounded
Source: Antiwar.com
"Three policemen were killed and two more were wounded when gunmen
attacked their Taji checkpoint. Gunmen killed four soldiers in two
incidents in Mosul. In Abu Ghraib, a sticky bomb blast killed the
driver of a government vehicle and wounded three others, including
civilians. A second sticky bomb killed a civilian and wounded another.
One policeman was killed and three others were wounded when a
motorbike bomb exploded in Ramadi. Three sticky bombs exploded in
Falluja, killing one civilian and wounded two policemen. A tribal
sheikh succumbed to wounds he received in a sticky bomb blast in
Qayara. Gunmen stormed a Dujail home and killed an elderly
woman." (05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/Ln9pqw
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4) Afghanistan: Five private guards killed by roadside bomb
Source: BigPond [Australia]
"Five Afghan guards with a private security company have been killed
in a roadside bombing in southern Afghanistan, a district governor
says. The incident took place in the Shahr-e-Safa district of the
volatile southern province of Zabul on Monday, district governor Shadi
Khan told DPA." (05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/Js9bEx
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5) Pakistan: Seven killed in Karachi attacks
Source: Pakistan Today [Pakistan]
"At least four persons were killed and several others injured in fresh
spate of target killing and other violent incidents in different areas
of the city on Monday. According to police, bullet riddled and
tortured body of an unknown person packed in gunny bag was recovered
from Kharadar area .... Meanwhile, the unstoppable wave of violence
continued in the financial hub of the country as another three people
lost their lives on Monday morning in various incidents of firing in
different areas of the city." (05/22/12)
http://bit.ly/Js8OtD
-----
6) No verdict yet in Edwards trial
Source: Christian Science Monitor
"A federal jury in the political corruption trial of former
presidential candidate John Edwards deliberated for a second day
Monday without reaching a verdict, as Edwards quietly awaited his fate
inside a federal courthouse. The jury of eight men and four women
requested seven prosecution exhibits. Among them were emails in 2006
and 2007 that discussed $725,000 provided to Edwards by wealthy
heiress and supporter Rachel 'Bunny' Mellon, now 101, during Edwards'
campaign for the 2008 Democratic nomination." (05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/LnbYc4
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7) CA: Four tons of pot found floating off SoCal coast
Source: ABC News
"More than four tons of marijuana -- reportedly worth more than $3
million -- was found floating listlessly off the coast of Southern
California with no suspected owners in sight, authorities said. A
boater spotted the 180 bales of pot, wrapped in plastic, bobbing about
15 miles from the coastal town of Dana Point, Calif. just after noon
Sunday, officials said. The Orange County Sheriff's Department and the
U.S. Coast Guard both sent out boats to recover the 8,068 pound stash,
which was then turned over the U.S. Border Patrol." (05/21/12)
http://abcn.ws/LnbK50
-----
8) OH: Student may wear "Jesus is Not A Homophobe" t-shirt to school,
says court
Source: Washington Post
"A gay student who sued his Ohio high school for prohibiting him from
wearing a T-shirt designed to urge tolerance of gays will be allowed
to wear the shirt to school whenever he chooses. A judgment agreed to
by Maverick Couch and the Waynesville Local School District was
entered Monday in federal court in Cincinnati. It allows the teenager
to wear the 'Jesus Is Not A Homophobe' T-shirt and says the district
must pay $20,000 in damages and court costs." (05/21/12)
http://wapo.st/Lnbrah
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9) Mali: Protesters storm palace, beat interim president
Source: CNN
"Dioncounda Traore, Mali's interim president, was beaten and rushed to
a hospital after hundreds of protesters demanding his resignation
stormed the presidential palace Monday. Traore was assaulted and hit
over the head when protesters found him inside the palace. The
president was later taken to the hospital where he was treated for a
wound to his head, hospital staff said." (05/21/12)
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/21/world/africa/mali-president-beaten/
-----
10) Sri Lanka: Former army chief freed from prison
Source: Greensboro News & Record
"Sri Lanka's former army chief, who was imprisoned after losing an
election to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was released from prison
Monday to thousands of cheering supporters. As firecrackers erupted in
the background, Sarath Fonseka promised to carry on with his challenge
to the government." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7z9h8wr
-----
11) NATO accepts Obama's Afghanistan exit timetable
Source: CNN
"NATO leaders signed off Monday on President Barack Obama's exit
strategy from Afghanistan that calls for an end to combat operations
next year and the withdrawal of the U.S.-led international military
force by the end of 2014. Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told
reporters at the conclusion of a two-day summit of the alliance
leaders that the plan calls for handing over security responsibilities
to Afghan forces in 2013, then withdrawing foreign forces the
following year." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7cp6l69
-----
12) New Zealand to pull Afghanistan troops next year
Source: Las Vegas Sun
"New Zealand says it will withdraw its small contingent of troops from
Afghanistan a year earlier than planned. Prime Minister John Key told
reporters Tuesday that the 145 New Zealand troops stationed in Bamiyan
province will come home in late 2013 rather than 2014. New Zealand has
stationed troops in the war-torn country since 2003, with five dying
there during that time." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7utoezs
-----
13) NATO: European missile shield "provisionally operational"
Source: Christian Science Monitor
"At its weekend summit in Chicago, NATO announced that the first phase
of its controversial European missile defense shield has become
'provisionally operational,' news that will not be received well in
Moscow. If there is any issue that threatens to derail the fragile
East-West detente that's held since President Obama set out to reverse
the mini-cold war that prevailed under George W. Bush, it's the
increasingly acrimonious dispute over missile defense." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/cx8lk5k
-----
14) SCOTUS will take up wiretaps lawsuit
Source: Fox News
"The Supreme Court says it will consider shutting down a legal
challenge to a law that lets the United States eavesdrop on overseas
communications. A federal appeals court ruled last year that a lawsuit
filed by lawyers, journalists and human rights groups objecting to the
latest version of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act could
proceed. But the Obama administration appealed, and the justices said
Monday they will take up the case in the fall." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/c688upt
-----
15) NC: KKK fliers distributed, promoting cross-burning
Source: The Tennessean
"Police in Reidsville are investigating some fliers that invite people
to a cross-burning. Police Chief Edd Hunt said officers have received
calls about the fliers, which come two weeks after the Ku Klux Klan
held a protest in nearby Eden. Hunt says detectives are investigating
but he's not sure if the material is connected to the earlier protests
in Eden." [editor's note: Amazing how can this be the same state that
includes Duke, UNC, Wake Forest ... and Asheville's rather
"progressive" community! - SAT] (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/cfln6re
-----
16) Study: Youth diabetes, prediabetes soaring
Source: Arizona Republic
"Diabetes and prediabetes have soared among the nation's youth,
jumping from 9 percent of the adolescent population in 2000 to 23
percent in 2008, says a study out today. The findings, reported in the
journal Pediatrics, are 'very concerning,' says lead author Ashleigh
May, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. 'To get ahead of this problem, we have to be incredibly
aggressive and look at children and adolescents and say you have to
make time for physical activity,' says pediatric endocrinologist Larry
Deeb, past president of medicine and science for the American Diabetes
Association." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/bss9hoy
-----
17) SIM card alleged to help parents protect children from bullying
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"Parents will now be able to control their child's mobile phone,
thanks to a SIM card remotely managed from a computer. The Bemilo
system, to be run on the Vodafone network, offers a service for
parents to prevent their children from going online, texting or
calling during certain hours. Unlike an app, a child will not be able
to switch the service off. The UK's Family and Parenting Institute
said the SIM would help protect children from mobile phone
bullying." [editor's note: By restricting their choices of when to
text, and similar "attachment parenting" ploys, under the excuse of
"protecting them" ... Sounds a bit sinister to me! - SAT] [additional
editor's note: "Attachment parenting" doesn't mean what Steve seems to
think it means - TLK] (05/21/12)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18144038
-----
18) EU antitrustocrats hector Google for bribe
Source: International Business Times
"The European Union's antitrust chief on Monday ratcheted up the
pressure on Google, giving it a matter of weeks to settle an
investigation into allegations of anti-competitive behavior and avoid
formal charges and a possible fine. ... EU Competition Commissioner
Joaquin Almunia said regulators were as keen as Google to avoid
lengthy proceedings due to rapid developments in the technology
industry and that if [a sufficiently large bribe was] offered by
Google within the coming weeks, the antitrust investigation could be
brought to a close." (05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/JgwVXr
-----
19) France: Strauss-Kahn faces US gang rape investigation
Source: Agence France-Presse
"Disgraced former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn's legal woes
deepened Monday as French prosecutors opened a preliminary probe into
accusations he took part in a gang rape in the US. Prosecutors in
Lille, where Strauss-Kahn and three others are charged in a vice case,
said in a statement the probe centred on an incident 'that could be
described as gang rape' that took place in Washington, DC in December
2010." (05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/Jgrojw
-----
20) Study: 2000 convicted then exonerated
Source: Time
"More than 2,000 people who were falsely convicted of serious crimes
have been exonerated in the United States in the past 23 years,
according to a new archive compiled at two universities. ... The
overall registry/list begins at the start of 1989. It gives an
unprecedented view of the scope of the problem of wrongful convictions
in the United States and the figure of more than 2,000 exonerations
'is a good start,' said Rob Warden, executive director of the Center
on Wrongful Convictions." (05/21/12)
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2115334,00.html
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HEALTH-OF-THE-STATE-O-METER, 05/22/12
Iraqi Deaths Due to US Invasion: 1,455,590
(source: justforeignpolicy.org/iraq)
US Deaths in Afghanistan: Bush 575, Obama 1296
(source: justforeignpolicy.org/obamavsbush)
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FREEDOM COMMENTARY
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21) Recasting Romney
Source: Ayn R. Key
by Ayn R. Key
"During the Republican presidential primary, it was widely regarded
that the Tea Party constituency had no love for Governor Romney,
preferring candidates such as Governor Rick Perry or Herman Cain. Now
that the primary is essentially over, Governor Romney is being recast.
Looking at the preliminary Democratic campaign material in support of
the reelection of President Obama, there is an attempt to associate
Governor Romney with the Tea Party, portray him as an opponent of
government-run health care, and strangely enough as radically
different from President Obama." (05/19/12)
http://aynrkey.blogspot.com/2012/05/recasting-romney.html
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22) The debt ceiling is coming again
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G. Hornberger
"Just as I have repeatedly predicted since the last debt-ceiling
debate, statists are already gearing up for another lifting of the
debt ceiling. A good example comes in a New York Times editorial,
which is already trying to pressure Republicans into lifting the new
debt ceiling when it comes due, which is expected to happen soon after
the November elections." (05/21/12)
http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2012-05-21.asp
-----
23) Obama or anarchy?
Source: Antiwar.com
by Justin Raimondo
"Rahm Emanuel runs Chicago like he ran the Obama White House: with an
iron fist and a foul mouth -- and the NATO summit, being held in the
Windy City, is the perfect occasion for him to demonstrate just how
'tough' he can be. 'Never let a serious crisis go to waste. What I
mean by that is it's an opportunity to do things you couldn't do
before.' Thus spake Rahm, during his days as Obama chief consigliere
-- and with the arrest of at least three individuals on the eve of the
anti-NATO protests on charges of 'material support for terrorism,'
possession of incendiary devices, and conspiracy, we are seeing Rahm's
credo in practice." (05/21/12)
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2012/05/20/obama-or-anarchy/
-----
24) The idea of resistance against the state
Source: Activist Post
by JG Vibes
"Throughout the course of history people have fought against tyranny
and authority of various forms only to be thrown back into subjugation
when someone else came along to claim what we call 'power.' There have
been countless battles to overthrow these established powers, but none
of them resulting in freedom for humanity in the long term, because
all of these struggles were playing out on the wrong
battlefield." (05/20/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7zlejrc
-----
25) You do not provide
Source: Liberty For All
by Jim Davidson
"You do not provide freedom. You cannot provide freedom. Providing
freedom would be like providing enlightenment. It cannot be done. If
you shine a light on a path toward enlightenment, you can sometimes
help another person find their way. You can show them techniques,
tricks, short cuts, ways of thinking that have worked well for others,
but you cannot walk their path. There is no such thing as providing
enlightenment." (05/21/12)
http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=7633
-----
26) Fantasy vs. reality
Source: QandO
by Dale Franks
"Greece's long vacation from reality is very nearly over. Not that
you'd believe it from listening to the country's politicians. In the
aftermath of Greece's last elections, voters rejected further
austerity, and instead sought refuge in fantasy. That fantasy is
perhaps best exemplified by Alexis Tsipras, who emerged from the
election with the power to block approval of any further austerity by
blocking the formation of a government." (05/21/12)
http://www.qando.net/?p=13061
-----
27) Rob Reiner: Funny as ever
Source: Center for a Stateless Society
by Kevin Carson
"When you think about it, Hollywood's special affinity for the
Democratic Party makes perfect sense. So-called 'cognitive
capitalism' (or 'progressive' or 'green capitalism'), which
Progressives see as a paradigm for reindustrializing America, is
utterly dependent on 'intellectual property' for its business model.
It's basically the same as what economist Paul Romer calls 'new growth
theory': A model of economic growth based on enclosing ideas as a
source of profit." (05/21/12)
http://c4ss.org/content/10414
-----
28) What to do when you think (or know) you've uncovered a snitch
Source: Living Freedom
by Claire Wolfe
"No wild fantasies, please. No Hollywood accounts of what you might do
to a snitch if you were Robert De Niro or Ray Liotta. Clever, fine.
Diabolical, fine. As long as it's in the realm of reality." (05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/Ln6Q7V
-----
29) When red tape is a good thing
Source: Spiked
by Ken McLaughlin
"Ignore social workers' claims about red tape costing lives -- it
shouldn't be easy for the state to intervene in family
life." (05/21/12)
http://www.spiked-online.com/site/article/12466/
-----
30) Police entrapment of non violent movements
Source: CounterPunch
by Jake Olzen
"The old trope of the bomb-throwing anarchist is back in the news,
with a round-up in Ohio on May 1 and the three would-be NATO
protesters arrested on Wednesday who are now charged with conspiracy
to commit terrorism. While the impression that appears in the media is
one of remnants of the Occupy movement verging toward violence, the
driving forces behind these plots are the very agencies claiming to
have foiled them." (05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/Ln6nCI
-----
31) What happened to the land of the free?
Source: The Libertarian Enterprise
by James Glaser
"Our government keeps telling us that they hate us for our freedom,
but soon that excuse will no longer be at all valid, because our
government is taking more of our freedom from us every
day." (05/21/12)
http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2012/tle671-20120520-03.html
-----
32) Should we obey all laws?
Source: Freedom Politics
by Walter E. Williams
"Let's think about whether all acts of Congress deserve our respect
and obedience. Suppose Congress enacted a law -- and the Supreme Court
ruled it constitutional -- requiring American families to attend
church services at least three times a month. Should we obey such a
law? Suppose Congress, acting under the Constitution's commerce
clause, enacted a law requiring motorists to get eight hours of sleep
before driving on interstate highways." (05/18/12)
http://tinyurl.com/d6urysd
-----
33) It's time to investigate the IRS
Source: Fox News Forum
by Hans von Spakovsky
"Richard Nixon ordered the IRS to conduct tax audits of those on his
infamous 'Enemies List.' Now, a spate of investigations and leaks
coming out of President Obama's IRS raises concerns that this
administration may also be using the power of the nation's most feared
agency to silence its political opponents." [editor's note: But
haven't they always, on both "sides of the aisle?" SAT] (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/c8da74w
-----
34) JPMorgan Chase and casino banking
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Gerald P. O'Driscoll, Jr.
"JPMorgan Chase & Co., one of the nation's leading banks, revealed in
May that a London trader racked up trading losses reportedly amounting
to $2.3 billion over a 15-day period. The losses averaged over $150
million per day, sometimes hitting $200 million daily. The bank
originally stated the trades were done to hedge possible losses on
assets that might suffer due to Europe's economic woes. There is now
doubt whether it was a hedge or just a risky financial
bet." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/d6fftau
-----
35) The GOP's Dukakis problem
Source: In These Times
by Theo Anderson
"Among Republican partisans, it's peak season for trash-talk. Polls
show President Obama and Mitt Romney engaged in a close race, with
Obama having a one- to two-point edge when recent polls are averaged.
If you believe recent conservative punditry, though, it's already game
over. The fat lady has sung. Obama is a one-and-done
president." (05/21/12)
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/13219/the_gops_dukakis_problem
-----
36) The police state is here
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Tim Kelly
"The country's degeneration into a police state has been observable
for decades, but it accelerated after 9/11 when the George W. Bush
administration exploited the crisis atmosphere to ram through a series
of unconstitutional and tyrannical measures. Fear became the coin of
the realm as the American people traded away their liberties for the
empty promise of security." (05/21/12)
http://www.fff.org/comment/com1205p.asp
-----
37) France: Liberty, fraternity ... austerity?
Source: The New Republic
by Arthur Goldhammer
"One of the refrains of the French presidential campaign was the
suggestion by Nicolas Sarkozy that the French presidency is not an
office for the 'normal' man his challenger Francois Hollande claimed
to be. Indeed, it's fair to say that Hollande won despite, not because
of, the reputation he had cultivated as Socialist party leader for the
previous eleven years." (05/18/12)
http://tinyurl.com/cm8lkmd
-----
38) Obama: Promises broken, promises kept
Source: OpenMarket.org
by Hans Bader
"President Obama has broken many of his promises aimed at the general
public and jobless Americans, but he has kept promises to his left-
wing base that involved divisive wedge issues. He promised to create 7
million new jobs on seven different occasions in 2008. But these jobs
have not materialized: 'just 16 states have seen job growth since
President Obama took office,' overwhelmingly conservative states like
Texas that have rejected liberal economic policies." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/cj82v95
-----
39) Break up the big banks; here's how
Source: Our Future
by Richard (RJ) Eskow
"The JPMorgan Chase scandal -- and yes, it is a scandal -- shows us
why we need to break up the big banks as quickly as possible. But that
won't happen unless we can get our hands around the real scope of the
problem, which is probably far greater than we're being
told." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/cny9q69
-----
40) Give a man a fish
Source: Competitive Enterprise Institute
by Iain Murray and Roger Abbott
"Some policy makers and environmental advocacy groups are beginning to
realize that the solution lies not in further government regulation,
but in investing fishermen with property rights. However, government
bureaucrats are also attempting to utilize this insight to gain even
more power over fisheries, threatening to derail the momentum toward a
more rational allocation of ocean resources. That would be bad news
for both fish populations and the people who depend on them for their
livelihood." (05/18/12)
http://cei.org/onpoint/give-man-fish
-----
41) The "vetting" obsession
Source: The American Prospect
by Paul Waldman
"When the Washington Post story about Mitt Romney's high school
years ... came out, leading Republicans were fairly quiet about it.
Whether the incident happened or not, they said, it tells us virtually
nothing about the man Romney is today and the issues at stake in this
election. That's a perfectly reasonable argument, but it isn't the one
you would have heard from many of the foot soldiers in the Republican
base. Among the troops, there was outrage, not so much about the
Romney story, but about what they saw as a double-
standard." (05/21/12)
http://prospect.org/article/vetting-obsession
-----
42) The hand-sanitizer martini
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Mark Thornton
"You might have the impression that everyone has switched from beer to
red wine, or that everyone has switched from Budweiser to microbrews,
homebrew, and high-gravity beers. However, do not count out the good
old American cocktail. It is true that beer has lost market share and
wine has gained market share, but by far the biggest winner in recent
years has been spirits (whiskey, gin, vodka, etc.), particularly high-
priced products." (05/21/12)
http://mises.org/daily/6057/The-HandSanitizer-Martini
-----
43) Original intent, original understanding, original meaning
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by Rob Natelson
"It is often said that the Constitution should be interpreted
according to its 'original intent,' 'original understanding,' or
'original meaning.' Is there any difference between these concepts?
And if so, which is the proper standard? This is an area in which
there has been a great deal of confusion, largely because few
constitutional writers are familiar with how 18th-century lawyers and
judges construed documents." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/ckwqjzn
-----
44) Why is NATO necessary?
Source: The Nation
by staff
"For much of the post-cold war era, NATO has been a military alliance
in search of a reason to exist. When ministers from the alliance's
twenty-eight member nations meet in Chicago in May, the question Why
NATO? will once again hang over the proceedings. For the past decade,
Afghanistan has been the principal mission of the alliance, with
America's NATO allies supplying more than 30,000 troops to the war
effort there. With that engagement beginning to wind down, now is the
right time to ask what kind of NATO -- if any -- we need." [editor's
note: They coulda easily left the "why" off this title; even the
column is skeptical - SAT] (05/21/12)
http://www.thenation.com/article/167819/why-nato-necessary
-----
45) How to leave Afghanistan
Source: The American Conservative
by William S. Lind
"It appears that the United States will soon be leaving Afghanistan,
and not on its preferred schedule. Early this year the U.S. lost two
soldiers in combat with the Taliban and six killed by members of the
Afghan armed forces, formally our allies. If we continue to order our
troops to work with and trust people who murder them, our Army will
start to unravel. But that is what we must do because it is what our
strategy, or what passes for one, requires." (05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/JguOmD
-----
46) A report the government can't afford to ignore
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Sam Bowman
"Today the 2020 Tax Commission, a joint venture of the Taxpayers'
Alliance and the Institute of Directors helmed by City AM's Allister
Heath, releases its final report. The Single Income Tax ... argues for
a comprehensive tax reform that would see the state shrink from 50% to
33%, with many of the current taxes we have on income, inheritance,
and transactions being replaced with a single rate of 30% on income
from labour, interest and dividends, with a #10,000 personal
allowance." (05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/JgqDah
-----
47) A case for defunding public broadcasting
Source: Cato Institute
by Trevor Burrus
"The Constitution does not give Congress the power to create media
companies, and we should heed the Founders' wisdom on this matter. In
fact, consistent with that wisdom, before the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting was created, nonprofit, noncommercial media stations
enjoyed a vibrant existence, remaining free to criticize current
policies and exhibit whatever bias they wished. Yet today the taxpayer
contribution to public broadcasting, although relatively small,
clearly influences the decisions of public broadcasting
officials." [abstract -- full paper available in PDF or HTML]
(05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/Jgqbst
-----
48) A defense of tax havens
Source: LewRockwell.com
by David Finzer
"It is worth noting that no universally agreed definition of 'tax
haven' actually exists and, in fact, they are known by many different
names including secrecy havens and low tax jurisdictions amongst
others. Maybe a simple starting point would be to say that a tax haven
is any jurisdiction, anywhere, that has preferential rules for foreign
investors -- in so much as taxes are lower." (05/21/12)
http://lewrockwell.com/spl4/defense-of-tax-havens.html
-----
49) China and the lure of the status quo
Source: Reason
by Steve Chapman
"Over the past 30 years, China has been an economic success story
without parallel in modern history. By abandoning the disastrous
policies of Mao Zedong's era and embracing the market, it attained
growth averaging a stunning 10 percent a year, lifting hundreds of
millions of Chinese out of poverty. It became the world's biggest
exporter. But all is not well." (05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/Jgj1EL
-----
50) Market failure: The case of organic food
Source: EconLog
by Bryan Caplan
"Right-leaning people typically believe that (a) markets work, and (b)
organic food is a scam. I definitely fit the profile. As a result, my
every trip to the grocery store inspires cognitive dissonance. Organic
food isn't merely on the shelves; it's growing by leaps and bounds.
The organic industry itself claims that sales grew from $1B in 1990 to
$27B in 2010, with 7.7% sales growth in 2010. What on earth is going
on? How can my cognitive dissonance be resolved?" (05/21/12)
http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2012/05/market_failure_6.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
FREEDOM AUDIO & VIDEO
------------------------------------------------------------------
51) Free Talk Live, 05/20/12
Source: Free Talk Live
"Soldiers are bureaucrats :: How states can secede :: Privatizing
pirate hunting :: NDAA amendments :: The Holy Constitution and the
obligation of the serf :: The Tale of the Slave :: What would we do if
we could change the US govt tomorrow :: Federal govt is a cancer ::
Opting out the IRS :: Black hoodies." [MP3] (05/20/12)
http://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/ftl2012-05-20/download
-----
52) Doug Bandow on Antiwar Radio
Source: Antiwar.com
"Doug Bandow, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, discusses his
article 'Mitt Romney: The Foreign Policy of Know-
Nothingism' ..." [Flash audio or MP3] (05/20/12)
http://antiwar.com/radio/2012/05/20/doug-bandow-14/
-----
53) Cato Daily Podcast, 05/18/12
Source: Cato Institute
"Bluster over the filibuster," featuring John Samples. [Flash audio or
MP3] (05/18/12)
http://www.cato.org/multimedia/daily-podcast/bluster-over-filibuster
-----
54) Automation Nation: Will robots take our jobs?
Source: Ideas In Action
"A debate on the future of the American economy and the role of
intelligent computers and robots. Will rapid technological innovations
aid American workers, or will it render large numbers of American
workers obsolete?" [Flash video] (05/17/12)
http://bit.ly/JgyyV7
-----
55) Freedomain Radio #2137
Source: Freedomain Radio
"JP Morgan and the invisible pickpockets of paper currency." [MP3]
(05/01/12)
http://bit.ly/JgycxF
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Yemen: Suicide bomber kills 96
2) NATO protest: Almost 50 US vets return service medals
3) Iraq: 13 killed, 19 wounded
4) Afghanistan: Five private guards killed by roadside bomb
5) Pakistan: Seven killed in Karachi attacks
6) No verdict yet in Edwards trial
7) CA: Four tons of pot found floating off SoCal coast
8) OH: Student may wear "Jesus is Not A Homophobe" t-shirt to school,
says court
9) Mali: Protesters storm palace, beat interim president
10) Sri Lanka: Former army chief freed from prison
11) NATO accepts Obama's Afghanistan exit timetable
12) New Zealand to pull Afghanistan troops next year
13) NATO: European missile shield "provisionally operational"
14) SCOTUS will take up wiretaps lawsuit
15) NC: KKK fliers distributed, promoting cross-burning
16) Study: Youth diabetes, prediabetes soaring
17) SIM card alleged to help parents protect children from bullying
18) EU antitrustocrats hector Google for bribe
19) France: Strauss-Kahn faces US gang rape investigation
20) Study: 2000 convicted then exonerated
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Recasting Romney
22) The debt ceiling is coming again
23) Obama or anarchy?
24) The idea of resistance against the state
25) You do not provide
26) Fantasy vs. reality
27) Rob Reiner: Funny as ever
28) What to do when you think (or know) you've uncovered a snitch
29) When red tape is a good thing
30) Police entrapment of non violent movements
31) What happened to the land of the free?
32) Should we obey all laws?
33) It's time to investigate the IRS
34) JPMorgan Chase and casino banking
35) The GOP's Dukakis problem
36) The police state is here
37) France: Liberty, fraternity ... austerity?
38) Obama: Promises broken, promises kept
39) Break up the big banks; here's how
40) Give a man a fish
41) The "vetting" obsession
42) The hand-sanitizer martini
43) Original intent, original understanding, original meaning
44) Why is NATO necessary?
45) How to leave Afghanistan
46) A report the government can't afford to ignore
47) A case for defunding public broadcasting
48) A defense of tax havens
49) China and the lure of the status quo
50) Market failure: The case of organic food
Today's Freedom Audio and Video:
51) Free Talk Live, 05/20/12
52) Doug Bandow on Antiwar Radio
53) Cato Daily Podcast, 05/18/12
54) Automation Nation: Will robots take our jobs?
55) Freedomain Radio #2137
------------------------------------------------------------------
FREEDOM NEWS
------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Yemen: Suicide bomber kills 96
Source: Chandigarh Tribune [India]
"A Yemeni soldier packing powerful explosives under his uniform blew
himself up in the middle of an army battalion in Sanaa today, killing
96 troops and injuring 300 others, a military official and medics
said. The suicide attack was the deadliest in the country's capital
since newly-elected President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi pledged to oust Al-
Qaida militants from Yemen's mostly lawless and restive southern and
eastern provinces." (05/21/12)
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120522/world.htm#1
-----
2) NATO protest: Almost 50 US vets return service medals
Source: The Raw Story
"Nearly 50 U.S. military veterans returned their service medals on
Sunday during a protest against NATO in Chicago, with each of them
throwing their medals over a security fence in a symbolic protest
meant to evoke images of the Vietnam war era. The soldiers'
demonstration came at the tail end of protests that ground Chicago to
a standstill over the weekend as tens of thousands marched against the
continued war in Afghanistan, inaction on climate change, income
inequality and a litany of other progressive causes." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/dyh2tss
-----
3) Iraq: 13 killed, 19 wounded
Source: Antiwar.com
"Three policemen were killed and two more were wounded when gunmen
attacked their Taji checkpoint. Gunmen killed four soldiers in two
incidents in Mosul. In Abu Ghraib, a sticky bomb blast killed the
driver of a government vehicle and wounded three others, including
civilians. A second sticky bomb killed a civilian and wounded another.
One policeman was killed and three others were wounded when a
motorbike bomb exploded in Ramadi. Three sticky bombs exploded in
Falluja, killing one civilian and wounded two policemen. A tribal
sheikh succumbed to wounds he received in a sticky bomb blast in
Qayara. Gunmen stormed a Dujail home and killed an elderly
woman." (05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/Ln9pqw
-----
4) Afghanistan: Five private guards killed by roadside bomb
Source: BigPond [Australia]
"Five Afghan guards with a private security company have been killed
in a roadside bombing in southern Afghanistan, a district governor
says. The incident took place in the Shahr-e-Safa district of the
volatile southern province of Zabul on Monday, district governor Shadi
Khan told DPA." (05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/Js9bEx
-----
5) Pakistan: Seven killed in Karachi attacks
Source: Pakistan Today [Pakistan]
"At least four persons were killed and several others injured in fresh
spate of target killing and other violent incidents in different areas
of the city on Monday. According to police, bullet riddled and
tortured body of an unknown person packed in gunny bag was recovered
from Kharadar area .... Meanwhile, the unstoppable wave of violence
continued in the financial hub of the country as another three people
lost their lives on Monday morning in various incidents of firing in
different areas of the city." (05/22/12)
http://bit.ly/Js8OtD
-----
6) No verdict yet in Edwards trial
Source: Christian Science Monitor
"A federal jury in the political corruption trial of former
presidential candidate John Edwards deliberated for a second day
Monday without reaching a verdict, as Edwards quietly awaited his fate
inside a federal courthouse. The jury of eight men and four women
requested seven prosecution exhibits. Among them were emails in 2006
and 2007 that discussed $725,000 provided to Edwards by wealthy
heiress and supporter Rachel 'Bunny' Mellon, now 101, during Edwards'
campaign for the 2008 Democratic nomination." (05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/LnbYc4
-----
7) CA: Four tons of pot found floating off SoCal coast
Source: ABC News
"More than four tons of marijuana -- reportedly worth more than $3
million -- was found floating listlessly off the coast of Southern
California with no suspected owners in sight, authorities said. A
boater spotted the 180 bales of pot, wrapped in plastic, bobbing about
15 miles from the coastal town of Dana Point, Calif. just after noon
Sunday, officials said. The Orange County Sheriff's Department and the
U.S. Coast Guard both sent out boats to recover the 8,068 pound stash,
which was then turned over the U.S. Border Patrol." (05/21/12)
http://abcn.ws/LnbK50
-----
8) OH: Student may wear "Jesus is Not A Homophobe" t-shirt to school,
says court
Source: Washington Post
"A gay student who sued his Ohio high school for prohibiting him from
wearing a T-shirt designed to urge tolerance of gays will be allowed
to wear the shirt to school whenever he chooses. A judgment agreed to
by Maverick Couch and the Waynesville Local School District was
entered Monday in federal court in Cincinnati. It allows the teenager
to wear the 'Jesus Is Not A Homophobe' T-shirt and says the district
must pay $20,000 in damages and court costs." (05/21/12)
http://wapo.st/Lnbrah
-----
9) Mali: Protesters storm palace, beat interim president
Source: CNN
"Dioncounda Traore, Mali's interim president, was beaten and rushed to
a hospital after hundreds of protesters demanding his resignation
stormed the presidential palace Monday. Traore was assaulted and hit
over the head when protesters found him inside the palace. The
president was later taken to the hospital where he was treated for a
wound to his head, hospital staff said." (05/21/12)
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/21/world/africa/mali-president-beaten/
-----
10) Sri Lanka: Former army chief freed from prison
Source: Greensboro News & Record
"Sri Lanka's former army chief, who was imprisoned after losing an
election to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was released from prison
Monday to thousands of cheering supporters. As firecrackers erupted in
the background, Sarath Fonseka promised to carry on with his challenge
to the government." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7z9h8wr
-----
11) NATO accepts Obama's Afghanistan exit timetable
Source: CNN
"NATO leaders signed off Monday on President Barack Obama's exit
strategy from Afghanistan that calls for an end to combat operations
next year and the withdrawal of the U.S.-led international military
force by the end of 2014. Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told
reporters at the conclusion of a two-day summit of the alliance
leaders that the plan calls for handing over security responsibilities
to Afghan forces in 2013, then withdrawing foreign forces the
following year." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7cp6l69
-----
12) New Zealand to pull Afghanistan troops next year
Source: Las Vegas Sun
"New Zealand says it will withdraw its small contingent of troops from
Afghanistan a year earlier than planned. Prime Minister John Key told
reporters Tuesday that the 145 New Zealand troops stationed in Bamiyan
province will come home in late 2013 rather than 2014. New Zealand has
stationed troops in the war-torn country since 2003, with five dying
there during that time." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7utoezs
-----
13) NATO: European missile shield "provisionally operational"
Source: Christian Science Monitor
"At its weekend summit in Chicago, NATO announced that the first phase
of its controversial European missile defense shield has become
'provisionally operational,' news that will not be received well in
Moscow. If there is any issue that threatens to derail the fragile
East-West detente that's held since President Obama set out to reverse
the mini-cold war that prevailed under George W. Bush, it's the
increasingly acrimonious dispute over missile defense." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/cx8lk5k
-----
14) SCOTUS will take up wiretaps lawsuit
Source: Fox News
"The Supreme Court says it will consider shutting down a legal
challenge to a law that lets the United States eavesdrop on overseas
communications. A federal appeals court ruled last year that a lawsuit
filed by lawyers, journalists and human rights groups objecting to the
latest version of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act could
proceed. But the Obama administration appealed, and the justices said
Monday they will take up the case in the fall." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/c688upt
-----
15) NC: KKK fliers distributed, promoting cross-burning
Source: The Tennessean
"Police in Reidsville are investigating some fliers that invite people
to a cross-burning. Police Chief Edd Hunt said officers have received
calls about the fliers, which come two weeks after the Ku Klux Klan
held a protest in nearby Eden. Hunt says detectives are investigating
but he's not sure if the material is connected to the earlier protests
in Eden." [editor's note: Amazing how can this be the same state that
includes Duke, UNC, Wake Forest ... and Asheville's rather
"progressive" community! - SAT] (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/cfln6re
-----
16) Study: Youth diabetes, prediabetes soaring
Source: Arizona Republic
"Diabetes and prediabetes have soared among the nation's youth,
jumping from 9 percent of the adolescent population in 2000 to 23
percent in 2008, says a study out today. The findings, reported in the
journal Pediatrics, are 'very concerning,' says lead author Ashleigh
May, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. 'To get ahead of this problem, we have to be incredibly
aggressive and look at children and adolescents and say you have to
make time for physical activity,' says pediatric endocrinologist Larry
Deeb, past president of medicine and science for the American Diabetes
Association." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/bss9hoy
-----
17) SIM card alleged to help parents protect children from bullying
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"Parents will now be able to control their child's mobile phone,
thanks to a SIM card remotely managed from a computer. The Bemilo
system, to be run on the Vodafone network, offers a service for
parents to prevent their children from going online, texting or
calling during certain hours. Unlike an app, a child will not be able
to switch the service off. The UK's Family and Parenting Institute
said the SIM would help protect children from mobile phone
bullying." [editor's note: By restricting their choices of when to
text, and similar "attachment parenting" ploys, under the excuse of
"protecting them" ... Sounds a bit sinister to me! - SAT] [additional
editor's note: "Attachment parenting" doesn't mean what Steve seems to
think it means - TLK] (05/21/12)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18144038
-----
18) EU antitrustocrats hector Google for bribe
Source: International Business Times
"The European Union's antitrust chief on Monday ratcheted up the
pressure on Google, giving it a matter of weeks to settle an
investigation into allegations of anti-competitive behavior and avoid
formal charges and a possible fine. ... EU Competition Commissioner
Joaquin Almunia said regulators were as keen as Google to avoid
lengthy proceedings due to rapid developments in the technology
industry and that if [a sufficiently large bribe was] offered by
Google within the coming weeks, the antitrust investigation could be
brought to a close." (05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/JgwVXr
-----
19) France: Strauss-Kahn faces US gang rape investigation
Source: Agence France-Presse
"Disgraced former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn's legal woes
deepened Monday as French prosecutors opened a preliminary probe into
accusations he took part in a gang rape in the US. Prosecutors in
Lille, where Strauss-Kahn and three others are charged in a vice case,
said in a statement the probe centred on an incident 'that could be
described as gang rape' that took place in Washington, DC in December
2010." (05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/Jgrojw
-----
20) Study: 2000 convicted then exonerated
Source: Time
"More than 2,000 people who were falsely convicted of serious crimes
have been exonerated in the United States in the past 23 years,
according to a new archive compiled at two universities. ... The
overall registry/list begins at the start of 1989. It gives an
unprecedented view of the scope of the problem of wrongful convictions
in the United States and the figure of more than 2,000 exonerations
'is a good start,' said Rob Warden, executive director of the Center
on Wrongful Convictions." (05/21/12)
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2115334,00.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
HEALTH-OF-THE-STATE-O-METER, 05/22/12
Iraqi Deaths Due to US Invasion: 1,455,590
(source: justforeignpolicy.org/iraq)
US Deaths in Afghanistan: Bush 575, Obama 1296
(source: justforeignpolicy.org/obamavsbush)
------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------
FREEDOM COMMENTARY
------------------------------------------------------------------
21) Recasting Romney
Source: Ayn R. Key
by Ayn R. Key
"During the Republican presidential primary, it was widely regarded
that the Tea Party constituency had no love for Governor Romney,
preferring candidates such as Governor Rick Perry or Herman Cain. Now
that the primary is essentially over, Governor Romney is being recast.
Looking at the preliminary Democratic campaign material in support of
the reelection of President Obama, there is an attempt to associate
Governor Romney with the Tea Party, portray him as an opponent of
government-run health care, and strangely enough as radically
different from President Obama." (05/19/12)
http://aynrkey.blogspot.com/2012/05/recasting-romney.html
-----
22) The debt ceiling is coming again
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G. Hornberger
"Just as I have repeatedly predicted since the last debt-ceiling
debate, statists are already gearing up for another lifting of the
debt ceiling. A good example comes in a New York Times editorial,
which is already trying to pressure Republicans into lifting the new
debt ceiling when it comes due, which is expected to happen soon after
the November elections." (05/21/12)
http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2012-05-21.asp
-----
23) Obama or anarchy?
Source: Antiwar.com
by Justin Raimondo
"Rahm Emanuel runs Chicago like he ran the Obama White House: with an
iron fist and a foul mouth -- and the NATO summit, being held in the
Windy City, is the perfect occasion for him to demonstrate just how
'tough' he can be. 'Never let a serious crisis go to waste. What I
mean by that is it's an opportunity to do things you couldn't do
before.' Thus spake Rahm, during his days as Obama chief consigliere
-- and with the arrest of at least three individuals on the eve of the
anti-NATO protests on charges of 'material support for terrorism,'
possession of incendiary devices, and conspiracy, we are seeing Rahm's
credo in practice." (05/21/12)
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2012/05/20/obama-or-anarchy/
-----
24) The idea of resistance against the state
Source: Activist Post
by JG Vibes
"Throughout the course of history people have fought against tyranny
and authority of various forms only to be thrown back into subjugation
when someone else came along to claim what we call 'power.' There have
been countless battles to overthrow these established powers, but none
of them resulting in freedom for humanity in the long term, because
all of these struggles were playing out on the wrong
battlefield." (05/20/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7zlejrc
-----
25) You do not provide
Source: Liberty For All
by Jim Davidson
"You do not provide freedom. You cannot provide freedom. Providing
freedom would be like providing enlightenment. It cannot be done. If
you shine a light on a path toward enlightenment, you can sometimes
help another person find their way. You can show them techniques,
tricks, short cuts, ways of thinking that have worked well for others,
but you cannot walk their path. There is no such thing as providing
enlightenment." (05/21/12)
http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=7633
-----
26) Fantasy vs. reality
Source: QandO
by Dale Franks
"Greece's long vacation from reality is very nearly over. Not that
you'd believe it from listening to the country's politicians. In the
aftermath of Greece's last elections, voters rejected further
austerity, and instead sought refuge in fantasy. That fantasy is
perhaps best exemplified by Alexis Tsipras, who emerged from the
election with the power to block approval of any further austerity by
blocking the formation of a government." (05/21/12)
http://www.qando.net/?p=13061
-----
27) Rob Reiner: Funny as ever
Source: Center for a Stateless Society
by Kevin Carson
"When you think about it, Hollywood's special affinity for the
Democratic Party makes perfect sense. So-called 'cognitive
capitalism' (or 'progressive' or 'green capitalism'), which
Progressives see as a paradigm for reindustrializing America, is
utterly dependent on 'intellectual property' for its business model.
It's basically the same as what economist Paul Romer calls 'new growth
theory': A model of economic growth based on enclosing ideas as a
source of profit." (05/21/12)
http://c4ss.org/content/10414
-----
28) What to do when you think (or know) you've uncovered a snitch
Source: Living Freedom
by Claire Wolfe
"No wild fantasies, please. No Hollywood accounts of what you might do
to a snitch if you were Robert De Niro or Ray Liotta. Clever, fine.
Diabolical, fine. As long as it's in the realm of reality." (05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/Ln6Q7V
-----
29) When red tape is a good thing
Source: Spiked
by Ken McLaughlin
"Ignore social workers' claims about red tape costing lives -- it
shouldn't be easy for the state to intervene in family
life." (05/21/12)
http://www.spiked-online.com/site/article/12466/
-----
30) Police entrapment of non violent movements
Source: CounterPunch
by Jake Olzen
"The old trope of the bomb-throwing anarchist is back in the news,
with a round-up in Ohio on May 1 and the three would-be NATO
protesters arrested on Wednesday who are now charged with conspiracy
to commit terrorism. While the impression that appears in the media is
one of remnants of the Occupy movement verging toward violence, the
driving forces behind these plots are the very agencies claiming to
have foiled them." (05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/Ln6nCI
-----
31) What happened to the land of the free?
Source: The Libertarian Enterprise
by James Glaser
"Our government keeps telling us that they hate us for our freedom,
but soon that excuse will no longer be at all valid, because our
government is taking more of our freedom from us every
day." (05/21/12)
http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2012/tle671-20120520-03.html
-----
32) Should we obey all laws?
Source: Freedom Politics
by Walter E. Williams
"Let's think about whether all acts of Congress deserve our respect
and obedience. Suppose Congress enacted a law -- and the Supreme Court
ruled it constitutional -- requiring American families to attend
church services at least three times a month. Should we obey such a
law? Suppose Congress, acting under the Constitution's commerce
clause, enacted a law requiring motorists to get eight hours of sleep
before driving on interstate highways." (05/18/12)
http://tinyurl.com/d6urysd
-----
33) It's time to investigate the IRS
Source: Fox News Forum
by Hans von Spakovsky
"Richard Nixon ordered the IRS to conduct tax audits of those on his
infamous 'Enemies List.' Now, a spate of investigations and leaks
coming out of President Obama's IRS raises concerns that this
administration may also be using the power of the nation's most feared
agency to silence its political opponents." [editor's note: But
haven't they always, on both "sides of the aisle?" SAT] (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/c8da74w
-----
34) JPMorgan Chase and casino banking
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Gerald P. O'Driscoll, Jr.
"JPMorgan Chase & Co., one of the nation's leading banks, revealed in
May that a London trader racked up trading losses reportedly amounting
to $2.3 billion over a 15-day period. The losses averaged over $150
million per day, sometimes hitting $200 million daily. The bank
originally stated the trades were done to hedge possible losses on
assets that might suffer due to Europe's economic woes. There is now
doubt whether it was a hedge or just a risky financial
bet." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/d6fftau
-----
35) The GOP's Dukakis problem
Source: In These Times
by Theo Anderson
"Among Republican partisans, it's peak season for trash-talk. Polls
show President Obama and Mitt Romney engaged in a close race, with
Obama having a one- to two-point edge when recent polls are averaged.
If you believe recent conservative punditry, though, it's already game
over. The fat lady has sung. Obama is a one-and-done
president." (05/21/12)
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/13219/the_gops_dukakis_problem
-----
36) The police state is here
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Tim Kelly
"The country's degeneration into a police state has been observable
for decades, but it accelerated after 9/11 when the George W. Bush
administration exploited the crisis atmosphere to ram through a series
of unconstitutional and tyrannical measures. Fear became the coin of
the realm as the American people traded away their liberties for the
empty promise of security." (05/21/12)
http://www.fff.org/comment/com1205p.asp
-----
37) France: Liberty, fraternity ... austerity?
Source: The New Republic
by Arthur Goldhammer
"One of the refrains of the French presidential campaign was the
suggestion by Nicolas Sarkozy that the French presidency is not an
office for the 'normal' man his challenger Francois Hollande claimed
to be. Indeed, it's fair to say that Hollande won despite, not because
of, the reputation he had cultivated as Socialist party leader for the
previous eleven years." (05/18/12)
http://tinyurl.com/cm8lkmd
-----
38) Obama: Promises broken, promises kept
Source: OpenMarket.org
by Hans Bader
"President Obama has broken many of his promises aimed at the general
public and jobless Americans, but he has kept promises to his left-
wing base that involved divisive wedge issues. He promised to create 7
million new jobs on seven different occasions in 2008. But these jobs
have not materialized: 'just 16 states have seen job growth since
President Obama took office,' overwhelmingly conservative states like
Texas that have rejected liberal economic policies." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/cj82v95
-----
39) Break up the big banks; here's how
Source: Our Future
by Richard (RJ) Eskow
"The JPMorgan Chase scandal -- and yes, it is a scandal -- shows us
why we need to break up the big banks as quickly as possible. But that
won't happen unless we can get our hands around the real scope of the
problem, which is probably far greater than we're being
told." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/cny9q69
-----
40) Give a man a fish
Source: Competitive Enterprise Institute
by Iain Murray and Roger Abbott
"Some policy makers and environmental advocacy groups are beginning to
realize that the solution lies not in further government regulation,
but in investing fishermen with property rights. However, government
bureaucrats are also attempting to utilize this insight to gain even
more power over fisheries, threatening to derail the momentum toward a
more rational allocation of ocean resources. That would be bad news
for both fish populations and the people who depend on them for their
livelihood." (05/18/12)
http://cei.org/onpoint/give-man-fish
-----
41) The "vetting" obsession
Source: The American Prospect
by Paul Waldman
"When the Washington Post story about Mitt Romney's high school
years ... came out, leading Republicans were fairly quiet about it.
Whether the incident happened or not, they said, it tells us virtually
nothing about the man Romney is today and the issues at stake in this
election. That's a perfectly reasonable argument, but it isn't the one
you would have heard from many of the foot soldiers in the Republican
base. Among the troops, there was outrage, not so much about the
Romney story, but about what they saw as a double-
standard." (05/21/12)
http://prospect.org/article/vetting-obsession
-----
42) The hand-sanitizer martini
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Mark Thornton
"You might have the impression that everyone has switched from beer to
red wine, or that everyone has switched from Budweiser to microbrews,
homebrew, and high-gravity beers. However, do not count out the good
old American cocktail. It is true that beer has lost market share and
wine has gained market share, but by far the biggest winner in recent
years has been spirits (whiskey, gin, vodka, etc.), particularly high-
priced products." (05/21/12)
http://mises.org/daily/6057/The-HandSanitizer-Martini
-----
43) Original intent, original understanding, original meaning
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by Rob Natelson
"It is often said that the Constitution should be interpreted
according to its 'original intent,' 'original understanding,' or
'original meaning.' Is there any difference between these concepts?
And if so, which is the proper standard? This is an area in which
there has been a great deal of confusion, largely because few
constitutional writers are familiar with how 18th-century lawyers and
judges construed documents." (05/21/12)
http://tinyurl.com/ckwqjzn
-----
44) Why is NATO necessary?
Source: The Nation
by staff
"For much of the post-cold war era, NATO has been a military alliance
in search of a reason to exist. When ministers from the alliance's
twenty-eight member nations meet in Chicago in May, the question Why
NATO? will once again hang over the proceedings. For the past decade,
Afghanistan has been the principal mission of the alliance, with
America's NATO allies supplying more than 30,000 troops to the war
effort there. With that engagement beginning to wind down, now is the
right time to ask what kind of NATO -- if any -- we need." [editor's
note: They coulda easily left the "why" off this title; even the
column is skeptical - SAT] (05/21/12)
http://www.thenation.com/article/167819/why-nato-necessary
-----
45) How to leave Afghanistan
Source: The American Conservative
by William S. Lind
"It appears that the United States will soon be leaving Afghanistan,
and not on its preferred schedule. Early this year the U.S. lost two
soldiers in combat with the Taliban and six killed by members of the
Afghan armed forces, formally our allies. If we continue to order our
troops to work with and trust people who murder them, our Army will
start to unravel. But that is what we must do because it is what our
strategy, or what passes for one, requires." (05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/JguOmD
-----
46) A report the government can't afford to ignore
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Sam Bowman
"Today the 2020 Tax Commission, a joint venture of the Taxpayers'
Alliance and the Institute of Directors helmed by City AM's Allister
Heath, releases its final report. The Single Income Tax ... argues for
a comprehensive tax reform that would see the state shrink from 50% to
33%, with many of the current taxes we have on income, inheritance,
and transactions being replaced with a single rate of 30% on income
from labour, interest and dividends, with a #10,000 personal
allowance." (05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/JgqDah
-----
47) A case for defunding public broadcasting
Source: Cato Institute
by Trevor Burrus
"The Constitution does not give Congress the power to create media
companies, and we should heed the Founders' wisdom on this matter. In
fact, consistent with that wisdom, before the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting was created, nonprofit, noncommercial media stations
enjoyed a vibrant existence, remaining free to criticize current
policies and exhibit whatever bias they wished. Yet today the taxpayer
contribution to public broadcasting, although relatively small,
clearly influences the decisions of public broadcasting
officials." [abstract -- full paper available in PDF or HTML]
(05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/Jgqbst
-----
48) A defense of tax havens
Source: LewRockwell.com
by David Finzer
"It is worth noting that no universally agreed definition of 'tax
haven' actually exists and, in fact, they are known by many different
names including secrecy havens and low tax jurisdictions amongst
others. Maybe a simple starting point would be to say that a tax haven
is any jurisdiction, anywhere, that has preferential rules for foreign
investors -- in so much as taxes are lower." (05/21/12)
http://lewrockwell.com/spl4/defense-of-tax-havens.html
-----
49) China and the lure of the status quo
Source: Reason
by Steve Chapman
"Over the past 30 years, China has been an economic success story
without parallel in modern history. By abandoning the disastrous
policies of Mao Zedong's era and embracing the market, it attained
growth averaging a stunning 10 percent a year, lifting hundreds of
millions of Chinese out of poverty. It became the world's biggest
exporter. But all is not well." (05/21/12)
http://bit.ly/Jgj1EL
-----
50) Market failure: The case of organic food
Source: EconLog
by Bryan Caplan
"Right-leaning people typically believe that (a) markets work, and (b)
organic food is a scam. I definitely fit the profile. As a result, my
every trip to the grocery store inspires cognitive dissonance. Organic
food isn't merely on the shelves; it's growing by leaps and bounds.
The organic industry itself claims that sales grew from $1B in 1990 to
$27B in 2010, with 7.7% sales growth in 2010. What on earth is going
on? How can my cognitive dissonance be resolved?" (05/21/12)
http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2012/05/market_failure_6.html
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FREEDOM AUDIO & VIDEO
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51) Free Talk Live, 05/20/12
Source: Free Talk Live
"Soldiers are bureaucrats :: How states can secede :: Privatizing
pirate hunting :: NDAA amendments :: The Holy Constitution and the
obligation of the serf :: The Tale of the Slave :: What would we do if
we could change the US govt tomorrow :: Federal govt is a cancer ::
Opting out the IRS :: Black hoodies." [MP3] (05/20/12)
http://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/ftl2012-05-20/download
-----
52) Doug Bandow on Antiwar Radio
Source: Antiwar.com
"Doug Bandow, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, discusses his
article 'Mitt Romney: The Foreign Policy of Know-
Nothingism' ..." [Flash audio or MP3] (05/20/12)
http://antiwar.com/radio/2012/05/20/doug-bandow-14/
-----
53) Cato Daily Podcast, 05/18/12
Source: Cato Institute
"Bluster over the filibuster," featuring John Samples. [Flash audio or
MP3] (05/18/12)
http://www.cato.org/multimedia/daily-podcast/bluster-over-filibuster
-----
54) Automation Nation: Will robots take our jobs?
Source: Ideas In Action
"A debate on the future of the American economy and the role of
intelligent computers and robots. Will rapid technological innovations
aid American workers, or will it render large numbers of American
workers obsolete?" [Flash video] (05/17/12)
http://bit.ly/JgyyV7
-----
55) Freedomain Radio #2137
Source: Freedomain Radio
"JP Morgan and the invisible pickpockets of paper currency." [MP3]
(05/01/12)
http://bit.ly/JgycxF
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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