12/07 -- Greece: Riots grip Athens on anniversary of teen's murder; Treasury: TARP costs $200 billion less than forecast
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Thomas L. Knapp
Dec 7, 2009, 2:50:58 AM12/7/09
to Rational Review News Digest
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* RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
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* Volume VI, Issue #1,806
* Monday, December 7th, 2009
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In The News:
1) Greece: Riots grip Athens on anniversary of teen's murder
2) Treasury: TARP costs $200 billion less than forecast
3) Iraq: Eight killed, 20 wounded
4) Afghanistan: US soldier killed in landmine blast
5) Bolivia: Morales claims re-election, Congress control
6) NJ: Senate gears up for debate on religious freedom, marriage
equality
7) VA: Two of three accused SEALs to appear in court
8) MA: Another McGovern takes on a war
9) "Obama's war" could be politically precarious
10) Nobel acceptance will be a tricky moment
11) CO: Denver man proposes commission for UFOs
12) FL: Governor sends callers to sex chat line
13) GOP pot calls Dem kettle black
14) TN: Tougher smoking ban maybe on the way
15) UK: The big squeeze
16) Jobless professionals vie for holiday sales work
17) UK: NHS IT system to be scaled back
18) Germany: Train buffs go loco
19) GA: Store owner shoots robber who killed clerk
20) When folks swarmed People's House
Everybody Has An Opinion:
21) O=W
22) US foreign policy and the cult of "expertise"
23) A tale of two frauds
24) The global warming fraud is melting
25) Leaping feet first into a fishy lawsuit
26) The left fell into the climate morass
27) Dear rads
28) Is Erik Prince "graymailing" the US Government?
29) Some jobs taxpayers don't need to buy
30) Did Obama steal Bush's speechwriters?
31) Is Israel a democracy?
32) Swiss ban on minarets a vote for tolerance & inclusion
33) Cuba, from Fidel to Raul
34) This sure seems like Vietnam
35) The crime of disarmament
36) The twin frauds of Obama
37) Shifting sands
38) Troop surge in Afghanistan a losing investment
39) We-don't-want-to-talk-about-it-gate
40) Boulder rocks
41) The secret to legal marijuana? Women
42) No solid gold performance from Bernanke
43) Scientists behaving badly
44) Quantum of lawless
45) How bad is the Fuck You Act?
46) More on general market efficiency
47) Anyone have $6.6 million to produce the Great Libertarian Movie?
48) Obama's exit strategy
49) Interview in prep for "John Stossel Goes to Washington"
50) Nonsense on poverty
51) What is the free market?
52) Prefabricated fascists
53) "Forward," march
54) Simple thought experiment
55) Admit your limitations
What's Up In The Freedom Movement:
56) Today's events
WaYbAcK:
57) Pearl Harbor
***************
* In The News
***************
1) Greece: Riots grip Athens on anniversary of teen's murder
Guardian [UK]
"Masked youths hurled firebombs and chunks of marble at police during
a protest in Athens to mark the first anniversary of the police
shooting of a teenager whose death caused widespread riots. Police
fired volleys of teargas to disperse the youths in running street
battles in the centre of the capital as several thousand demonstrators
marched to commemorate the death of 15-year-old Alexandros
Grigoropoulos. The teenager's death sent youths rampaging through
cities for two weeks last December. ... At Athens University, masked
protesters broke into the building and pulled down a Greek flag,
replacing it with a black-and-red anarchist banner. The dean of Athens
University was injured when the youths broke into the building, and
was in intensive care in hospital, authorities said." (12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yemrs24
-----
2) Treasury: TARP costs $200 billion less than forecast
Bloomberg
"The Obama administration expects the cost of the Troubled Asset
Relief Program to be $200 billion less than projected, helping to
reduce the size of the budget deficit, a Treasury Department official
said yesterday." (12/07/09)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=alRjWmoXBAgs
-----
3) Iraq: Eight killed, 20 wounded
AntiWar.Com
"Gunmen killed four policemen at a checkpoint in Abu Ghraib. A cache
containing TNT, cannon balls and other explosives was also found. In
Baghdad, a sticky bomb wounded a civilian in Adhamiya. Two suspects
were arrested. In Kirkuk, an Iraqi soldier was killed in a small arms
attack. An explosion wounded two policemen. Gunmen killed a private
guard. At least one more person was killed and four more were wounded
in separate attacks. At least six people were wounded or killed in a
market blast in Mussayab. A roadside bomb blast in Rashad killed one
Sahwa fighter and wounded three others." (12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ylghhbf
-----
4) Afghanistan: US soldier killed in landmine blast
United Press International
"A landmine killed a U.S. soldier and a NATO-led airstrike killed a
group of Taliban militants in Afghanistan, the military said Sunday.
The soldier was killed during combat operations in eastern
Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force said without
elaborating." (12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yefyg5e
-----
5) Bolivia: Morales claims re-election, Congress control
Reuters
"Bolivian President Evo Morales claimed a landslide re-election
victory on Sunday as voters backed his left-wing policies of Indian
power, social spending and state control of industry. Official results
were not expected until Monday but quick counts showed Morales took at
least 63 percent of the vote, more than 35 percentage points ahead of
his closest challenger, rightist former governor Manfred Reyes
Villa." (12/06/09)
http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCATRE5B50BZ20091207
-----
6) NJ: Senate gears up for debate on religious freedom, marriage
equality
WCBS TV
"The countdown is on, as a key New Jersey committee is expected to
vote on same-sex marriage Monday and sent the bill to the full senate,
where it will face the real challenge. Lawmakers have just a few days
left to get the legislation to Governor Jon Corzine's desk for his
signature. He has 43 days left. After that, Jon Corzine gives way to
successor Chris Christie, and 43 days are what those trying to get a
same-sex marriage bill passed in the state have. If the legislation
doesn't get through the NJ state senate this week, Christie has said
he will not support same-sex marriage as governor." (12/07/09)
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/gay.marriage.bill.2.1353514.html
-----
7) VA: Two of three accused SEALs to appear in court
San Jose Mercury News
"Two Navy SEALs are scheduled to be arraigned Monday in military court
on charges that they mistreated an Iraqi suspect in the gory slayings
of four U.S. contractors in Fallujah. One of the SEALs is accused of
punching the detainee after his September arrest, while the other is
accused of lying to investigators. A third SEAL also accused of lying
to investigators about the episode will be arraigned
later." (12/06/09)
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_13940206
-----
8) MA: Another McGovern takes on a war
Boston Globe
"As a seventh-grader during the Vietnam War, he passed out antiwar
campaign literature for the former South Dakota senator, and as a
college student he interned in the senator's Washington office. Now
Rep. James P. McGovern [D-MA], a 50-year-old whose parents still own a
liquor store in Worcester, is assuming his mentor's mantle in more
than name (they are not related). He has become one of the most
outspoken opponents to President Obama's Afghanistan strategy, putting
forward proposals to cut off funding for the 30,000 additional troops
Obama plans to send there and to demand a clear-cut exit
strategy." (12/05/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ycz2k85
-----
9) "Obama's war" could be politically precarious
Christian Science Monitor
"As 1,000 US marines launched a combat operation behind enemy lines
dubbed 'Cobra's Anger' this weekend, it became clear that President
Obama now 'owns' the war in Afghanistan. Though there was high
symbolism of that fact in his speech at West Point Tuesday, Obama took
control of the war months ago, escalating US military assets and
aggressiveness in Afghanistan. He's more than doubled the number of US
troops there since he took office. And as the Monitor's Howard
LaFranchi reported, he's greatly increased the US commitment compared
to NATO and other non-US forces. At the same time, Obama has
authorized an increase in the use of pilotless drone aircraft to
strike targets -- typically Al Qaeda and Taliban operatives -- along
the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, according to a New York Times
report." (12/05/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yz4ys77
-----
10) Nobel acceptance will be a tricky moment
Associated Press
"He's the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who just ordered 30,000 more
troops into war. He's the winner who says he didn't deserve to win.
He's not quite 11 months on the job and already in the company of
Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama. This is President Barack Obama's
Nobel moment, an immense honor shadowed by awkward timing. When Obama
leaves for Oslo, Norway, on Wednesday to be lauded for his style of
international diplomacy, he goes knowing that the American people are
more concerned about something else: peace of mind. The economy has
left millions of them hurting. ... Unemployment is in double digits
even as the bleeding of jobs has slowed. Meanwhile, there's no hiding
the contrast of war and peace." (12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yza8llj
-----
11) CO: Denver man proposes commission for UFOs
Los Angeles Times
"Forget high unemployment rates and two wars overseas. Jeff Peckman
has more earthly concerns: For one thing, if extraterrestrials were to
descend on Denver, what's the best way to welcome them? Thanks to
Peckman's tireless efforts and taste for the limelight, Denver voters
will be asked in 2010 to boldly approve what no electorate has
approved before: an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission. Last week,
Denver officials announced that Peckman had gathered about 4,000 valid
signatures needed to place the issue before the 350,000 registered
voters of the Colorado state capital. If approved, the city panel
would promote 'harmonious, peaceful, mutually respectful and
beneficial coexistence' between earthlings and extraterrestrials, in
part by developing protocols for 'diplomatic contact.' Its seven
members would include an expert in taking testimony from people who
have survived 'direct personal close encounters' with
aliens." [editor's note: No anal probe, no appointment? - SAT]
(12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ycwmyp5
-----
12) FL: Governor sends callers to sex chat line
Raw Story
"In spite of government claims to the contrary, no horny girls are
standing by to help your child get health insurance. It's a state-
sponsored blooper for the ages: for two months, a recording by Florida
Governor Charlie Crist played when parents called KidCare to get
advice on health policies for their children. In the audio, Crist gave
a number to call for more information. As it happened, that number was
a little off. Instead of details on child health care, callers were
redirected to this: Hey there, sexy guy. Welcome to an exciting new
way to go live, one on one, with hot, horny girls waiting right now to
talk to you." (12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ydw5bjh
-----
13) GOP pot calls Dem kettle black
Fox News
"Senate Republicans accused President Obama of backroom arm-twisting
on Sunday, speaking at a press conference just steps away from the
room where the president met with divided Democrats on an $848 billion
healthcare plan. Lawmakers spent the weekend in Washington trying to
hash out amendments to the massive bill that faces universal
opposition from the chamber's 40 Republicans. To pass, any legislation
will require unanimous approval of the 60 Senate Democrats, who are
divided on abortion funding and a government-funded insurance
program." [editor's note: IOW, bidness as usual on Capitol Hill - SAT]
(12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ykbbucd
-----
14) TN: Tougher smoking ban maybe on the way
Tennessean
"Two years after the General Assembly passed a bill to ban smoking
from most workplaces, including restaurants, supporters say the law is
working and should be extended to include places such as over-21
venues that are now exempt. 'There literally are hundreds of thousands
of Tennesseans who are healthier, and tens of thousands who do not
have lung cancer or heart disease because they now get to breathe
clean air,' said state Sen. Roy Herron, who dropped his Democratic bid
for governor this week to run for John Tanner's 8th District
congressional seat. 'Yet other Tennesseans are still at great risk and
that's simply not right.'" [editor's note: As much as I despise the
smell of cigarette-smoke, I despise even more the attempts to take
away the option arbitrarily. I choose my hangouts; I don't need
someone doing it for me! - SAT] (12/05/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yjd39c9
-----
15) UK: The big squeeze
Independent [UK]
"Next year, Britain's middle classes and the rich will face the
biggest squeeze on their living standards in decades, shows research
produced by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers for The Independent. In
the build-up to what promises to be an exceptionally tough pre-Budget
report this Wednesday, PwC says the typical British family ('Middle
England') already faces a decline of 2.4 per cent, or #300 a year, in
its discretionary spending power, after tax, mortgages, food and other
essentials." (12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ybatsqp
-----
16) Jobless professionals vie for holiday sales work
Yahoo! News
"Mara Proctor used to design limestone hearths and columns for luxury
homes near Kansas City, drawing on her college education and six years
of training. These days, she's leading customers around a store that
sells sculptured snowmen and Santa figurines. It isn't by choice.
Until a few weeks ago, Proctor was among the record 5.9 million
Americans who have been jobless for at least six months. Now she
belongs to a subset of that group: Out-of-work professionals and
managers, engineers and teachers who have turned, in desperation, to
holiday-season jobs as sales clerks. ... The pay is low, the jobs
temporary. And the work is hardly equal to their experience or
expertise. Yet the nation's unemployment crisis left these people
jobless so much longer than they'd expected that many count themselves
fortunate to have anything." (12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ybftxvb
-----
17) UK: NHS IT system to be scaled back
BBC News [UK]
"The government is to scale back its #12bn NHS IT system in what the
Tories are calling a 'massive U-turn.' Chancellor Alistair Darling
said he would be delaying parts of the scheme in Wednesday's pre-
Budget Report as it was 'not essential to the front line.' The move
may save hundreds of millions but Mr Darling admitted it was only a
fraction of total spending cuts needed. The Tories and Lib Dems have
been calling for the IT system, which has been hit by costly delays,
to be axed." (12/06/09)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8397854.stm
-----
18) Germany: Train buffs go loco
Ananova [UK]
"Train buffs are facing jail after building their own ramshackle
locomotive and taking it on the public rail network. The six-seater
train -- made out of garden furniture and salvaged train parts -- was
powered by an electric motor and even had its own refreshments car in
the shape of a crate of beer. Police in Erfut, Germany, were alerted
after residents of properties adjoining the railway spotted the
unorthodox vehicle -- and were aware that there should have been no
traffic running. Police however had to call in a helicopter to find
and follow the makeshift train as the police cars could not follow it
along the tracks. The helicopter pilot was able to radio ahead to
other officers who set up a makeshift barrier at a station to stop
it." (12/04/09)
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_3588249.html
-----
19) GA: Store owner shoots robber who killed clerk
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Just before 10 p.m., Anthony and another man walked into the store,
police said. Anthony pulled a handgun on McKibben, demanding money,
Atlanta police Det. Lt. Keith Meadows said. The 21-year-old clerk was
shot in the stomach and buttocks, and later died at the scene,
authorities said. 'A second employee in the back heard the clerk
shout, 'I've been shot," Meadows said. 'He came out to the front with
his own gun.' The second employee has been identified as store owner
Shaun Yu. Yu exchanged gunfire with Anthony, shooting the perpetrator
in the arm and leg, police said. Anthony fled on foot and was arrested
a block away." (12/06/09)
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/police-id-victim-suspect-226968.html
-----
20) When folks swarmed People's House
Yahoo! News
"The folks who sneaked into the president's state dinner are part of a
long tradition of people showing up as they please at the People's
House. It's just that the tradition vanished ages ago. Americans
staked their claim to the White House in muddy boots on fine carpet,
picnicked on the grounds, parked their carriages and then their cars
outside and tromped inside to look for the man, often finding him.
They did not need invitations, engraved or otherwise." (12/05/09)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_the_people_s_house
*******************************************************************
* HEALTH-OF-THE-STATE-O-METER, 12/07/09
*
* Reported Civilian Deaths in Iraq: Min - 94,544 ... Max - 103,160
* (source: www.iraqbodycount.org)
*
* American Military Deaths in Iraq: 4,367
* (source: www.antiwar.com/casualties/)
*******************************************************************
****************************
* Everybody Has An Opinion
****************************
21) O=W
AntiWar.Com
by William S. Lind
"For eight years, conservatives endured the agony of watching
President George W. Bush attach the label 'conservative' to a host of
policies that were anti-conservative: Wilsonian wars, American empire,
vast budget and trade deficits, increased entitlements, and the
subordination of America's interests to those of foreign powers. Now
the shoe is on the other foot, and liberals are bidden to hold their
tongues as President Obama makes Bush's wars his own." (12/05/09)
http://original.antiwar.com/lind/2009/12/04/o-equals-w/
-----
22) US foreign policy and the cult of "expertise"
AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo
"How do we account for the huge gap between the people and those who
make policy in their name? To begin with, we have an entire class of
people whose jobs, social prestige, and livelihoods are directly tied
to our foreign policy of global intervention. These people are
naturally inclined to favor militarism and meddling in the affairs of
other nations. This group, while small in numbers, wields an outsized
influence when it comes to such matters, and it can successfully defy
popular opinion for quite a long time. It manages to hornswoggle the
public with a number of scams, notably the cult of expertise, which
Americans have traditionally been suckers for, and never more so than
today, when confusion over the sheer complexity of some of the foreign
policy issues being raised makes people particularly vulnerable to the
argument from authority." (12/07/09)
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2009/12/06/the-cult-of-expertise/
-----
23) A tale of two frauds
The Libertarian Enterprise
by L. Neil Smith
"In a blazing triumph of ignorance, stupidity, bigotry, and junk
science, members of the Colorado State Board of Agriculture -- by
bizarre historical accident, the governing body for Colorado State
University -- have decided they would rather see a coed raped in an
alley and strangled with her own pantyhose, than see her with a gun in
her hand. Regrettably, they have made this indefensible decision, not
just for themselves, but for thousands of students, faculty, visitors,
and staff who must now brave the hazards of a well-advertised criminal
free-fire zone, simply to attend classes, do their jobs, move from one
location to another on the campus, and return home again each night.
Screw democracy, screw the republic, screw the Constitution, screw the
Second Amendment, screw decent common sense and decades of established
scientific fact regarding the vital necessity and efficacy of armed
self-defense. We might as well just call the place 'Screw
U.'" (12/06/09)
http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2009/tle547-20091206-02.html
-----
24) The global warming fraud is melting
Las Vegas Review-Journal
by Vin Suprynowicz
"By now, you doubtless know a dastardly hacker broke into the e-mail
system at the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia
in Britain late last month, grabbing and making public more than 1,000
e-mails that expose how these 'scientific experts,' cited so often to
confirm 'man-made global warming,' have been fudging their data,
conspiring to remove global warming skeptics from the teams that 'peer-
review' their doctored data for publication, and advising each other
to delete incriminating e-mails being sought under the public
disclosure laws. Wow. I'm about as shocked as Claude Rains' character
when he found out there was gambling going on at Rick's Place in
'Casablanca.' Aren't you?" (12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yjku64z
-----
25) Leaping feet first into a fishy lawsuit
Arizona Republic
by E. J. Montini
"The prospect of writing (or reading) about a lawsuit filed by the
Goldwater Institute citing the alleged 'overzealous regulation' of a
state governing board against a small business is as appealing to me
(and to you) as watching tropical fish nibble dead skin off soaking
feet. Unless we happen to get really, really lucky and the lawsuit
actually is about fish nibbling the dead skin off soaking feet. ...
Last year, a woman named Cindy Vong, owner of LaVie Nails and Spa in
Gilbert, saw her Arizona cosmetology license pulled when she added
'spa fish therapy' to her salon. Clients paid Vong $30 each to dip
their tootsies for 20 minutes in an aquarium filled with Garra rufa
fish, a tiny carp of Chinese origin, which gently gnaw away the
superfluous epidermis of customers. 'We recognize the humorous aspect
of this case,' said Clint Bolick, the Goldwater litigator who filed
the lawsuit. 'But as funny as it is, it allows us to get into some
very serious constitutional issues.'" (12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yjslly7
-----
26) The left fell into the climate morass
LewRockwell.Com
by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
"The effort to whip everyone up into a frenzy over this began more
than ten years ago. Every lefty fundraising letter harped on the
issue, and demanded people commit their lives to it, explaining that
if mother earth dies, then all is lost. It is a more important issue
than all the rest, the litmus test to determine whether you are a
friend or an enemy. This made it very difficult for libertarians to
cooperate with the left over the last years. Sure, there are some
libertarian ideas for dealing with pollution, but none as compelling
as central planning, and there was never any way that we would go
along with that idea. The costs associated with dismantling industrial
civilization outweigh even the worst-case global-warming scenario. And
methodologically, the whole thing was always nuts." (12/07/09)
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/lost-left-climate-morass136.html
-----
27) Dear rads
Liberty For All
by Angela Keaton
"How've you been? I'm doing well. Been doing some serious thinking
about the events of 2008. Hard thinking. Know many of you have been.
The distance has given me some perspective. And while I am thrilled
with the addition of Wes Benedict as Executive Director and the
emergence of Rachel Hawkridge as the conscience of the LNC, that's not
enough to reverse over a decade of damage from poor financial choices,
ideological drift and endless drama." (12/05/09)
http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=3480
-----
28) Is Erik Prince "graymailing" the US Government?
The Nation
by Jeremy Scahill
"The in-depth Vanity Fair profile of the infamous owner of Blackwater,
Erik Prince, is remarkable on many levels.... While the story appears
to be simply a profile of Prince, it might actually be the world's
most famous mercenary's insurance policy against future criminal
prosecution. The term of art for what Prince appears to be doing in
the VF interview is graymail: a legal tactic that has been used for
years by intelligence operatives or assets who are facing prosecution
or fear they soon will be. In short, these operatives or assets
threaten to reveal details of sensitive or classified operations in
order to ward off indictments or criminal charges, based on the belief
that the government would not want these details revealed." (12/04/09)
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091221/scahill2
-----
29) Some jobs taxpayers don't need to buy
Our Future Blog
by Leo Gerard
"Maybe you can't buy love, but you can buy a job. Franklin Delano
Roosevelt did it with the Works Progress Administration during the
Great Depression. And the $787 billion stimulus package passed in
February created jobs to relieve what is now 10.2 percent
unemployment. Both came at the cost of taxpayer dollars. Now, as labor
and business leaders, economists and politicians gather Dec. 3 for
President Obama's Jobs Summit, some are calling for a second
stimulus. ... There are ways to create jobs that taxpayers don't need
to buy. One is to enforce and strengthen trade policy." (12/04/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yfxkcqo
-----
30) Did Obama steal Bush's speechwriters?
The Progressive
by Matthew Rothschild
"If you closed your eyes during much of the President's speech on
Afghanistan Tuesday night and just listened to the words, you easily
could have concluded that George W. Bush was still in the Oval Office.
Or, at the very least, that Obama had stolen his speechwriters.
Because, like Bush, Obama had barely cleared his throat when out came
the first mention of September 11, along with the Bushian line: 'We
did not ask for this fight.' Like Bush, Obama lied about the lead up
to the Afghanistan war, saying that the United States invaded 'only
after the Taliban refused to turn over Osama bin Laden.' That's false
[President George Bush rejected as 'non-negotiable' an offer by the
Taliban to discuss turning over Osama bin Laden if the United States
ended the bombing in Afghanistan, the Guardian reported on October 14,
2001.]." (12/02/09)
http://www.progressive.org/wx120209.html
-----
31) Is Israel a democracy?
The American Prospect
by Gershom Gorenberg
"Infant mortality among Arab citizens of Israel is two and a half
times higher than it is among Jewish citizens. One out of two Israeli
Arab college graduates is out of work. Arabs make up 6 percent of the
civil service, though they are over 15 percent of the country's
citizens. National testing shows Arab fifth- and eighth-graders
trailing Jewish pupils in math, science, and English, and the gap is
widening. That's not surprising, since Arabs suffer much more poverty,
and the national education system spends considerably more per Jewish
child than per Arab child." [editor's note: What a silly question! As
if that were the defining characteristic of a free republic -- mob
rule! - SAT] (12/04/09)
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=is_israel_a_democracy
-----
32) Swiss ban on minarets a vote for tolerance & inclusion
Christian Science Monitor
by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
"The recent Swiss referendum that bans construction of minarets has
caused controversy across the world. There are two ways to interpret
the vote. First, as a rejection of political Islam, not a rejection of
Muslims. In this sense it was a vote for tolerance and inclusion,
which political Islam rejects. Second, the vote was a revelation of
the big gap between how the Swiss people and the Swiss elite judge
political Islam. In the battle of ideas, symbols are important....
Political ideas have symbols: A swastika, a hammer and sickle, a
minaret, a crescent with a star in the middle (usually on top of a
minaret) all represent a collectivist political theory of supremacy by
one group over all others. " (12/05/09)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1205/p09s01-coop.html
-----
33) Cuba, from Fidel to Raul
In These Times
by Norberto Codina
"On July 31, 2006, Fidel Castro, gravely ill, underwent emergency
surgery and nearly died. He has been recuperating ever since. The day
of the surgery, national radio and TV broadcast Fidel's announcement
that he was passing the government's reins to his brother, Raul, first
vice president of the Council of State and Ministers and, since the
beginning of the revolutionary government, minister of defense. In
keeping with the current constitution, Raul was named interim head of
state and then confirmed two years later by the parliament as the
fourth president of the 50-year-old revolutionary
republic." (12/04/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yj5wv82
-----
34) This sure seems like Vietnam
Albany Times Union
by Helen Thomas
"President Barack Obama insists that his decision to escalate the war
in Afghanistan by sending in 30,000 more troops is not Vietnam all
over again.Well, it sure reminds me of the perils and the price of
that unwinnable war and the political chaos it wreaked at home. ...
Obama is too young to remember the national turmoil during the Vietnam
War that resulted in the deaths of more than 58,000 Americans and
thousands of Vietnamese. That war also ended the political career of
President Lyndon Johnson, who decided not to seek re-election in
1968." (12/06/09)
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=874151
-----
35) The crime of disarmament
Habersham County Conservative Examiner
by Stan Transue
"Those who are willing to commit acts of violence are rarely
intimidated by the possibility of criminal prosecution. This fact is
demonstrated daily. In the paradoxical world of disarmament politics,
outlaws are rewarded for their criminality while harmless individuals
are penalized for obeying the law. The result is both predictable and
proven: gun control encourages gun crime.While we neednt look farther
than our own neighborhoods, England provides a stark example of our
future if gun control advocates get their way. In a 2002 Reason
Magazine article, Gun Control's Twisted Outcome, Joyce Lee Malcolm
documents the escalation of violence that has rocked England under
rigid gun bans." (12/05/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yj2l5pp
-----
36) The twin frauds of Obama
CounterPunch
by Paul Craig Roberts
"Of course, it is not really capitalism. It is an oligarchy or a
financial plutocracy. In a failed state, the government's priorities
are totally separate from those of the people. The US can't afford
health care or a bailout for jobless homeowners, but it can afford a
pointless war and multi-million dollar bonuses for banksters who
wrecked the economy." (12/06/09)
http://counterpunch.org/roberts12042009.html
-----
37) Shifting sands
Washington Post
by staff
"Many owners of oceanfront property welcome government-funded projects
to restore eroded beaches. Not so six Florida homeowners, who deserve
to prevail in a case heard Wednesday before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The dispute involves state efforts to restore 6.9 miles of private
beach along the Florida Panhandle that the state said had been eroded
by hurricanes. The six property owners have single-family homes that
sit on private beachfront. The state wanted to haul in tons of sand to
create a new beach that would extend 75 feet seaward from where the
private property ended. The new stretch of beach would be wedged
between the private property and the ocean and would be the property
of the state." (12/04/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ya4wz3u
-----
38) Troop surge in Afghanistan a losing investment
Independent Institute
by Robert Higgs
"President Obama's decision to send another 30,000 U.S. troops to
Afghanistan during the next six months does not make sense. Hardly
anybody has real enthusiasm for the plan. Both Democrats and
Republicans in Congress are lukewarm, for the most part; some are
stridently opposed. The military chiefs apparently support the plan,
but surely the president can appease them in alternative, less
politically risky ways. In explaining his plan, the president declares
that 'we must deny al-Qaida a safe haven. We must reverse the
Taliban's momentum ... And we must strengthen the capacity of
Afghanistan's security forces and government' because 'it is from here
that we were attacked on 9/11, and it is from here that new attacks
are being plotted.' If these statements express the president's actual
thoughts, then he is much less astute than he is usually given credit
for." (12/04/09)
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=2674
-----
39) We-don't-want-to-talk-about-it-gate
Reason
by David Harsanyi
"Americans honor the courageous informant, the gutsy citizen who
stands against the savagery of the profit-mongering conglomerate.
Well, sometimes. It appears, believe it or not, that there are those
who aren't religiously tethered to this sacred obligation. For now --
because of revelations of the ClimateGate scandal, in which hacked e-
mails revealed discussions among top climate scientists about the
manipulation of evidence -- Phil Jones, head of the University of East
Anglia's Climatic Research Unit in Britain, has stepped down from his
position. Michael Mann, architect of the famous 'hockey stick' graph,
is now under investigation by Pennsylvania State University. Similar
inquiries should follow. Yet Barbara Boxer, the Democratic chairwoman
of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, is off hunting
bigger game." (12/05/09)
http://reason.com/archives/2009/12/05/we-dont-want-to-talk-about-it
-----
40) Boulder rocks
The American Conservative
by Bill Kauffman
"My worthy opponent in Boulder was Gary Gregg of the University of
Louisville, able debater and genial post-debate drinking companion. We
had a grand old time of it and the college kids didn't seem overly
bored ... hell, we probably ought to take this show on the road as a
slightly more highbrow version of the WWF. Our subject? Whether or not
the Constitution ought to have been ratified. Now that's a debate that
has grown cold in 220 years, eh? Poised as ever on the cutting edge of
antiquarian irrelevancy, I took the Anti-Federalist side, arguing for
liberty and self-rule within a small and modest republic and against
the designing men who scrapped the Articles of Confederation for what
Patrick Henry called 'the most fatal plan that could possibly be
conceived to enslave a free people.' Yet I was no epicene Oxonian
willing to argue it either way. I mean it man, as a Ron Paul admirer
once spat onto vinyl. The Constitution was our first mistake." (for
publication 01/01/10)
http://www.amconmag.com/article/2010/jan/01/00051/
-----
41) The secret to legal marijuana? Women
AlterNet
by Daniela Perdomo
"Public acceptance of pot is at an all-time high, and the fact that
women have drastically changed their attitudes may be what is most
fascinating about the sea change in public opinion -- and policy --
regarding marijuana. In 2005, only 32 percent of polled women told
Gallup they approved legalizing pot, but this year 44 percent of them
were for it, compared to 45 percent of men. In effect, women have
narrowed what had been a 12-point gender gap. Women are also smoking
more weed. The most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health
shows that current marijuana use increased from 3.8 to 4.5 percent
among women, while there was no significant statistical change for
men. Indeed, it appears the growing acceptance of marijuana is fueled
by women having joined the movement for reform." (12/05/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ybjvzku
-----
42) No solid gold performance from Bernanke
TCS Daily
by Larry Kudlow
"Fed head Ben Bernanke got hammered today during his reconfirmation
hearing in front of the Senate Banking Committee. Jim Bunning was
Bernanke's toughest critic, followed by Richard Shelby, Jim DeMint,
and yes, Chris Dodd, the beleaguered committee chair who in all
likelihood will be defeated in Connecticut next year. But
unfortunately no one directly asked Bernanke why the current gold
price has surged to over $1,200, and what that might mean for future
inflation and the U.S. economy." (12/03/09)
http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=120309A
-----
43) Scientists behaving badly
The Weekly Standard
by Steven F. Hayward
"In mid-November a large cache of emails and technical documents from
the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia in
Britain were made available on a number of Internet file-servers for
download by the public -- either the work of a hacker or a leak from a
whistleblower on the inside. The emails -- more than 1,000 of them --
reveal a small cabal of scientists who, in the words of MIT's Michael
Schrage, engaged in 'malice, mischief and Machiavellian maneuverings.'
In an ironic twist, one of the frequent correspondents in this long e
* RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
* The Freedom Movement's Daily Newspaper
*
* Volume VI, Issue #1,806
* Monday, December 7th, 2009
* Email Circulation 2,148
*
* Published every non-holiday weekday
* by the staff of Rational Review
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* On the Web: http://www.rationalreview.com/news
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In The News:
1) Greece: Riots grip Athens on anniversary of teen's murder
2) Treasury: TARP costs $200 billion less than forecast
3) Iraq: Eight killed, 20 wounded
4) Afghanistan: US soldier killed in landmine blast
5) Bolivia: Morales claims re-election, Congress control
6) NJ: Senate gears up for debate on religious freedom, marriage
equality
7) VA: Two of three accused SEALs to appear in court
8) MA: Another McGovern takes on a war
9) "Obama's war" could be politically precarious
10) Nobel acceptance will be a tricky moment
11) CO: Denver man proposes commission for UFOs
12) FL: Governor sends callers to sex chat line
13) GOP pot calls Dem kettle black
14) TN: Tougher smoking ban maybe on the way
15) UK: The big squeeze
16) Jobless professionals vie for holiday sales work
17) UK: NHS IT system to be scaled back
18) Germany: Train buffs go loco
19) GA: Store owner shoots robber who killed clerk
20) When folks swarmed People's House
Everybody Has An Opinion:
21) O=W
22) US foreign policy and the cult of "expertise"
23) A tale of two frauds
24) The global warming fraud is melting
25) Leaping feet first into a fishy lawsuit
26) The left fell into the climate morass
27) Dear rads
28) Is Erik Prince "graymailing" the US Government?
29) Some jobs taxpayers don't need to buy
30) Did Obama steal Bush's speechwriters?
31) Is Israel a democracy?
32) Swiss ban on minarets a vote for tolerance & inclusion
33) Cuba, from Fidel to Raul
34) This sure seems like Vietnam
35) The crime of disarmament
36) The twin frauds of Obama
37) Shifting sands
38) Troop surge in Afghanistan a losing investment
39) We-don't-want-to-talk-about-it-gate
40) Boulder rocks
41) The secret to legal marijuana? Women
42) No solid gold performance from Bernanke
43) Scientists behaving badly
44) Quantum of lawless
45) How bad is the Fuck You Act?
46) More on general market efficiency
47) Anyone have $6.6 million to produce the Great Libertarian Movie?
48) Obama's exit strategy
49) Interview in prep for "John Stossel Goes to Washington"
50) Nonsense on poverty
51) What is the free market?
52) Prefabricated fascists
53) "Forward," march
54) Simple thought experiment
55) Admit your limitations
What's Up In The Freedom Movement:
56) Today's events
WaYbAcK:
57) Pearl Harbor
***************
* In The News
***************
1) Greece: Riots grip Athens on anniversary of teen's murder
Guardian [UK]
"Masked youths hurled firebombs and chunks of marble at police during
a protest in Athens to mark the first anniversary of the police
shooting of a teenager whose death caused widespread riots. Police
fired volleys of teargas to disperse the youths in running street
battles in the centre of the capital as several thousand demonstrators
marched to commemorate the death of 15-year-old Alexandros
Grigoropoulos. The teenager's death sent youths rampaging through
cities for two weeks last December. ... At Athens University, masked
protesters broke into the building and pulled down a Greek flag,
replacing it with a black-and-red anarchist banner. The dean of Athens
University was injured when the youths broke into the building, and
was in intensive care in hospital, authorities said." (12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yemrs24
-----
2) Treasury: TARP costs $200 billion less than forecast
Bloomberg
"The Obama administration expects the cost of the Troubled Asset
Relief Program to be $200 billion less than projected, helping to
reduce the size of the budget deficit, a Treasury Department official
said yesterday." (12/07/09)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=alRjWmoXBAgs
-----
3) Iraq: Eight killed, 20 wounded
AntiWar.Com
"Gunmen killed four policemen at a checkpoint in Abu Ghraib. A cache
containing TNT, cannon balls and other explosives was also found. In
Baghdad, a sticky bomb wounded a civilian in Adhamiya. Two suspects
were arrested. In Kirkuk, an Iraqi soldier was killed in a small arms
attack. An explosion wounded two policemen. Gunmen killed a private
guard. At least one more person was killed and four more were wounded
in separate attacks. At least six people were wounded or killed in a
market blast in Mussayab. A roadside bomb blast in Rashad killed one
Sahwa fighter and wounded three others." (12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ylghhbf
-----
4) Afghanistan: US soldier killed in landmine blast
United Press International
"A landmine killed a U.S. soldier and a NATO-led airstrike killed a
group of Taliban militants in Afghanistan, the military said Sunday.
The soldier was killed during combat operations in eastern
Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force said without
elaborating." (12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yefyg5e
-----
5) Bolivia: Morales claims re-election, Congress control
Reuters
"Bolivian President Evo Morales claimed a landslide re-election
victory on Sunday as voters backed his left-wing policies of Indian
power, social spending and state control of industry. Official results
were not expected until Monday but quick counts showed Morales took at
least 63 percent of the vote, more than 35 percentage points ahead of
his closest challenger, rightist former governor Manfred Reyes
Villa." (12/06/09)
http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCATRE5B50BZ20091207
-----
6) NJ: Senate gears up for debate on religious freedom, marriage
equality
WCBS TV
"The countdown is on, as a key New Jersey committee is expected to
vote on same-sex marriage Monday and sent the bill to the full senate,
where it will face the real challenge. Lawmakers have just a few days
left to get the legislation to Governor Jon Corzine's desk for his
signature. He has 43 days left. After that, Jon Corzine gives way to
successor Chris Christie, and 43 days are what those trying to get a
same-sex marriage bill passed in the state have. If the legislation
doesn't get through the NJ state senate this week, Christie has said
he will not support same-sex marriage as governor." (12/07/09)
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/gay.marriage.bill.2.1353514.html
-----
7) VA: Two of three accused SEALs to appear in court
San Jose Mercury News
"Two Navy SEALs are scheduled to be arraigned Monday in military court
on charges that they mistreated an Iraqi suspect in the gory slayings
of four U.S. contractors in Fallujah. One of the SEALs is accused of
punching the detainee after his September arrest, while the other is
accused of lying to investigators. A third SEAL also accused of lying
to investigators about the episode will be arraigned
later." (12/06/09)
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_13940206
-----
8) MA: Another McGovern takes on a war
Boston Globe
"As a seventh-grader during the Vietnam War, he passed out antiwar
campaign literature for the former South Dakota senator, and as a
college student he interned in the senator's Washington office. Now
Rep. James P. McGovern [D-MA], a 50-year-old whose parents still own a
liquor store in Worcester, is assuming his mentor's mantle in more
than name (they are not related). He has become one of the most
outspoken opponents to President Obama's Afghanistan strategy, putting
forward proposals to cut off funding for the 30,000 additional troops
Obama plans to send there and to demand a clear-cut exit
strategy." (12/05/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ycz2k85
-----
9) "Obama's war" could be politically precarious
Christian Science Monitor
"As 1,000 US marines launched a combat operation behind enemy lines
dubbed 'Cobra's Anger' this weekend, it became clear that President
Obama now 'owns' the war in Afghanistan. Though there was high
symbolism of that fact in his speech at West Point Tuesday, Obama took
control of the war months ago, escalating US military assets and
aggressiveness in Afghanistan. He's more than doubled the number of US
troops there since he took office. And as the Monitor's Howard
LaFranchi reported, he's greatly increased the US commitment compared
to NATO and other non-US forces. At the same time, Obama has
authorized an increase in the use of pilotless drone aircraft to
strike targets -- typically Al Qaeda and Taliban operatives -- along
the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, according to a New York Times
report." (12/05/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yz4ys77
-----
10) Nobel acceptance will be a tricky moment
Associated Press
"He's the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who just ordered 30,000 more
troops into war. He's the winner who says he didn't deserve to win.
He's not quite 11 months on the job and already in the company of
Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama. This is President Barack Obama's
Nobel moment, an immense honor shadowed by awkward timing. When Obama
leaves for Oslo, Norway, on Wednesday to be lauded for his style of
international diplomacy, he goes knowing that the American people are
more concerned about something else: peace of mind. The economy has
left millions of them hurting. ... Unemployment is in double digits
even as the bleeding of jobs has slowed. Meanwhile, there's no hiding
the contrast of war and peace." (12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yza8llj
-----
11) CO: Denver man proposes commission for UFOs
Los Angeles Times
"Forget high unemployment rates and two wars overseas. Jeff Peckman
has more earthly concerns: For one thing, if extraterrestrials were to
descend on Denver, what's the best way to welcome them? Thanks to
Peckman's tireless efforts and taste for the limelight, Denver voters
will be asked in 2010 to boldly approve what no electorate has
approved before: an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission. Last week,
Denver officials announced that Peckman had gathered about 4,000 valid
signatures needed to place the issue before the 350,000 registered
voters of the Colorado state capital. If approved, the city panel
would promote 'harmonious, peaceful, mutually respectful and
beneficial coexistence' between earthlings and extraterrestrials, in
part by developing protocols for 'diplomatic contact.' Its seven
members would include an expert in taking testimony from people who
have survived 'direct personal close encounters' with
aliens." [editor's note: No anal probe, no appointment? - SAT]
(12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ycwmyp5
-----
12) FL: Governor sends callers to sex chat line
Raw Story
"In spite of government claims to the contrary, no horny girls are
standing by to help your child get health insurance. It's a state-
sponsored blooper for the ages: for two months, a recording by Florida
Governor Charlie Crist played when parents called KidCare to get
advice on health policies for their children. In the audio, Crist gave
a number to call for more information. As it happened, that number was
a little off. Instead of details on child health care, callers were
redirected to this: Hey there, sexy guy. Welcome to an exciting new
way to go live, one on one, with hot, horny girls waiting right now to
talk to you." (12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ydw5bjh
-----
13) GOP pot calls Dem kettle black
Fox News
"Senate Republicans accused President Obama of backroom arm-twisting
on Sunday, speaking at a press conference just steps away from the
room where the president met with divided Democrats on an $848 billion
healthcare plan. Lawmakers spent the weekend in Washington trying to
hash out amendments to the massive bill that faces universal
opposition from the chamber's 40 Republicans. To pass, any legislation
will require unanimous approval of the 60 Senate Democrats, who are
divided on abortion funding and a government-funded insurance
program." [editor's note: IOW, bidness as usual on Capitol Hill - SAT]
(12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ykbbucd
-----
14) TN: Tougher smoking ban maybe on the way
Tennessean
"Two years after the General Assembly passed a bill to ban smoking
from most workplaces, including restaurants, supporters say the law is
working and should be extended to include places such as over-21
venues that are now exempt. 'There literally are hundreds of thousands
of Tennesseans who are healthier, and tens of thousands who do not
have lung cancer or heart disease because they now get to breathe
clean air,' said state Sen. Roy Herron, who dropped his Democratic bid
for governor this week to run for John Tanner's 8th District
congressional seat. 'Yet other Tennesseans are still at great risk and
that's simply not right.'" [editor's note: As much as I despise the
smell of cigarette-smoke, I despise even more the attempts to take
away the option arbitrarily. I choose my hangouts; I don't need
someone doing it for me! - SAT] (12/05/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yjd39c9
-----
15) UK: The big squeeze
Independent [UK]
"Next year, Britain's middle classes and the rich will face the
biggest squeeze on their living standards in decades, shows research
produced by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers for The Independent. In
the build-up to what promises to be an exceptionally tough pre-Budget
report this Wednesday, PwC says the typical British family ('Middle
England') already faces a decline of 2.4 per cent, or #300 a year, in
its discretionary spending power, after tax, mortgages, food and other
essentials." (12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ybatsqp
-----
16) Jobless professionals vie for holiday sales work
Yahoo! News
"Mara Proctor used to design limestone hearths and columns for luxury
homes near Kansas City, drawing on her college education and six years
of training. These days, she's leading customers around a store that
sells sculptured snowmen and Santa figurines. It isn't by choice.
Until a few weeks ago, Proctor was among the record 5.9 million
Americans who have been jobless for at least six months. Now she
belongs to a subset of that group: Out-of-work professionals and
managers, engineers and teachers who have turned, in desperation, to
holiday-season jobs as sales clerks. ... The pay is low, the jobs
temporary. And the work is hardly equal to their experience or
expertise. Yet the nation's unemployment crisis left these people
jobless so much longer than they'd expected that many count themselves
fortunate to have anything." (12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ybftxvb
-----
17) UK: NHS IT system to be scaled back
BBC News [UK]
"The government is to scale back its #12bn NHS IT system in what the
Tories are calling a 'massive U-turn.' Chancellor Alistair Darling
said he would be delaying parts of the scheme in Wednesday's pre-
Budget Report as it was 'not essential to the front line.' The move
may save hundreds of millions but Mr Darling admitted it was only a
fraction of total spending cuts needed. The Tories and Lib Dems have
been calling for the IT system, which has been hit by costly delays,
to be axed." (12/06/09)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8397854.stm
-----
18) Germany: Train buffs go loco
Ananova [UK]
"Train buffs are facing jail after building their own ramshackle
locomotive and taking it on the public rail network. The six-seater
train -- made out of garden furniture and salvaged train parts -- was
powered by an electric motor and even had its own refreshments car in
the shape of a crate of beer. Police in Erfut, Germany, were alerted
after residents of properties adjoining the railway spotted the
unorthodox vehicle -- and were aware that there should have been no
traffic running. Police however had to call in a helicopter to find
and follow the makeshift train as the police cars could not follow it
along the tracks. The helicopter pilot was able to radio ahead to
other officers who set up a makeshift barrier at a station to stop
it." (12/04/09)
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_3588249.html
-----
19) GA: Store owner shoots robber who killed clerk
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Just before 10 p.m., Anthony and another man walked into the store,
police said. Anthony pulled a handgun on McKibben, demanding money,
Atlanta police Det. Lt. Keith Meadows said. The 21-year-old clerk was
shot in the stomach and buttocks, and later died at the scene,
authorities said. 'A second employee in the back heard the clerk
shout, 'I've been shot," Meadows said. 'He came out to the front with
his own gun.' The second employee has been identified as store owner
Shaun Yu. Yu exchanged gunfire with Anthony, shooting the perpetrator
in the arm and leg, police said. Anthony fled on foot and was arrested
a block away." (12/06/09)
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/police-id-victim-suspect-226968.html
-----
20) When folks swarmed People's House
Yahoo! News
"The folks who sneaked into the president's state dinner are part of a
long tradition of people showing up as they please at the People's
House. It's just that the tradition vanished ages ago. Americans
staked their claim to the White House in muddy boots on fine carpet,
picnicked on the grounds, parked their carriages and then their cars
outside and tromped inside to look for the man, often finding him.
They did not need invitations, engraved or otherwise." (12/05/09)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_the_people_s_house
*******************************************************************
* HEALTH-OF-THE-STATE-O-METER, 12/07/09
*
* Reported Civilian Deaths in Iraq: Min - 94,544 ... Max - 103,160
* (source: www.iraqbodycount.org)
*
* American Military Deaths in Iraq: 4,367
* (source: www.antiwar.com/casualties/)
*******************************************************************
****************************
* Everybody Has An Opinion
****************************
21) O=W
AntiWar.Com
by William S. Lind
"For eight years, conservatives endured the agony of watching
President George W. Bush attach the label 'conservative' to a host of
policies that were anti-conservative: Wilsonian wars, American empire,
vast budget and trade deficits, increased entitlements, and the
subordination of America's interests to those of foreign powers. Now
the shoe is on the other foot, and liberals are bidden to hold their
tongues as President Obama makes Bush's wars his own." (12/05/09)
http://original.antiwar.com/lind/2009/12/04/o-equals-w/
-----
22) US foreign policy and the cult of "expertise"
AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo
"How do we account for the huge gap between the people and those who
make policy in their name? To begin with, we have an entire class of
people whose jobs, social prestige, and livelihoods are directly tied
to our foreign policy of global intervention. These people are
naturally inclined to favor militarism and meddling in the affairs of
other nations. This group, while small in numbers, wields an outsized
influence when it comes to such matters, and it can successfully defy
popular opinion for quite a long time. It manages to hornswoggle the
public with a number of scams, notably the cult of expertise, which
Americans have traditionally been suckers for, and never more so than
today, when confusion over the sheer complexity of some of the foreign
policy issues being raised makes people particularly vulnerable to the
argument from authority." (12/07/09)
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2009/12/06/the-cult-of-expertise/
-----
23) A tale of two frauds
The Libertarian Enterprise
by L. Neil Smith
"In a blazing triumph of ignorance, stupidity, bigotry, and junk
science, members of the Colorado State Board of Agriculture -- by
bizarre historical accident, the governing body for Colorado State
University -- have decided they would rather see a coed raped in an
alley and strangled with her own pantyhose, than see her with a gun in
her hand. Regrettably, they have made this indefensible decision, not
just for themselves, but for thousands of students, faculty, visitors,
and staff who must now brave the hazards of a well-advertised criminal
free-fire zone, simply to attend classes, do their jobs, move from one
location to another on the campus, and return home again each night.
Screw democracy, screw the republic, screw the Constitution, screw the
Second Amendment, screw decent common sense and decades of established
scientific fact regarding the vital necessity and efficacy of armed
self-defense. We might as well just call the place 'Screw
U.'" (12/06/09)
http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2009/tle547-20091206-02.html
-----
24) The global warming fraud is melting
Las Vegas Review-Journal
by Vin Suprynowicz
"By now, you doubtless know a dastardly hacker broke into the e-mail
system at the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia
in Britain late last month, grabbing and making public more than 1,000
e-mails that expose how these 'scientific experts,' cited so often to
confirm 'man-made global warming,' have been fudging their data,
conspiring to remove global warming skeptics from the teams that 'peer-
review' their doctored data for publication, and advising each other
to delete incriminating e-mails being sought under the public
disclosure laws. Wow. I'm about as shocked as Claude Rains' character
when he found out there was gambling going on at Rick's Place in
'Casablanca.' Aren't you?" (12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yjku64z
-----
25) Leaping feet first into a fishy lawsuit
Arizona Republic
by E. J. Montini
"The prospect of writing (or reading) about a lawsuit filed by the
Goldwater Institute citing the alleged 'overzealous regulation' of a
state governing board against a small business is as appealing to me
(and to you) as watching tropical fish nibble dead skin off soaking
feet. Unless we happen to get really, really lucky and the lawsuit
actually is about fish nibbling the dead skin off soaking feet. ...
Last year, a woman named Cindy Vong, owner of LaVie Nails and Spa in
Gilbert, saw her Arizona cosmetology license pulled when she added
'spa fish therapy' to her salon. Clients paid Vong $30 each to dip
their tootsies for 20 minutes in an aquarium filled with Garra rufa
fish, a tiny carp of Chinese origin, which gently gnaw away the
superfluous epidermis of customers. 'We recognize the humorous aspect
of this case,' said Clint Bolick, the Goldwater litigator who filed
the lawsuit. 'But as funny as it is, it allows us to get into some
very serious constitutional issues.'" (12/06/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yjslly7
-----
26) The left fell into the climate morass
LewRockwell.Com
by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
"The effort to whip everyone up into a frenzy over this began more
than ten years ago. Every lefty fundraising letter harped on the
issue, and demanded people commit their lives to it, explaining that
if mother earth dies, then all is lost. It is a more important issue
than all the rest, the litmus test to determine whether you are a
friend or an enemy. This made it very difficult for libertarians to
cooperate with the left over the last years. Sure, there are some
libertarian ideas for dealing with pollution, but none as compelling
as central planning, and there was never any way that we would go
along with that idea. The costs associated with dismantling industrial
civilization outweigh even the worst-case global-warming scenario. And
methodologically, the whole thing was always nuts." (12/07/09)
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/lost-left-climate-morass136.html
-----
27) Dear rads
Liberty For All
by Angela Keaton
"How've you been? I'm doing well. Been doing some serious thinking
about the events of 2008. Hard thinking. Know many of you have been.
The distance has given me some perspective. And while I am thrilled
with the addition of Wes Benedict as Executive Director and the
emergence of Rachel Hawkridge as the conscience of the LNC, that's not
enough to reverse over a decade of damage from poor financial choices,
ideological drift and endless drama." (12/05/09)
http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=3480
-----
28) Is Erik Prince "graymailing" the US Government?
The Nation
by Jeremy Scahill
"The in-depth Vanity Fair profile of the infamous owner of Blackwater,
Erik Prince, is remarkable on many levels.... While the story appears
to be simply a profile of Prince, it might actually be the world's
most famous mercenary's insurance policy against future criminal
prosecution. The term of art for what Prince appears to be doing in
the VF interview is graymail: a legal tactic that has been used for
years by intelligence operatives or assets who are facing prosecution
or fear they soon will be. In short, these operatives or assets
threaten to reveal details of sensitive or classified operations in
order to ward off indictments or criminal charges, based on the belief
that the government would not want these details revealed." (12/04/09)
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091221/scahill2
-----
29) Some jobs taxpayers don't need to buy
Our Future Blog
by Leo Gerard
"Maybe you can't buy love, but you can buy a job. Franklin Delano
Roosevelt did it with the Works Progress Administration during the
Great Depression. And the $787 billion stimulus package passed in
February created jobs to relieve what is now 10.2 percent
unemployment. Both came at the cost of taxpayer dollars. Now, as labor
and business leaders, economists and politicians gather Dec. 3 for
President Obama's Jobs Summit, some are calling for a second
stimulus. ... There are ways to create jobs that taxpayers don't need
to buy. One is to enforce and strengthen trade policy." (12/04/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yfxkcqo
-----
30) Did Obama steal Bush's speechwriters?
The Progressive
by Matthew Rothschild
"If you closed your eyes during much of the President's speech on
Afghanistan Tuesday night and just listened to the words, you easily
could have concluded that George W. Bush was still in the Oval Office.
Or, at the very least, that Obama had stolen his speechwriters.
Because, like Bush, Obama had barely cleared his throat when out came
the first mention of September 11, along with the Bushian line: 'We
did not ask for this fight.' Like Bush, Obama lied about the lead up
to the Afghanistan war, saying that the United States invaded 'only
after the Taliban refused to turn over Osama bin Laden.' That's false
[President George Bush rejected as 'non-negotiable' an offer by the
Taliban to discuss turning over Osama bin Laden if the United States
ended the bombing in Afghanistan, the Guardian reported on October 14,
2001.]." (12/02/09)
http://www.progressive.org/wx120209.html
-----
31) Is Israel a democracy?
The American Prospect
by Gershom Gorenberg
"Infant mortality among Arab citizens of Israel is two and a half
times higher than it is among Jewish citizens. One out of two Israeli
Arab college graduates is out of work. Arabs make up 6 percent of the
civil service, though they are over 15 percent of the country's
citizens. National testing shows Arab fifth- and eighth-graders
trailing Jewish pupils in math, science, and English, and the gap is
widening. That's not surprising, since Arabs suffer much more poverty,
and the national education system spends considerably more per Jewish
child than per Arab child." [editor's note: What a silly question! As
if that were the defining characteristic of a free republic -- mob
rule! - SAT] (12/04/09)
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=is_israel_a_democracy
-----
32) Swiss ban on minarets a vote for tolerance & inclusion
Christian Science Monitor
by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
"The recent Swiss referendum that bans construction of minarets has
caused controversy across the world. There are two ways to interpret
the vote. First, as a rejection of political Islam, not a rejection of
Muslims. In this sense it was a vote for tolerance and inclusion,
which political Islam rejects. Second, the vote was a revelation of
the big gap between how the Swiss people and the Swiss elite judge
political Islam. In the battle of ideas, symbols are important....
Political ideas have symbols: A swastika, a hammer and sickle, a
minaret, a crescent with a star in the middle (usually on top of a
minaret) all represent a collectivist political theory of supremacy by
one group over all others. " (12/05/09)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1205/p09s01-coop.html
-----
33) Cuba, from Fidel to Raul
In These Times
by Norberto Codina
"On July 31, 2006, Fidel Castro, gravely ill, underwent emergency
surgery and nearly died. He has been recuperating ever since. The day
of the surgery, national radio and TV broadcast Fidel's announcement
that he was passing the government's reins to his brother, Raul, first
vice president of the Council of State and Ministers and, since the
beginning of the revolutionary government, minister of defense. In
keeping with the current constitution, Raul was named interim head of
state and then confirmed two years later by the parliament as the
fourth president of the 50-year-old revolutionary
republic." (12/04/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yj5wv82
-----
34) This sure seems like Vietnam
Albany Times Union
by Helen Thomas
"President Barack Obama insists that his decision to escalate the war
in Afghanistan by sending in 30,000 more troops is not Vietnam all
over again.Well, it sure reminds me of the perils and the price of
that unwinnable war and the political chaos it wreaked at home. ...
Obama is too young to remember the national turmoil during the Vietnam
War that resulted in the deaths of more than 58,000 Americans and
thousands of Vietnamese. That war also ended the political career of
President Lyndon Johnson, who decided not to seek re-election in
1968." (12/06/09)
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=874151
-----
35) The crime of disarmament
Habersham County Conservative Examiner
by Stan Transue
"Those who are willing to commit acts of violence are rarely
intimidated by the possibility of criminal prosecution. This fact is
demonstrated daily. In the paradoxical world of disarmament politics,
outlaws are rewarded for their criminality while harmless individuals
are penalized for obeying the law. The result is both predictable and
proven: gun control encourages gun crime.While we neednt look farther
than our own neighborhoods, England provides a stark example of our
future if gun control advocates get their way. In a 2002 Reason
Magazine article, Gun Control's Twisted Outcome, Joyce Lee Malcolm
documents the escalation of violence that has rocked England under
rigid gun bans." (12/05/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yj2l5pp
-----
36) The twin frauds of Obama
CounterPunch
by Paul Craig Roberts
"Of course, it is not really capitalism. It is an oligarchy or a
financial plutocracy. In a failed state, the government's priorities
are totally separate from those of the people. The US can't afford
health care or a bailout for jobless homeowners, but it can afford a
pointless war and multi-million dollar bonuses for banksters who
wrecked the economy." (12/06/09)
http://counterpunch.org/roberts12042009.html
-----
37) Shifting sands
Washington Post
by staff
"Many owners of oceanfront property welcome government-funded projects
to restore eroded beaches. Not so six Florida homeowners, who deserve
to prevail in a case heard Wednesday before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The dispute involves state efforts to restore 6.9 miles of private
beach along the Florida Panhandle that the state said had been eroded
by hurricanes. The six property owners have single-family homes that
sit on private beachfront. The state wanted to haul in tons of sand to
create a new beach that would extend 75 feet seaward from where the
private property ended. The new stretch of beach would be wedged
between the private property and the ocean and would be the property
of the state." (12/04/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ya4wz3u
-----
38) Troop surge in Afghanistan a losing investment
Independent Institute
by Robert Higgs
"President Obama's decision to send another 30,000 U.S. troops to
Afghanistan during the next six months does not make sense. Hardly
anybody has real enthusiasm for the plan. Both Democrats and
Republicans in Congress are lukewarm, for the most part; some are
stridently opposed. The military chiefs apparently support the plan,
but surely the president can appease them in alternative, less
politically risky ways. In explaining his plan, the president declares
that 'we must deny al-Qaida a safe haven. We must reverse the
Taliban's momentum ... And we must strengthen the capacity of
Afghanistan's security forces and government' because 'it is from here
that we were attacked on 9/11, and it is from here that new attacks
are being plotted.' If these statements express the president's actual
thoughts, then he is much less astute than he is usually given credit
for." (12/04/09)
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=2674
-----
39) We-don't-want-to-talk-about-it-gate
Reason
by David Harsanyi
"Americans honor the courageous informant, the gutsy citizen who
stands against the savagery of the profit-mongering conglomerate.
Well, sometimes. It appears, believe it or not, that there are those
who aren't religiously tethered to this sacred obligation. For now --
because of revelations of the ClimateGate scandal, in which hacked e-
mails revealed discussions among top climate scientists about the
manipulation of evidence -- Phil Jones, head of the University of East
Anglia's Climatic Research Unit in Britain, has stepped down from his
position. Michael Mann, architect of the famous 'hockey stick' graph,
is now under investigation by Pennsylvania State University. Similar
inquiries should follow. Yet Barbara Boxer, the Democratic chairwoman
of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, is off hunting
bigger game." (12/05/09)
http://reason.com/archives/2009/12/05/we-dont-want-to-talk-about-it
-----
40) Boulder rocks
The American Conservative
by Bill Kauffman
"My worthy opponent in Boulder was Gary Gregg of the University of
Louisville, able debater and genial post-debate drinking companion. We
had a grand old time of it and the college kids didn't seem overly
bored ... hell, we probably ought to take this show on the road as a
slightly more highbrow version of the WWF. Our subject? Whether or not
the Constitution ought to have been ratified. Now that's a debate that
has grown cold in 220 years, eh? Poised as ever on the cutting edge of
antiquarian irrelevancy, I took the Anti-Federalist side, arguing for
liberty and self-rule within a small and modest republic and against
the designing men who scrapped the Articles of Confederation for what
Patrick Henry called 'the most fatal plan that could possibly be
conceived to enslave a free people.' Yet I was no epicene Oxonian
willing to argue it either way. I mean it man, as a Ron Paul admirer
once spat onto vinyl. The Constitution was our first mistake." (for
publication 01/01/10)
http://www.amconmag.com/article/2010/jan/01/00051/
-----
41) The secret to legal marijuana? Women
AlterNet
by Daniela Perdomo
"Public acceptance of pot is at an all-time high, and the fact that
women have drastically changed their attitudes may be what is most
fascinating about the sea change in public opinion -- and policy --
regarding marijuana. In 2005, only 32 percent of polled women told
Gallup they approved legalizing pot, but this year 44 percent of them
were for it, compared to 45 percent of men. In effect, women have
narrowed what had been a 12-point gender gap. Women are also smoking
more weed. The most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health
shows that current marijuana use increased from 3.8 to 4.5 percent
among women, while there was no significant statistical change for
men. Indeed, it appears the growing acceptance of marijuana is fueled
by women having joined the movement for reform." (12/05/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ybjvzku
-----
42) No solid gold performance from Bernanke
TCS Daily
by Larry Kudlow
"Fed head Ben Bernanke got hammered today during his reconfirmation
hearing in front of the Senate Banking Committee. Jim Bunning was
Bernanke's toughest critic, followed by Richard Shelby, Jim DeMint,
and yes, Chris Dodd, the beleaguered committee chair who in all
likelihood will be defeated in Connecticut next year. But
unfortunately no one directly asked Bernanke why the current gold
price has surged to over $1,200, and what that might mean for future
inflation and the U.S. economy." (12/03/09)
http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=120309A
-----
43) Scientists behaving badly
The Weekly Standard
by Steven F. Hayward
"In mid-November a large cache of emails and technical documents from
the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia in
Britain were made available on a number of Internet file-servers for
download by the public -- either the work of a hacker or a leak from a
whistleblower on the inside. The emails -- more than 1,000 of them --
reveal a small cabal of scientists who, in the words of MIT's Michael
Schrage, engaged in 'malice, mischief and Machiavellian maneuverings.'
In an ironic twist, one of the frequent correspondents in this long e
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