07/03 -- CA: State government sends out IOUs; North Korea fires missiles; launch toward US feared

[Thomas L. Knapp]

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* RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
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* Volume VI, Issue #1,694
* Friday, July 3rd, 2009
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In The News:

1) CA: State government sends out IOUs
2) North Korea fires missiles; launch toward US feared
3) Iraq: Seven killed, 49 wounded
4) Afghanistan: US soldier feared captured
5) Israel: McKinney among unreleased abductees
6) WaPo publisher cancels lobbyist "salons"
7) Guilty verdict overturned in MySpace suicide case
8) AZ: Bill would allow guns in bars
9) Consumers likely to find increased bank costs
10) Turkey: Gameshow pits atheists vs. clerics
11) 5% unemployment: Still a decade away?
12) Facebook revising privacy settings
13) UK: "Get real" -- Darling warns the bankers
14) Scotland: Police warn Orange March bigots
15) UK: Office workers asked to go naked
16) $2.7 billion in "stimulus" money released for schools
17) Feds OK theft of groups' US assets
18) NSA to help defend civilian agency networks
19) Cheney discussed media inquiries into Plame leak
20) Nuclear watchdog elects Japanese diplomat as its leader
21) FL: Supreme Court says Crist can't reject judge nominees
22) VT: Boglioli case goes to jury
23) AZ: Harold Fish gets new trial in self-defense case
24) KY: Man shoots, kills masked intruder; turns out to be his
grandson
25) TX: Man wakes up, shoots intruder

Everybody Has An Opinion:

26) It's all about independence
27) Things to do while boycotting July 4th
28) Life, liberty, and property are inseparable
29) Congress declares independence
30) Free Bernie Madoff
31) Even the Amish fell for the boom
32) Communist Party considers President Obama a success
33) Testing, testing ...
34) Happy Dependence Day
35) A "coup" in Honduras? Nonsense!
36) Drug manufacturers: $80 bil in Rx savings ... but what's their
angle?
37) Iran's Green Wave
38) The stupidity of "smart" phones
39) Pirates: No leftist utopians, they
40) Networked dissent?
41) Wal-Mart embraces fascism
42) Today's employment situation
43) Public expenditure -- cutting to the chase
44) Cap and pollute
45) Rush Limbaugh is still a big fat idiot
46) Why I'm lucky to be an American
47) Financial sunset in the west
48) Federalism, secession and free trade
49) A garden of piggish delights
50) Are all civil rights special privileges now?
51) What's good for the goose ...
52) Heller ain't no bad place to be
53) Honduras -- Zelaya's coup
54) A coup for democracy
55) Is Waxman-Markey worth it?
56) The house of libertarianism
57) Government or anarchy? revisited
58) More tax oppression
59) More poison, not an antidote: Mandating employer health insurance
60) Tortured truth
61) Unprotected sex: Abstinence education's main accomplishment
62) Obamacare: Do or die for America
63) The banality of evil applies to everyone
64) Unions and free market activists find common cause on health care,
for now
65) Incensed by the census

See No Evil, Hear No Evil:

66) Dan Proft on Freedom Rings Radio, 07/06/09
67) Q&A with PJ O'Rourke
68) Cato Daily Podcast, 07/02/09
69) Why Libertarians are courting gays and lesbians
70) Motorhome Diaries interview: Michael Parag

What's Up In The Freedom Movement:

71) Today's events

WaYbAcK:

72) Washington takes command

***************
* In The News
***************

1) CA: State government sends out IOUs
Los Angeles Times

"Deep in debt and short on cash, California on Thursday churned out
its first batch of IOUs in nearly two decades amid grumbles from
bankers, growing public outrage and scant progress in negotiations to
resolve the state's widening budget deficit. The state controller's
office fired up a pair of printing presses and began rolling out
nearly 29,000 IOUs totaling more than $53 million, most of them
destined for residents around the state still awaiting income tax
refunds. Recipients also include some businesses, pensioners, health
clinics, college students and many others who get checks from the
state." (07/03/09)

http://www.rationalreview.com/content/65974

-----

2) North Korea fires missiles; launch toward US feared
Dallas Morning News

"North Korea fired a barrage of short-range missiles off its east
coast in a possible prelude to the launch of a long-range missile
toward Hawaii over the U.S. Independence Day holiday. Firing a
ballistic missile on the July Fourth celebration would be a challenge
to Washington, which has been rallying international support for
enforcement of U.N. sanctions imposed against Pyongyang following a
May 25 nuclear test. North Korea is banned from testing ballistic
missiles under U.N. resolutions." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/nq3s2c

-----

3) Iraq: Seven killed, 49 wounded
AntiWar.Com

"In Baghdad, a bomb planted at a bridge leading to the Green Zone from
Karrada killed one Iraqi soldier and wounded 10 others. A bomb in
Yusufiya killed two people and wounded 15 others. ... In Mosul, gunmen
killed a man in the Sabatash Tammuz neighborhood. ... One person was
killed and six others were wounded in a bomb blast in Fallujah. A bomb
was planted on a vehicle carrying Captain Khaled al-Dulaimi. He
survived, but his driver was killed. An army major was killed when
gunmen opened fire on him in Kirkuk. A car bomb in Taza killed one
person and wounded six others." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/nxrwvt

-----

4) Afghanistan: US soldier feared captured
ABC News

"A U.S. soldier serving in Afghanistan has been captured and is
believed to be in militant custody, according to U.S. officials in
Kabul. The soldier was apparently captured by Taliban forces in
eastern Afghanistan Tuesday, though none of the militant groups
operating in the area have claimed responsibility for the capture.
Officials also tell ABC News that all available assets are being used
to find and locate the soldier, whose family has been notified of his
situation." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/kqcr2n

-----

5) Israel: McKinney among unreleased abductees
Fox News

"Former U.S. lawmaker and Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia
McKinney and several other human rights activists remained in an
Israeli prison Thursday after refusing to sign a deportation form that
they claim is self-incriminating. In a press release from the Green
Party, McKinney said the form states that the Spirit of Humanity, a
Greek-flagged relief boat carrying 21 activists, medical supplies,
cement, olive trees and children's toys en route to Gaza, was
violating the Israeli blockade and trespassing the country's
territorial waters." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/nx7l3o

-----

6) WaPo publisher cancels lobbyist "salons"
Boston Globe

"Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth yesterday canceled plans
for a series of policy dinners at her home after learning that
marketing fliers offered lobbyists access to Obama administration
officials, members of Congress, and Post journalists in exchange for
payments as high as $250,000. ... The fliers, circulated by the
paper's parent company, offering an 'intimate and exclusive Washington
Post Salon, an off-the-record dinner and discussion at the home of CEO
and publisher Katharine Weymouth.' The fliers, which said participants
would be charged $25,000 to sponsor a single salon and $250,000 to
underwrite an annual series of 11 sessions, were reported yesterday by
Politico." (07/03/09)

http://tinyurl.com/mo54pe

-----

7) Guilty verdict overturned in MySpace suicide case
CNet News

"Lori Drew, the woman convicted of using a hoax MySpace profile to
harass a teenage girl to the point of suicide, was acquitted by a Los
Angeles judge on Thursday, Wired reported. Judge George Wu overturned
Drew's guilty verdict, which was issued in November, saying that if
Drew had been convicted of a felony in the case, she would already
have been sentenced. But because she was convicted of three
misdemeanors -- a significantly lighter offense than prosecutors
originally sought -- the constitutionality of the guilty verdict was
less clear. ... Drew's lawyers had argued that the law being used
against the defendant was vague and flawed, which the judge upheld
Thursday when he threw out the guilty verdict. The Computer Fraud and
Abuse Act is typically used against malicious hackers." (07/02/09)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10278483-36.html

-----

8) AZ: Bill would allow guns in bars
Associated Press

"The Arizona Senate has given final approval to a bill that would
allow people with concealed weapons permits to carry a gun into a
business that serves alcohol. The 19-to-8 vote completes legislative
action on the bill and sends it to Governor Jan Brewer, a Republican.
She has not said whether she will sign it, but she has long been a
supporter of gun rights. The measure has pitted powerful groups
representing gun and bar owners against each other, sparking a debate
about whether guns and alcohol can coexist without bloodshed. Critics
of the measure say guns and alcohol are a dangerous combination. ...
Supporters say they should be able to protect themselves even if they
happen to be inside a business serving alcohol." [editor's note:
Tennessee just passed a similar measure; law-abiding citizens (who are
required to refrain from drinking while carrying) protecting
themselves (and others?) from aggressors - SAT] (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/kqracv

-----

9) Consumers likely to find increased bank costs
Boston Globe

"An array of government-created insurance agencies -- which have long
charged bargain-rate premiums to banks, credit unions, and brokerages
-- are seeking to make up for massive shortfalls in their insurance
funds by raising fees and premiums, many of which are likely to be
passed on to consumers. The billions of dollars in new fees are the
result of decisions by Congress and the agencies to allow the
insurance funds and premiums to be capped at levels that proved far
too low, according to Jeffrey R. Brown, a finance professor at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who has studied the issue.
'This is what happens when you put the government in charge of an
insurance program,' Brown said. 'Politically, they don't run them the
way the need to be run.'" (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/lu9u5v

-----

10) Turkey: Gameshow pits atheists vs. clerics
The Guardian [UK]

"It sounds like the beginning of a joke: what do you get when you put
a Muslim imam, a Greek Orthodox priest, a rabbi, a Buddhist monk and
10 atheists in the same room? Viewers of Turkish television will soon
get the punchline when a new gameshow begins that offers a prize
arguably greater than that offered by Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Contestants will ponder whether to believe or not to believe ... Those
persuaded will be rewarded with a pilgrimage to the spiritual home of
their newly chosen creed -- Mecca for Muslims, Jerusalem for
Christians and Jews, and Tibet for Buddhists." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/ndk5nq

-----

11) 5% unemployment: Still a decade away?
Christian Science Monitor

"This could become the third time in a row that Americans struggle out
of recession only to find themselves in a so-called 'jobless
recovery.' The phrase became popular back in the early 1990s, when a
frigid post-recession job market paved the way for Bill Clinton to
defeat incumbent George H. W. Bush in the 1992 presidential election.
Then the pattern was repeated after the 2001 recession, in a more
pronounced way. Despite a disappointing monthly jobs report Thursday,
the good news is that economists generally expect the US economy to
start growing again later this year. But the report, showing 9.5
percent unemployment in June, served as a reminder that the current
environment for US workers is unusually tough." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/n4l5zn

-----

12) Facebook revising privacy settings
Agence France-Presse

"Facebook is revising its privacy settings to give the more than 200
million users of the social network the ability to share as much or as
little about themselves online as they want. Chris Kelly, chief
privacy officer at the Palo Alto, California-based company, outlined
the changes in a post on the Facebook blog. Kelly said Facebook would
now offer a tiered level of privacy options for its users including
'all of your friends, your friends and people in your school or work
networks, and friends of friends.' There is also an option to publicly
share with everyone on the Web in what is being seen as an effort by
Facebook to compete with the hot micro-blogging service
Twitter." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/mr6gz5

-----

13) UK: "Get real" -- Darling warns the bankers
Independent [UK]

"Amid signs that the bonus culture blamed for excessive risk-taking is
creeping back in the City of London, the Chancellor declared in an
interview with The Independent: 'There are people who are too
complacent in my view. They need to be brought back to earth.' Mr
Darling disclosed that he will try to end a damaging turf war between
the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) by
giving them both more powers in a White Paper on banking unveiled next
week. He assured the Bank it will play a central role in preventing
future booms turning into bubbles and in assessing risks to the entire
system as well as individual banks." (07/03/09)

http://tinyurl.com/l52wr7

-----

14) Scotland: Police warn Orange March bigots
BBC News [UK]

"Strathclyde Police have warned that they will not tolerate 'sectarian
behaviour' at the annual Orange Order parade in Glasgow this weekend.
About 8,000 marchers from 182 lodges across the city are expected to
take part in Saturday's parade. ... Police said their warning over
possible sectarian behaviour had the backing of the Grand Orange Lodge
of Scotland. Assistant Chief Constable John Neilson said: 'Whilst the
parade will have a major impact on traffic in the city centre, the
main issue for the force and members of the public is the excessive
drinking and public nuisance caused by those who follow the
parade.'" [editor's note: Orange walks are a series of parades held
annually by members of the Orange Order during the summer in Northern
Ireland, to a lesser extent in Scotland, and occasionally in England,
the Republic of Ireland, and throughout the Commonwealth. These
typically build up to the 12th of July celebrations which mark Prince
William of Orange's victory over King James II at the Battle of the
Boyne in 1690 (Wikipedia) - MLS] (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/moy7x8

-----

15) UK: Office workers asked to go naked
United Press International

"A British business consultant said he was able to improve a firm's
productivity by convincing office staff to work for one day in the
nude. David Taylor, a self-proclaimed 'business psychologist,' said he
was called in to help onebestway, a design and marketing company in
Newcastle, England, after the company began losing money and had to
fire six workers this spring, The Sun reported Thursday. 'Inviting an
organization to go naked is the most extreme technique I've used,'
Taylor said. 'It may seem weird but it works. It's the ultimate
expression of trust in yourself and each other.'" (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/kl5ylq

-----

16) $2.7 billion in "stimulus" money released for schools
USA Today

"Education Secretary Arne Duncan is releasing $2.7 billion in stimulus
dollars earlier than planned to help states confront increasingly
tighter budgets. Duncan said Wednesday he is distributing $2.7 billion
to states that he had planned to distribute in October or November.
The money comes from a fund for state government priorities that has
very few strings attached. It doesn't have to be spent on education,
although the administration hopes it will be." [editor's note: In
other words, this is a California bailout - TLK] (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/msvn33

-----

17) Feds OK theft of groups' US assets
MSNBC

"The Obama administration on Thursday authorized the seizure of assets
belonging to an extremist organization in Iraq and an Iranian backer
of insurgents, saying both are responsible for deadly attacks in Iraq.
The Treasury Department is targeting Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and the
Iraq-based group Kata'ib Hizballah for committing, directing or
supporting acts of violence in Iraq against U.S. and Iraqi
forces." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/ns5fcr

-----

18) NSA to help defend civilian agency networks
MSNBC

"The Obama administration will proceed with a Bush-era plan to use
National Security Agency assistance in screening government computer
traffic on private-sector networks, with AT&T as the likely test site,
according to three current and former government officials. President
Obama said in May that government efforts to protect computer systems
from attack would not involve 'monitoring private-sector networks or
Internet traffic,' and Homeland Security Department officials say the
new program will scrutinize only data going to or from government
systems." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/mn5zxa

-----

19) Cheney discussed media inquiries into Plame leak
Las Vegas Sun

"Vice President Dick Cheney talked with top White House officials
about how to respond to reporters' inquiries into who leaked the
identity of a CIA operative, according to a court filing. Cheney told
the FBI about his recollection of discussions with his former top
aide, I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, and other White House officials on the
media's questions. But the Obama administration is fighting in court
to keep the substance of what Cheney revealed to the FBI from the
public." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/myaezt

-----

20) Nuclear watchdog elects Japanese diplomat as its leader
Los Angeles Times

"After a months-long deadlock and half a dozen inconclusive votes, the
world's atomic energy watchdog on Thursday elected as its leader a
Japanese diplomat described as colorless by foes and competent by
allies. Yukiya Amano, formerly Japan's envoy to the International
Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, will serve as director-general of the
United Nations agency when Mohamed ElBaradei, an outspoken Egyptian
diplomat, retires from the post this year." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/laxgey

-----

21) FL: Supreme Court says Crist can't reject judge nominees
Connecticut Post

"The Florida Supreme Court says Gov. Charlie Crist can't reject an all-
white list of appeals court nominees, even though he wants to appoint
someone who will make the judiciary more diverse. The justices
unanimously ruled Thursday that the Florida Constitution leaves Crist
no choice but to pick one of the six white candidates submitted by a
judicial nominating commission." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/ldeer5

-----

22) VT: Boglioli case goes to jury
Brattleboro Reformer

"The jury began deliberations Tuesday in the second-degree murder
trial of David Boglioli. After closing statements by Deputy State's
Attorney David Gartenstein and defense attorney Matthew Harnett, the
jury must decide whether to find Boglioli guilty of second-degree
murder in the shooting death of his neighbor, George Riccitelli, or if
he was defending himself from being beaten with an ax handle. If
convicted of second-degree murder, Boglioli will face a sentence of 20
years to life in prison." (07/01/09)

http://www.reformer.com/localnews/ci_12729116

-----

23) AZ: Harold Fish gets new trial in self-defense case
Fox 11 News

"A state appeals court on Tuesday ordered a new trial for a 62-year-
old retired teacher convicted of murder in the shooting death of a
hiker in northern Arizona five years ago. Harold Fish claimed he shot
Grant Kuenzli in self-defense during their encounter in the Coconino
National Forest, but a jury convicted him and sentenced him to 10
years in prison. The case galvanized gun-rights supporters, who said
Fish's conviction represented a threat to their right to protect
themselves, and prompted the Arizona Legislature to change the law to
shift the burden of proof in self-defense claim cases from the
defendant to the prosecutor." (06/30/09)

http://tinyurl.com/luep2z

-----

24) KY: Man shoots, kills masked intruder; turns out to be his
grandson
WHAS News

"Police say a grandfather shot and killed his own grandson, after the
20-year-old broke into his grandparents' house. ... Metro Police say
the grandson came in through a back window wearing a ski mask around
4:30 a.m. on Wednesday. His grandfather woke up and saw the figure
with a mask and opened fire. The shots killed his grandson, James
Michael Keen, 20, who has a record of repeated drug charges. We're
also told had stolen from his grandfather in the past. Investigators
say Keen also fired at his grandfather, but they're not sure who shot
first. We're told the gun Keen had on him at the time was his
grandfather's gun, previously stolen from his grandfather's car. ...
Keen's grandfather first figured out it was his grandson just before
police arrived, when he pulled the ski mask off Keen." (07/01/09)

http://tinyurl.com/llvo49

-----

25) TX: Man wakes up, shoots intruder
KIAH News

"Residents are on alert tonight after a man tries to break into a
Sugar Land home. The man was shot after trying to break into an
apartment on Long Reach Drive near Lexington in Sugar Land. Going by
his first name only, James, a computer technician, who works the
graveyard shift was sleeping in his apartment when he was awaken by
his barking dog around noon. 'That alarmed me so I picked up my gun
just to have it with me in case someone was there,' said James. And
there was; an unidentified intruder who apparently entered through a
kitchen window. 'I opened my bedroom door and saw the guy,' said
James. 'It looked like he was running towards me with a weapon like a
screwdriver and I was scared.' The 33 year-old pulled the trigger
striking the suspect in the upper body. James was dialing 911, when he
says the suspect ran out through the front door." (07/01/09)

http://tinyurl.com/lbbv8s

*******************************************************************
* HEALTH-OF-THE-STATE-O-METER, 07/03/09
*
* Reported Civilian Deaths in Iraq: Min - 92,485 ... Max - 100,964
* (source: www.iraqbodycount.org)
*
* American Military Deaths in Iraq: 4,323
* (source: www.antiwar.com/casualties/)
*******************************************************************

****************************
* Everybody Has An Opinion
****************************

26) It's all about independence
AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo

"As we celebrate our own Independence Day, we would be wise to realize
the concept doesn't only apply to us: every nation on earth makes a
very big deal out of one day in the year, set aside for touting the
virtues of their particular land, its history, its heroes, and its
subtle beauties. Each time Washington announces this or that nation
has violated 'international norms,' and threatens to exercise its
imperial prerogatives, the world's hackles rise. Every presumption of
our own superior ability to decide what is best for the world at large
-- no matter how 'enlightened' and representative of 'modernity' -- is
deeply resented by the targets of our self-righteousness. That's why
every declaration of support for the Iranian protesters has a
boomerang effect, one amplified skillfully by the hard-line regime in
order to generate enough support to stay in power -- in spite of their
brutality and incompetence." (07/03/09)

http://www.rationalreview.com/content/65970

-----

27) Things to do while boycotting July 4th
Strike the Root
by Alex R. Knight III

"It doesn't matter whether you think [the Founders'] action was a
good, bad, or indifferent thing -- they had no business doing it for
anyone other than themselves. It was entirely outside the realm of
legitimacy for them to make such a decision on everyone's
behalf." (07/02/09)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/92/knight/knight1.html

-----

28) Life, liberty, and property are inseparable
Campaign For Liberty
by Tom Mullen

"Life, liberty, and property were the central, inalienable rights that
formed the foundation of the great experiment in self government
called the United States of America. The founders of our country never
broke apart this sacred triumvirate, because each one of these rights
is inextricably bound to the other. No one of these three can exist
without the other. Moreover, when all three are secured, it is almost
impossible for injustice to exist. Wherever one does find injustice,
one invariably finds a violation of one of these three basic rights at
its root." (07/02/09)

http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=127

-----

29) Congress declares independence
Foundation for Economic Education
by Sheldon Richman

"What a difference a year can make. On July 6, 1775, the Second
Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, issued the Declaration
of the Causes and Necessities of Taking Up Arms. It had been drafted
by a radical in Congress, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, but revised --
'toned down,' it is said, -- by the leading conservative and advocate
of reconciliation with the Crown, John Dickinson, the Philadelphia
merchant. The timing of the Declaration is significant. The Battles of
Lexington and Concord had taken place in April 1775, Bunker Hill in
June 1775." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/l2ywou

-----

30) Free Bernie Madoff
Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Jeffrey A. Tucker

"Bernie Madoff stole billions from the customers of his phony
investment funds, running a racket rather than a financial service.
People who aren't even his victims are furious, and nearly everyone
enjoyed a 10-minute sense of vengeance when the judge threw him behind
bars for 150 years. Let me weigh in with a contrary view. Free Bernie
Madoff, I say." (07/02/09)

http://mises.org/story/3546

-----

31) Even the Amish fell for the boom
LewRockwell.Com
by William L. Anderson

"Some years ago, I wrote a piece in praise of the Amish view of
fighting in wars and how they conduct their affairs, mostly apart from
the State. They don't work for the government, and try to live their
lives as far removed from the tangle of the state as one can do in
this modern world. Now, this alone hardly makes them virtuous. I don't
believe that having electricity or an automobile makes me a lesser
person or less virtuous than someone who uses kerosene lanterns and
rides in horse-drawn buggies. Nonetheless, I do think there is
something compelling about the Old-Order Amish, and I will say that
they are not the people who are encouraging rapacious behavior abroad
by U.S. armed forces. Nonetheless, it was not electricity or cars that
corrupted the Amish; it was the easy-credit regime produced by Alan
Greenspan and Ben Bernanke, who are quite removed from the horse-and-
buggy world of that corner of the mountains of
Pennsylvania." (07/03/09)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/anderson/anderson253.html

-----

32) Communist Party considers President Obama a success
Birmingham Libertarian Examiner
by Stephen Gordon

"Generally, the Communist Party spends a lot of time criticizing
Democrats running for and holding public office for not being
socialistic enough. This appears to have changed since President Obama
was elected. 'In this legislative session, we can envision winning a
Medicare-like public option and then going further in the years
ahead,' writes Sam Webb, Chair of the Communist Party USA. ... 'The
new conditions of struggle are possible only – and I want to emphasize
only – because we elected President Obama and a Congress with
pronounced progressive and center currents,' adds Webb." (07/01/09)

http://tinyurl.com/m6p2rs

-----

33) Testing, testing ...
The American Prospect
by Dana Goldstein

"A year ago, the idea of setting national education standards was a
lot like the idea of legalizing marijuana: Despite all common sense,
it just wasn't going to happen. It didn't matter that No Child Left
Behind proved that when states are allowed to define their own
standards, most dumb them down. ... Yet on June 1, the National
Governors' Association announced that 49 states and territories have
signed on to an agreement, called the Common Core Standards
Initiative, to develop national standards in math and English. For
education reformers across the political spectrum who have long urged
that the United States join its developed world peers in articulating
national standards, the news is a major victory." (07/02/09)

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=testing_testing

-----

34) Happy Dependence Day
Boston Globe
by Ellen Goodman

"This is probably not the best week to air any reservations about the
American passion for independence. After all, we don't have fireworks
for Dependence Day. We don't hold parades to celebrate Interdependence
Day. Our allegiance to independence as a nation is Yankee doodle
dandy. But I'm wondering whether our ode to independence as a people
is a bit over the top. We foster an unrealistic view of the way we
live, not just in the designated years of caring for our children but
in the undesignated years when we care for our elders. Maybe
independence is too crisply defined as 'exemption from reliance on, or
control by, others; direction of one's own affairs without
interference.'" (07/03/09)

http://tinyurl.com/n7zr3g

-----

35) A "coup" in Honduras? Nonsense!
Christian Science Monitor
by Octavio Sanchez

"Sometimes, the whole world prefers a lie to the truth. The White
House, the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and
much of the media have condemned the ouster of Honduran President
Manuel Zelaya this past weekend as a coup d'etat. That is nonsense. In
fact, what happened here is nothing short of the triumph of the rule
of law. To understand recent events, you have to know a bit about
Honduras's constitutional history. ... It has endured because it
responds and adapts to changing political conditions: Of its original
379 articles, seven have been completely or partially repealed, 18
have been interpreted, and 121 have been reformed." (07/02/09)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0702/p09s03-coop.html

-----

36) Drug manufacturers: $80 bil in Rx savings ... but what's their
angle?
Our Future
by Monica Sanchez

"Prescription drug manufacturers, represented by their trade and
lobbying group, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
(PhRMA), have one of the most powerful and successful lobbies in
Congress. Seeing them willing to give away $80 billion over the next
ten years shows just how strong the push for health care reform is now
and how much more savings could be had from prescription drug costs.
Otherwise, PhRMA would just keep up its pressure on Congress to
forestall any legislation that affected its members' bottom line, as
it has in the past. One of the drug lobby's most significant victories
came when the 2003 Medicare law, which added a long-awaited drug
benefit to the program (Part D), was passed." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/l58qld

-----

37) Iran's Green Wave
The Nation
by Robert Dreyfuss

"Just before midnight on a Friday evening a week before Iran's much-
disputed June 12 election, the initial tremors of the earthquake that
has shaken the country to its core were palpable deep in south Tehran,
a gritty, working-class section of the city with a reputation for
being a stronghold of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Past shuttered
shops and empty, debris-strewn sidewalks, a late-night stream of cars,
trucks and motorcycles, engines revving, horns honking, roared along
the wide boulevard." (07/01/09)

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090720/dreyfuss

-----

38) The stupidity of "smart" phones
In These Times
by Megan Tady

"Apple's iPhone looks good enough to eat. I've yet to take a bite of
this 'smart' phone, but know that once I do, there will be no going
back; I'll be reaching for it before I get out of bed and updating my
Facebook status from yoga class. ... The temptation to join the
growing legions of iPhone admirers is strong. So what's stopping me
from signing up? Purchasing an iPhone means I have to become an AT&T
subscriber. The company has an exclusive deal with Apple to provide
wireless service to iPhoners -- I'm backed into a corner. If I don't
like AT&T, or it's not available in my area, I'm facing a digital
impasse: no service, no phone." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/ox55ok

-----

39) Pirates: No leftist utopians, they
Boston Globe
by Christopher Shea

"Last year in Ideas, Joanna Weiss wrote that the George Mason
economist Peter T. Leeson was at work on a book that would demonstrate
that 'the democratic tenets we hold so dear were used to great effect
on pirate ships. Checks and balances. Social insurance. Freedom of
expression.' Leeson's book is finally here, 'The Invisible Hook: The
Hidden Economics of Pirates.' And, true enough, the economist gives
democratic aspects of pirate life their due. (Pirates elected their
captains, for example, and could depose them by a vote.) But what most
stands out is just how eager Leeson is to rescue pirates from the
clutches of left-wing historians and social theorists, and to claim
them as avatars of right-wing economic theory. Pirates, Leeson
suggests, were avid Hayekians a full two centuries before the Austrian
economist Friedrich Hayek was born." (0630/09)

http://tinyurl.com/lsejfd

-----

40) Networked dissent?
CounterPunch
by Christian Christensen

"On 13 June the incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared winner of
Iran's presidential election, with a reported 64% of the national
vote. His nearest rival, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, won (according to
official figures) just under 34%. Mousavi and his followers
immediately disputed the results; and widespread protests mushroomed
throughout Iran, of a size and nature not seen since the 1979 Iranian
Revolution. As the protests grew in strength, the Iranian authorities
cracked down on foreign media reporting in the country, disrupted cell
phone use and text-messaging, and restricted internet access, making
it hard to get information out of Iran. Enter Twitter and Facebook,
which rapidly became vital tools to relay news and information on anti-
government protests to people inside and outside Iran. Although the
authorities had banned access to Facebook during the run-up to the
elections, users found ways around the restrictions and, during the
demonstrations, Mousavi himself used Facebook to contact supporters
and the outside world." (07/02/09)

http://counterpunch.org/christensen07022009.html

-----

41) Wal-Mart embraces fascism
Last Free Voice
by Alex Peak

"The Wall Street Journal explains Wal-Mart's motivation in benign-
sounding terms: 'Wal-Mart -- which provides insurance to employees' --
'wants to level the playing field with companies that don't.' This is a
sugary way of saying that Wal-Mart wishes to use the aggressive
controls of the state to force firms smaller than it to provide what
they may or may not have the resources to provide. Those firms that are
unable to continue operating under the state's new regulations will,
of course, be forced to go out of business (unless they're able to
procure bailouts -- this is also problematic), thus leaving less firms
with whom Wal-Mart will need to compete. This is bad not only for
workers but also for consumers. We shouldn't really be surprised by
Wal-Mart's recent move. As Mr. Lew Rockwell reported in 2005, Wal-Mart
called for an increase to the minimum wage so as to impose a higher
cost on smaller competitors." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/le9x2x

-----

42) Today's employment situation
QandO
by Dale Franks

"First of all, let's compare the current situation with employment
with what the Obama Administration told us would happen if we didn't
pass the stimulus package. As has been obvious for some time now the
stimulus is not -- as we repeatedly predicted -- substantially
impacting the employment situation. Instead, employment has risen by
more than 3%." (07/02/09)

http://www.qando.net/?p=3372

-----

43) Public expenditure -- cutting to the chase
Adam Smith Institute
by Nigel Hawkins

"The horrific public borrowing forecast for this year of £175 billion
-- and the consequential £220 billion of projected gilts issuance --
are certainly concentrating minds, especially those of credit rating
agencies. The reality is that, irrespective of whichever party wins
the next General Election, major public expenditure cuts will be
obligatory; various percentages are currently being bandied about. The
key figure is the projected £671 billion of Total Managed Expenditure
(TME) for 2009/10 -- prior to interest payments. Future public finance
policies should be based on implementing real cuts to that
number." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/mrbx2g

-----

44) Cap and pollute
The American Spectator
by Jeanne Marie Hoffman

"The House passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act
Friday was billed as a narrow victory for President Obama and the
green lobby. But was it a victory for real environmentalism? Sadly,
no. The legislation's many loopholes that had to be added to secure
its passage will make it far less effective -- to be charitable. The
"cap and trade" regime that the bill would create promises to ratchet
down carbon emissions over time but creates a dangerous precedent for
the environment. Cap and trade essentially creates a property right
out of polluting." (07/02/09)

http://spectator.org/archives/2009/07/02/cap-and-pollute

-----

45) Rush Limbaugh is still a big fat idiot
Salon
by Joe Conason

"It wasn't surprising when, after seven months of legal wrangling, the
Minnesota Supreme Court declared that Al Franken had won the 2008
Senate race against incumbent Norm Coleman. Still less surprising
(although vastly more entertaining) was the simultaneous breakdown of
nearly all of Franken's adversaries on the right, whose regurgitated
insults, whining complaints and exploding noggins revealed nothing
about him or his victory -- and everything about them." (07/03/09)

http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2009/07/03/al_franken/

-----

46) Why I'm lucky to be an American
The Partial Observer
by James Leroy Wilson

"It is true that genuine scarcity can exist in some regions afflicted
by drought or other natural disaster. Scarcity can affect individuals
through random crime, disease, or accident. For the most part,
however, scarcity is created by governments. That is true of the
United States government. Government policy created and prolonged the
Great Depression. It caused stagflation in the 1970's. It is behind
the current depression. Nevertheless, I feel fortunate to be an
American. For it is the American experience which proves that scarcity
need not exist." (07/02/09)

http://partialobserver.com/article.cfm?id=3276

-----

47) Financial sunset in the west
TCS Daily
by Adam Paul

"Late last year, Joel Kotkin a fellow at Chapman University, warned
about a political and economic sundown in California. With a failed
vote on the state's budget, sunset seems to be quickly approaching.
The state passed a budget in February but has been battered by the
economic crisis and has lost about 20 percent of expected tax revenue
since, in large part because much of the state's employment was in the
real estate sector. Today, California will begin issuing IOUs to
creditors. California is both the largest state economy, accounting
for almost 13 percent of US GDP, and one of the most financially
mismanaged." (07/02/09)

http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=070209A

-----

48) Federalism, secession and free trade
Let A Thousand Nations Bloom
by Will Chamberlain

"Many people view federalism as the great triumph of the American
system -- as one of the foundations for the economic growth, freedom
and prosperity that citizens of the United States enjoy. And, this
might well have been true -- between 1776 and 1861. But after the
Civil War, federalism has lived on in name only, because the Civil War
functionally abolished the right of secession. And in the absence of
secession, the relationship between state governments and the federal
government is no different than the relationship between city
governments and state governments -- not a symbiotic relationship, but
a subservient one." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/m9ynpu

-----

49) A garden of piggish delights
National Review
by Stephen Spruiell & Kevin Williamson

"The stimulus bill was the legislative equivalent of the famous
cantina scene from Star Wars, an eye-popping collection of the
freakish and exotic, gathered for dubious purposes. The Waxman-Markey
cap-and-trade bill, known as ACES (the American Clean Energy and
Security Act), is more like the third panel in Hieronymus Bosch's
Garden of Earthly Delights -- a hellscape that disturbs the sleep of
anybody who contemplates it carefully. Two main things to understand
about Waxman-Markey: First, it will not reduce greenhouse-gas
emissions, at least not at any point in the near future. ... Second,
it represents a worse abuse of the public trust and purse than the
stimulus and the bailouts put together." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/kvh73w

-----

50) Are all civil rights special privileges now?
Slate
by Richard Thompson Ford

"This Monday, in the New Haven, Conn., firefighters case Ricci v.
DeStefano, the Supreme Court held that it's unlawful race
discrimination for an employer to refuse to act on the results of a
promotion exam because the test eliminated a disproportionate number
of minority candidates (in the New Haven case, all the black
firefighters up for promotion). I've written before that this argument
threatens to burn down civil rights law. Now that the fuse has been
lit, I'm writing to explain just how far the fire could
spread." [editor's note: What's "disproportionate?" Is there never any
case in which a particular group of members of "race A" might perform
better or worse than a particular group of members of "race B" at some
particular task for some reason OTHER than the "races" involved? -
TLK] (07/02/09)

http://www.slate.com/id/2222092/

-----

51) What's good for the goose ...
KN@PPSTER
by Thomas L. Knapp

"At the very least, if an employee brings one of these 'Governator
Owes You' notes to work, the employer should cease state income tax
withholding for that employee, cut a full paycheck until the amount is
covered, and send Sacramento the IOU in lieu of withholding receipts.
Another option would be for those owed tax refunds to get together,
pool their IOUs, and sell them for a portion of face value to, say,
Peter Milano or Frank 'Skinny' Velotta. A few broken legs ('I fell
down the stairs -- really, I did!') in the Senate and an unexplained
disappearance or two in the Assembly would probably clear the matter
right up." (07/02/09)

http://knappster.blogspot.com/2009/07/whats-good-for-goose.html

-----

52) Heller ain't no bad place to be
Reason
by Brian Doherty

"Last week was the first anniversary of the District of Columbia v.
Heller, where the Supreme Court for the first time declared that the
Second Amendment indeed protects an individual right to own guns in
the home for self-defense. It was a great victory for individual
rights, but by no means a final one. The lawyer who successfully
argued that case, Alan Gura, has remained a dedicated opponent of all
sorts of gun regulations that still stand post-Heller. Senior Editor
Brian Doherty talked to Gura by phone earlier this week about the
various legal challenges Gura is fighting against state and local gun
laws." (07/02/09)

http://reason.com/news/show/134542.html

-----

53) Honduras -- Zelaya's coup
Independent Institute
by Alvaro Vargas Llosa

"Anytime a bunch of soldiers break into a presidential palace, pick up
the president and put him on a flight to exile, as happened in
Honduras last Sunday, you have a 'coup.' But, unlike most coups in
Latin America's tortuous republican history, Honduras' deposed
President Manuel Zelaya bears the biggest responsibility for his
overthrow." (07/01/09)

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=2537

-----

54) A coup for democracy
The Weekly Standard
by Jaime Daremblum

"To say that people in Latin America are sensitive about military
coups would be an understatement. Due to the often tumultuous and
bloody histories of their respective countries, they have a strong
aversion to anything that looks like military interference in civilian
politics. Recent events in Honduras have struck many Latin Americans
as a return to the bad old days when power-hungry generals routinely
dislodged elected officials and stomped on democracy. Yet upon closer
examination, the removal of Honduran president Manuel Zelaya bears
very little resemblance to traditional Latin American military coups.
Indeed, it was not really a 'coup.' Rather, it was a response to a
leader who had trampled the law and attempted to hold an illegal
referendum on constitutional reform. Zelaya's ouster was approved by
Honduras's Congress, Supreme Court, Electoral Tribunal, attorney
general, and national prosecutor. Zelaya started this whole imbroglio
when he ignored a Supreme Court ruling and tried to use thuggish mob
tactics to impose his will on the Honduran political
system." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/nryp8q

-----

55) Is Waxman-Markey worth it?
Mother Jones
by Kevin Drum

"Over the past couple of weeks there's been a lot of blogospheric
chatter surrounding a cost-benefit analysis of Waxman-Markey done by
Jim Manzi. I'm not going to link to the dozens of posts going back and
forth about it, but suffice it to say that Manzi concludes that W-M
isn't a good deal. Over the next century, it's going to cost us more
in lost economic growth than it will benefit us in reduced global
warming. I didn't get involved in this conversation for a simple
reason: I've been on both the producing and receiving end of too many
cost benefit analyses to trust them. If you're being relatively honest
and if you're dealing with fairly concrete, short-term issues, they're
useful tools, but even then it's still the case that you can
manufacture strikingly divergent conclusions by manipulating your
assumptions and inputs by surprisingly small amounts." (07/01/09)

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/07/waxman-markey-worth-it

-----

56) The house of libertarianism
Dallas Libertarian Examner
by Garry Reed

"How many times have you stood outside a house you've never entered
and proceeded to describe its interior? Yeah, you can predictably get
the basics right about rooms and walls and floors and bathroom
fixtures. But you can't possibly know the details. You can't really
describe what you've never seen. But for some unaccountable reason,
that doesn't stop non-libertarians from telling libertarians what they
think libertarians think." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/l8naqm

-----

57) Government or anarchy? revisited
Nolan Chart
by George Dance

"At the core of proper government theory is the principle of the Rule
of Law: that everyone is subject to the same law, that everyone can
know that law, and that therefore everyone can always act knowing
whether his actions are legal or not. Without the Rule of Law, there
is no possibility of a law that it would be rational to consent to: it
is not rational to consent to anyone else's use of force against one,
without knowing when or where that force will be used against one. At
first blush, the anarchist vision looks like an extension, or even a
fulfillment, of the Rule of Law principle. However, some thought shows
that it is not only no such thing, but that it in fact jettisons that
principle completely." (07/01/09)

http://www.nolanchart.com/article6583.html

-----

58) More tax oppression
Cato Institute
by Richard W. Rahn

"In sum, serious people understand the [Waxman-Markey "cap and trade"]
legislation will hurt the U.S. economy, reduce the standard of living
and yet not accomplish its claimed intent; therefore, why were so many
members of Congress willing to vote for it? Are they idiots, or do
they have another agenda? Yes, a few are not that bright, but many
more see this as an opportunity to extract wealth from one group of
Americans, give it to other groups of Americans they favor, and to
their political cronies who will reward them in campaign contributions
and in other ways -- both seen and unseen. They are willing to engage
in more tax oppression in exchange for more political power to
themselves." (07/02/09)

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10327

-----

59) More poison, not an antidote: Mandating employer health insurance
Liberty For All
by Brian Schwartz

"President Obama is either misinformed or lying about health care. He
said the 'free market has not worked perfectly.' There's a market, but
it's not free. It's infested with harmful political meddling. One
example is government's favoring employer-provided insurance, a poison
to affordable medical care and insurance. But unions and Congressional
Democrats want to intensify the dose with a 'pay or play' employer
mandate. This would penalize employers for not buying medical
insurance for their employees." (07/02/09)

http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=2792

-----

60) Tortured truth
The American Conservative
by Andrew Brown

"Who would have thought that Dick Cheney was a follower of French
fashion? When he defends the routine use of torture as a means of
warfare, however, theirs is the most recent example. The French, in
the Algerian War, were the last Western army to systematize the use of
torture on detainees. Alistair Horne describes the methods and
consequences wonderfully well in his history A Savage War of Peace.
They don't encourage imitation. In fact, the lesson of the Algerian
War, and of the Bush government's experiment with the same sort of
policies, is one that should be obvious and gratifying to any
conservative: the traditional absolute ban on judicial torture is
wiser than we can know. Of course, in the hubris of the Bush and
Cheney years, the U.S. was free of all the bonds of history." (for
publication 08/01/09)

http://amconmag.com/article/2009/aug/01/00012/

-----

61) Unprotected sex: Abstinence education's main accomplishment
AlterNet
by Marie Cocco

"It hardly seems worth mentioning that the search for role models of
sexual rectitude has gone pretty badly lately. That famous poster of
Farrah Fawcett -- her golden locks tumbling around her shoulders and
her gleaming smile offering a girl-next-door counterpoint to the
suggestiveness of her red swimsuit -- sure makes it look as though, by
comparison, the 1970s were an era of wholesomeness. They weren't. It
was about then that social conservatives -- fed up with sex, drugs,
rock 'n' roll, divorce, Roe v. Wade, women surging into the work force
and who knows what else -- began organizing politically to stamp out
all this threatening change. They failed. But eventually they did
succeed in imposing their prescription -- abstinence-only sex
education that studies have repeatedly shown doesn't work -- on the
one group of sexually active people most in need of hard information
and least likely to respond to harangues: teenagers." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/m3bdk9

-----

62) Obamacare: Do or die for America
Hawaii Reporter
by Christopher G. Adamo

"With so much coverage of the current debate on Barack Obama's attempt
to impose nationalized healthcare on America, it may seem that little
else can be said on the subject. Yet it needs to be discussed, and its
manifold dangers explained to the American people. It is impossible to
overstate the significance of this battle. If successful in
establishing this pinnacle of his socialist agenda, Obama will unleash
a 'change' on the country from which it may never recover. Clearly, he
is aware of the governmental power he has the potential to accrue with
the passage of this single atrocious new entitlement. His lust for
that power is evident in the ferocity with which he is striving to
ramrod his plan through the congress and onto America." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/krrboy

-----

63) The banality of evil applies to everyone
Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G. Hornberger

"One of the aspects of the Iraq War that has fascinated me the most is
how CIA agents and U.S. soldiers could actually bring themselves to
kill, torture, and sexually abuse Iraqis. After all, don't forget that
neither the Iraqi people nor their government participated in the 9/11
attacks. The worst 'crime' that any Iraqi committed against any
American was resisting an unlawful invasion of his country.
Nonetheless, even though the Iraqi people were innocent of any attacks
on the United States, many CIA agents and most U.S. soldiers have been
able to bring themselves to kill and maim hundreds of thousands of
Iraqis in an invasion and occupation of a country that never attacked
the United States, and murder, torture, and sexually abuse dozens of
Iraqis detainees and prisoners." (07/02/09)

http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2009-07-02.asp

-----

64) Unions and free market activists find common cause on health care,
for now
FreedomWorks
by josh.eboch

"President Obama has stepped up his rhetoric against the health care
system, but fiscal deficiencies in his plan for a government take over
have become increasingly apparent in recent weeks. Now, some on
Capitol Hill are toying with the idea of taxing employee health
benefits to subsidize the cost of government-provided care. But, as
Americans learned during the collapse of GM, many union labor
agreements provide extremely generous benefit packages to workers who
are unlikely to support any proposal that might put their compensation
at risk. To voice their growing concern, 30 different groups, from the
Air Line Pilots Association to the United Transportation Union, have
signed an open letter urging Congress to consider alternative sources
of funding." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/n7z5af

-----

65) Incensed by the census
Freedom Politics
by Tom Lucente

"The sole reason for the census is to determine the correct
distribution of representation to the federal Congress. Nothing more.
However, if you have ever filled out a census form, you understand the
source of my consternation. There is some good news, sort of, this
time. When the census rolls around April 1, there only will be 10
questions. Of course, the government never gives you good news without
corresponding bad news." (07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/llt7am

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* See No Evil, Hear No Evil
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66) Dan Proft on Freedom Rings Radio, 07/06/09
Freedom Rings Radio

Dan Proft discusses his 2010 campaign for governor of Illinois with
host Kenneth John. 9-10am Central on WRMN 1410 AM, Elgin, IL or live
on the web. [live radio or stream] (07/06/09)

http://freedomrings.net/

-----

67) Q&A with PJ O'Rourke
reason.tv

"In June, Reason.tv's Ted Balaker sat down with O'Rourke at the
Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Topics include: bailouts,
who ruined the U.S. auto industry, politicians' love affair with
trains, how easy women made O'Rourke a youthful socialist and how
getting a paycheck turned him into a libertarian." [Flash video]
(07/02/09)

http://www.rationalreview.com/content/65922

-----

68) Cato Daily Podcast, 07/02/09
Cato Institute

"Cybersecurity: A meaningless term," featuring Jim Harper. [MP3]
(07/02/09)

http://tinyurl.com/cato0702

-----

69) Why Libertarians are courting gays and lesbians
These Days

"While he never lent his support for gay marriage, Obama said he was
against the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy in the military and that he
would sign legislation repealing the Defense of Marriage Act. So, many
gay people were enthusiastic supporters of Barack Obama's campaign,
and when he became president they waited for him to make good on his
promises. They are still waiting. And while they wait, some in the
LGBT community are boycotting Democratic fundraising events and
writing about re-examining their political affiliations. It is in this
atmosphere that a third political party sees an opportunity. Can the
Libertarian Party, with its support of same-sex marriage, become a
comfortable place for disappointed gay voters?" [Flash audio or MP3]
(07/01/09)

http://tinyurl.com/l899yu

-----

70) Motorhome Diaries interview: Michael Parag
Motorhome Diaries

"While making our way up I-95 as part of our Eastern Excursion leg we
stopped for a couple of days just outside of Wilmington, DE. Though
none of us knew many people in the area I hit up Michael Parag, a
principled freedom fighter whom I had met at the 2008 Porcupine
Freedom Festival." [Flash video] (07/01/09)

http://tinyurl.com/llx8vt

*************************************
* 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/

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* WaYbAcK
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72) Washington takes command

Details, and the "quote of the day," from Leon's Political Almanac at:

http://perspicuity.net/cgi/hypercal.cgi