08/23 -- Assisted suicide is a personal choice; War: The Islamic State and western politicians against the rest of us
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Thomas L. Knapp
Aug 23, 2016, 6:34:03 AM8/23/16
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 08/23/16
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Kerry: South Sudan regime agrees to deployment of regional force
2) FBI uncovers 15K undisclosed emails in Clinton probe
3) Iran: Russians stop using air base for strikes in Syria
4) Libya: Parliament backs no confidence vote in government
5) Turkey withdraws ambassador to Austria amid diplomatic spat
6) Colombia: Officials to deport 33 Venezuelans after border reopening
7) France: Sarkozy announces bid to retake presidency
8) New "Trump Revealed" bio offers troubling portrait
9) Mexico: President Enrique Pena Nieto allegedly "plagiarised thesis"
10) CA: Supreme Court decision keeps teacher tenure protections
11) Leaked exploits are legit and belong to NSA: Cisco, Fortinet and Snowden docs confirm
12) TX: "White Lives Matter" group protests outside Houston NAACP office
13) The Hague: Malian extremist pleads guilty to Timbuktu rampage
14) UK: Political prisoners to be moved between facilities in "ghost train" plan
15) Federal judge blocks rule telling school employees to not grope kids' genitals
16) Feds may be using stolen Bitcoin to bid in auction of NSA tools
17) NASA's scientific research now available online for free
18) Philippines: Senate launches probe of drug war murders
19) "Tor General Strike" calls for one-day blackout
20) South Korea: RoK, US troops start drills as Pyongyang regime threatens nuke attacks
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Assisted suicide is a personal choice
22) War: The Islamic State and western politicians against the rest of us
23) Solar power is a cool idea with lousy execution
24) I am a Libertarian fundamentalist
25) Why is the Cuban embargo still in place?
26) Evidence points to another Snowden at the NSA
27) What should we do about Crimea?
28) The stolen war
29) On behalf of Carrier, a word regarding Trump's tariff
30) Harmony reigns at Costco
31) Learn from Louisiana, be the help
32) Hillary Clinton's latest email scapegoat: Colin Powell
33) Who is to blame for Argentina's chronic poverty?
34) Jerry Brown and eminent domain abuse
35) Homebirth, midwives, and the state: A libertarian look
36) Paris, 1787: It reaches Manhattan, doubtless due to continental drift
37) Hillary Clinton's tax plan under the NCPA's model of the US economy
38) Too dangerous x 2
39) Postal workers to rally against TPP Tuesday
40) He can't help himself
41) Municipalities dream big on broadband
42) Nicholas Kristof: War crimes enabler
43) Village Praxis Series: Non-discreet body armor
44) A game of nuclear chicken
45) Thick libertarianism eviscerated: A libertarian response to Charles Johnson
46) Hillary's hubris: Only tell the rich for $5000 a minute!
47) The bare truth about burkinis
48) Free Talk Live, 08/21/16
49) Republicans and CAFE standards
50) The Bank of England turns to more easy money
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FREEDOM NEWS
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1) Kerry: South Sudan regime agrees to deployment of regional force
Source: The Daily Star [Lebanon]
"East African foreign ministers from countries including South Sudan have agreed to move ahead with the deployment of a regional peacekeeping force to that troubled nation, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday on the first stop of his latest Africa visit. South Sudan at first rejected the regional protection force after the U.N. Security Council earlier this month voted to deploy the 4,000 additional peacekeepers to help restore calm. Fighting that erupted in the capital last month killed hundreds amid widespread reports of rapes and other abuses and raised fears of a renewed civil war." (08/23/16)
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2) FBI uncovers 15K undisclosed emails in Clinton probe
Source: The Hill
"The FBI has uncovered almost 15,000 previously undisclosed documents sent directly to or from Hillary Clinton, State Department lawyers confirmed before a federal judge on Monday. The documents were found during the course of the FBI's investigation into Clinton's use of a personal email server as secretary of State. ... The agency has pledged to release the approximately 14,900 documents .... But it remains unsettled whether the full set will be out before the presidential election on Nov. 8 and lawyers for the conservative watchdog group that has demanded the release have accused the agency of slow-walking the production." (08/22/16)
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3) Iran: Russians stop using air base for strikes in Syria
Source: USA Today
"Russia will stop using a base in Iran for airstrikes targeting militants in Syria for the time being, Iran's foreign ministry said Monday. The move came after Iran's defense minister criticized Russia earlier in the day and said its announcement last week that it used the Hamadan air base for strikes on the Islamic State group was 'kind of show-off and ungentlemanly.'" (08/22/16)
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4) Libya: Parliament backs no confidence vote in government
Source: Belfast Telegraph [Ireland]
"The Libyan parliament has approved a no confidence motion in the country's UN-backed government. The development is a major blow to international efforts to resolve the crisis in the deeply divided North African country. ... It is unclear what happens next. Some politicians claim the vote should automatically dissolve the government set up under a UN deal, while its supporters dispute such a move." (08/22/16)
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5) Turkey withdraws ambassador to Austria amid diplomatic spat
Source: Fort Dodge Messenger
"Turkey is withdrawing its ambassador to Austria, the Turkish foreign minister said Monday, amid a growing diplomatic spat. Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ambassador Hasan Gogus was called back to Ankara for 'consultations and to review ties,' citing Austrian authorities' decision to allow alleged supporters of Turkey's Kurdish rebels to hold a demonstration in Vienna over the weekend as well as rising anti-Turkish rhetoric in Austria."
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6) Colombia: Officials to deport 33 Venezuelans after border reopening
Source: ABC News
"Colombia said Monday that it is deporting 33 Venezuelans in the country illegally amid warnings that the recent reopening of the two nations' border could be fueling a wave of illegal immigration. Migration officials said the 33 women were detained in the northern city of Barrancabermeja and would be taken to the border for expulsion. Venezuelans desperate to buy food and medicine hard to find at home have been flooding across the border since Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro this month reopened crossings that he closed a year earlier as part of a crackdown on smuggling." (08/22/16)
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7) France: Sarkozy announces bid to retake presidency
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
"Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he's running once again for the presidency -- years after a failed re-election bid that was seen as a rebuke to his leadership. The conservative politician announced his decision to run in 2017 elections by publishing on social media an excerpt from his soon-to-be-released book. ... Sarkozy, who was deeply unpopular when he left office, had been taking aim at President Francois Hollande's record on security leading up to his announcement, 'urging France to get tough on immigration, crack down on suspected Islamists and halt the erosion of France's secular identity,' Reuters reports." (08/22/16)
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8) New "Trump Revealed" bio offers troubling portrait
Source: USA Today
"For Donald Trump, real estate magnate, casino mogul and reality TV star, it's clear there's no such thing as bad publicity. Even so, it's hard to imagine he will embrace 'Trump Revealed: An American Journey of Ambition, Ego, Money, and Power,' The Washington Post?'s dive into the Republican presidential nominee's life and business record. Any voter who is not already devoted to Trump's cause will find plenty of reason to think long and hard about whether to support him after reading this book. It's crammed with court records, financial data, anecdotes and interviews about Trump's unscrupulous business practices, his liberal use of 'truthful hyperbole' and false promises to make himself rich, usually at the expense of others." (08/22/16)
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9) Mexico: President Enrique Pena Nieto allegedly "plagiarised thesis"
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"Journalists in Mexico have accused President Enrique Pena Nieto of plagiarism. A video on news website Aristegui Noticias alleges that almost 29% of his 1991 law thesis had been lifted from other authors without crediting them. A government spokesman said the president had committed 'style errors' when he failed to acknowledge his sources but denied plagiarism. Mr Pena Nieto graduated from Mexico's private Universidad Panamericana. According to the report, 197 of 682 paragraphs in Mr Pena Nieto's thesis were copied from authors ranging from Mexican historian Enrique Krauze to University of New Mexico academic Linda Hall." (08/22/16)
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10) CA: Supreme Court decision keeps teacher tenure protections
Source: Fox News
"In a victory for teacher unions, the California Supreme Court decided Monday to let the state's teacher tenure law stand. The high court decided not to review a lower court ruling that upheld tenure and other job protections for teachers. That ruling came in a lawsuit by a group of students who claimed that incompetent teachers were almost impossible to fire because of tenure laws and that schools in poor neighborhoods were dumping grounds for bad teachers. The appeals court said in its decision in April that the students had failed to show California's hiring and firing rules were unconstitutional. That appeals court had overturned a Los Angeles Superior Court judge's decision that sided with the students and threatened to shake up public schools that teach more than 6 million students from kindergarten through 12th grade statewide." (08/22/16)
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11) Leaked exploits are legit and belong to NSA: Cisco, Fortinet and Snowden docs confirm
Source: The Hacker News
"Last week, a group calling itself 'The Shadow Brokers' published what it said was a set of NSA 'cyber weapons,' including some working exploits for the Internet's most crucial network infrastructure, apparently stolen from the agency's Equation Group in 2013. Well, talking about the authenticity of those exploits, The Intercept published Friday a new set of documents from the Edward Snowden archive, which confirms that the files leaked by the Shadow Brokers contain authentic NSA software and hacking tools used to secretly infect computers worldwide." (08/22/16)
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12) TX: "White Lives Matter" group protests outside Houston NAACP office
Source: USA Today
"It's a stark image that caught some in Houston's Third Ward off guard: Confederate battle flags waving outside of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Office. Roughly 20 people showed up on Sunday, some with the red flag and assault rifles, others holding up a 'White Lives Matter' banner, in a protest against the NAACP, according to local media reports. 'We came here because the NAACP headquarters is here and that's one of the most racist groups in America,' Scott Lacy, a White Lives Matter member, told KPRC-TV." (08/22/16)
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13) The Hague: Malian extremist pleads guilty to Timbuktu rampage
Source: Benton Evening News
"Expressing 'deep regret' for his actions, an Islamic extremist pleaded guilty Monday to orchestrating the destruction of historic mausoleums in the Malian desert city of Timbuktu. Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, wearing a dark suit and striped tie, stood and calmly told judges he was entering the guilty plea 'with deep regret and great pain' and advised Muslims around the world not to commit similar acts, saying 'they are not going to lead to any good for humanity.' The guilty plea was a landmark for the court, which has struggled to bring suspects to justice since its establishment in 2002. It was the first guilty plea and the first time prosecutors have launched a trial for the crime of deliberately attacking buildings of religious or cultural significance." (08/22/16)
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14) UK: Political prisoners to be moved between facilities in "ghost train" plan
Source: The Guardian [UK]
"A new 'ghost train' system is to be set up in prisons in England and Wales to move the most troublesome Islamic extremist inmates between isolation units, the justice secretary has indicated. Liz Truss confirmed that specialist isolation units to hold the highest-risk prisoners would be created in high-security jails. ... A new Ministry of Justice directorate of security, order and counter-terrorism had been set up, she added. It would be responsible for ensuring that concentrating the most dangerous Islamist extremists into separate units would not simply allow them to create their own operational command structures, as happened in Northern Ireland." (08/22/16)
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15) Federal judge blocks rule telling school employees to not grope kids' genitals
Source: The Hill
"A U.S. District Court judge on Sunday blocked the Obama administration from implementing new rules aimed at allowing transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice. The ruling, by Judge Reed O'Connor of Fort Worth, Texas, is a win for the 13 states that had sought to prevent the administration's directives from taking effect. ... In his 38-page ruling, O'Connor found the Obama administration had failed to follow the Administrative Procedures Act, which requires the federal government to allow for comments on new proposed rules. O'Connor did not rule on the constitutionality of the directive itself." (08/22/16)
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16) Feds may be using stolen Bitcoin to bid in auction of NSA tools
Source: ZDNet
"Bitcoin appears to be moving from a [stolen] wallet to the Shadow Brokers auction, raising suspicions that the US government is potentially bidding to prevent stolen NSA exploits and tools from ending up in the wrong hands [sic] -- again. Last week, a group calling themselves the 'Shadow Brokers' offered up what they claimed to be a treasure trove of exploits, software, and tools used by the US National Security Agency (NSA)'s Equation Group to the highest bidder. ... newly released documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden appear to show the leak is legitimate. ... while the Shadow Brokers' auction has generated marginal interest and some payments, a portion of the proceeds appears to be becoming from the Silk Road Bitcoin wallet, which was [stolen] by the FBI after the underground marketplace was closed down in 2013." (08/22/15)
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17) NASA's scientific research now available online for free
Source: TechWorm
"NASA just announced that it is making all its publicly funded research available online for free. In other words, any published research funded by the space agency will now be available at no cost on a new portal called PubSpace, tha[t] anybody can access. NASA-funded research articles such as the effects of space station living on the hair follicles of astronauts to the chances of life on one of Saturn's moons can now be found by the public on the new portal. Currently, there are just over 850 NASA-funded articles available on PubSpace, which is operated by the National Institutes of Health and also comprises research from a number of other federal agencies." (08/21/16)
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18) Philippines: Senate launches probe of drug war murders
Source: Jakarta Post [Indonesia]
"Philippine senators opened an inquiry Monday into the killings of more than 1,700 suspected drug dealers and users amid a crackdown spearheaded by President Rodrigo Duterte, with witnesses accusing some policemen of gunning down suspects or being involved in illegal drugs. ... At least 1,779 drug suspects have been killed, including 712 who were gunned down in clashes with police, with the rest being slain in still-unclear circumstances, possibly by anti-vigilantes [sic], national police chief Director-General Ronald dela Rosa told the senators, adding that he did not condone extrajudicial killings." (08/22/16)
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19) "Tor General Strike" calls for one-day blackout
Source: Motherboard
"Last month, the Tor Project announced that an internal investigation had confirmed allegations of sexual misconduct against high profile activist Jacob Appelbaum. Now, a few members of the community are calling for a 'Tor general strike,' in part to protest how that investigation was handled. 'Please join our 24-hour Tor blackout on Thursday, September 1st 2016. Use your local time or UTC+02:00,' reads an anonymous Ghostbin post, which surfaced over the weekend. It calls for those who run parts of the Tor network infrastructure to shut it down, developers to stop working on Tor, and users to stop using Tor. It also asks people to spread word of the strike." (08/22/16)
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20) South Korea: RoK, US troops start drills as Pyongyang regime threatens nuke attacks
Source: Military Times
"South Korea and the United States began annual military drills Monday despite North Korea's threat of nuclear strikes in response to the exercises that it calls an invasion rehearsal. Such fiery rhetoric by Pyongyang is not unusual. But the latest warning comes at a time of more tension following the defection of a senior North Korean diplomat and a U.S. plan to place a high-tech missile defense system in South Korea. The North's military said in a statement Monday that it will turn Seoul and Washington into 'a heap of ashes through a Korean-style pre-emptive nuclear strike' if they show any signs of aggression toward the North's territory." (08/22/16)
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FREEDOM COMMENTARY
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21) Assisted suicide is a personal choice
Source: Independent Institute
by Abigail R Hall Blanco
"We're all going to die, and while we hope for a good long life and a peaceful exit, such will not be the case for many of us. So should you have the right to end your own life? ... While I don't know that my personal morals would ever allow me to commit suicide even if facing a terminal illness (I hope I'm never confronted with such a scenario), the arguments against assisted suicide come up short." (08/22/16)
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22) War: The Islamic State and western politicians against the rest of us
Source: William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism
by Thomas L Knapp
"The United Kingdom is back in the business of holding political prisoners on a scale not seen since before the 1997 ceasefire in occupied ... er, 'Northern' ... Ireland, and American social networks are handing the US government de facto power to censor Internet communications. What could possibly go wrong?" (08/22/16)
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23) Solar power is a cool idea with lousy execution
Source: Disloyal Opposition
by JD Tuccille
"For years, most solar installations have been designed to be grid tied -- hooked to the electric grid -- and dependent on net metering requirements that obligate electric utilities to buy the resulting power. Basically, you install a generator on your property and sell juice to the electric company, but draw your own power for home use from the same grid as everybody else. In a blackout, despite the solar panels on the roof, your refrigerator stops humming just like everybody else's appliances. You might have a plug or two available to you on the installation, but that's it. And, of course, once the sun goes down, the panels don't generate anything. Your installation lowers your bill, but it gives you no added independence." (08/22/16)
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24) I am a Libertarian fundamentalist
Source: Steemit
by Shane Killian
"Okay, you got me, I admit it. All this time you've called us Libertarians 'fundamentalists,' associating us with people who want to kill gays and Jews and people who draw pictures of some guy who lived 14 centuries ago. Well, you know what? I am a Libertarian fundamentalist. I absolutely believe, at a fundamental level, that it is wrong to initiate force. And I can and have defended that position logically from first principles. I'll never understand why you statists think that not using force to get what you want is a bad thing. See, that's the thing: you're fundamentalists, too!" (08/22/16)
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25) Why is the Cuban embargo still in place?
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
"Two years ago, President Obama announced that the United States would normalize relations with Cuba. As part of the process of fulfilling that commitment, Obama visited the island and met with Cuban President Raul Castro. Since then, he has reduced federal travel restrictions for Americans wishing to travel to Cuba and has eased federal regulations regarding the transfer of money to Cubans. But one glaring fact remains: The brutal U.S. economic embargo that the U.S. government has enforced against the Cuban people for more than 50 years. It remains intact, continuing to bring untold economic suffering to the Cuban people. Why? And for what?" (08/22/16)
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26) Evidence points to another Snowden at the NSA
Source: Reuters
by James Bamford
"In the summer of 1972, state-of-the-art campaign spying consisted of amateur burglars, armed with duct tape and microphones, penetrating the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. Today, amateur burglars have been replaced by cyberspies, who penetrated the DNC armed with computers and sophisticated hacking tools. Where the Watergate burglars came away empty-handed and in handcuffs, the modern-day cyber thieves walked away with tens of thousands of sensitive political documents and are still unidentified. Now, in the latest twist, hacking tools themselves, likely stolen from the National Security Agency, are on the digital auction block. Once again, the usual suspects start with Russia -- though there seems little evidence backing up the accusation." (08/22/16)
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27) What should we do about Crimea?
Source: Campaign For Liberty
by Ron Paul
"When the mainstream media discusses Crimea they are all lock-step: that's the peninsula Putin annexed. Never do they mention that there was a referendum in which the vast majority of the population (who are mostly ethnic Russians) voted to join Russia. The US media never reports on this referendum because it produced results that Washington doesn't like. How arrogant it must sound to the rest of the world that Washington reserves the right to approve or disapprove elections thousands of miles away -- meanwhile we find out from the DNC hacked files that we don't have a lot of room to criticize elections overseas." (08/22/16)
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28) The stolen war
Source: The New Republic
by Ken Silverstein
"A few years ago, when Iraqi prime minister Nuri Al Maliki was still in office, a group of his closest aides traveled to Amman, Jordan, and rented suites in one of the city's most luxurious hotels. They were there for meetings with foreign businessmen who had flown in to seek a lucrative contract for an energy-related project -- one that would help rebuild Iraq's battered infrastructure. Baghdad, like much of Iraq, remained in a state of chaos, and was thus too dangerous for visitors. Amman also offered greater discretion than the Iraqi capital, which was an essential condition for the meetings: The businessmen had come to offer bribes to Maliki and other senior government officials in return for the contract." (08/22/16)
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29) On behalf of Carrier, a word regarding Trump's tariff
Source: Cato Institute
by Daniel R Pearson
"Carrier, a manufacturer of air conditioners, has received more than its fair share of attention during this political year. Throughout the campaign, Donald Trump has expressed his displeasure that Carrier and a related firm have decided to move 2,100 manufacturing jobs from Indiana to Monterrey, Mexico, where the company has existing production facilities. Back in February, Trump threatened that as president he would offer Carrier the choice of keeping its factories in the United States, or else subject itself to a tariff on air conditioners imported from Mexico. 'I'm going to tell them, 'Now I'm going to get consensus from Congress and we're going to tax you.'' This protectionist reaction ignores the underlying reasons that likely are driving Carrier's decision." (08/22/16)
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30) Harmony reigns at Costco
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Barry Brownstein
"Years before I ever shopped at Costco, I read this comment from a Costco customer: 'This is the best place in the world. It's like going to church on Sunday. You can't get anything better than this. This is a religious experience.' I was puzzled. Why such hyperbole? ... I have started to shop at Costco; and now I better understand the shopper who experienced 'church' at Costco. Shopping at Costco does facilitate a sort of spiritual experience. In their cavernous warehouses, abundantly stocked, the world of separate interests is far away." (08/22/16)
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31) Learn from Louisiana, be the help
Source: USA Today
by Glenn Harlan Reynolds
"This weekend's kerfuffle over visits to storm-wracked Louisiana illustrated two important points: One is that you can rely on politicians (and the press) to act political. The other is that when trouble comes, you and your neighbors had better be ready, because the government doesn't have your back.On the political front, a piece in The Hill noted a typical double standard: When then-President George W. Bush flew over New Orleans in Air Force One, but didn't land, during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, he was roundly denounced as aloof, uncaring, and out-of-touch. But last week, when President Obama chose to stay on Martha's Vineyard, and play golf and fund-raise after a storm dumped three times as much rain as Katrina on Lousiana, causing devastating and widespread floods, the press largely gave Obama a pass, something especially notable given how Obama had savaged Bush on that topic. Meanwhile, Republican nominee Donald Trump visited Louisiana and helped unload a truck full of aid supplies before visiting victims. Hillary phoned the governor but then headed to the Vineyard herself." (08/22/16)
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32) Hillary Clinton's latest email scapegoat: Colin Powell
Source: The Atlantic
by David A Graham
"Hillary Clinton has struggled for months to find a satisfactory explanation for why she chose to use a private email server and a personal email address while she was secretary of state, a choice that FBI Director James Comey described as resulting in 'extremely careless' handling of classified information. Publicly, none of her excuses have met with much success. Privately, however, Clinton seems to have found one scapegoat: former Secretary of State Colin Powell." (08/22/16)
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33) Who is to blame for Argentina's chronic poverty?
Source: PanAm Post
by Ivan Carrino
"Data about Argentina's poverty was recently released. Normally, a country disclosing basic economic information wouldn't be notable, but it is for Argentina, as the country is in the middle of a reconstruction process after years of being politically and economically manipulated by previous leaders. Faced with the government's incapacity to provide truthful data on inflation, poverty and growth in recent years, analysts have begun looking for private sources to learn about the state of the economy." (08/22/16)
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34) Jerry Brown and eminent domain abuse
Source: The American Prospect
by Debra J Saunders
"As mayor of Oakland in the 2000s, Jerry Brown supported redevelopment. Then he returned to the governor's office in 2011 and inherited a $25 billion budget shortfall. Feeling the squeeze, Brown saw an opportunity to make $1.7 billion by eliminating redevelopment agencies and shifted. He liked redevelopment as mayor, he explained to the League of California Cities, but also: 'I didn't quite understand it. It seemed kind of magical. It was the money that you could spend on stuff that they wouldn't otherwise let you spend.' In Sacramento, fiscal restraint can only last so long. The urge to 'spend on stuff' is back. Last year, the Legislature passed a measure with bipartisan support to restore redevelopment. The governor signed the bill, which took effect this year. Already the Legislature is working to expand rules to allow local officials to green-light pet projects more likely to enrich powerful interests than benefit the communities the policy is supposed to serve." (08/21/16)
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35) Homebirth, midwives, and the state: A libertarian look
Source: Libertarian Papers
by Kimberly A Johnson
"This study steps beyond traditional feminist arguments to examine homebirth from a libertarian perspective. It discusses the debate over homebirth and midwifery, direct-entry midwives, and the philosophical implications of individual autonomy and consumer choice." [summary -- full paper available as PDF download] (08/18/16)
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36) Paris, 1787: It reaches Manhattan, doubtless due to continental drift
Source: LewRockwell.com
by Fred Reed
"In the United States of today, clouds gather as the royalty toast each other with expensive wines. In numbers that a half century ago would have seemed impossible, the American young live with their parents, being unable to find jobs to support themselves. ... Meanwhile, Jeffrey Bezos of Amazon makes spaceships and buys the Washington Post as a toy and the newspapers have reported that a Croesus of Wall Street has bought a Modigliani, it may have been, for $55 million dollars. Marie didn't actually say, 'Let them eat cake,' but might well have. Instead, they ate her. But it can't happen here. Oh no." (08/22/16)
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37) Hillary Clinton's tax plan under the NCPA's model of the US economy
Source: National Center for Policy Analysis
by Pamela Villareal
"Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's tax plan would increase public sector jobs by 49,000 in 2017, but they would come at a cost of 207,000 private sector jobs, according to an analysis by the National Center for Policy Analysis. In 2026, the public sector would gain 54,000 jobs, but 265,000 private sector jobs would be lost. In essence, every government job created by Hillary would eventually cost nearly 5 private sector jobs. Her plan would have other recessionary effects ..." [summary -- full paper available as PDF download] (08/22/16)
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38) Too dangerous x 2
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
[Y]esterday on John Catsimatidis's New York City radio program, [former CIA director Michael] Hayden declared, 'I'm uncomfortable with the nominee of both of the major political parties.' 'John, a lot of my friends are saying that's nice, Hayden, but you have to vote for one of them,' the former top spy offered, 'but I'm not so sure I do.' He doesn't. Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson will be on all 50 state ballots and Green Party standard-bearer Jill Stein will be on most. And there are others." (08/22/16)
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39) Postal workers to rally against TPP Tuesday
Source: Our Future
by Dave Johnson
"The 200,000-member American Postal Workers Union (APWU) is holding its biennial convention in Orlando this week. As part of that convention, there will be a rally to publicize opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The rally will take place Tuesday, August 23 at 3:30 pm beginning in the Hemisphere Ballroom of Orlando's Dolphin Hotel. ... TPP is an agreement between 12 Pacific-region nations, but other nations like China will be able to join later. TPP is called a 'trade' agreement, even though most of the sections of the agreement are about things like allowing investors to sue governments for laws and regulations that infringe on their profits, granting monopolies to giant pharmaceutical companies, and 'intellectual property' rights. The agreement was negotiated and written in secrecy, largely by past, present and future representatives of corporations." (08/22/16)
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40) He can't help himself
Source: The American Conservative
by Rod Dreher
"Here is a man who stands a chance of becoming President of the United States, but he cannot stay focused enough on the campaign to do what's necessary. Instead, the media have gotten inside his head. Somebody inside the Trump campaign apparently twisted his arm to get him to quit reading his Twitter feed long enough to get down to Louisiana with some relief supplies. He handled himself well while he was here .... It ought to have been the occasion for a campaign reset, however small. ... But no. Here he is on Monday morning, being Trump at his Trumpiest, bitching and moaning about the hosts of a low-rated morning television show, and doing so in language that does not demean them, but demeans himself." (08/22/16)
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41) Municipalities dream big on broadband
Source: The American Prospect
by Mariam Baksh
"For most Americans, it's hard to imagine going even one day without using the internet to find information, play games, or work. But for residents of rural areas with marginal or no internet access, the simplest task becomes a major chore. Farmers in rural Minnesota may drive miles to upload crop data. Students in the Tennessee countryside may go to a church to download notes for a biology class. For years, nearly 40 percent of people in rural America have been saddled with slow internet speeds and no opportunity to get broadband internet services which provide fast connections. Yet internet service providers (ISPs), such as AT&T and Verizon, that can't turn enough profit from rural investments have also made it almost impossible for competitors to provide alternatives. With the assistance of groups like the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a network of state lawmakers and corporate officials, they're spending millions of dollars lobbying for laws that bar municipalities from implementing alternative services." (08/19/16)
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42) Nicholas Kristof: War crimes enabler
Source: Antiwar.com
by Justin Raimondo
"The New York Times, which makes no bones about its political sympathies in this presidential contest, has unleashed well-known 'humanitarian' Nicholas Kristof in the effort to gin up sympathy for the 'moderate' rebels and force Washington's hand. He babbles on about the death of his dog and the sympathy he received when he wrote about it, and then writes: 'If only, I thought, we valued kids in Aleppo as much as we did our terriers!' Not that he's trying to manipulate us or anything. ... As our 'moderate' Islamists on the CIA payroll behead children, crucify Christians, and turn Syria into a killing field, 'liberals' of the Kristofian persuasion, who preen in print over their own alleged moral superiority, are just as responsible as the Islamists who beheaded that child and held up his severed skull in triumph. In short: for all his self-righteous moral posturing, Kristof is an enabler of war crimes." (08/22/16)
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43) Village Praxis Series: Non-discreet body armor
Source: Zero Gov
by Bill Buppert
"Body armor is an ancient component of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the warrior that has been around for thousands of years. We're fortunate in the modern era to find that we have a wide variety available to non-government Helots until the state decides the mundane should have no passive personal protection." (08/21/16)
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44) A game of nuclear chicken
Source: The Libertarian Enterprise
by Paul Bonneau
"I grew up in fear of nuclear catastrophe. I remember standing in a school yard during the Cuban Missile Crisis, looking up at the sky, wondering if I would be able to see the missile that would come down to kill me. For many years now that fear has faded into the background. The near misses are far in the past, and the rulers had seemed to come to the conclusion that 'we shouldn't go there.' The Soviet Union is gone. Yet, I am thinking lately that the movie Dr. Strangelove might be coming back into relevance." (08/21/16)
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45) Thick libertarianism eviscerated: A libertarian response to Charles Johnson
Source: Reformed Libertarian
by C Jay Engel
"In reading Charles Johnson's oddly impactful 2008 essay Libertarianism Through Thick and Thin, I was perplexed by the sheer weight of unnecessary confusion and blurring of the language. It is a peculiar thing to see a political theory as clear and simple as libertarianism become suddenly and unnecessarily wrapped up in obscure and ambiguous language. It was almost as if obscurity was the means by which he intentionally sought to redefine the libertarian doctrine. After spending so much of my personal libertarian education deep in the clear and precise works of Hans Hoppe and Murray Rothbard, it was a shock to suffer through Charles Johnson's muddled arguments." [editor's note: Interesting piece. First time I've ever seen Hoppe referred to as either clear or concise, let alone both, though - TLK] (08/21/16)
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46) Hillary's hubris: Only tell the rich for $5000 a minute!
Source: CounterPunch
by Ralph Nader
"There is a growing asymmetry between the media's mounting demands for Donald Trump to release his tax returns (Hillary has done so) and their diminishing demands that Hillary Clinton release the secret transcripts of her $5000 per minute speeches before closed-door banking conferences and other business conventions. The Washington Post, an endorser of Clinton, in its August 18 issue devoted another round of surmising as to why Trump doesn't want to release his tax returns -- speculating that he isn't as rich as he brags he is, that he pays little or no taxes, and that he gives little to charity. Other media outlets endorsing Hillary have been less than vociferous in demanding that she release what she told business leaders in these pay-to-play venues." (08/22/16)
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47) The bare truth about burkinis
Source: Reason
by Steve Chapman
"Prime Minister Manuel Valls claims the burkini symbolizes Islam's 'enslavement of women.' Cabinet member Laurence Rossignol says its function is to 'hide women's bodies in order to better control them.' Their argument goes as follows: France must dictate what Muslim women wear to teach them that no one may dictate what they wear. In the name of promoting the freedom of Muslim women, government should deprive them of the right to make their own apparel choices. It's the logical extension of France's law against full-face coverings, particularly the kind worn by some Muslim women. Supporters of that law, enacted in 2010, said it was needed to keep criminals from concealing their identity. That excuse doesn't work for the burkini, which confirms it was just that: an excuse." (08/22/16)
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48) Free Talk Live, 08/21/16
Source: Free Talk Live
"Insane Law to Tax Ride Sharing and Give Money to Taxi Companies :: Death Penalty :: Decentralization and Arcade City :: Man Ticketed for Non-Existant Helmet Law :: Possible Psycho Threatens Ricky :: Regulators Target Viking Ship Replica :: Arpaio Facing Contempt Charges :: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition :: Transhumanism." [Flash audio or MP3] (08/21/16)
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49) Republicans and CAFE standards
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Laurence M Vance
"During the last six years of Democrat Bill Clinton's presidency, Republicans controlled both houses of Congress. No legislation to repeal the Energy Policy and Conservation Act was ever passed by Congress and presented to the president for his signature. The Republicans had control of both houses of Congress for more than four years during the presidency of Republican George W. Bush. The Energy Policy and Conservation Act could have been repealed in its entirety or just the section on CAFE standards. ... when Republicans had absolute control of the government and could have actually done something about reigning in the 'vast administrative state,' they did absolutely nothing." (08/22/16)
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50) The Bank of England turns to more easy money
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by George Pickering
"Earlier this month, the Bank of England altered the bank rate of interest for the first time since 2009, pushing it from 0.5% down to 0.25%, with a further cut to 0.1% expected later in the year, and an accompanying £70 billion programme of new quantitative easing. This dramatic -- if predictable -- shift in British monetary policy (further detailed in a recent Mises Wire article), has already had a significant short-term impact, with sterling falling by 1.5% against the dollar within the first half-hour after BoE Governor Mark Carney's announcement. However, in the days since, there have been ominous rumblings in certain corners of the British economy, which hint at possibly far more grave, long-term consequences of the decision." (08/22/16)
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