12/16 -- Iraq: 15 killed, 63 wounded; Pakistan: At least 25 killed in market blast
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Thomas L. Knapp
Dec 16, 2009, 5:24:07 AM12/16/09
to Rational Review News Digest
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* RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
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* Volume VI, Issue #1,813
* Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
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In The News:
1) Iraq: 15 killed, 63 wounded
2) Pakistan: At least 25 killed in market blast
3) Immigration overhaul bill unveiled in US House
4) DC: Council casts final vote to end marriage apartheid
5) WA: Islamist convicted in shootings at Seattle Jewish center
6) Mexico: 56 journalists killed in nine years
7) OH: Court notices Fourth Amendment, does double take
8) Feds arrest 26 in $61 million Medicare fraud
9) Mullen: Most of surge troops will arrive by August
10) Some in Pakistani top command favor assault on Afghan insurgents
11) Obama regime gives Calderon regime helicopters for drug war
12) 800,000 H1N1 vaccine doses for young children recalled
13) North Korea presses for lifting of UN sanctions
14) Senate rejects importation of prescription drugs
15) UK: Newspapers victorious in battle to protect sources
16) UK: Noisy sex woman admits Asbo breach
17) UK: Tesco yanks Christmas card after over-sensitive redheads
complain
18) IL: Police pass out whistles to help disarmed serfs call for help
19) FL: Wheelchair-bound man shoots home invader to death
20) MA: Voters have their say on term limits
21) TN: Enviro groups want TVA prosecuted for spill
22) Study: Kids see too many junk food ads
23) Why southern Yemen is pushing for secession
24) Analysis: 135,000 uninsured Americans to die before health
"reform"
25) MA: 8-yr-old boy sent home for Jesus drawing
Everybody Has An Opinion:
26) We're watching Big Brother
27) Do antiwar libertarians hate the military?
28) A note on on negative social and economic preferencing
29) Happy Bill of Rights Day
30) Remembering Bill of Rights Day
31) The War Democrats
32) Turning children into Orwellian eco-spies
33) Fighting another dumb war
34) Blair, Obama and the narcissist's defense
35) Can Obama course-correct in time to avoid the 2010 iceberg?
36) Corporate greed & disaster? Pages from a crime novel
37) Obama's "ben tre logic"
38) Why not "cash for US jobs?"
39) Deal or die on healthcare
40) Obama can create jobs by modeling two good ideas
41) Ron Paul for first President of New Texas!
42) House bank bill pulls more punches than it throws
43) Endangering endangered entities
44) Don't blame the Federal Reserve
45) Race-based government established at expense of troops?
46) Why are US troops being targeted?
47) Christmas books
48) Does regulation lower costs? A personal experience
49) Making criminals out of all Americans
50) President Obama: Free the medical marijuana researchers!
51) Three views on profit
52) Does the Second Amendment apply in Chicago?
53) Boom times for big government
54) How I learned to stop worrying and love the Borg
55) Belgium waffles
56) Torture roulette
57) Politicians: Time is on their side
58) A few more words on animal "rights"
59) Unchaining the human heart -- a revolutionary manifesto: Escape
artists
60) I vote for a tea party
61) What likely lurks around the corner
62) The life of California's party
63) "Not so silent:" Coolidge and civil rights
64) An open letter to President Obama
65) For what it's worth -- Bill of Rights Day
See No Evil, Hear No Evil:
66) Tim Cox on Freedom Rings Radio, 12/21/09
67) Cato Daily Podcast, 12/16/09
68) Free Talk Live, 12/15/09
69) From poverty to prosperity
70) Freedomain Radio #1532
What's Up In The Freedom Movement:
71) Today's events
WaYbAcK:
72) The tea is in the harbor
***************
* In The News
***************
1) Iraq: 15 killed, 63 wounded
AntiWar.Com
"Bombs targeted Baghdad governmental institutions today, exactly a
week after 'Bloody Tuesday' left hundreds dead or wounded. Mosul was
equally affected, but those attacks were directed at Christian targets
instead. At least 15 Iraqis were killed and 63 more were wounded
across the country. The attacks also indirectly affected Camp Ashraf
as a number of journalists heading to the immigrant camp were awaiting
transport together near a blast site. Also, the ongoing PKK
difficulties claimed two more lives in Turkey." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ye7skft
-----
2) Pakistan: At least 25 killed in market blast
CNN
"The death toll from an explosion in the central Pakistani city of
Dera Ghazi Khan climbed to at least 25 on Wednesday, a senior
government official said. Another 56 people were wounded in Tuesday's
attack, according to Hassan Iqbal Khan." (12/16/09)
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/12/16/pakistan.blast/
-----
3) Immigration overhaul bill unveiled in US House
Los Angeles Times
"Raising the curtain on a new round of debate over immigration reform,
a group of Democratic congressional lawmakers introduced a
comprehensive bill Tuesday that, among other provisions, would offer a
path to legalization for the country's estimated 12 million illegal
immigrants. The bill, championed by Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.),
was decidedly more pro-immigrant than the bipartisan legislation House
lawmakers debated two years ago. And the latest version drew immediate
fire from the left as well as the right. Groups opposed to
legalization derided it as a form of amnesty, and more-liberal
factions complained that it relied too heavily on
enforcement." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ya3o336
-----
4) DC: Council casts final vote to end marriage apartheid
ABC News
"The D.C. Council today voted overwhelmingly for the final time to
legalize same-sex marriage in Washington D.C., with two council
members opposing. 'This legislation is an important and historic step
towards equal dignity, equal respect and equal rights for same-sex
couples here in our nation's capital, which also preserves the right
of clergy and congregations to adhere to their faiths,' said Human
Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y9aa3po
-----
5) WA: Islamist convicted in shootings at Seattle Jewish center
Los Angeles Times
"A King County jury on Tuesday found Naveed Haq guilty of aggravated
first-degree murder in the 2006 shootings at the Jewish Federation of
Greater Seattle, a verdict that carries an automatic life
sentence. ... Haq opened fire in the center's offices, killing Pamela
Waechter, 58. Several of the shooting victims who were in the
courtroom hugged tearfully when the verdicts were announced. ...
Prosecutors had introduced as evidence recordings from 10 phone calls
Haq, 34, placed to his family after his arrest. In them, Haq told his
mother he was 'a soldier of Islam.'" (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yenhkgn
-----
6) Mexico: 56 journalists killed in nine years
USA Today
"Mexico's National Human Rights Commission says 56 journalists have
been killed in the past nine years and most of the slayings remain
unsolved. It says eight reporters went missing and seven newspaper
offices were attacked with explosives over the same period. The
commission said in a news release Tuesday that authorities have been
negligent in investigating and prosecuting the attacks." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ydqctan
-----
7) OH: Court notices Fourth Amendment, does double take
MSNBC
"Police officers must obtain a search warrant before scouring the
contents of a suspect's cell phone unless their safety is in danger, a
divided Ohio Supreme Court ruled Tuesday on an issue that appears
never to have reached another state high court or the U.S. Supreme
Court. The Ohio high court ruled 5-4 in favor of Antwaun Smith, who
was arrested on drug charges after he answered a cell phone call from
a crack cocaine user acting as a police informant." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yapjou5
-----
8) Feds arrest 26 in $61 million Medicare fraud
MSNBC
"Federal agents arrested 26 suspects in three states Tuesday,
including a doctor and nurses, in a major crackdown on Medicare fraud
totaling $61 million in separate scams. Arrests in Miami, Brooklyn and
Detroit included a Florida doctor accused of running a $40 million
home health care scheme that falsely listed patients as blind
diabetics so that he could bill for twice-daily nurse
visits." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ybx97uo
-----
9) Mullen: Most of surge troops will arrive by August
La Crosse Tribune
"The top U.S. military officer said Tuesday that he's confident that
most of the 30,000 additional troops that are being sent to
Afghanistan will be there by August. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters traveling with him in
Afghanistan that the first 16,000 troops who already have orders will
be in on schedule." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ya2837j
-----
10) Some in Pakistani top command favor assault on Afghan insurgents
Miami Herald
"A section of the Pakistani military top command now agrees with
Washington that the country's armed forces should be sent into the
North Waziristan area, a sanctuary for al-Qaida and Afghan insurgents,
analysts and officials said Tuesday. Due to resistance from the core
army, however, any operation there could be half-hearted. The Obama
administration is pressuring Pakistan to follow its offensive against
Pakistani Taliban in South Waziristan with a push against Afghan
insurgents and al-Qaida fighters based in North Waziristan, a
territory controlled by the Haqqani network, widely seen as the most
dangerous rebel group in Afghanistan." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ydsd5rr
-----
11) Obama regime gives Calderon regime helicopters for drug war
Miami Herald
"U.S. officials delivered five helicopters to Mexico on Tuesday to
help the country in its fight against drug cartels. The aircraft are
part of more than $604 million worth of vehicles and equipment that
the U.S. plans to give Mexico in the coming months. 'The helicopters
that we are handing over today are very important substantively and
symbolically in our cooperation, but they are only a part of the chain
of many important milestones in meeting these challenges,' said John
Brennan, assistant to President Barack Obama for homeland security and
counterterrorism." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yeh5mov
-----
12) 800,000 H1N1 vaccine doses for young children recalled
CNN
"One of the five manufacturers supplying H1N1 vaccine to the United
States is recalling hundreds of thousands of flu shots because they
aren't as potent as they should be. The French manufacturer Sanofi
Pasteur is voluntarily recalling about 800,000 doses of vaccine meant
for children between the ages of 6 months and 35 months. The company
and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasized that the
recall was not prompted by safety concerns, and that even though the
vaccine isn't quite as potent as it's supposed to be, children who
received it don't have to be immunized again against H1N1." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ydbnmjp
-----
13) North Korea presses for lifting of UN sanctions
El Paso Times
"North Korea told a senior U.S. envoy that U.N. sanctions imposed on
the communist regime for its nuclear defiance must be lifted, a report
said Wednesday. North Korean officials conveyed the message to Stephen
Bosworth, President Barack Obama's envoy on North Korea, during the
diplomat's trip to Pyongyang last week for high-level talks, South
Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, citing an unidentified diplomatic
source." (12/15/09)
http://www.elpasotimes.com/nationworld/ci_14004976
-----
14) Senate rejects importation of prescription drugs
Baltimore Sun
"In a victory for President Obama and his allies in the pharmaceutical
industry, the Senate today turned aside a bid by a bipartisan group of
lawmakers to make it easier to import cheaper prescription drugs from
Canada and Western Europe -- a proposal that threatened to derail the
Democrats' landmark healthcare bill. The vote on the amendment --
cosponsored by Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.)
-- was 51-48, nine short of the 60 needed to pass." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y8qopjb
-----
15) UK: Newspapers victorious in battle to protect sources
Independent [UK]
"The Independent has helped win an important court ruling protecting
members of the public who supply confidential information to the
media. Judges at the European Court of Human Rights said that The
Independent and four other media groups were right to defy a court
order to disclose documents that would have identified the source of a
story about a multimillion pound City takeover in 2001. By standing
their ground the four newspapers and one news agency faced massive
fines and seizure of their assets, while the journalists who wrote the
stories could have been jailed." (12/16/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y974lfp
-----
16) UK: Noisy sex woman admits Asbo breach
BBC News [UK]
"A woman who was given an anti-social behaviour order banning her from
making loud noises during sex has admitted breaching the order.
Caroline and Steve Cartwright's love-making was described as 'murder'
and 'unnatural' at Newcastle Crown Court. Neighbours, the local
postman and a woman taking her child to school complained about the
noise. Cartwright, 48, from Washington on Wearside, pleaded guilty to
three counts of breaching the Asbo. She will be sentenced on 18
January." (12/15/09)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wear/8413974.stm
-----
17) UK: Tesco yanks Christmas card after over-sensitive redheads
complain
Yahoo! News
"Britain's biggest retailer Tesco apologised on Tuesday after
complaints that a Christmas card it sold was offensive to people with
ginger hair. The card in question shows a child with red hair sitting
on the lap of Santa Claus under the banner: 'Santa loves all kids.
Even ginger ones.' Davinia Phillips, whose three children all have red
hair, was enraged when she saw the card at one of Tesco's stores in
northern England. 'It's discrimination, pure and simple. I have shown
it to a lot of friends and they are all disgusted by it,' she was
quoted by newspapers as saying. 'I just don't find it funny at all. If
it had been about a black child or an overweight child the store would
have been shut down by now.' Tesco said the offending card had now
been withdrawn from all its stores." (12/15/09)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091215/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_tesco
-----
18) IL: Police pass out whistles to help disarmed serfs call for help
Chicago Tribune
"Thousands of Oak Park residents are being equipped with a simple
device to help fight crime in the village. Police are passing out
whistles that they are urging citizens to blow if they are victims of
or witnesses to a crime. Officers distributed hundreds of the shiny
whistles at two stations along the CTA's Green Line in Oak Park on
Friday and will be passing out more Wednesday along the Blue
Line." [editor's note: Guns are banned of course - MLS] (12/09/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ygg3v5q
-----
19) FL: Wheelchair-bound man shoots home invader to death
Palm Beach Post
"Gary Wroblewski says he was watching television in the Silver Springs
Shores neighborhood off County Road 464 late Monday night when someone
knocked on his door. Wroblewski slightly cracked open the door and
found a man claiming he needed help with his broken down car. He says
he was immediately suspicious of the man and his story. 'So I went and
got my gun. I held it behind the door and I opened the door,' said
Wroblewski. Wroblewski says he tried to send the man away and
suggested he go to another house or call AAA. He says that is when
another man, this one wearing a mask, appeared out of nowhere and
forced his door open. Wroblewski was knocked out his wheelchair but
was able to hold onto his gun and shot the masked invader. 'I fired
three shots,' recalled Wroblewski. 'Obviously you hit one of them,'
said a photojournalist. 'Yeah, severely,' said Wroblewski." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ycfvttt
-----
20) MA: Voters have their say on term limits
Boston Globe
"Councilor at Large Sam Yoon, who was defeated this fall in his bid to
stop Mayor Thomas M. Menino from winning a fifth four-year term, said
yesterday he is just one vote shy of having the majority support he
needs to advance a measure that would impose a term limit for Boston's
top job. Yoon insisted several times yesterday that term limits have
'nothing to do with Mayor Menino,' but the mayor's longevity in office
animated many of the residents who testified in support of the bill at
a packed City Council hearing. Several pointed out that no incumbent
mayor of Boston has lost a reelection bid since 1949, when James
Michael Curley, who had served five months in federal prison for mail
fraud, was ousted by John Hynes." [editor's note: Mayor of Boston or
Pope? That used to be the dream-choice for a lifetime career for a
young Irish lad - SAT] (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y9rscs9
-----
21) TN: Enviro groups want TVA prosecuted for spill
Tennessean
"Environmental groups said Monday that they want the Tennessee Valley
Authority to be prosecuted for its huge coal ash spill in Tennessee
and not shielded from penalties for polluting. In response, officials
with the nation's largest public utility said they are already subject
to penalties and lawsuits filed by the Environmental Protection Agency
and it's working to change the way it stores its coal ash. The groups
argue that TVA should not be protected from prosecution or penalties
by a long-standing federal rule that limits how the Justice Department
can prosecute federal agencies." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yc5zsjv
-----
22) Study: Kids see too many junk food ads
Arizona Republic
"Children would have to watch 10 hours of television to see one
commercial for healthful food. During that time, they would see 55
commercials for junk food. Those are among the findings of a new study
by a University of Arizona professor who examined TV programming aimed
at children 11 years old and younger. Professor Dale Kunkel's study,
commissioned by Children Now, a California-based advocacy group,
concluded that the food-and-beverage industry has failed to live up to
promises to market more healthful foods to children. Kunkel and
Children Now say Congress needs to impose restrictions on advertising
aimed at kids because it's clear the industry cannot regulate
itself." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y9j85nh
-----
23) Why southern Yemen is pushing for secession
Christian Science Monitor
"As Yemen struggles to quell Houthi rebels in the north, a secession
movement gathering steam in the south threatens to deprive the central
government of badly needed resources. While outside analysts have
become increasingly concerned that the two conflicts are creating an
unstable state where Al Qaeda could more freely operate, the chief
domestic concern is more pressing: survival. 'The south has all the
resources and only one third of the population. We cannot allow them
to secede,' said a member of the opposition party Islah in the
capital, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not
authorized to speak for the party. 'Northerners will fight to keep
Yemen together. They know it is a matter of survival.'" (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yekmvqw
-----
24) Analysis: 135,000 uninsured Americans to die before health
"reform"
Raw Story
"If Democrats manage to pull off efforts to reform the US healthcare
system and ensure coverage for millions who are currently without
insurance, the new system -- by design -- will likely still leave tens
of thousands to die without insurance before reforms kick in. A Raw
Story analysis, based on a recent Harvard Medical School study,
estimates that 135,000 American citizens and over 6,600 US veterans
will die due to a lack of health insurance before current proposed
healthcare reform measures would take effect. One hundred and thirty-
five thousand US lives far exceeds the total number of Americans who
died in the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the attacks of 9/11
combined." [editor's note: Which shows a lot about the real priorities
involved in this battle - SAT] (12/15/09)
-----
25) MA: 8-yr-old boy sent home for Jesus drawing
Associated Press
"An 8-year-old boy was sent home from school and ordered to undergo a
psychological evaluation after he was asked to make a Christmas
drawing and came up with what appeared to be a stick figure of Jesus
on a cross, the child's father said Tuesday. Chester Johnson told WBZ-
TV that his son made the drawing on Dec. 2 after his second-grade
teacher asked children to sketch something that reminded them of the
holiday. Johnson said the teacher became upset when his son said he
drew himself on the cross. Johnson, who is black, told WBZ he suspects
racism is involved. He said he thinks the school overreacted and wants
an apology. ... The boy was cleared to return to school on Dec. 7
after the evaluation found nothing to indicate that he posed a threat
to himself or others." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ycnezrj
*******************************************************************
* HEALTH-OF-THE-STATE-O-METER, 12/16/09
*
* Reported Civilian Deaths in Iraq: Min - 94,768 ... Max - 103,410
* (source: www.iraqbodycount.org)
*
* American Military Deaths in Iraq: 4,371
* (source: www.antiwar.com/casualties/)
*******************************************************************
****************************
* Everybody Has An Opinion
****************************
26) We're watching Big Brother
Center for a Stateless Society
by Kevin Carson
"This is just another example of what a hard time the old state and
corporate hierarchies are having adjusting to a networked world. We
see them constantly being blindsided by negative publicity. They're
still encultured to a world of unidirectional broadcast communications
with centralized, high-cost hubs, where a quiet phone call or lunch
with the right person could hush things up just fine. They're just
beginning to learn that that world is gone forever. Every attempt to
nip bad publicity in the bud, by schmoozing with some gatekeeper,
winds up exploding in their faces. And no matter how many times it
happens, it never stops being funny." (12/15/09)
http://c4ss.org/content/1546
-----
27) Do antiwar libertarians hate the military?
LewRockwell.Com
by Laurence M. Vance
"I normally don't pay too much attention to gnats, and especially when
they take the form of bloggers that no one has ever heard of. My
interest in this 'Conservative, Pro-military' blogger lies solely in
the fact that he is not alone. There are millions of disciples of
Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, and O'Reilly who feel the same way he does. I
would therefore like to reply to his post, clarify some things, and
make some recommendations. In addition to the incorrect spelling of my
name, there are a number of fallacies evident in the screed by Patrick
the 'Conservative, Pro-military' blogger. First and foremost is the
claim that antiwar libertarians hate the military." (12/16/09)
http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance190.html
-----
28) A note on on negative social and economic preferencing
KN@PPSTER
by Thomas L. Knapp
"I admit it. Back in the day (the day when I hiked and even did a bit
of climbing, that is), I owned a couple of North Face[TM] shirts. I
doubt they're still around. If they are, I'll find them and sock them
away for a public burning if it comes to that. I sure as hell won't
ever wear them in public again, or buy another North Face[TM] product.
And I'll probably go out of my way to have a little discussion with
any friend I notice wearing North Face[TM] rags. In other words, I am
(and have just announced that I am) negatively socially and
economically preferencing North Face[TM]." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ydvgm8n
-----
29) Happy Bill of Rights Day
Campaign For Liberty
by Anthony Gregory
"December 15 is neglected by most Americans for its historical
significance as the anniversary of the Bill of Rights. Even worse,
American politicians neglect the actual Bill of Rights on a day-to-day
basis. Whether or not the Bill of Rights can ever be an effective
means of limiting the government is open to debate. However, the Bill
of Rights does offer a fairly good outline of a free society, and it
shows how far our country has strayed." (12/15/09)
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=439
-----
30) Remembering Bill of Rights Day
Cleveland Gun Rights Examiner
by Daniel White
"In 1941, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the ratification of
the Bill of Rights which were added to the U.S. Constitution on
December 15, 1791, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared December
15 to be Bill of Rights Day. It isn't really surprising that a
national holiday celebrating the first ten amendments to the
Constitution would be ignored by many people, most of whom aren't even
aware the holiday exists. A couple hundred years have weathered much
of the patriotic spirit to little more than flag waving in early July.
Even some of our Founding Fathers would probably be ok with not
commemorating the day since they were opposed to a Bill of Rights
being added to the Constitution in the first place." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yawmet6
-----
31) The War Democrats
AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo
"War means higher taxes, bigger government, and ex-military men like
Sestak whose ambitions are not to be contained: after all, here he is
going up against a sitting Senator, over the opposition of the party
leaders and the President of the United States. If he wins, it will be
a rather large feather in the War Party's cap." (12/16/09)
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2009/12/15/the-war-democrats/
-----
32) Turning children into Orwellian eco-spies
Spiked
by Frank Furedi
"There is a long and sordid tradition of trying to socialise children
by scaring them. The aim of such socialisation-through-fear is
twofold: firstly, to get children to conform to the scaremongers'
values; secondly, to use children to influence, or at least to
contain, their parents' behaviour. When I was a schoolchild in
Stalinist Hungary, we were frequently warned about the numerous
threats facing our glorious regime. I also recall that we were
encouraged to lecture our errant parents about the new wonderful
values being promoted by our brave, wise leaders. The Big Brothers of
the 1940s saw children as tools of moral blackmail and social control.
Today, in the twenty-first century, scaremongers see children in much
the same way, exploiting their natural concern with the wonders of
life to promote a message of shrill climate alarmism." (12/15/09)
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/7830/
-----
33) Fighting another dumb war
Truthdig
by Chris Hedges
"I have spent enough time inside the American military to have tasted
its dark brutality, frequent incompetence and profligate ability to
waste human lives and taxpayer dollars. The deviousness and stupidity
of generals, the absurdity of most war plans and the pathological
addiction to violence -- which is the only language most who command
our armed forces are able to understand -- make the American military
the gravest threat to our anemic democracy, especially as we head
toward economic collapse." (12/14/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ybc5jzg
-----
34) Blair, Obama and the narcissist's defense
CounterPunch
by Chris Floyd
"A narcissist's defense. As a description of Obama's Peace Prize
speech, Macdonald's phrase could hardly be bettered. But the intense,
near-pathological self-regard in the speech was not Obama's alone, of
course; we must do him the credit of acknowledging that in this
regard, at least, he was what we so often proclaim our leaders to be:
the embodiment of the nation. His soaring proclamation of American
exceptionalism, in a setting supposedly devoted to universal
principles of peace, was breathtaking in its chutzpah -- but entirely
in keeping with the feelings of the vast majority of his countrymen,
and the ruling elite above all." (12/15/09)
http://counterpunch.org/floyd12152009.html
-----
35) Can Obama course-correct in time to avoid the 2010 iceberg?
Huffington Post
by Arianna Huffington
"On Sunday, President Obama gave himself 'a solid B+' for his first
year in office. But the report card that matters, the midterm one
issued by voters, is still 11 months away. At the moment, things are
not looking great (consider the note sent home from teacher in the
form of the president's and the Democratic Congress' plummeting
approval ratings). Luckily for them, there is plenty of time to course-
correct. But the first step in correcting course is acknowledging that
the course you're on needs to be changed. And it's not clear that the
administration is ready to get out its compass and sextant.
Particularly when it comes to the economy." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ybwwevp
-----
36) Corporate greed & disaster? Pages from a crime novel
Boston Globe
by Garry Emmons
"Decades later, the gig with the economy would end badly for the
erstwhile saxophone player. But in the 1950s, jazz musician Alan
Greenspan was just another cat under the spell of a dame, bewitched,
bothered, and bewildered, in thrall to the novelist Ayn Rand and her
torch song of laissez-faire business, free markets, and capitalist
elitism. If only the Fed chairman-in-training had swung to a different
drummer. ... [I]magine if Greenspan had taken to heart ... John D.
MacDonald's A Man of Affairs. ... If only young Alan had shrugged off
Rand for MacDonald, maybe we'd all be better off today." [editor's
note: I know this is heresy to the Randroids, but there's some meat in
this piece - SAT] (12/15/09)
-----
37) Obama's "ben tre logic"
In These Times
by Joel Bleifuss
"Has nothing changed since we were preparing to invade Iraq eight
years ago? Yes, we have a new president, one who is smart and speaks
in complete sentences. Yet we are about to jump pell-mell into
escalating another war. With the surge of 30,000 American soldiers set
to begin in January, President Barack Obama's total Afghan War
escalation now stands at 51,000. And what for? Why pour more troops
into Afghanistan, the graveyard of empires? To defeat al Qaeda -- in
Pakistan? To protect and nurture an Afghan government with little
local legitimacy? To protect an Afghan population from foreign
fighters through an occupation by foreign soldiers? Apparently, the
answer is all of the above." [editor's note: It's hard not to chuckle,
seeing these "progressive" pundits finally waking up to the shucking
they've gotten! - SAT] (12/15/09)
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/5300/obamas_ben_tre_logic/
-----
38) Why not "cash for US jobs?"
Our Future Blog
by Isaiah J. Poole
"The last time I made a trip to Home Depot was for a space heater for
my bedroom, and I did what I suspect many people are doing on
purchases like this: In addition to comparing the price tags, looking
for the 'Energy Star' label and asking whether this heater is any
better than the one that's now on its way to its eternal home, I
looked to see if any of the products had the 'Made in the U.S.A.'
label. Unfortunately, none did, and I can't say I was surprised. And
there lies a major flaw in President Obama's trip to a Home Depot in a
Washington suburb today to tout his 'cash for caulkers' program. It is
a well-intentioned program to get people to invest in making their
homes more energy efficient, and in the process getting more dollars
flowing through the economy." (12/15/09)
-----
39) Deal or die on healthcare
The American Prospect
by Paul Starr
"The moment of decision on healthcare reform is arriving for
progressives in Congress. Some of them have insisted they will refuse
to vote for any bill without a public option, and that is now the only
bill that has any chance of passing. If they hold to their position,
the most significant social reform on behalf of low-income Americans
in 40 years will go down to defeat. It should hardly be surprising
that we have come to this point. The requirement for 60 votes in the
Senate to pass ordinary legislation was always going to empower the
most conservative members of the Democratic caucus or the few moderate
Republicans who might support a bill." [editor's note: - SAT]
(12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ycdp6qv
-----
40) Obama can create jobs by modeling two good ideas
Christian Science Monitor
by Steven Hill
"With the nation's unemployment rate at 10 percent, the highest in a
generation, President Obama could learn a thing or two about job
creation by heading to the Smithsonian American Art Museum. ... Almost
every community in the United States has a park, bridge, or school
constructed during the New Deal, built by the calloused hands and
strong backs of Americans who were working directly for the
government. With the US unemployment rate surging to historic
proportions, why has the White House avoided New Deal-type programs
that could keep Americans employed?" [editor's note: And so Whistle,
Piss and Argue is reborn? Dig holes and fill them in?? Or is there
perhaps a better way? - SAT] (12/14/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ye2xzwf
-----
41) Ron Paul for first President of New Texas!
The Libertarian Enterprise
by Russell D. Longcore
"When Texas inevitably secedes from the United States, it will need a
President. I nominate favorite son Ron Paul, of Lake Jackson, Texas as
the first President of the new nation." (12/13/09)
http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2009/tle548-20091213-05.html
-----
42) House bank bill pulls more punches than it throws
The Nation
by John Nichols
"The U.S. House has voted for legislation that is described as
'financial services reform.' But most of the 'reforms' are so mild
that the savviest of the nation's big bankers will be breathing sighs
of relief, rather than worrying about being regulated into good
behavior. That's not to say that the House bill is meaningless. It
proposes some valuable shifts, including the creation of a Consumer
Financial Protection Agency that could -- if infused with proper
authority and backed by a White House and Congress that want to tip
the regulatory balance in favor of the great mass of Americans -- give
bankers and speculators some headaches. Unfortunately, that's a vague
promise rather than a firm one." (12/13/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yccdc5r
-----
43) Endangering endangered entities
Liberty For All
by Garry Reed
"It appears, from reading public reports on the matter, that the very
people in charge of keeping our officially governmentally designated
endangered species free from endangerment can't catch a clue. Perhaps
it's because their generation grew up permanently parked before
interminable Saturday morning cartoon shows where they were repeatedly
taught that animals are just cute little people-like creatures who can
talk and sing and dance and knock one another on the noggin without
enduring damage." (12/15/09)
http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=3517
-----
44) Don't blame the Federal Reserve
Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Stephen Mauzy
"Long ago I quit criticizing the Federal Reserve chairman for failing
to avert the latest systemic financial disaster, though I still pity
him for enduring the endless Socratic essays, polemics, and indignant
soliloquies of his detractors. Criticizing the Fed chairman for a lack
of prescience is like criticizing a dog for an inability to recite the
alphabet. When something is physiologically impossible, why
bother?" (12/15/09)
http://mises.org/daily/3913
-----
45) Race-based government established at expense of troops?
Hawaii Reporter
by Brian Darling
"The House and Senate are wrapping up work on the last appropriations
bill of the year and rumors are swirling that the controversial Native
Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, also known as the 'Akaka
Bill,' will be included in the Defense Appropriations bill. The
defense measure is proving to be controversial, because House and
Senate appropriators are using it to carry non related matters like a
$1.9 trillion debt limit increase, an extension of unemployment
benefits and the Native Hawaiian measure. The Native Hawaiian bill, a
long time priority of Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI), would set up a race
based government of 'indigenous, native people of Hawaii.'" (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ydft34h
-----
46) Why are US troops being targeted?
Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G. Hornberger
"A friend of mine telephoned me about yesterday's blog and made an
excellent point about the five young American men who were recently
arrested in Pakistan on suspicion of conspiring to kill U.S. soldiers.
My friend pointed out that those young men traveled more than 7,000
miles to enter a foreign country allegedly to kill U.S. troops when
they could have stayed here and wreaked terrorist havoc at
home." (12/15/09)
http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2009-12-15.asp
-----
47) Christmas books
Freedom Politics
by Thomas Sowell
"One way to reduce the wear and tear of Christmas shopping at the mall
is to give books as presents. Books can be bought on the Internet, and
they can be matched to the person who receives them without having to
know that person's measurements. Dick Morris' new book --
'Catastrophe' -- is an education in itself, on politics, on economics
and on foreign policy. It is a strong antidote to the pious rhetoric
and spin that come out of Washington and the media. Partly this is
because Dick Morris was once a Beltway insider -- an adviser to
President Bill Clinton -- who knows first-hand the ugly realities
behind the pretty words that politicians use and that much of the
media repeat." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ye5d7fr
-----
48) Does regulation lower costs? A personal experience
Foundation for Economic Education
by William Anderson
"For many years I have struggled to breathe through my nose, and
decided to do something about it, given that the condition helps cause
sleep apnea. The experience of having this condition 'fixed' has
taught me both about the wonders of modern medical care as well as the
idiocy of the medical/government bureaucracy. Unfortunately, the
latter slowly is destroying the former. I won't describe the
procedure, except to say that the local anesthetic was effective, and
I have a high pain tolerance." (12/09/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yehbd46
-----
49) Making criminals out of all Americans
Washington Examiner
by Gene Healy
"The Founders viewed the criminal sanction as a last resort, reserved
for serious offenses, clearly defined, so ordinary citizens would know
whether they were violating the law. Yet over the last 40 years, an
unholy alliance of big-business-hating liberals and tough-on-crime
conservatives has made criminalization the first line of attack -- a
way to demonstrate seriousness about the social problem of the month,
whether it's corporate scandals or e-mail spam." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yewct5l
-----
50) President Obama: Free the medical marijuana researchers!
Cato Institute
by Doug Bandow
"The War on Drugs continues, four decades after President Richard
Nixon commenced hostilities. President Barack Obama -- the third
president in a row to have used illicit substances in his youth -- is
no drug warrior. However, he seems unlikely to challenge the
disastrous new prohibition. The president has, however, ended the
federal campaign against medical marijuana, ordering administration
officials to respect state laws legalizing the drug for medicinal
purposes. This policy will grow increasingly important as more states
allow use of med-pot (for instance, in November Maine voters legalized
medical marijuana dispensaries). Congress should approve legislation
introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), codifying administration
policy into law. Moreover, the president should order the Drug
Enforcement Agency to make more pot available for research, moving the
issue forward at another level." (12/13/09)
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11051
-----
51) Three views on profit
Independent Institute
by Randall Holcombe
"The hostility that mainstream America, and the mainstream media,
shows toward profit has a solid academic foundation, but a foundation
that ignores the way that economic progress continually makes our
lives better. When pundits argue that profits are a sign of
inefficiency and exploitation, academics can go back to Marx and
Marshall to make the case. But Schumpeter showed that profit is
essential." (12/15/09)
http://www.independent.org/blog/?p=4425
-----
52) Does the Second Amendment apply in Chicago?
Reason
by Damon W. Root
"Chicago currently maintains that the Second Amendment should have
zero authority over its gun control regime, arguing that the city
should enjoy 'the greatest flexibility to create and enforce firearms
policy' and that 'Firearms regulation is a quintessential issue on
which state and local governments can 'serve as a laboratory; and try
novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the
country." But of course the Supreme Court would never allow Chicago to
try a novel 'experiment' like banning free speech, so why should the
Second Amendment enjoy any less respect than the First Amendment
does?" (12/15/09)
http://reason.com/archives/2009/12/15/does-the-second-amendment-appl
-----
53) Boom times for big government
The American Conservative
by Patrick J. Buchanan
"The financial crisis that almost sank the capitalist system was the
work of Washington and Wall Street. The Fed created the bubble. The
White House and Congress goaded banks into making all those subprime
mortgages. Fannie and Freddie bought up the lousy paper and turned it
into securities. Wall Street banks bought them up and put them on
their books as Triple A assets. Federal regulators looked the other
way. Yet happy days are here again on Wall Street. And Washington
never saw better times, with federal workers now earning, on average,
$31,000 a year more than workers in the gutted private
sector." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y9n9qpl
-----
54) How I learned to stop worrying and love the Borg
TCS Daily
by Jon N. Hall
"There are two ways we use 'left' and 'right' in politics. The first
and older usage is simply to denote two opposing camps. In America we
have two major parties, so this usage works nicely. The 'opposing
camps' usage dovetails with the red-state/blue-state, us-versus-them
line of thinking, but it doesn't account for everyone. Some party
members go 'off the reservation' on some issues. We might find a
Democrat who is pro-life, or a Republican who wants to raise taxes.
Such anomalies upset the applecart. The second usage of 'left' and
'right' is a bit more sophisticated, and tries to account for these
anomalies by recognizing that people don't usually fit neatly into
just two camps." (12/15/09)
http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=121509A
-----
55) Belgium waffles
The Weekly Standard
by Christopher Caldwell
"Ever since it was carved by treaty out of the Dutch, French, and
German borderlands after the Napoleonic wars, Belgium has been an odd
kind of country -- short on space, sunlight, and national identity. It
was a shotgun marriage of two peoples, the Dutch-speaking Flemings in
Flanders and the French-speaking Walloons in Wallonia, who, apart from
a shared Catholicism had almost nothing in common. Since Brussels, the
Belgian capital, is also the seat of government for the 27-nation
European Union, Belgium has become a symbol of the unity-in-diversity
that EU bureaucrats aspire to. But the marriage of Flanders and
Wallonia, never a love match, has in recent decades entered a thrown-
crockery phase. It has become a burning question whether the country
is headed for an outright divorce, of the sort that broke
Czechoslovakia into two countries after the Cold War. The question has
largely been answered." (for publication 12/21/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y9expr6
-----
56) Torture roulette
Slate
by Dahlia Lithwick
"There's been a good deal of speculation as to why the Obama
administration has worked so hard to keep courts from scrutinizing
Bush-era torture policies. In its pleadings, the Justice Department
continues to take the position that courts shouldn't usurp executive
authority over national defense. But the practical effect of this
effort will be to ratify such policies and the legal architecture that
supports them. As Scott Horton explains, 'the path to a renewal of the
criminal misconduct of the Bush years is being prepared right now. And
Obama Justice Department lawyers are doing the work.' Christopher
Anders, ACLU senior legislative counsel, also noted in last week's
conference call that because the statute of limitations for
prosecuting torture is eight years, those pushing for accountability
will begin to bump up against the statu[t]e for acts committed in 2002
as soon as this spring. There's one other practical result of
foreclosing every possible effort to litigate the legality of torture:
The Khalid Sheikh Mohammed trial in New York will now become the only
forum in which we consider it." (12/14/09)
http://www.slate.com/id/2238568/
-----
57) Politicians: Time is on their side
Center for a Stateless Society
by Thomas L. Knapp
"It's hard to over-emphasize the role of the media in making
politicians seem more important than they are -- in giving them the
'influence' which Time celebrates. Without Time and its ilk, who among
us would take seriously the pretensions to 'leadership' of a
Connecticut Yankee trust-fund baby transplanted to Texas for the
apparent purpose of bankrupting various oil ventures before finding
his niche as welfare pimp for the local baseball franchise? Or the
presidential aspirations of a small-time Chicago identity politics
chiseler? Any fast food fry cook who manages to serve up a decent
burger at a reasonable price exercises more positive influence in the
world than the most highly-posted politician." (12/15/09)
http://c4ss.org/content/1543
-----
58) A few more words on animal "rights"
A Passion for Liberty
by Tibor R. Machan
"There have always been eager critics of individual human rights, for
a variety of reasons, mainly because taking them seriously implies a
severe reduction of the scope of governmental authority and power.
That does not sit well with many people who want to achieve various
goals without having to concern themselves about gaining the consent
of those whose lives and labors they wish to use to help them do this.
They wish to conscript people, not gain their consent, when they want
their support and acknowledging individual rights renders this very
difficult. There are however those, too, who want to expand the
coverage of individual human rights to include at least the 'higher'
animals, so that recently, for example, the government of Spain
decided to 'grant' rights to great apes. There is now a sizable
movement, both popular and academic, insisting that animals other than
human beings have the very same rights the American Founders mentioned
in the Declaration of Independence." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yczvm6o
-----
59) Unchaining the human heart -- a revolutionary manifesto: Escape
artists
J. Neil Schulman @ Rational Review
by J. Neil Schulman
"The term 'escape artist' is usually applied to stage magicians --
like the immortal Harry Houdini -- who bind and chain themselves in
handcuffs, shackles, locks, and chains, sometimes with time pressures
like drowning or suffocation to limit the amount of time they have to
escape. I suppose to be fair we'll now have to add stage magic,
itself, to the list of escapist entertainment since the audience knows
the magician is somehow tricking them and are caught up in the
suspense regardless. The key to any sort of escapism is the audience
member's 'willing suspension of disbelief.' All consumption of
narrative entertainment -- and that does include games, jokes, and
tricks -- involves a conscious act of faith." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y8lhf5f
-----
60) I vote for a tea party
Adam Smith Institute
by Tom Clougherty
"A few of pieces of US polling data caught my eye over the weekend.
The first is that a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll conducted last week
has found that 46 percent of Americans do not think that President
Obama will be re-elected in 2012. This comes on top of the news that
Obama has lower approval ratings than any previous president at this
stage in their presidency, according to a survey by Gallup. The other
intriguing poll result comes from a survey by Rasmussen Reports, in
which 36 percent of people said they would vote Democrat, 23 percent
'Tea Party,' and 18 percent Republican." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ye68ey6
-----
61) What likely lurks around the corner
Freedom's Phoenix
by Jeff Clark
"Doug Casey and the editors at Casey Research are very skeptical that
we are experiencing any sort of economic recovery. In our opinion, too
many economic indicators are based on faulty data and optimistic
assumptions. Our research suggests that a recovery isn't sustainable
yet. And with that, we lack the foundation needed to support the
rapidly rising stock markets." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ydq5etq
-----
62) The life of California's party
The American Spectator
by W. James Antle III
"In 1992, California Republicans held a blistering primary fight
between conservative Bruce Herschensohn and moderate Tom Campbell to
determine who would be their candidate in one of the state's two
Senate races that fall. The biggest issue separating them was
abortion: Herschensohn was pro-life, Campbell pro-choice (Republicans
nominated pro-choice John Seymour for the other seat). When
Herschensohn went down to defeat at the hands of liberal Democrat
Barbara Boxer, it was supposed to be a wake-up call for Republicans.
The argument usually ran thus: The California GOP's conservative
primary electorate needs to recognize that they live in a pro-choice
state and cease their stubborn insistence on nominating pro-life
candidates for public office." (12/15/09)
http://spectator.org/archives/2009/12/15/the-life-of-californias-party
-----
63) "Not so silent:" Coolidge and civil rights
Liberty & Power
by Jonathan J. Bean
"I have been told -- but not verified -- that Coolidge was the last
president to write his own speeches. After reading Coolidge's
writings, published while he was president, I am not surprised in the
least. 'Silent Cal' could be a man of few words but when he had
something to say, he did it like a master; and when delivering
speeches, he knew that the audience was as important as the speaker.
After all, the Ku Klux Klan was at high tide and he refused their
offer to speak and chose instead group forums that represented the
very minorities attacked by the Klan!" (12/15/09)
http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/121385.html
-----
64) An open letter to President Obama
Liberty Unbound
by Don Crawford
"Dear President Obama, As a fellow alumnus of Occidental College, I am
writing to you about healthcare reform. You did say that all ideas
were on the table. Bear with me, please. I am hoping you are a smart
guy with an open mind, who will listen to a better means to reach the
same end. The first point is that we have to recognize we aren't
making healthcare more affordable just by making someone else pay for
it. Asking your wealthy uncle to pay two-thirds the price of some $180
tennis shoes does not mean you are buying affordable tennis shoes.
Affordable tennis shoes are ones that have a lower price tag. So how
could we make healthcare more affordable? We should do it the same way
that other things in our economy have become less expensive over time
-- computers, Lasik eye surgery, DVDs." (for publication 01/10)
http://libertyunbound.com/article.php?id=447
-----
65) For what it's worth -- Bill of Rights Day
Albuquerque Libertarian Examiner
by Kent McManigal
"Today is Bill of Rights Day, an actual, real, holiday. December 15th
is Bill of Rights Day every year. Everyone needs to realize that while
the Bill of Rights gives people zero rights, what it does is list
things that no government in the world can legitimately meddle
with." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y8tmt9g
*******************************************************************
* RRND MEDIA SHELF -- Tchotchkes from today's edition
*
* A Man of Affairs, by John D. MacDonald
* http//www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0449129667/rationalrev08-20
*
* Catastrophe, by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann
* http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/006177104X/rationalrev08-20
*
* Revolution, by Tim Cox
* http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/1934454036/rationalrev08-20
*
* From Poverty to Prosperity, by Arnold Kling and Nick Schulz
* http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/1594032505/rationalrev08-20
*
* Amazon Gift Certificates -- The perfect gift for readers!
* http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00067L6TQ/rationalrev08-20
*
* Note: Affiliate links generate commissions for RRND's editors.
*******************************************************************
*****************************
* See No Evil, Hear No Evil
*****************************
66) Tim Cox on Freedom Rings Radio, 12/21/09
Freedom Rings Radio
"Tim Cox, author of Revolution, a New Plan for Selecting
Representatives and the founder of the Get Out Of Our House Project
joins host Kenneth John. 9-10am Central on WRMN 1410 AM, Elgin, IL or
live on the web. [live radio or stream] (12/21/09)
http://freedomrings.net/
-----
67) Cato Daily Podcast, 12/16/09
Cato Institute
"Trouble for the Race to the Top Fund," featuring Neal McCluskey.
[MP3] (12/16/09)
http://tinyurl.com/cato121609
-----
68) Free Talk Live, 12/15/09
Free Talk Live
"Iraq, Afghanistan, and Foreign Policy / Collectivist Speak / Hussein
and the US Govt / Guantanamo Prisoners to Move to US / Team
Mentality / Newspaper Accepting Donations / Illegal Potato Chip
Sales / Vaccines / Govt Space Program vs the Free Market / Space Ship
Two / Australia Internet Filtering / Remote Healing Claims / Edgar
Cayce / Campers Harassed By Govt Gangsters." [MP3] (12/15/09)
http://media.libsyn.com/media/ftl/FTL2009-12-15.mp3
-----
69) From poverty to prosperity
Hit & Run
"Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie talks with economist Arnold Kling and
journalist Nick Schulz about their new book, From Poverty to
Prosperity (Encounter), which charts the fantastic increase in overall
wealth despite recent economic troubles. Taking a longer view that
stretches back decades and even centuries, Kling and Schulz argue that
we've entered the era of Economics 2.0, in which the key issue is
innovation, transformation, and growth, not the divvying up of
existing goods and services." [Flash video] (12/15/09)
http://reason.com/blog/2009/12/15/reasontv-from-poverty-to-prosp
-----
70) Freedomain Radio #1532
Freedomain Radio
"Apologies and authenticity, a terrible dream 35 years afterwards, and
civil disobedience." [MP3] (12/13/09)
http://tinyurl.com/fdr1532
*************************************
* What's Up In The Freedom Movement
*************************************
71) Today's events
Check our sidebar calendar for this week's freedom movement events.
Don't see your event? Drop us a line at in...@rationalreview.com ... or
see:
www.rationalreview.com/add-your-event-to-our-calendar
... for instructions on adding your events directly!
http://upcoming.yahoo.com/group/4042/
***********
* WaYbAcK
***********
72) The tea is in the harbor
Details, and the "quote of the day," from Leon's Political Almanac at:
http://perspicuity.net/cgi/hypercal.cgi
* RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
* The Freedom Movement's Daily Newspaper
*
* Volume VI, Issue #1,813
* Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
* Email Circulation 2,148
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In The News:
1) Iraq: 15 killed, 63 wounded
2) Pakistan: At least 25 killed in market blast
3) Immigration overhaul bill unveiled in US House
4) DC: Council casts final vote to end marriage apartheid
5) WA: Islamist convicted in shootings at Seattle Jewish center
6) Mexico: 56 journalists killed in nine years
7) OH: Court notices Fourth Amendment, does double take
8) Feds arrest 26 in $61 million Medicare fraud
9) Mullen: Most of surge troops will arrive by August
10) Some in Pakistani top command favor assault on Afghan insurgents
11) Obama regime gives Calderon regime helicopters for drug war
12) 800,000 H1N1 vaccine doses for young children recalled
13) North Korea presses for lifting of UN sanctions
14) Senate rejects importation of prescription drugs
15) UK: Newspapers victorious in battle to protect sources
16) UK: Noisy sex woman admits Asbo breach
17) UK: Tesco yanks Christmas card after over-sensitive redheads
complain
18) IL: Police pass out whistles to help disarmed serfs call for help
19) FL: Wheelchair-bound man shoots home invader to death
20) MA: Voters have their say on term limits
21) TN: Enviro groups want TVA prosecuted for spill
22) Study: Kids see too many junk food ads
23) Why southern Yemen is pushing for secession
24) Analysis: 135,000 uninsured Americans to die before health
"reform"
25) MA: 8-yr-old boy sent home for Jesus drawing
Everybody Has An Opinion:
26) We're watching Big Brother
27) Do antiwar libertarians hate the military?
28) A note on on negative social and economic preferencing
29) Happy Bill of Rights Day
30) Remembering Bill of Rights Day
31) The War Democrats
32) Turning children into Orwellian eco-spies
33) Fighting another dumb war
34) Blair, Obama and the narcissist's defense
35) Can Obama course-correct in time to avoid the 2010 iceberg?
36) Corporate greed & disaster? Pages from a crime novel
37) Obama's "ben tre logic"
38) Why not "cash for US jobs?"
39) Deal or die on healthcare
40) Obama can create jobs by modeling two good ideas
41) Ron Paul for first President of New Texas!
42) House bank bill pulls more punches than it throws
43) Endangering endangered entities
44) Don't blame the Federal Reserve
45) Race-based government established at expense of troops?
46) Why are US troops being targeted?
47) Christmas books
48) Does regulation lower costs? A personal experience
49) Making criminals out of all Americans
50) President Obama: Free the medical marijuana researchers!
51) Three views on profit
52) Does the Second Amendment apply in Chicago?
53) Boom times for big government
54) How I learned to stop worrying and love the Borg
55) Belgium waffles
56) Torture roulette
57) Politicians: Time is on their side
58) A few more words on animal "rights"
59) Unchaining the human heart -- a revolutionary manifesto: Escape
artists
60) I vote for a tea party
61) What likely lurks around the corner
62) The life of California's party
63) "Not so silent:" Coolidge and civil rights
64) An open letter to President Obama
65) For what it's worth -- Bill of Rights Day
See No Evil, Hear No Evil:
66) Tim Cox on Freedom Rings Radio, 12/21/09
67) Cato Daily Podcast, 12/16/09
68) Free Talk Live, 12/15/09
69) From poverty to prosperity
70) Freedomain Radio #1532
What's Up In The Freedom Movement:
71) Today's events
WaYbAcK:
72) The tea is in the harbor
***************
* In The News
***************
1) Iraq: 15 killed, 63 wounded
AntiWar.Com
"Bombs targeted Baghdad governmental institutions today, exactly a
week after 'Bloody Tuesday' left hundreds dead or wounded. Mosul was
equally affected, but those attacks were directed at Christian targets
instead. At least 15 Iraqis were killed and 63 more were wounded
across the country. The attacks also indirectly affected Camp Ashraf
as a number of journalists heading to the immigrant camp were awaiting
transport together near a blast site. Also, the ongoing PKK
difficulties claimed two more lives in Turkey." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ye7skft
-----
2) Pakistan: At least 25 killed in market blast
CNN
"The death toll from an explosion in the central Pakistani city of
Dera Ghazi Khan climbed to at least 25 on Wednesday, a senior
government official said. Another 56 people were wounded in Tuesday's
attack, according to Hassan Iqbal Khan." (12/16/09)
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/12/16/pakistan.blast/
-----
3) Immigration overhaul bill unveiled in US House
Los Angeles Times
"Raising the curtain on a new round of debate over immigration reform,
a group of Democratic congressional lawmakers introduced a
comprehensive bill Tuesday that, among other provisions, would offer a
path to legalization for the country's estimated 12 million illegal
immigrants. The bill, championed by Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.),
was decidedly more pro-immigrant than the bipartisan legislation House
lawmakers debated two years ago. And the latest version drew immediate
fire from the left as well as the right. Groups opposed to
legalization derided it as a form of amnesty, and more-liberal
factions complained that it relied too heavily on
enforcement." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ya3o336
-----
4) DC: Council casts final vote to end marriage apartheid
ABC News
"The D.C. Council today voted overwhelmingly for the final time to
legalize same-sex marriage in Washington D.C., with two council
members opposing. 'This legislation is an important and historic step
towards equal dignity, equal respect and equal rights for same-sex
couples here in our nation's capital, which also preserves the right
of clergy and congregations to adhere to their faiths,' said Human
Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y9aa3po
-----
5) WA: Islamist convicted in shootings at Seattle Jewish center
Los Angeles Times
"A King County jury on Tuesday found Naveed Haq guilty of aggravated
first-degree murder in the 2006 shootings at the Jewish Federation of
Greater Seattle, a verdict that carries an automatic life
sentence. ... Haq opened fire in the center's offices, killing Pamela
Waechter, 58. Several of the shooting victims who were in the
courtroom hugged tearfully when the verdicts were announced. ...
Prosecutors had introduced as evidence recordings from 10 phone calls
Haq, 34, placed to his family after his arrest. In them, Haq told his
mother he was 'a soldier of Islam.'" (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yenhkgn
-----
6) Mexico: 56 journalists killed in nine years
USA Today
"Mexico's National Human Rights Commission says 56 journalists have
been killed in the past nine years and most of the slayings remain
unsolved. It says eight reporters went missing and seven newspaper
offices were attacked with explosives over the same period. The
commission said in a news release Tuesday that authorities have been
negligent in investigating and prosecuting the attacks." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ydqctan
-----
7) OH: Court notices Fourth Amendment, does double take
MSNBC
"Police officers must obtain a search warrant before scouring the
contents of a suspect's cell phone unless their safety is in danger, a
divided Ohio Supreme Court ruled Tuesday on an issue that appears
never to have reached another state high court or the U.S. Supreme
Court. The Ohio high court ruled 5-4 in favor of Antwaun Smith, who
was arrested on drug charges after he answered a cell phone call from
a crack cocaine user acting as a police informant." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yapjou5
-----
8) Feds arrest 26 in $61 million Medicare fraud
MSNBC
"Federal agents arrested 26 suspects in three states Tuesday,
including a doctor and nurses, in a major crackdown on Medicare fraud
totaling $61 million in separate scams. Arrests in Miami, Brooklyn and
Detroit included a Florida doctor accused of running a $40 million
home health care scheme that falsely listed patients as blind
diabetics so that he could bill for twice-daily nurse
visits." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ybx97uo
-----
9) Mullen: Most of surge troops will arrive by August
La Crosse Tribune
"The top U.S. military officer said Tuesday that he's confident that
most of the 30,000 additional troops that are being sent to
Afghanistan will be there by August. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters traveling with him in
Afghanistan that the first 16,000 troops who already have orders will
be in on schedule." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ya2837j
-----
10) Some in Pakistani top command favor assault on Afghan insurgents
Miami Herald
"A section of the Pakistani military top command now agrees with
Washington that the country's armed forces should be sent into the
North Waziristan area, a sanctuary for al-Qaida and Afghan insurgents,
analysts and officials said Tuesday. Due to resistance from the core
army, however, any operation there could be half-hearted. The Obama
administration is pressuring Pakistan to follow its offensive against
Pakistani Taliban in South Waziristan with a push against Afghan
insurgents and al-Qaida fighters based in North Waziristan, a
territory controlled by the Haqqani network, widely seen as the most
dangerous rebel group in Afghanistan." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ydsd5rr
-----
11) Obama regime gives Calderon regime helicopters for drug war
Miami Herald
"U.S. officials delivered five helicopters to Mexico on Tuesday to
help the country in its fight against drug cartels. The aircraft are
part of more than $604 million worth of vehicles and equipment that
the U.S. plans to give Mexico in the coming months. 'The helicopters
that we are handing over today are very important substantively and
symbolically in our cooperation, but they are only a part of the chain
of many important milestones in meeting these challenges,' said John
Brennan, assistant to President Barack Obama for homeland security and
counterterrorism." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yeh5mov
-----
12) 800,000 H1N1 vaccine doses for young children recalled
CNN
"One of the five manufacturers supplying H1N1 vaccine to the United
States is recalling hundreds of thousands of flu shots because they
aren't as potent as they should be. The French manufacturer Sanofi
Pasteur is voluntarily recalling about 800,000 doses of vaccine meant
for children between the ages of 6 months and 35 months. The company
and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasized that the
recall was not prompted by safety concerns, and that even though the
vaccine isn't quite as potent as it's supposed to be, children who
received it don't have to be immunized again against H1N1." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ydbnmjp
-----
13) North Korea presses for lifting of UN sanctions
El Paso Times
"North Korea told a senior U.S. envoy that U.N. sanctions imposed on
the communist regime for its nuclear defiance must be lifted, a report
said Wednesday. North Korean officials conveyed the message to Stephen
Bosworth, President Barack Obama's envoy on North Korea, during the
diplomat's trip to Pyongyang last week for high-level talks, South
Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, citing an unidentified diplomatic
source." (12/15/09)
http://www.elpasotimes.com/nationworld/ci_14004976
-----
14) Senate rejects importation of prescription drugs
Baltimore Sun
"In a victory for President Obama and his allies in the pharmaceutical
industry, the Senate today turned aside a bid by a bipartisan group of
lawmakers to make it easier to import cheaper prescription drugs from
Canada and Western Europe -- a proposal that threatened to derail the
Democrats' landmark healthcare bill. The vote on the amendment --
cosponsored by Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.)
-- was 51-48, nine short of the 60 needed to pass." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y8qopjb
-----
15) UK: Newspapers victorious in battle to protect sources
Independent [UK]
"The Independent has helped win an important court ruling protecting
members of the public who supply confidential information to the
media. Judges at the European Court of Human Rights said that The
Independent and four other media groups were right to defy a court
order to disclose documents that would have identified the source of a
story about a multimillion pound City takeover in 2001. By standing
their ground the four newspapers and one news agency faced massive
fines and seizure of their assets, while the journalists who wrote the
stories could have been jailed." (12/16/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y974lfp
-----
16) UK: Noisy sex woman admits Asbo breach
BBC News [UK]
"A woman who was given an anti-social behaviour order banning her from
making loud noises during sex has admitted breaching the order.
Caroline and Steve Cartwright's love-making was described as 'murder'
and 'unnatural' at Newcastle Crown Court. Neighbours, the local
postman and a woman taking her child to school complained about the
noise. Cartwright, 48, from Washington on Wearside, pleaded guilty to
three counts of breaching the Asbo. She will be sentenced on 18
January." (12/15/09)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wear/8413974.stm
-----
17) UK: Tesco yanks Christmas card after over-sensitive redheads
complain
Yahoo! News
"Britain's biggest retailer Tesco apologised on Tuesday after
complaints that a Christmas card it sold was offensive to people with
ginger hair. The card in question shows a child with red hair sitting
on the lap of Santa Claus under the banner: 'Santa loves all kids.
Even ginger ones.' Davinia Phillips, whose three children all have red
hair, was enraged when she saw the card at one of Tesco's stores in
northern England. 'It's discrimination, pure and simple. I have shown
it to a lot of friends and they are all disgusted by it,' she was
quoted by newspapers as saying. 'I just don't find it funny at all. If
it had been about a black child or an overweight child the store would
have been shut down by now.' Tesco said the offending card had now
been withdrawn from all its stores." (12/15/09)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091215/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_tesco
-----
18) IL: Police pass out whistles to help disarmed serfs call for help
Chicago Tribune
"Thousands of Oak Park residents are being equipped with a simple
device to help fight crime in the village. Police are passing out
whistles that they are urging citizens to blow if they are victims of
or witnesses to a crime. Officers distributed hundreds of the shiny
whistles at two stations along the CTA's Green Line in Oak Park on
Friday and will be passing out more Wednesday along the Blue
Line." [editor's note: Guns are banned of course - MLS] (12/09/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ygg3v5q
-----
19) FL: Wheelchair-bound man shoots home invader to death
Palm Beach Post
"Gary Wroblewski says he was watching television in the Silver Springs
Shores neighborhood off County Road 464 late Monday night when someone
knocked on his door. Wroblewski slightly cracked open the door and
found a man claiming he needed help with his broken down car. He says
he was immediately suspicious of the man and his story. 'So I went and
got my gun. I held it behind the door and I opened the door,' said
Wroblewski. Wroblewski says he tried to send the man away and
suggested he go to another house or call AAA. He says that is when
another man, this one wearing a mask, appeared out of nowhere and
forced his door open. Wroblewski was knocked out his wheelchair but
was able to hold onto his gun and shot the masked invader. 'I fired
three shots,' recalled Wroblewski. 'Obviously you hit one of them,'
said a photojournalist. 'Yeah, severely,' said Wroblewski." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ycfvttt
-----
20) MA: Voters have their say on term limits
Boston Globe
"Councilor at Large Sam Yoon, who was defeated this fall in his bid to
stop Mayor Thomas M. Menino from winning a fifth four-year term, said
yesterday he is just one vote shy of having the majority support he
needs to advance a measure that would impose a term limit for Boston's
top job. Yoon insisted several times yesterday that term limits have
'nothing to do with Mayor Menino,' but the mayor's longevity in office
animated many of the residents who testified in support of the bill at
a packed City Council hearing. Several pointed out that no incumbent
mayor of Boston has lost a reelection bid since 1949, when James
Michael Curley, who had served five months in federal prison for mail
fraud, was ousted by John Hynes." [editor's note: Mayor of Boston or
Pope? That used to be the dream-choice for a lifetime career for a
young Irish lad - SAT] (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y9rscs9
-----
21) TN: Enviro groups want TVA prosecuted for spill
Tennessean
"Environmental groups said Monday that they want the Tennessee Valley
Authority to be prosecuted for its huge coal ash spill in Tennessee
and not shielded from penalties for polluting. In response, officials
with the nation's largest public utility said they are already subject
to penalties and lawsuits filed by the Environmental Protection Agency
and it's working to change the way it stores its coal ash. The groups
argue that TVA should not be protected from prosecution or penalties
by a long-standing federal rule that limits how the Justice Department
can prosecute federal agencies." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yc5zsjv
-----
22) Study: Kids see too many junk food ads
Arizona Republic
"Children would have to watch 10 hours of television to see one
commercial for healthful food. During that time, they would see 55
commercials for junk food. Those are among the findings of a new study
by a University of Arizona professor who examined TV programming aimed
at children 11 years old and younger. Professor Dale Kunkel's study,
commissioned by Children Now, a California-based advocacy group,
concluded that the food-and-beverage industry has failed to live up to
promises to market more healthful foods to children. Kunkel and
Children Now say Congress needs to impose restrictions on advertising
aimed at kids because it's clear the industry cannot regulate
itself." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y9j85nh
-----
23) Why southern Yemen is pushing for secession
Christian Science Monitor
"As Yemen struggles to quell Houthi rebels in the north, a secession
movement gathering steam in the south threatens to deprive the central
government of badly needed resources. While outside analysts have
become increasingly concerned that the two conflicts are creating an
unstable state where Al Qaeda could more freely operate, the chief
domestic concern is more pressing: survival. 'The south has all the
resources and only one third of the population. We cannot allow them
to secede,' said a member of the opposition party Islah in the
capital, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not
authorized to speak for the party. 'Northerners will fight to keep
Yemen together. They know it is a matter of survival.'" (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yekmvqw
-----
24) Analysis: 135,000 uninsured Americans to die before health
"reform"
Raw Story
"If Democrats manage to pull off efforts to reform the US healthcare
system and ensure coverage for millions who are currently without
insurance, the new system -- by design -- will likely still leave tens
of thousands to die without insurance before reforms kick in. A Raw
Story analysis, based on a recent Harvard Medical School study,
estimates that 135,000 American citizens and over 6,600 US veterans
will die due to a lack of health insurance before current proposed
healthcare reform measures would take effect. One hundred and thirty-
five thousand US lives far exceeds the total number of Americans who
died in the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the attacks of 9/11
combined." [editor's note: Which shows a lot about the real priorities
involved in this battle - SAT] (12/15/09)
-----
25) MA: 8-yr-old boy sent home for Jesus drawing
Associated Press
"An 8-year-old boy was sent home from school and ordered to undergo a
psychological evaluation after he was asked to make a Christmas
drawing and came up with what appeared to be a stick figure of Jesus
on a cross, the child's father said Tuesday. Chester Johnson told WBZ-
TV that his son made the drawing on Dec. 2 after his second-grade
teacher asked children to sketch something that reminded them of the
holiday. Johnson said the teacher became upset when his son said he
drew himself on the cross. Johnson, who is black, told WBZ he suspects
racism is involved. He said he thinks the school overreacted and wants
an apology. ... The boy was cleared to return to school on Dec. 7
after the evaluation found nothing to indicate that he posed a threat
to himself or others." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ycnezrj
*******************************************************************
* HEALTH-OF-THE-STATE-O-METER, 12/16/09
*
* Reported Civilian Deaths in Iraq: Min - 94,768 ... Max - 103,410
* (source: www.iraqbodycount.org)
*
* American Military Deaths in Iraq: 4,371
* (source: www.antiwar.com/casualties/)
*******************************************************************
****************************
* Everybody Has An Opinion
****************************
26) We're watching Big Brother
Center for a Stateless Society
by Kevin Carson
"This is just another example of what a hard time the old state and
corporate hierarchies are having adjusting to a networked world. We
see them constantly being blindsided by negative publicity. They're
still encultured to a world of unidirectional broadcast communications
with centralized, high-cost hubs, where a quiet phone call or lunch
with the right person could hush things up just fine. They're just
beginning to learn that that world is gone forever. Every attempt to
nip bad publicity in the bud, by schmoozing with some gatekeeper,
winds up exploding in their faces. And no matter how many times it
happens, it never stops being funny." (12/15/09)
http://c4ss.org/content/1546
-----
27) Do antiwar libertarians hate the military?
LewRockwell.Com
by Laurence M. Vance
"I normally don't pay too much attention to gnats, and especially when
they take the form of bloggers that no one has ever heard of. My
interest in this 'Conservative, Pro-military' blogger lies solely in
the fact that he is not alone. There are millions of disciples of
Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, and O'Reilly who feel the same way he does. I
would therefore like to reply to his post, clarify some things, and
make some recommendations. In addition to the incorrect spelling of my
name, there are a number of fallacies evident in the screed by Patrick
the 'Conservative, Pro-military' blogger. First and foremost is the
claim that antiwar libertarians hate the military." (12/16/09)
http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance190.html
-----
28) A note on on negative social and economic preferencing
KN@PPSTER
by Thomas L. Knapp
"I admit it. Back in the day (the day when I hiked and even did a bit
of climbing, that is), I owned a couple of North Face[TM] shirts. I
doubt they're still around. If they are, I'll find them and sock them
away for a public burning if it comes to that. I sure as hell won't
ever wear them in public again, or buy another North Face[TM] product.
And I'll probably go out of my way to have a little discussion with
any friend I notice wearing North Face[TM] rags. In other words, I am
(and have just announced that I am) negatively socially and
economically preferencing North Face[TM]." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ydvgm8n
-----
29) Happy Bill of Rights Day
Campaign For Liberty
by Anthony Gregory
"December 15 is neglected by most Americans for its historical
significance as the anniversary of the Bill of Rights. Even worse,
American politicians neglect the actual Bill of Rights on a day-to-day
basis. Whether or not the Bill of Rights can ever be an effective
means of limiting the government is open to debate. However, the Bill
of Rights does offer a fairly good outline of a free society, and it
shows how far our country has strayed." (12/15/09)
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=439
-----
30) Remembering Bill of Rights Day
Cleveland Gun Rights Examiner
by Daniel White
"In 1941, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the ratification of
the Bill of Rights which were added to the U.S. Constitution on
December 15, 1791, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared December
15 to be Bill of Rights Day. It isn't really surprising that a
national holiday celebrating the first ten amendments to the
Constitution would be ignored by many people, most of whom aren't even
aware the holiday exists. A couple hundred years have weathered much
of the patriotic spirit to little more than flag waving in early July.
Even some of our Founding Fathers would probably be ok with not
commemorating the day since they were opposed to a Bill of Rights
being added to the Constitution in the first place." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yawmet6
-----
31) The War Democrats
AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo
"War means higher taxes, bigger government, and ex-military men like
Sestak whose ambitions are not to be contained: after all, here he is
going up against a sitting Senator, over the opposition of the party
leaders and the President of the United States. If he wins, it will be
a rather large feather in the War Party's cap." (12/16/09)
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2009/12/15/the-war-democrats/
-----
32) Turning children into Orwellian eco-spies
Spiked
by Frank Furedi
"There is a long and sordid tradition of trying to socialise children
by scaring them. The aim of such socialisation-through-fear is
twofold: firstly, to get children to conform to the scaremongers'
values; secondly, to use children to influence, or at least to
contain, their parents' behaviour. When I was a schoolchild in
Stalinist Hungary, we were frequently warned about the numerous
threats facing our glorious regime. I also recall that we were
encouraged to lecture our errant parents about the new wonderful
values being promoted by our brave, wise leaders. The Big Brothers of
the 1940s saw children as tools of moral blackmail and social control.
Today, in the twenty-first century, scaremongers see children in much
the same way, exploiting their natural concern with the wonders of
life to promote a message of shrill climate alarmism." (12/15/09)
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/7830/
-----
33) Fighting another dumb war
Truthdig
by Chris Hedges
"I have spent enough time inside the American military to have tasted
its dark brutality, frequent incompetence and profligate ability to
waste human lives and taxpayer dollars. The deviousness and stupidity
of generals, the absurdity of most war plans and the pathological
addiction to violence -- which is the only language most who command
our armed forces are able to understand -- make the American military
the gravest threat to our anemic democracy, especially as we head
toward economic collapse." (12/14/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ybc5jzg
-----
34) Blair, Obama and the narcissist's defense
CounterPunch
by Chris Floyd
"A narcissist's defense. As a description of Obama's Peace Prize
speech, Macdonald's phrase could hardly be bettered. But the intense,
near-pathological self-regard in the speech was not Obama's alone, of
course; we must do him the credit of acknowledging that in this
regard, at least, he was what we so often proclaim our leaders to be:
the embodiment of the nation. His soaring proclamation of American
exceptionalism, in a setting supposedly devoted to universal
principles of peace, was breathtaking in its chutzpah -- but entirely
in keeping with the feelings of the vast majority of his countrymen,
and the ruling elite above all." (12/15/09)
http://counterpunch.org/floyd12152009.html
-----
35) Can Obama course-correct in time to avoid the 2010 iceberg?
Huffington Post
by Arianna Huffington
"On Sunday, President Obama gave himself 'a solid B+' for his first
year in office. But the report card that matters, the midterm one
issued by voters, is still 11 months away. At the moment, things are
not looking great (consider the note sent home from teacher in the
form of the president's and the Democratic Congress' plummeting
approval ratings). Luckily for them, there is plenty of time to course-
correct. But the first step in correcting course is acknowledging that
the course you're on needs to be changed. And it's not clear that the
administration is ready to get out its compass and sextant.
Particularly when it comes to the economy." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ybwwevp
-----
36) Corporate greed & disaster? Pages from a crime novel
Boston Globe
by Garry Emmons
"Decades later, the gig with the economy would end badly for the
erstwhile saxophone player. But in the 1950s, jazz musician Alan
Greenspan was just another cat under the spell of a dame, bewitched,
bothered, and bewildered, in thrall to the novelist Ayn Rand and her
torch song of laissez-faire business, free markets, and capitalist
elitism. If only the Fed chairman-in-training had swung to a different
drummer. ... [I]magine if Greenspan had taken to heart ... John D.
MacDonald's A Man of Affairs. ... If only young Alan had shrugged off
Rand for MacDonald, maybe we'd all be better off today." [editor's
note: I know this is heresy to the Randroids, but there's some meat in
this piece - SAT] (12/15/09)
-----
37) Obama's "ben tre logic"
In These Times
by Joel Bleifuss
"Has nothing changed since we were preparing to invade Iraq eight
years ago? Yes, we have a new president, one who is smart and speaks
in complete sentences. Yet we are about to jump pell-mell into
escalating another war. With the surge of 30,000 American soldiers set
to begin in January, President Barack Obama's total Afghan War
escalation now stands at 51,000. And what for? Why pour more troops
into Afghanistan, the graveyard of empires? To defeat al Qaeda -- in
Pakistan? To protect and nurture an Afghan government with little
local legitimacy? To protect an Afghan population from foreign
fighters through an occupation by foreign soldiers? Apparently, the
answer is all of the above." [editor's note: It's hard not to chuckle,
seeing these "progressive" pundits finally waking up to the shucking
they've gotten! - SAT] (12/15/09)
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/5300/obamas_ben_tre_logic/
-----
38) Why not "cash for US jobs?"
Our Future Blog
by Isaiah J. Poole
"The last time I made a trip to Home Depot was for a space heater for
my bedroom, and I did what I suspect many people are doing on
purchases like this: In addition to comparing the price tags, looking
for the 'Energy Star' label and asking whether this heater is any
better than the one that's now on its way to its eternal home, I
looked to see if any of the products had the 'Made in the U.S.A.'
label. Unfortunately, none did, and I can't say I was surprised. And
there lies a major flaw in President Obama's trip to a Home Depot in a
Washington suburb today to tout his 'cash for caulkers' program. It is
a well-intentioned program to get people to invest in making their
homes more energy efficient, and in the process getting more dollars
flowing through the economy." (12/15/09)
-----
39) Deal or die on healthcare
The American Prospect
by Paul Starr
"The moment of decision on healthcare reform is arriving for
progressives in Congress. Some of them have insisted they will refuse
to vote for any bill without a public option, and that is now the only
bill that has any chance of passing. If they hold to their position,
the most significant social reform on behalf of low-income Americans
in 40 years will go down to defeat. It should hardly be surprising
that we have come to this point. The requirement for 60 votes in the
Senate to pass ordinary legislation was always going to empower the
most conservative members of the Democratic caucus or the few moderate
Republicans who might support a bill." [editor's note: - SAT]
(12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ycdp6qv
-----
40) Obama can create jobs by modeling two good ideas
Christian Science Monitor
by Steven Hill
"With the nation's unemployment rate at 10 percent, the highest in a
generation, President Obama could learn a thing or two about job
creation by heading to the Smithsonian American Art Museum. ... Almost
every community in the United States has a park, bridge, or school
constructed during the New Deal, built by the calloused hands and
strong backs of Americans who were working directly for the
government. With the US unemployment rate surging to historic
proportions, why has the White House avoided New Deal-type programs
that could keep Americans employed?" [editor's note: And so Whistle,
Piss and Argue is reborn? Dig holes and fill them in?? Or is there
perhaps a better way? - SAT] (12/14/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ye2xzwf
-----
41) Ron Paul for first President of New Texas!
The Libertarian Enterprise
by Russell D. Longcore
"When Texas inevitably secedes from the United States, it will need a
President. I nominate favorite son Ron Paul, of Lake Jackson, Texas as
the first President of the new nation." (12/13/09)
http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2009/tle548-20091213-05.html
-----
42) House bank bill pulls more punches than it throws
The Nation
by John Nichols
"The U.S. House has voted for legislation that is described as
'financial services reform.' But most of the 'reforms' are so mild
that the savviest of the nation's big bankers will be breathing sighs
of relief, rather than worrying about being regulated into good
behavior. That's not to say that the House bill is meaningless. It
proposes some valuable shifts, including the creation of a Consumer
Financial Protection Agency that could -- if infused with proper
authority and backed by a White House and Congress that want to tip
the regulatory balance in favor of the great mass of Americans -- give
bankers and speculators some headaches. Unfortunately, that's a vague
promise rather than a firm one." (12/13/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yccdc5r
-----
43) Endangering endangered entities
Liberty For All
by Garry Reed
"It appears, from reading public reports on the matter, that the very
people in charge of keeping our officially governmentally designated
endangered species free from endangerment can't catch a clue. Perhaps
it's because their generation grew up permanently parked before
interminable Saturday morning cartoon shows where they were repeatedly
taught that animals are just cute little people-like creatures who can
talk and sing and dance and knock one another on the noggin without
enduring damage." (12/15/09)
http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=3517
-----
44) Don't blame the Federal Reserve
Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Stephen Mauzy
"Long ago I quit criticizing the Federal Reserve chairman for failing
to avert the latest systemic financial disaster, though I still pity
him for enduring the endless Socratic essays, polemics, and indignant
soliloquies of his detractors. Criticizing the Fed chairman for a lack
of prescience is like criticizing a dog for an inability to recite the
alphabet. When something is physiologically impossible, why
bother?" (12/15/09)
http://mises.org/daily/3913
-----
45) Race-based government established at expense of troops?
Hawaii Reporter
by Brian Darling
"The House and Senate are wrapping up work on the last appropriations
bill of the year and rumors are swirling that the controversial Native
Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, also known as the 'Akaka
Bill,' will be included in the Defense Appropriations bill. The
defense measure is proving to be controversial, because House and
Senate appropriators are using it to carry non related matters like a
$1.9 trillion debt limit increase, an extension of unemployment
benefits and the Native Hawaiian measure. The Native Hawaiian bill, a
long time priority of Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI), would set up a race
based government of 'indigenous, native people of Hawaii.'" (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ydft34h
-----
46) Why are US troops being targeted?
Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G. Hornberger
"A friend of mine telephoned me about yesterday's blog and made an
excellent point about the five young American men who were recently
arrested in Pakistan on suspicion of conspiring to kill U.S. soldiers.
My friend pointed out that those young men traveled more than 7,000
miles to enter a foreign country allegedly to kill U.S. troops when
they could have stayed here and wreaked terrorist havoc at
home." (12/15/09)
http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2009-12-15.asp
-----
47) Christmas books
Freedom Politics
by Thomas Sowell
"One way to reduce the wear and tear of Christmas shopping at the mall
is to give books as presents. Books can be bought on the Internet, and
they can be matched to the person who receives them without having to
know that person's measurements. Dick Morris' new book --
'Catastrophe' -- is an education in itself, on politics, on economics
and on foreign policy. It is a strong antidote to the pious rhetoric
and spin that come out of Washington and the media. Partly this is
because Dick Morris was once a Beltway insider -- an adviser to
President Bill Clinton -- who knows first-hand the ugly realities
behind the pretty words that politicians use and that much of the
media repeat." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ye5d7fr
-----
48) Does regulation lower costs? A personal experience
Foundation for Economic Education
by William Anderson
"For many years I have struggled to breathe through my nose, and
decided to do something about it, given that the condition helps cause
sleep apnea. The experience of having this condition 'fixed' has
taught me both about the wonders of modern medical care as well as the
idiocy of the medical/government bureaucracy. Unfortunately, the
latter slowly is destroying the former. I won't describe the
procedure, except to say that the local anesthetic was effective, and
I have a high pain tolerance." (12/09/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yehbd46
-----
49) Making criminals out of all Americans
Washington Examiner
by Gene Healy
"The Founders viewed the criminal sanction as a last resort, reserved
for serious offenses, clearly defined, so ordinary citizens would know
whether they were violating the law. Yet over the last 40 years, an
unholy alliance of big-business-hating liberals and tough-on-crime
conservatives has made criminalization the first line of attack -- a
way to demonstrate seriousness about the social problem of the month,
whether it's corporate scandals or e-mail spam." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yewct5l
-----
50) President Obama: Free the medical marijuana researchers!
Cato Institute
by Doug Bandow
"The War on Drugs continues, four decades after President Richard
Nixon commenced hostilities. President Barack Obama -- the third
president in a row to have used illicit substances in his youth -- is
no drug warrior. However, he seems unlikely to challenge the
disastrous new prohibition. The president has, however, ended the
federal campaign against medical marijuana, ordering administration
officials to respect state laws legalizing the drug for medicinal
purposes. This policy will grow increasingly important as more states
allow use of med-pot (for instance, in November Maine voters legalized
medical marijuana dispensaries). Congress should approve legislation
introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), codifying administration
policy into law. Moreover, the president should order the Drug
Enforcement Agency to make more pot available for research, moving the
issue forward at another level." (12/13/09)
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11051
-----
51) Three views on profit
Independent Institute
by Randall Holcombe
"The hostility that mainstream America, and the mainstream media,
shows toward profit has a solid academic foundation, but a foundation
that ignores the way that economic progress continually makes our
lives better. When pundits argue that profits are a sign of
inefficiency and exploitation, academics can go back to Marx and
Marshall to make the case. But Schumpeter showed that profit is
essential." (12/15/09)
http://www.independent.org/blog/?p=4425
-----
52) Does the Second Amendment apply in Chicago?
Reason
by Damon W. Root
"Chicago currently maintains that the Second Amendment should have
zero authority over its gun control regime, arguing that the city
should enjoy 'the greatest flexibility to create and enforce firearms
policy' and that 'Firearms regulation is a quintessential issue on
which state and local governments can 'serve as a laboratory; and try
novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the
country." But of course the Supreme Court would never allow Chicago to
try a novel 'experiment' like banning free speech, so why should the
Second Amendment enjoy any less respect than the First Amendment
does?" (12/15/09)
http://reason.com/archives/2009/12/15/does-the-second-amendment-appl
-----
53) Boom times for big government
The American Conservative
by Patrick J. Buchanan
"The financial crisis that almost sank the capitalist system was the
work of Washington and Wall Street. The Fed created the bubble. The
White House and Congress goaded banks into making all those subprime
mortgages. Fannie and Freddie bought up the lousy paper and turned it
into securities. Wall Street banks bought them up and put them on
their books as Triple A assets. Federal regulators looked the other
way. Yet happy days are here again on Wall Street. And Washington
never saw better times, with federal workers now earning, on average,
$31,000 a year more than workers in the gutted private
sector." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y9n9qpl
-----
54) How I learned to stop worrying and love the Borg
TCS Daily
by Jon N. Hall
"There are two ways we use 'left' and 'right' in politics. The first
and older usage is simply to denote two opposing camps. In America we
have two major parties, so this usage works nicely. The 'opposing
camps' usage dovetails with the red-state/blue-state, us-versus-them
line of thinking, but it doesn't account for everyone. Some party
members go 'off the reservation' on some issues. We might find a
Democrat who is pro-life, or a Republican who wants to raise taxes.
Such anomalies upset the applecart. The second usage of 'left' and
'right' is a bit more sophisticated, and tries to account for these
anomalies by recognizing that people don't usually fit neatly into
just two camps." (12/15/09)
http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=121509A
-----
55) Belgium waffles
The Weekly Standard
by Christopher Caldwell
"Ever since it was carved by treaty out of the Dutch, French, and
German borderlands after the Napoleonic wars, Belgium has been an odd
kind of country -- short on space, sunlight, and national identity. It
was a shotgun marriage of two peoples, the Dutch-speaking Flemings in
Flanders and the French-speaking Walloons in Wallonia, who, apart from
a shared Catholicism had almost nothing in common. Since Brussels, the
Belgian capital, is also the seat of government for the 27-nation
European Union, Belgium has become a symbol of the unity-in-diversity
that EU bureaucrats aspire to. But the marriage of Flanders and
Wallonia, never a love match, has in recent decades entered a thrown-
crockery phase. It has become a burning question whether the country
is headed for an outright divorce, of the sort that broke
Czechoslovakia into two countries after the Cold War. The question has
largely been answered." (for publication 12/21/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y9expr6
-----
56) Torture roulette
Slate
by Dahlia Lithwick
"There's been a good deal of speculation as to why the Obama
administration has worked so hard to keep courts from scrutinizing
Bush-era torture policies. In its pleadings, the Justice Department
continues to take the position that courts shouldn't usurp executive
authority over national defense. But the practical effect of this
effort will be to ratify such policies and the legal architecture that
supports them. As Scott Horton explains, 'the path to a renewal of the
criminal misconduct of the Bush years is being prepared right now. And
Obama Justice Department lawyers are doing the work.' Christopher
Anders, ACLU senior legislative counsel, also noted in last week's
conference call that because the statute of limitations for
prosecuting torture is eight years, those pushing for accountability
will begin to bump up against the statu[t]e for acts committed in 2002
as soon as this spring. There's one other practical result of
foreclosing every possible effort to litigate the legality of torture:
The Khalid Sheikh Mohammed trial in New York will now become the only
forum in which we consider it." (12/14/09)
http://www.slate.com/id/2238568/
-----
57) Politicians: Time is on their side
Center for a Stateless Society
by Thomas L. Knapp
"It's hard to over-emphasize the role of the media in making
politicians seem more important than they are -- in giving them the
'influence' which Time celebrates. Without Time and its ilk, who among
us would take seriously the pretensions to 'leadership' of a
Connecticut Yankee trust-fund baby transplanted to Texas for the
apparent purpose of bankrupting various oil ventures before finding
his niche as welfare pimp for the local baseball franchise? Or the
presidential aspirations of a small-time Chicago identity politics
chiseler? Any fast food fry cook who manages to serve up a decent
burger at a reasonable price exercises more positive influence in the
world than the most highly-posted politician." (12/15/09)
http://c4ss.org/content/1543
-----
58) A few more words on animal "rights"
A Passion for Liberty
by Tibor R. Machan
"There have always been eager critics of individual human rights, for
a variety of reasons, mainly because taking them seriously implies a
severe reduction of the scope of governmental authority and power.
That does not sit well with many people who want to achieve various
goals without having to concern themselves about gaining the consent
of those whose lives and labors they wish to use to help them do this.
They wish to conscript people, not gain their consent, when they want
their support and acknowledging individual rights renders this very
difficult. There are however those, too, who want to expand the
coverage of individual human rights to include at least the 'higher'
animals, so that recently, for example, the government of Spain
decided to 'grant' rights to great apes. There is now a sizable
movement, both popular and academic, insisting that animals other than
human beings have the very same rights the American Founders mentioned
in the Declaration of Independence." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yczvm6o
-----
59) Unchaining the human heart -- a revolutionary manifesto: Escape
artists
J. Neil Schulman @ Rational Review
by J. Neil Schulman
"The term 'escape artist' is usually applied to stage magicians --
like the immortal Harry Houdini -- who bind and chain themselves in
handcuffs, shackles, locks, and chains, sometimes with time pressures
like drowning or suffocation to limit the amount of time they have to
escape. I suppose to be fair we'll now have to add stage magic,
itself, to the list of escapist entertainment since the audience knows
the magician is somehow tricking them and are caught up in the
suspense regardless. The key to any sort of escapism is the audience
member's 'willing suspension of disbelief.' All consumption of
narrative entertainment -- and that does include games, jokes, and
tricks -- involves a conscious act of faith." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y8lhf5f
-----
60) I vote for a tea party
Adam Smith Institute
by Tom Clougherty
"A few of pieces of US polling data caught my eye over the weekend.
The first is that a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll conducted last week
has found that 46 percent of Americans do not think that President
Obama will be re-elected in 2012. This comes on top of the news that
Obama has lower approval ratings than any previous president at this
stage in their presidency, according to a survey by Gallup. The other
intriguing poll result comes from a survey by Rasmussen Reports, in
which 36 percent of people said they would vote Democrat, 23 percent
'Tea Party,' and 18 percent Republican." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ye68ey6
-----
61) What likely lurks around the corner
Freedom's Phoenix
by Jeff Clark
"Doug Casey and the editors at Casey Research are very skeptical that
we are experiencing any sort of economic recovery. In our opinion, too
many economic indicators are based on faulty data and optimistic
assumptions. Our research suggests that a recovery isn't sustainable
yet. And with that, we lack the foundation needed to support the
rapidly rising stock markets." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ydq5etq
-----
62) The life of California's party
The American Spectator
by W. James Antle III
"In 1992, California Republicans held a blistering primary fight
between conservative Bruce Herschensohn and moderate Tom Campbell to
determine who would be their candidate in one of the state's two
Senate races that fall. The biggest issue separating them was
abortion: Herschensohn was pro-life, Campbell pro-choice (Republicans
nominated pro-choice John Seymour for the other seat). When
Herschensohn went down to defeat at the hands of liberal Democrat
Barbara Boxer, it was supposed to be a wake-up call for Republicans.
The argument usually ran thus: The California GOP's conservative
primary electorate needs to recognize that they live in a pro-choice
state and cease their stubborn insistence on nominating pro-life
candidates for public office." (12/15/09)
http://spectator.org/archives/2009/12/15/the-life-of-californias-party
-----
63) "Not so silent:" Coolidge and civil rights
Liberty & Power
by Jonathan J. Bean
"I have been told -- but not verified -- that Coolidge was the last
president to write his own speeches. After reading Coolidge's
writings, published while he was president, I am not surprised in the
least. 'Silent Cal' could be a man of few words but when he had
something to say, he did it like a master; and when delivering
speeches, he knew that the audience was as important as the speaker.
After all, the Ku Klux Klan was at high tide and he refused their
offer to speak and chose instead group forums that represented the
very minorities attacked by the Klan!" (12/15/09)
http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/121385.html
-----
64) An open letter to President Obama
Liberty Unbound
by Don Crawford
"Dear President Obama, As a fellow alumnus of Occidental College, I am
writing to you about healthcare reform. You did say that all ideas
were on the table. Bear with me, please. I am hoping you are a smart
guy with an open mind, who will listen to a better means to reach the
same end. The first point is that we have to recognize we aren't
making healthcare more affordable just by making someone else pay for
it. Asking your wealthy uncle to pay two-thirds the price of some $180
tennis shoes does not mean you are buying affordable tennis shoes.
Affordable tennis shoes are ones that have a lower price tag. So how
could we make healthcare more affordable? We should do it the same way
that other things in our economy have become less expensive over time
-- computers, Lasik eye surgery, DVDs." (for publication 01/10)
http://libertyunbound.com/article.php?id=447
-----
65) For what it's worth -- Bill of Rights Day
Albuquerque Libertarian Examiner
by Kent McManigal
"Today is Bill of Rights Day, an actual, real, holiday. December 15th
is Bill of Rights Day every year. Everyone needs to realize that while
the Bill of Rights gives people zero rights, what it does is list
things that no government in the world can legitimately meddle
with." (12/15/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y8tmt9g
*******************************************************************
* RRND MEDIA SHELF -- Tchotchkes from today's edition
*
* A Man of Affairs, by John D. MacDonald
* http//www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0449129667/rationalrev08-20
*
* Catastrophe, by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann
* http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/006177104X/rationalrev08-20
*
* Revolution, by Tim Cox
* http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/1934454036/rationalrev08-20
*
* From Poverty to Prosperity, by Arnold Kling and Nick Schulz
* http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/1594032505/rationalrev08-20
*
* Amazon Gift Certificates -- The perfect gift for readers!
* http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00067L6TQ/rationalrev08-20
*
* Note: Affiliate links generate commissions for RRND's editors.
*******************************************************************
*****************************
* See No Evil, Hear No Evil
*****************************
66) Tim Cox on Freedom Rings Radio, 12/21/09
Freedom Rings Radio
"Tim Cox, author of Revolution, a New Plan for Selecting
Representatives and the founder of the Get Out Of Our House Project
joins host Kenneth John. 9-10am Central on WRMN 1410 AM, Elgin, IL or
live on the web. [live radio or stream] (12/21/09)
http://freedomrings.net/
-----
67) Cato Daily Podcast, 12/16/09
Cato Institute
"Trouble for the Race to the Top Fund," featuring Neal McCluskey.
[MP3] (12/16/09)
http://tinyurl.com/cato121609
-----
68) Free Talk Live, 12/15/09
Free Talk Live
"Iraq, Afghanistan, and Foreign Policy / Collectivist Speak / Hussein
and the US Govt / Guantanamo Prisoners to Move to US / Team
Mentality / Newspaper Accepting Donations / Illegal Potato Chip
Sales / Vaccines / Govt Space Program vs the Free Market / Space Ship
Two / Australia Internet Filtering / Remote Healing Claims / Edgar
Cayce / Campers Harassed By Govt Gangsters." [MP3] (12/15/09)
http://media.libsyn.com/media/ftl/FTL2009-12-15.mp3
-----
69) From poverty to prosperity
Hit & Run
"Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie talks with economist Arnold Kling and
journalist Nick Schulz about their new book, From Poverty to
Prosperity (Encounter), which charts the fantastic increase in overall
wealth despite recent economic troubles. Taking a longer view that
stretches back decades and even centuries, Kling and Schulz argue that
we've entered the era of Economics 2.0, in which the key issue is
innovation, transformation, and growth, not the divvying up of
existing goods and services." [Flash video] (12/15/09)
http://reason.com/blog/2009/12/15/reasontv-from-poverty-to-prosp
-----
70) Freedomain Radio #1532
Freedomain Radio
"Apologies and authenticity, a terrible dream 35 years afterwards, and
civil disobedience." [MP3] (12/13/09)
http://tinyurl.com/fdr1532
*************************************
* What's Up In The Freedom Movement
*************************************
71) Today's events
Check our sidebar calendar for this week's freedom movement events.
Don't see your event? Drop us a line at in...@rationalreview.com ... or
see:
www.rationalreview.com/add-your-event-to-our-calendar
... for instructions on adding your events directly!
http://upcoming.yahoo.com/group/4042/
***********
* WaYbAcK
***********
72) The tea is in the harbor
Details, and the "quote of the day," from Leon's Political Almanac at:
http://perspicuity.net/cgi/hypercal.cgi
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