12/21 -- US Senate Dems win vote to end debate on "health reform" scam; Iraq: Two killed, five wounded
Thomas L. Knapp
* RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
* The Freedom Movement's Daily Newspaper
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* Volume VI, Issue #1,816
* Monday, December 21st, 2009
* Email Circulation 2,148
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* Published every non-holiday weekday
* by the staff of Rational Review
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In The News:
1) US Senate Dems win vote to end debate on "health reform" scam
2) Iraq: Two killed, five wounded
3) Afghanistan: Taliban storm building in provincial capital
4) Iranians mourn dissident cleric
5) Teen sailor flees Dutch nanny state; apprehended on Caribbean
island
6) Gutierrez bill would give millions citizenship
7) Climate summit a let-down to some delegates
8) Obama plan could limit secret documents
9) Chavez: US spy plane in Venezuela's airspace
10) Judge mulls key issues in US murder trial
11) Dodd slips $100 million for hospital into "reform" bill
12) A dozen Gitmo detainees sent to three countries
13) Astronauts blast off for Christmas space mission
14) Ahmadinejad: "Smoking gun" a US fabrication
15) MA: Gun permits surge in state
16) UK: Beer cheaper than water?
17) TN: Lawyer sued for biting off a nose
18) DC: Cop brings gun to snowball fight
19) Admitted: Israel harvested organs without permission
20) WI: Lawsuit tests pioneering campaign finance law
21) UK: Ministers in U-turn over torture documents for Guantanamo
Briton
22) UK: Teacher suspended in prayer row
23) Germany: Billy the Kid behind bars
24) SC: AG opinion causes Georgetown to reconsider illegal gun ban
25) OK: Drunk Marine upset with military status opens fire in
apartment parking lot
Everybody Has An Opinion:
26) Workers of the world unite for a free market
27) A tale of two libertarianisms
28) Bridging the two libertarianisms
29) "In all cases whatsoever ..."
30) Not everyone talking about liberty believes in it
31) The rising tide
32) Weapon of Monetary Destruction
33) Religion, science, and the solstice
34) The "candidate vs. President" canard
35) Goldman Sachs bonuses: More than just bad PR
36) Obama just ran out of slack
37) Gaming healthcare
38) Ten political lessons for the New Year
39) Stats about the war you should know
40) Yoonies
41) Fortune sellers
42) A brief history of media merger hysteria
43) Obama's troop surge
44) Government welfare vs. private charity
45) The bilingual ban that worked
46) Anger with the federal government is not enough
47) The American patriot
48) How to manufacture a climate consensus
49) Barack Obama's Doublespeak "peace" speech
50) Without bipartisan support, Bernanke should withdraw
51) The nurture and care for the radical soul
52) Unchaining the human heart -- a revolutionary manifesto: For love
or money
53) The politics of panic
54) Sun spots on Nancy's brain?
55) No insurance at gun point
56) Stossel's blues
57) Dred Scott redux
58) In praise of Sweden
59) No true libertarian
60) Obama has failed in Copenhagen, minorities and women will benefit
the most
61) The trouble with
62) A lesson on nonviolence for Obama
63) Obama and Sanders only want healthy slaves
64) Your neighbor's contract you can't refuse
65) Government -- controlling and fighting evil?
See No Evil, Hear No Evil:
66) Tim Cox on Freedom Rings Radio, 12/21/09
67) Free Talk Live, 12/19/09
68) Glenn Greenwald on Antiwar Radio
69) Be happy!
70) Freedomain Radio #1533
What's Up In The Freedom Movement:
71) Today's events
WaYbAcK:
72) Emma Goldman deported
***************
* In The News
***************
1) US Senate Dems win vote to end debate on "health reform" scam
CNN
"Democrats won a major victory in their push for health care reform
early Monday morning as the Senate voted to end debate on a package of
controversial proposals to a sweeping $871 billion bill. The 60 to 40
party-line vote, cast shortly after 1 a.m., kept Senate Democrats on
track to pass the bill on Christmas Eve. If it passes, the measure
will then have to be merged with a roughly $1 trillion plan passed by
House of Representatives in November. The Senate went into recess
until noon Monday shortly after the vote." (12/21/09)
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/21/health.care.senate.vote/
-----
2) Iraq: Two killed, five wounded
AntiWar.Com
"In Mosul, two policemen were killed in separate events. In Fallujah,
a bomb wounded one civilian. Four students were injured in a blast in
nearby Ameriya. A bomb in Kirkuk wounded one civilian." (12/20/09)
-----
3) Afghanistan: Taliban storm building in provincial capital
Agence France-Presse
"Armed Taliban militants wearing suicide vests stormed a building in
an Afghan provincial capital on Monday, sparking a gun battle with
police, officials said. The militants seized a building near police
headquarters in Gardez, capital of eastern Paktia province, at about
9:00 am (0430 GMT) and began firing at security forces as they
surrounded the building, an official said. ... At least two militants
were killed during Monday's incident, a spokesman for the interior
ministry told AFP in the capital Kabul." (12/21/09)
-----
4) Iranians mourn dissident cleric
Al Jazeera [Quatar]
"Tens of thousands of Iranians have turned out to attend the funeral
of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a senior cleric who was
critical of the Iranian government, according to reports on an Iranian
opposition website. Montazeri's funeral in the holy city of Qom got
under way on Monday, with some analysts saying it could become a
catalyst for fresh opposition protests. ... In August, Montazeri
described the clerical establishment as a 'dictatorship,' saying that
the authorities' handling of street unrest after the disputed re-
election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president, 'could lead to the
fall of the regime.'" (12/21/09)
-----
5) Teen sailor flees Dutch nanny state; apprehended on Caribbean
island
Telegraph [UK]
"A 14-old girl prevented by Dutch social workers from sailing solo
around world was found on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin on
Sunday night after running away from home at the weekend. Laura Dekker
was placed under state supervision two months ago after social
services thwarted her plans to become the youngest person to sail
around the world alone. Child care authorities said the teenage sailor
would be returned to the Netherlands from Saint Martin, in the Dutch
Antilles near the Virgin Islands, as soon as possible." (12/20/09)
-----
6) Gutierrez bill would give millions citizenship
Chicago Sun-Times
"Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a leading congressional advocate for immigrants'
rights, has introduced a bill that would allow millions of illegal
immigrants to become U.S. citizens and would end a controversial
program that enlists local police to enforce immigration laws. The
bill is widely viewed as too liberal to pass. Obama administration
officials have said they are looking instead to a more moderate,
bipartisan immigration-reform bill to be introduced in the Senate
early next year by Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
Still, the Chicago Democrat made it clear that he and his allies
expect a seat at the negotiating table as lawmakers and the White
House seek middle ground on the polarizing issue." (12/20/09)
http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/1948578,CST-NWS-hisp20.article
-----
7) Climate summit a let-down to some delegates
USA Today
"As people began to file out of the giant makeshift conference hall,
Anders Turreson looked around and said, 'I don't know if we can do
this again.' The two-week, 193-nation environmental summit in
Copenhagen ended this weekend with a deal that fell short of some
participants' expectations. Though President Obama described it as a
'meaningful' first step to combating global warming, Turreson and
others said the accord and the negotiating process itself may need
major changes to yield stronger results." (12/20/09)
-----
8) Obama plan could limit secret documents
MSNBC
"President Barack Obama plans to deal with a Dec. 31 deadline that
automatically would declassify secrets in more than 400 million pages
of Cold War-era documents by ordering government-wide changes that
could sharply curb the number of new and old government records hidden
from the public. In an executive order the president is likely to sign
before year's end, Obama will create a National Declassification
Center to clear up the backlog of Cold War documents." (12/20/09)
-----
9) Chavez: US spy plane in Venezuela's airspace
MSNBC
"President Hugo Chavez on Sunday accused the U.S. of violating
Venezuela's airspace with an unmanned spy plane, and ordered his
military to be on alert and shoot down any such aircraft in the
future. Speaking during his weekly television and radio program,
Chavez said the aircraft overflew a Venezuelan military base in the
western state of Zulia after taking off from neighboring
Colombia." (12/20/09)
-----
10) Judge mulls key issues in US murder trial
New Orleans Times-Picayune
"A judge is weighing a critical legal question in the case of a man
who confessed to killing one of the few late-term abortion providers
in the U.S.: Can the man claim at his trial that the slaying was
justified to save the lives of unborn children? Scott Roeder, a 51-
year-old Kansas City, Missouri, man, is charged with one count of
premeditated, first-degree murder in Dr. George Tiller's death and two
counts of aggravated assault for allegedly threatening two ushers
during the May 31 melee in the foyer of the doctor's Wichita
church." [editor's note: That's not a question for the judge, it's a
question for the jury - TLK] (12/20/09)
-----
11) Dodd slips $100 million for hospital into "reform" bill
Fort Dodge Messenger News
"A $100 million item for construction of a university hospital was
inserted in the Senate health care bill at the request of Sen.
Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who faces a difficult re-election campaign,
his office said Sunday night. The legislation leaves it up to the
Health and Human Services Department to decide where the money should
be spent, although spokesman Bryan DeAngelis said Dodd hopes to claim
it for the University of Connecticut." (12/21/09)
-----
12) A dozen Gitmo detainees sent to three countries
CNN
"Twelve detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were transferred to
Afghanistan, Yemen and Somaliland, the U.S. Justice Department said
Sunday. The moves bring the total number of detainees held at
Guantanamo to just under 200. Four Afghan detainees were transferred
to the Afghan government, the Justice Department said." (12/20/09)
-----
13) Astronauts blast off for Christmas space mission
Bozeman Daily Chronicle
"A Russian rocket blasted off from a cosmodrome in Kazakhstan lighting
up the frigid Central Asian steppe Monday, shuttling an American, a
Russian and a Japanese to the International Space Station. Standing in
the early morning cold, the astronauts' family and friends watched as
the Soyuz craft soared atop a tower of bright orange flames. The Soyuz
TMA-17's three astronauts will take the orbiting laboratory's
permanent crew to five following the early-hours launch, the first-
ever blastoff of a Soyuz rocket on a winter night." (12/20/09)
-----
14) Ahmadinejad: "Smoking gun" a US fabrication
ABC News
"Iran's president is dismissing a newly revealed secret document that
purportedly shows Iran has been trying to develop a crucial component
of a nuclear bomb, calling it a fabrication concocted by the U.S.
government. In an exclusive interview with ABC News' Diane Sawyer,
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad refused to look at a copy of the
document, waving it away. 'No, I don't want to see this kind of
document. These are some fabricated papers issued by the American
government,' he said." (12/20/09)
-----
15) MA: Gun permits surge in state
Boston Globe
"The number of gun permits issued in Massachusetts surged by more than
15 percent over the past two years, reversing nearly a decade of
steady declines and marking a pronounced departure for a state known
for its anti-gun sentiment. The magnitude of the rise, evident in
nearly every corner of the state, surprised law enforcement officials,
and gun advocates and opponents alike. Some saw it as an echo of
similar spikes across the country after President Obama's election,
when heavy gun sales were attributed to fears that he would impose
strict new gun laws. But with more women and elderly residents signing
up for gun classes in Massachusetts, many said the increase here has
also been driven by worries about crime and a growing sense of
vulnerability in the wake of the financial collapse and lingering
fallout of the damaged economy." (12/20/09)
-----
16) UK: Beer cheaper than water?
The Times [UK]
"Supermarkets have been accused of encouraging binge drinking by
continuing to sell alcohol more cheaply than bottled water. Tesco,
Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury's are among those selling beer at just
over 5p per 100ml. This contrasts with a typical price of about 8p for
100ml of brand-name mineral water. Campaigners claim such retailers
are 'irresponsible,' using cheap alcohol to lure customers, while
ignoring warnings from senior health figures that selling it at rock-
bottom prices leads to more drinking." (12/20/09)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6962974.ece
-----
17) TN: Lawyer sued for biting off a nose
Tennessean
"A Memphis attorney is being sued in connection with biting off a
portion of a man's nose at a Midtown restaurant. In a lawsuit filed
this week by Greg Herbers, 48, local trial attorney Mark Lambert is
accused of biting off part of Herbers' nose during a fight last June
at Dish in Cooper Young. The dispute started when Herbers, a self-
employed hairstylist, entered the restroom around 9 p.m. and noticed
the one stall was occupied by two men 'performing some activity other
than going to the bathroom.' Herbers claims that when he told the men
he needed to use the toilet, Lambert, who was standing at the urinal
but appeared to know the men in the stall, became
aggressive." (12/20/09)
-----
18) DC: Cop brings gun to snowball fight
Fox News
"Washington's record-breaking snowfall on Saturday brought about 200
grown men and women to the corner of 14th and U streets for a massive
snowball fight. But what started as a good-natured romp in the snow
soon took a turn toward the unexpected -- and potentially dangerous --
when an undercover D.C. police officer became involved in a verbal
altercation with members of the crowd and allegedly pulled out his
gun. The snowball fight was captured on film by local television and
amateur videographers. The officer, a D.C. detective, approached the
crowd before appearing to unholster his gun. The officer, who has not
been identified, admitted to removing his gun in the
video." (12/20/09)
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,580693,00.html
-----
19) Admitted: Israel harvested organs without permission
Associated Press
"Israel admitted that in the 1990s, its forensic pathologists
harvested organs from dead bodies, including Palestinian[ Arabs]s,
without permission of their families. The issue emerged with
publication of an interview with the then-head of Israel's Abu Kabir
forensic institute, Dr. Jehuda Hiss. The interview was conducted in
2000 by an American academic, who released it because of a huge
controversy last summer over an allegation by a Swedish newspaper that
Israel was killing Palestinians in order to harvest their organs.
Israel hotly denied the charge. Parts of the interview were broadcast
on Israel's Channel 2 TV over the weekend." (12/20/09)
-----
20) WI: Lawsuit tests pioneering campaign finance law
Christian Science Monitor
"A conservative political advocacy group is asking a federal judge to
strike down as unconstitutional Wisconsin's new plan to provide public
funding for state supreme court candidates. The plan was signed into
law Dec. 1 and took effect Dec. 16. Wisconsin supreme court candidates
who agree to rely solely on public funds are provided an initial
campaign war chest of $300,000. But they can qualify for up to
$900,000 in public funding depending on how much a non-publicly funded
opponent and independent groups opposed to publicly funded candidates
plan to spend during the election. The nonprofit group Wisconsin Right
to Life (WRTL) Political Action Committee is challenging the law
because its lawyers say it creates a chilling effect on potential
participation by WRTL and other similar groups in judicial
elections." (12/19/09)
-----
21) UK: Ministers in U-turn over torture documents for Guantanamo
Briton
Independent [UK]
"Ministers have agreed to the release of secret documents that could
prove MI5 agents were present during the torture of a British resident
held by the US government for eight years. Shaker Aamer, the last
detainee at Guantanamo Bay to be recognised by the UK Government,
claims he was tortured during his detention in Afghanistan. He also
alleges that Britain colluded in that torture by sending agents to
interview him. Lawyers for Mr Aamer went to the High Court to force
the release of documents which they believe will help prove his case
against the UK Government. In an important development last week the
Government agreed to surrender the documents to Mr Aamer's lawyers in
the US." (12/20/09)
-----
22) UK: Teacher suspended in prayer row
BBC News [UK]
"A Christian supply teacher has been suspended from her job teaching
ill children at home after offering to pray for a sick pupil. Olive
Jones, 54, from Weston-super-Mare, said the girl had been too poorly
for a lesson. The teacher then decided to speak about her belief in
miracles. But the girl's mother said they were not believers and made
a complaint. Mrs Jones, who did not have a formal contract, was told
by Oak Hill Short Stay School she would be suspended." (12/20/09)
-----
23) Germany: Billy the Kid behind bars
Ananova [UK]
"A goat is behind bars in a German police cell after he was 'arrested'
for disrupting traffic. Billy the kid was caught by cops in Bremen
after it blocked traffic by standing in the middle of a road crossing.
The goat then led cops and locals on a chase across town when officers
-- called in by drivers -- tried to catch it. It was eventually caught
by police after several patrol cars had to be called in to help. But
police have so far failed to find Billy's owner despite its
distinctive earmark. The only remarks on the arrest papers were
'smells very bad.'" (12/20/09)
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_3604995.html
-----
24) SC: AG opinion causes Georgetown to reconsider illegal gun ban
Palmetto Scoop
"An opinion from South Carolina's attorney general is forcing the
Georgetown County School District to rethink an illegal policy that
bans concealed weapons on school property. Henry McMaster told the
district that the policy, which prohibits visitors, parents, teachers
and students from carrying weapons on school property including
parking lots -- even with a concealed carry permit -- was a violation
of state law. That law was approved by the General Assembly earlier
this year and allows anyone with a concealed carry permit to keep
weapons locked in their vehicles on school property." (12/18/09)
-----
25) OK: Drunk Marine upset with military status opens fire in
apartment parking lot
News 9
"A man is in police custody after opening fire at a northwest Oklahoma
City apartment complex near Hefner and Council roads. Police said the
man started firing multiple shots in the parking lot of the Tammaron
Village apartments around 4 p.m. Thursday. Witnesses said the man
initially went into the apartment complex's main office. When
employees locked him out, he opened fire in the parking lot. As the
man was firing shots, another citizen armed with a gun came around the
corner and ordered the gunman to put his weapon down. The gunman
dropped his weapon and ran into his father's apartment and barricaded
himself inside." (12/18/09)
*******************************************************************
* HEALTH-OF-THE-STATE-O-METER, 12/21/09
*
* Reported Civilian Deaths in Iraq: Min - 94,902 ... Max - 103,549
* (source: www.iraqbodycount.org)
*
* American Military Deaths in Iraq: 4,371
* (source: www.antiwar.com/casualties/)
*******************************************************************
****************************
* Everybody Has An Opinion
****************************
26) Workers of the world unite for a free market
Foundation for Economic Education
by Sheldon Richman
"It's a fair question that libertarians don't ask nearly enough. For
the record, oligopsony is the flip side of oligopoly, that is, a small
number of buyers, in this case, of labor services. (I would go further
and say a small number as the result of government restrictions on
competition -- but I get ahead of myself.) I surmise that the typical
free-marketeer reaction to the Amazon story is this: People take those
jobs voluntarily after judging that what they receive in pay is worth
more than what is required of them." (12/18/09)
-----
27) A tale of two libertarianisms
Reason
by Brian Doherty
"When the likes of F.A. Hayek and Milton Friedman died, conservative
flagship National Review could and did praise them pretty
unreservedly. But when Rothbard died in 1995, his old pal William
Buckley took pen in hand to piss on his grave. Rothbard, Buckley
wrote, spent his life 'huffing and puffing in the little cloister
whose walls he labored so strenuously to contract, leaving him, in the
end, not as the father of a swelling movement ... but with about as
many disciples as David Koresh had in his little redoubt in Waco. Yes,
Murray Rothbard believed in freedom, and yes, David Koresh believed in
God.' Things look a little different now when it comes to Murray
Rothbard's influence, though it's unlikely anyone at National Review
will note it -- except maybe in the context of an attack on Rep. Ron
Paul (R-Texas). The rise of Paul and his loud and enthusiastic and
young fan base, which Buckley could not have foreseen (I, who was
writing an intellectual history of libertarianism from 1996-2006, also
failed to see it coming), contradicts Buckley's contention that
Rothbard's divisive radical intransigence doomed him to
irrelevance." (12/18/09)
http://reason.com/archives/2009/12/18/a-tale-of-two-libertarianisms
-----
28) Bridging the two libertarianisms
Liberty Unbound
by Carl S. Milsted, Jr.
"Liberty. Some love it because it provides wealth, opportunity, and
other good things. Others declare that any denial of liberty is
unacceptably evil, that liberty is a fundamental right of man. Both
call themselves libertarians, and so they gather together at political
conventions, seminars, and blog forums -- to call each other nasty
names and do battle over the meaning of a word. The first school, the
consequentialists, derides the second, the moralists, for being
impractical and politically impotent. Meanwhile, the moralists deride
the consequentialists for offering a tepid defense of liberty that
inspires little zeal in the youthful idealist and often leads to
dangerous compromise whenever the utilitarian case for government is
strong. Both sides have data to back up their derision, and deride
they do." (for publication 01/10)
http://libertyunbound.com/article.php?id=449
-----
29) "In all cases whatsoever ..."
Center for a Stateless Society
by Thomas L. Knapp
"'The bottom line is, having the government shut down is not an
option,' says congresscritter Russ Carnahan (D-MO). I beg to differ.
It most certainly is an option, probably the best among those
available to us. It's also one that falls well inside the parameters
within which the government in question was allegedly established: The
right of the people to alter or abolish any form of government, even
one that provides Russ Carnahan with a comfy sinecure, is a primary
claim around which the Declaration of Independence was centered.
Unfortunately, the stakes in the game Carnahan is playing at the
moment aren't 'keep the government running' or 'shut it down,' but
rather 'have the government borrow more money' or 'have the government
live within its extremely ample means.'" (12/19/09)
-----
30) Not everyone talking about liberty believes in it
Liberty For All
by Scott Williamson
"The Libertarian message is catching on. Our beliefs in individual
freedom and personal responsibility are getting the attention of
politicians because they are getting the attention of the voters. The
Libertarian Party stands at an important moment. With the right
leadership our party can take an historic step forward. If we do not
take the opportunity that this time in history has given us, other
parties will co-opt the message, but will not fulfill the
promise." (12/20/09)
http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=3540
-----
31) The rising tide
AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo
"With Obama in the White House, and two wars on the presidential
agenda, what the neocons fear most is a revival of what they call
'isolationism' on the Right. Viscerally hostile to the 'tea partiers'
in any event -- too libertarian, and too populist for Frum's refined
tastes -- he has lately begun sniffing around for signs of
'isolationism' and 'resentment' among the conservative grassroots. The
latter is bad because it indicates disdain for the elites, and neocons
are philosophically committed to an elitism of a sort that neither
Russell Kirk nor Albert Jay Nock (and perhaps not even the late Bill
Buckley) would recognize." (12/21/09)
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2009/12/20/the-rising-tide/
-----
32) Weapon of Monetary Destruction
LewRockwell.Com
by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
"By way of review, the Fed has only one distinct power: the capacity
to create money out of thin air. In the end, and despite all its other
powers, this is the one that matters. So if you are interviewing the
Fed governor, one would think that this would be the central question:
what did you do with the money-creating power to bring about this
situation? This is not a 'fringe concern.'" (12/21/09)
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/also-war-on-terror137.html
-----
33) Religion, science, and the solstice
Boston Globe
by James Carroll
"Today's darkness is tomorrow's light. Contemplations of the winter
solstice once opened into religion, which is why the cultic festivals
of light define the secular space this week. 'Here comes the sun,' as
the Beatles told us, and they could have been singing of Sol Invictus,
the Roman sun god whose celebration was preempted by Christmas, songs
of a different Son. Sure enough, the days will get longer now. Does it
matter that the sun, actually, is not 'coming,' but that the earth, in
its elliptical revolution, only adjusts the tilt in its rotation?
Contemplations of the solstice opened equally into what we call
science." (12/21/09)
-----
34) The "candidate vs. President" canard
In These Times
by David Sirota
"Every now and then, an insider inadvertently exposes the hideous
rationalizations that run the American political grotesquerie. The
best known of these statements are memorialized on TV as 'gaffes.' But
the ones that never become famous tend to reveal the ugliest
assumptions of all. Case in point is the comment the pharmaceutical
industry recently let fly in the Washington Post. ... 'It's about
being a candidate as opposed to being president,' said the drug
industry's top lobbyist in defense of Obama's flip-flop. This
explanation is common among politicos -- we last heard it when the New
York Times' John Harwood quoted an administration aide attacking those
demanding Obama fulfill his campaign pledges." [editor's note: And it
is still an excuse for saying one thing, then doing the opposite ...
which is lying in most books! - SAT] (12/19/09)
-----
35) Goldman Sachs bonuses: More than just bad PR
Christian Science Monitor
by John Paul Rollert
"'The trouble with socialism is socialism. The trouble with capitalism
is capitalists,' William F. Buckley, Jr., observed. His point was that
free markets are underwritten by public opinion, not divine right. Bad
behavior by the business elite can provoke the public to demand that
the terms of free enterprise be rewritten or, in dire times, revoked.
Does the leadership at Goldman Sachs get this? The firm's recent
announcement that its top 30 executives will receive long-term stock
instead of cash as year-end bonuses suggests they have heeded, however
belatedly, Buckley's warning. Yet such 'sacrifice' is hardly
sufficient when capitalism itself is increasingly the target of public
wrath." (12/18/09)
-----
36) Obama just ran out of slack
Our Future Blog
by Tom Sullivan
"The media was quick to declare the Obama honeymoon over this summer.
Yet supporters exhilarated by Barack Obama's stunning win in November
2008 were still willing to cut him a lot of slack. That slack just ran
out. The simplest, most comprehensive health insurance reform --
single payer -- was off the table before the legislative effort
started, replaced with an amorphous 'public option.' David Sirota and
others called it a violation of Negotiating 101: compromise comes at
the end of the process, not at the beginning. ... So much for the
Chicago-style politics Fox News warned about. All year, progressive
reform advocates tried to remain calm as the House and Senate bills
got watered down." [editor's note: Again, the question is, why does
this surprise anyone? - SAT] (12/17/09)
-----
37) Gaming healthcare
The Nation
by staff
"One year after Democrats earned a mandate from the American people to
deliver far-reaching healthcare reform, they are tinkering around the
edges of-and in some cases reinforcing-the broken system that voters
elected them to replace. It's not just that top Democrats have
abandoned the Medicare for All approach, about which Barack Obama said
during the 2008 campaign, 'If I were designing a system from scratch,
I would probably go ahead with a single-payer system.' With his
rejection of modest proposals for a public option and a lowered
eligibility age for Medicare, Senate majority leader Harry Reid seems
to have abandoned healthcare reform. The legislation he now seems
willing to settle for is, at best, an attempt to impose a measure of
responsibility on an insurance industry that has gamed the system for
decades." [editor's note: The only surprise is that anyone is
surprised this was the result of the effort; we do not change society
with new laws and regulations, we change it with new ideas, attitudes
and VOLUNTARY behavioral-change - SAT] (12/16/09)
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100104/editors
-----
38) Ten political lessons for the New Year
The American Prospect
by Terence Samuel
"The world at the start of 2010 looks a lot different than it did when
it was on the verge of 2009. For one, we have avoided economic
collapse. It's also likely that in the new year, President Barack
Obama will have delivered on his campaign promise to reform American
healthcare -- somewhat. If he is lucky, we will begin to see an
economic resurgence that will steady his job approval rating and calm
Democratic fears of a GOP rout in the fall midterm elections.
Republicans, looking better now than they did six months ago, will
continue to attack Democrats for the exploding deficit and the
decision to try to spend America out of the recession. And if
Republicans are lucky, the economy will not recover quickly. But we
will have to wait to see how all that turns out." (12/18/09)
-----
39) Stats about the war you should know
CounterPunch
by Jeremy Scahill
"A hearing in Sen. Claire McCaskill's Contract Oversightsubcommittee
on contracting in Afghanistan has highlighted some important
statistics that provide a window into the extent to which the Obama
administration has picked up the Bush-era war privatization baton and
sprinted with it. Overall, contractors now comprise a whopping 69% of
the Department of Defense's total workforce, 'the highest ratio of
contractors to military personnel in US history.' That's not in one
war zone -- that's the Pentagon in its entirety." (12/20/09)
http://counterpunch.org/scahill12182009.html
-----
40) Yoonies
The Libertarian Enterprise
by L. Neil Smith
"This so-called 'peace sculpture' is generally called 'the Knotted
Gun.' I'm sure that the sculptor would want his name mentioned. The
Python's barrel, which in real life would be a ridiculous eighteen
inches long, is tied in an overhand knot, the muzzle pointing up, in
representation of a nasty old weapon that has been rendered harmless.
In fact, such a gun would be far from harmless, it would blow up upon
being fired, injuring or killing the shooter and any close bystanders.
The sculptor, in the bucket-headed manner typical of all victim
disarmament advocates, has found a way to covert a revolver into a
grenade." (12/20/09)
http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2009/tle549-20091220-02.html
-----
41) Fortune sellers
Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Doug French
"It's that time of the year. Not only are chestnuts roasting over an
open fire and Jack Frost nipping at your nose, but whether you ask for
it or not, those in the prediction business are rolling out their
prognostications for 2010. For those wanting to know whether the
economy will grow and what those phony government GDP numbers will be
in the coming year, there are economists lined up to provide you with
a guess." (12/18/09)
-----
42) A brief history of media merger hysteria
Heartland Institute
by Adam Thierer
"Although the pending union of Comcast and NBC Universal has not yet
made it to the altar, Chicken Little-esque wails about the marriage
have already begun in earnest. For example, the pro-regulatory media
organization Free Press has already set up a website to complain about
the deal. And Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for
Digital Democracy, has called it 'an unholy marriage.' The fever only
promises to spread once the deal is formally announced, and a lengthy
fight over the deal is expected at the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) and whichever antitrust agency reviews the
deal." (12/18/09)
-----
43) Obama's troop surge
Hawaii Reporter
by Tom Cole
"Earlier this month President Obama announced his plans for a new way
forward in Afghanistan. He laid out clear objectives for a troop level
increase, underscored the importance of strengthening Afghan security
forces and outlined the strategic necessity of success in the region.
I believe the President made a very compelling case for why it is
absolutely critical that America defeat al Qaeda and prevent its
capacity to threaten America and our allies." (12/18/09)
-----
44) Government welfare vs. private charity
Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G. Hornberger
"With Christmas approaching, perhaps this would be a good time to
remind ourselves of the moral difference between government welfare
and private charity. Government welfare is based on the force of
government. The IRS forces people to send in a portion of their
income. If they refuse, the IRS goes after them. It files liens on
their house, garnishes their bank account, and attaches their personal
property." (12/18/09)
http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2009-12-18.asp
-----
45) The bilingual ban that worked
Freedom Politics
by Heather MacDonald
"In 1998, Californians voted to pass Proposition 227, the 'English for
the Children Act,' and dismantle the state's bilingual-education
industry. The results, according to California's education
establishment, were not supposed to look like this: button-cute
Hispanic pupils at a Santa Ana elementary school boasting about their
English skills to a visitor. Those same pupils cheerfully calling out
to their principal on their way to lunch: 'Hi, Miss Champion!' A
statewide increase in English proficiency among all Hispanic
students." (12/18/09)
-----
46) Anger with the federal government is not enough
Campaign For Liberty
by Chuck Baldwin
"According to Rasmussen Reports, 'Seventy-one percent (71%) of voters
nationwide say they're at least somewhat angry about the current
policies of the federal government. That figure includes 46% who are
Very Angry. 'The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey
finds that only 27% are not angry about the government's policies,
including 10% who are Not at All Angry.'" (12/19/09)
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=454
-----
47) The American patriot
Liberty For All
by Kevin Tuma
Cartoon. (12/19/09)
http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=3534
-----
48) How to manufacture a climate consensus
Cato Institute
by Patrick J. Michaels
"Few people understand the real significance of Climategate, the now-
famous hacking of emails from the University of East Anglia Climatic
Research Unit (CRU). Most see the contents as demonstrating some
arbitrary manipulating of various climate data sources in order to fit
preconceived hypotheses (true), or as stonewalling and requesting
colleagues to destroy emails to the United Nations Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in the face of potential or actual
Freedom of Information requests (also true). But there's something
much, much worse going on -- a silencing of climate scientists, akin
to filtering what goes in the bible, that will have consequences for
public policy, including the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA)
recent categorization of carbon dioxide as a 'pollutant.'" (12/18/09)
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11072
-----
49) Barack Obama's Doublespeak "peace" speech
Independent Institute
by Laurie L. Calhoun
"In accepting the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, Barack Obama recited the
tried and true sophism parroted by U.S. presidents since 1945 in
defending their wars: The Third Reich had to be defeated. As though
Afghanistan bore any more resemblance to Germany than did North
Vietnam. As though sending ever more U.S. troops to kill ever more
innocent Afghan citizens might have any more tangible effect than to
incite the ire of the very people alleged to be quietly conspiring to
attack the United States again." (12/18/09)
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=2685
-----
50) Without bipartisan support, Bernanke should withdraw
TCS Daily
by Larry Kudlow
"I don't think the Fed chairman understands just how vulnerable his
political position is. So his task right now is to re-canvas senators
across-the-board -- Republicans and Democrats. He's going to have to
wear down some shoe leather and make his bipartisan peace with the
Senate if he expects to survive. It's more than Bernanke's neck that's
at stake. Without bipartisan confidence, he will be totally
ineffective as a Fed leader. And that very ineffectiveness will wear
down the dollar and come at the expense of the country." (12/19/09)
http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=121909A
-----
51) The nurture and care for the radical soul
Last Free Voice
by Donald Meinshausen
"I have been involved in radical politics for over 40 years. I have
studied movements that were left, right and libertarian and green.
Single issue, ideological, local as well as international have been
areas of involvement for me. My involvement also includes cultural,
theological and technological focuses to try to cure social problems.
There are many problems in handling any of these approaches. One of
the worst is burnout. Anger or concern will only get you so far. These
problems don't go away because of an election victory as we are
finding out now. One way of burning yourself out forever is working
hard for something, getting it and it isn't what you
wanted." (12/18/09)
-----
52) Unchaining the human heart -- a revolutionary manifesto: For love
or money
J. Neil Schulman @ Rational Review
by J. Neil Schulman
"What is the moral difference, if any, between a prostitute picking up
the cash left on her bedside table in the morning, and the Germanic
custom of a husband paying a dower or 'morning gift' to his wife on
the morning after their wedding? What's the moral difference, if any,
between a pimp collecting the proceeds from the woman he sends out to
hook on a street corner, and the parents of a woman collecting a
'bride price' from her new husband or his family? And I can't even
fathom how low the social standing of a woman had to be that not only
was she not worthy of being sold for her sexual value, but her parents
had to pay a dowry to some guy to take her off their hands. It looks
to me that prostitution is a huge step up from that." (12/20/09)
-----
53) The politics of panic
Classically Liberal
by CLS
"I havee no doubt that some people are driven by a pure belief in the
theory that they popularize. I also have no doubt that many of the
major drivers in the climate debate are politicians with very open
political agendas. And the political agenda means they will fudge the
science, exaggerate the science, play down the doubts, etc. The number
of top warming hysterics who have openly admitted that they do that
has been documented on this blog before. The more I watch the debate
the less respect I have for the alarmists who seem to be getting
desperate as they lose the battle for public opinion -- they get more
rabid and fanatical the closer they are to failure."
http://freestudents.blogspot.com/2009/12/blog-post.html
-----
54) Sun spots on Nancy's brain?
The Price of Liberty
by Carey Roberts
"On Thursday morning, world leaders trudged through ankle-deep snow
and sub-freezing temperatures into the gleaming Bella Center to give
their blessing to a multi-billion dollar global transfer deal.
Thereupon they gave a standing ovation to Hugo Chavez, socialist
president of Venezuela, when he blamed capitalist avarice for the
global warming menace. All this was mere preclude as the eco-zombies
awaited the arrival of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in her two Air Force
jets, accompanied by 20 other House lawmakers." (12/21/09)
http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/09/12/21/roberts.html
-----
55) No insurance at gun point
A Passion for Liberty
by Tibor R. Machan
"Yes, it is sad that some people are so ill that covering them with
insurance would require the insurer to take a loss but unless insurers
have agreed to do this, freely, voluntarily, no one has the moral
authority to force them into such deals. Just because it would be very
desirable for such people to get covered when they need to obtain
health care, it does not follow at all that insurance companies or
anyone else may be forced to come to their support." (12/20/09)
-----
56) Stossel's blues
Tibor's Space
by Tibor R. Machan
"[John] Stossel may be a libertarian in the depths of his mind and
heart but he is working at what is in the end still a mainstream TV
network. And extending the principles of the free society to
education, parks, forests, roads and the like is so way out there for
most people, even those most loyal to the principles of the
Declaration of Independence, taking on these rebuttals is just too
taxing. And Mokhiber knew this very well and never let go of the idea
-- so that in the last analysis John Stossel and John Mackey were
trapped in a dilemma: they either embrace a pure libertarian position
in which there is no room for any wealth redistribution and public
works -- everything must be privatized apart from the judicial system
and the military -- or they have to accept the socialist health care
proposals of the liberal Democrats, better known as Obamacare, as just
another task the government can take over." (12/19/09)
http://tibikem.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!B2FD693F4B9A5746!1589.entry
-----
57) Dred Scott redux
Empire Burlesque
by Chris Floyd
"While we were all out doing our Christmas shopping, the highest court
in the land quietly put the kibosh on a few more of the remaining
shards of human liberty. It happened earlier this week, in a discreet
ruling that attracted almost no notice and took little time. ... After
hearing passionate arguments from the Obama Administration, the
Supreme Court acquiesced to the president's fervent request and, in a
one-line ruling, let stand a lower court decision that declared
torture an ordinary, expected consequence of military detention, while
introducing a shocking new precedent for all future courts to follow:
anyone who is arbitrarily declared a 'suspected enemy combatant' by
the president or his designated minions is no longer a 'person.' They
will simply cease to exist as a legal entity." [hat tip -- Randall
McElroy III](12/18/09)
-----
58) In praise of Sweden
Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worstall
"We're all familiar with the idea that Sweden is a social democratic
hellhole where you cannot keep even an extra penny or krone for
yourself but it gets taxed off you and used for the benefit of
'society.' But as our Danish correspondent has been pointing out here
those Nordic social democracies are not quite as they seem. High tax
rates, yes, high levels of redistribution, yes, but underneath that
social democratic bonnet there's (to use the phrase of one commentator
here) a surprisingly liberal capitalist economy purring
along." (12/20/09)
-----
59) No true libertarian
Ayn R. Key
by Ayn R. Key
"'No True Scotsman' is useful for anyone who belongs to a group with
active and vocal extremists committing acts that would embarrass the
rest of the group. Communist regimes embarrass communists. The
inquisition still embarrasses Christians. But there is another
fallacy, sort of a mirror image fallacy, that also comes into play. It
is the 'No True Libertarian' fallacy. It is not employed by members of
the group under examination. It is employed by opponents of the group
under examination." (12/18/09)
http://aynrkey.blogspot.com/2009/12/no-true-libertarian.html
-----
60) Obama has failed in Copenhagen, minorities and women will benefit
the most
The Liberty Papers
by tarran
"Fortunately for humanity and the civilization that sustains it,
Barack Obama stayed true to his record of incompetence and failure,
messing up the talks at Copenhagen. The talks have ended with nothing
more than yet another agreement to meet again in a few years' time.
His last ditch instructions to Hillary Clinton, which led to her
offering $100,000,000,000 of taxpayer dollars each year to nations
hard hit by climate change could not band-aid the gaping gash that is
the rift between developing and developed nations. The root of the
conflict is very simple: curbing emissions produced in the territory
of poverty-stricken nations would require them to regress to a poorer
state of being. The politicians ruling over these nations recognize
that such attempts would probably inspire revolts that would topple
them and earn them an appointment with a noose and a lam[p]post. In
the meantime, the politicians ruling developed nations also recognize
that if they allow people living in the developing nations to produce
CO2, that global economic production will simply be moved to those
territories. And the newly unemployed will come after the politicians
who screwed them over with pitchforks." (12/19/09)
-----
61) The trouble with professionalism
LewRockwell.Com
by SM Oliva
"Professionalism represents a separation of the consumer market from
the professional market. The consumer market values serving customers.
The professional market values its social (or political) position. For
the last twelve years, the consumer and professional markets shared
the same objectives with respect to Tiger Woods. Consumers flocked to
see Woods dominate golf tournaments, and professionals rode the wave.
Talking Tiger raised the professionals' own profile and social value.
The downside was that Woods himself remained an inaccessible, private
person." (12/19/09)
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig9/oliva3.1.1.html
-----
62) A lesson on nonviolence for Obama
AntiWar.Com
by Eric Stoner
"Almost immediately after acknowledging that there is 'nothing weak --
nothing passive -- nothing naive -- in the creed and lives of Gandhi
and King,' Obama equated nonviolence with doing nothing. To live and
act nonviolently, however, never involves standing 'idle in the face
of threats.' Dorothy Day, Cesar Chavez, Dave Dellinger, Daniel and
Philip Berrigan, and countless other genuine peacemakers have put
their lives on the line in the struggle for a more just world.
Advocates of nonviolence, like Gandhi, simply believe that means and
ends are inseparable -- that responding in kind to an aggressor will
only continue the cycle of violence." (12/19/09)
-----
63) Obama and Sanders only want healthy slaves
Center for a Stateless Society
by Alex R. Knight III
"Health care reform isn't about making sure people are healthy. It
never was. Like all actions of government, it is a justification for
further control and enslavement of a population. It's about non-
productive fat cats living high off the hog at the expense of the
politically unconnected working class. It's about simple ruthless
domination. It's a cynical, insidious power play. If politicians and
bureaucrats were truly concerned about people's well-being (other than
their own, of course), they'd resign their posts, find jobs that are
actually useful and beneficial, and put government out of business
forever." (12/19/09)
-----
64) Your neighbor's contract you can't refuse
Fr33 Agents
by Justin Longo
"Imagine you are good friends with your next door neighbor. Now also
imagine that he is an ex-Marine, super-duper black belt in 12
different forms of martial arts, and he is a technology wiz who has
all the latest gadgets and knows how to use them. Your neighbor uses
his techie abilities and latest gadgets to form the most advanced home
defense system ever created. On top of that, even if he does encounter
an evildoer on his property, his military and martial arts background
will surely overwhelm the sorry intruder. Thus, we can say with
certainty, you have the best neighbor ever! One day you go and check
the mail. Inside you find a bill from your neighbor for $300. The bill
reads, 'One month's defense services ... $300.' This perplexes you to
say the least. You don't recall ever entering into an agreement with
your neighbor for his services. Not even a verbal one." (12/17/09)
-----
65) Government -- controlling and fighting evil?
Albuquerque Libertarian Examiner
by Kent McManigal
"Yes, there is real evil in the world. The question is, who is a
bigger danger to you or me on a daily basis? Some Islamic goat-herder
who lives in a cave thousands of miles away, or a local LEO or
congresscritter? I know which one has actually endangered and damaged
more people that I personally know." (12/20/09)
*******************************************************************
* RRND MEDIA SHELF -- Tchotchkes from today's edition
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* 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)
-----
67) Free Talk Live, 12/19/09
Free Talk Live
"See Avatar in 3D! / Can one be pro environment and pro progress? Of
course! / Voluntary Market Environment Protecton vs. Govt Force /
Avatar, Property Rights, and Progression vs Regression / Nuclear
Power / Intellectual Property / Opting Out / Forced Treatment, Press
Ignores Outrageous Case / The Pointlessness of the Birther Obsession /
Parasites / Free State Project / Thugs / Disobedience / No Obligation
to Protect / Peaceful Solutions / RFID Licenses." [MP3] (12/19/09)
http://media.libsyn.com/media/ftl/FTL2009-12-19.mp3
-----
68) Glenn Greenwald on Antiwar Radio
AntiWar.Com
"Glenn Greenwald, former constitutional lawyer and current Salon.com
blogger, discusses the media driven myth of a truly oppositional US
political system, hypocritical progressive support for the same Obama
policies that were denounced during the Bush administration, how
conservative outrage over FDR's New Deal and LBJ's Great Society
subsided when the programs were continued by Republican presidents,
the unusual upholding of the Constitution in ACORN's lawsuit against
Congress and the open question of whether the Supreme Court will allow
indefinite detentions of 'enemy combatants.'" [Flash audio or MP3]
(12/18/09)
http://antiwar.com/radio/2009/12/18/glenn-greenwald-23/
-----
69) Be happy!
Hit & Run
"We're going through some tough economic times right now, but this
holiday season, take a moment to appreciate how good we really have
it. Need proof? Just think about how much Christmas presents sucked in
the 1970s compared to today. Thanks to our market-based system, we're
wealthier, we have more choices, and we enjoy more leisure time than
ever before. From all of us at Reason.tv, happy holidays!" [MP3]
(12/17/09)
http://reason.com/blog/2009/12/17/reasontv-be-happymdashwhy-this
-----
70) Freedomain Radio #1533
Freedomain Radio
"Dr. [Greg] Siegle discusses the latest breakthroughs in brain imaging
and mental health treatments." [MP3] (12/14/09)
*************************************
* 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) Emma Goldman deported
Details, and the "quote of the day," from Leon's Political Almanac at: