05/09 -- Venezuela: Opposition boycotts meeting on Maduro assembly as street clashes rage; Can libertarians reclaim the antiwar position?
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Thomas L. Knapp
May 9, 2017, 6:44:19 AM5/9/17
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 05/09/17
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Presented by the Liberty International
Produced by the staff of Rational Review News Digest
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Venezuela: Opposition boycotts meeting on Maduro assembly as street clashes rage
2) Austria: Court orders Facebook to act as worldwide censor; "Green" fascists gloat
3) Trump dismisses Senate's Russophobic theatrics as "taxpayer funded parade"
4) FCC claims it was hit by DDoS attack after John Oliver segment
5) Trump reveals first slate of judicial nominees
6) SpaceX details plans to launch thousands of internet satellites
7) Philippines senator tells UN reports of drug war killings are "alternative facts"
8) Bumble Bee agrees to pay $25 million in DoJ "price-fixing" extortion scheme
9) LA: Long-shot suit filed to block removing Beauregard statue in New Orleans
10) US Justice Department swears in seven new judges to speed up unconstitutional immigrant abduction project
11) Russia: Deal reached with US to resume 2015 Syria air agreement
12) OH: 7th-grader suspended for "liking" photo of a gun on Instagram
13) Giant rabbit may have died while locked in freezer after United flight
14) NE: Buffett's "carnival" draws shoppers and the sleep-deprived
15) GA: Sex assaults in high school sports minimized as "hazing"
16) TX: Abbot signs bill implementing big-government anti-federalist authoritarianism vis a vis sanctuary cities
17) UK: Conservatives open up record polling lead
18) Facebook removes "tens of thousands" of accounts in attempt to fix upcoming UK election
19) Officials: Obama warned Trump against hiring Flynn
20) Bitcoin hits $1,600 for the first time
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Can libertarians reclaim the antiwar position?
22) Can libertarians end the communist monopoly in Cuba?
23) The healthcare insurance quagmire as a linguistic problem
24) Mr. President, stay home and play golf!
25) The council house smoking ban
26) Why our beef with North Korea is mostly theatrics
27) If you call it "school choice," you'll go to hell
28) Is there a Pence defense?
29) Protection as cronyism
30) On that day began lies
31) Duck and cover, again?
32) JNeilCare
33) Greatness is rightful action in trying times
34) Cuomo's "free college" gambit exacts a heavy price
35) Disagreement is a bad reason to unfriend
36) Questioning the competence of politicians in Britain and beyond
37) Paris Agreement does not create litigation risk for Trump's climate agenda
38) No, white girls wearing braids is not racist
39) Six ways the New York Times could genuinely make its op-ed page more representative of America
40) On churches in politics, Trump does ... nothing
41) Four flagrant lies Republicans are telling to sell Trumpcare
42) The destructiveness of call-out culture on campus
43) Just when you thought Hillary Clinton was finished ...
44) In France, the center holds
45) The day of the censors
46) Our bankrupt policy for Puerto Rico
47) Business cycles are credit cycles
48) French beacon
49) Political planning versus personal planning by everyone
50) The myth of the rule of law
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Foreign Policy Focus, episode 37
52) The Freedom Report, 05/08/17
53) The Jason Stapleton Program, episode 596
54) Freedom Feens Radio, 05/08/17
55) Lions of Liberty Podcast, episode 294
56) Free Talk Live, 05/07/17
57) Peaceful Anarchism, episode 11
58) Reason Podcast, 05/06/17
59) Johnny Rocket Launch Pad, episode 123
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Venezuela: Opposition boycotts meeting on Maduro assembly as street clashes rage
Source: Reuters
"Venezuela's opposition boycotted a meeting on Monday to discuss President Nicolas Maduro's plan for a new popular assembly, preferring to protest in the streets where they were again blocked by security forces firing tear gas. In familiar scenes from five weeks of unrest, youths with gas masks and makeshift shields faced off with police and National Guard troops in Caracas, after hundreds of demonstrators were stopped from reaching government offices. In Venezuela's second city Maracaibo, a crowd of about 300 protesters shouting 'Maduro Out!' and 'No to Dictatorship!' was dispersed with multiple volleys of tear gas. Decrying Maduro as an autocrat who has wrecked the OPEC nation's economy, Venezuela's opposition is demanding elections to resolve Venezuela's grave political crisis." (05/08/17)
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2) Austria: Court orders Facebook to act as worldwide censor; "Green" fascists gloat
Source: CNet News
"Facebook has to remove posts identified [sic] as hate speech, an Austrian court has ruled, but not just in that country. It has to delete those posts from across the social network worldwide. Austria's Green party brought the case against the world's largest social network because of insulting posts about one of its leaders. The party shared news of the ruling, and it was confirmed by a court spokesman, according to Reuters on Monday." (05/08/17)
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3) Trump dismisses Senate's Russophobic theatrics as "taxpayer funded parade"
Source: Los Angeles Times
"After a Senate hearing on Russia's influence in the 2016 election, President Trump fired off a series of tweets blasting as a 'hoax' any allegations of collusion between members of his campaign and Russians and dismissing investigations into those possible ties as a 'taxpayer funded charade.' ... Trump has maintained that any allegations of Russian ties with members of his campaign are stories cooked up by Democrats to distract from their loss in the presidential election, as well as from Trump's own claim [subsequently confirmed by, among others, former National Security Advisor Susan Rice] that he was the subject of improper surveillance by the Obama administration." (05/08/17)
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4) FCC claims it was hit by DDoS attack after John Oliver segment
Source: Gizmodo
"Last night, John Oliver told his viewers to go to the FCC via a domain they bought, gofccyourself.com, and submit comments in favor of net neutrality. It was funny. A larf. A light-hearted jape with a serious point. Even funnier: Not long after the segment aired, the FCC's website crashed. Many believed that the Oliver segment was to blame -- not an unreasonable thought, given what happened last time the British comedian covered net neutrality. But now, the FCC is claiming it was the target of multiple distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks." (05/08/17)
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5) Trump reveals first slate of judicial nominees
Source: The Hill
"President Trump on Monday released his first batch of judicial nominees as he seeks to make his mark on the federal court system. Trump is nominating 10 judges, including two candidates he had previously floated for the Supreme Court, Joan Larsen and David Straus. ... White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the nominees were 'chosen for their deep knowledge of the law' and their commitment to upholding constitutional principles. The White House says more judicial nominees will be coming in the months ahead as the administration works to fill the more than 120 vacancies in the lower courts." (05/08/17)
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6) SpaceX details plans to launch thousands of internet satellites
Source: Space.com
"SpaceX and Tesla-founder Elon Musk has made some rather bold promises over the years. In addition to building a fleet of reusable rockets, an Interplanetary Transport System, colonizing Mars, and revolutionizing transportation, he has also made it clear that he hopes to provide worldwide broadband access by deploying a 'constellation' of internet-providing satellites. In November of 2016, SpaceX filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a license to operate this constellation of non-geostationary satellites (NGS). And earlier this week, the US Senate Committee on Commerce. Science, and Transportation convened a hearing to explore this proposal for next-generation telecommunications services." (05/08/17)
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7) Philippines senator tells UN reports of drug war killings are "alternative facts"
Source: The Guardian [UK]
There has been no new wave of killings prompted by the Philippines' war on drugs, and reports to the contrary are 'alternative facts,' an ally of President Rodrigo Duterte has told the UN Human Rights Council. Duterte has received widespread condemnation in the west for failing to curtail the killings and address activists' allegations of systematic, state-sponsored murders by police of drug users and dealers, which the authorities reject. Senator Alan Peter Cayetano said there had been 11,000 to 16,000 killings per year under previous administrations. He said a change in the definition of extrajudicial killings by the Philippine Commission on Human Rights and other critics of Duterte's policies had deceived the public." (05/08/17)
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8) Bumble Bee agrees to pay $25 million in DoJ "price-fixing" extortion scheme
Source: CNN Money
"Tuna giant Bumble Bee is on the hook for bilking customers. The company has agreed to plead guilty for its role in a conspiracy to fix the prices of cans and pouches of tuna in the U.S., the Justice Department announced on Monday. Bumble Bee will also pay a $25 million criminal fine." [editor's note: If it is the customers who were bilked, why is DoJ receiving the money? – TLK] (05/08/17)
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9) LA: Long-shot suit filed to block removing Beauregard statue in New Orleans
Source: New Orleans Advocate
"A supporter of leaving Confederate monuments standing in New Orleans has filed another lawsuit aimed at keeping in place the equestrian statue of General P.G.T. Beauregard at the entrance to city park. Richard Marksbury, a Tulane university professor of Asian Studies, filed suit in Orleans Parish Civil District Court Monday, arguing that the City Park Improvement Association -- and by extension Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser's office -- is the owner of the Beauregard statue and must sign off on Mayor Mitch Landrieu's plan to take it down." (05/08/17)
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10) US Justice Department swears in seven new judges to speed up unconstitutional immigrant abduction project
Source: Washington Examiner
"The Department of Justice on Monday announced the swearing in of seven new immigration judges. 'After a thorough application process, Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed Nina M. Carbone, Jennifer I. Gaz, Charlotte S. Marquez, Jose L. Penalosa Jr., Donald W. Thompson, David C. Whipple, and Ryan R. Wood to their new positions,' a press release stated. The announcement came less than a month after Sessions said the Trump administration was hoping to appoint 50 new immigration judges this year to speed up the deportation process for illegal [sic] immigrants." (05/08/17)
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11) Russia: Deal reached with US to resume 2015 Syria air agreement
Source: Antiwar.com
"Russian officials have announced that following a phone call between Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov and Gen. Joe Dunford, the United States and Russia will resume the terms of a joint memorandum signed in 2015 regarding coordination of warplanes over Syria. The two joint chiefs were said to have also discussed the ongoing efforts to support the Astana ceasefire agreement and the peace process, though the US in practice is at best an ambivalent bystander on that deal, negotiated by Russia, Turkey, and Iran." (05/07/17)
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12) OH: 7th-grader suspended for "liking" photo of a gun on Instagram
Source: Aol News
"An Ohio student was suspended from school last week for 'liking' a particular photo on Instagram. Seventh grader Zachary Bowlin was given a ten-day suspension from Edgewood Middle School for liking a picture of a gun on the social media site with the caption, 'ready.' According to FOX19, Bowlin's parents received a note that cited reason for the suspension as, 'Liking a post on social media that indicated potential school violence.'" (05/08/17)
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13) Giant rabbit may have died while locked in freezer after United flight
Source: USA Today
"A 3-foot giant rabbit that died last month following a United Airlines flight from London may have mistakenly been placed in a freezer by airline employees, a Des Moines attorney announced Monday. Simon, a Continental Giant rabbit, was purchased by an Iowa-based ownership group with hopes that he could win the Iowa State Fair's biggest rabbit contest in August and be used to help raise money for the fair and its Blue Ribbon Foundation. But the giant rabbit was found dead following a United flight from London to Chicago. Des Moines trial attorney Guy Cook announced at a press conference on Monday that the owners are demanding an independent investigation into Simon's death. At least one airline employee has reportedly said that Simon may have been inadvertently locked in a freezer for up to 16 hours after arriving in Chicago." (05/08/17)
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14) NE: Buffett's "carnival" draws shoppers and the sleep-deprived
Source: Reuters
"Katie Ryerson and her father took a train from their hometown of Columbus, Ohio, to Omaha, Nebraska, for her first Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) shareholder meeting, a weekend the conglomerate's billionaire chief Warren Buffett calls 'Woodstock for Capitalists.' They were part of a crowd expected to top last year's estimated 37,000. Shareholders filled the downtown CenturyLink Center's 18,000-seat arena, plus overflow rooms, on Saturday for the meeting itself with the man dubbed 'the Oracle of Omaha.' 'My dad bought shares of Berkshire for me when I was born,' said Ryerson, a student at Michigan's Hillsdale College. 'It is amazing,' she said in an exhibit hall where stockholders thronged to buy products made by Berkshire units.'So many people are dedicated to the same thing. I'm kind of overwhelmed.' Buffett and Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger taught and entertained shareholders as they answered more than five hours of questions at the meeting, the weekend's main event. It was also a time for many to shop and eat." (05/08/17)
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15) GA: Sex assaults in high school sports minimized as "hazing"
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
"The Georgia school district said it was investigating the baseball players for 'misbehavior' and 'inappropriate physical contact.' What it didn't reveal was that a younger teammate had reported being sexually assaulted. Even after players were later disciplined for sexual battery, the district cited student confidentiality to withhold details from the public and used 'hazing' to describe the incident, which it also failed to report to the state as required. Across the U.S., perhaps nowhere is student-on-student sexual assault as dismissed or as camouflaged as in boys' sports, an Associated Press investigation found. Mischaracterized as hazing and bullying, the violence is so normalized on some teams that it persists for years, as players attacked one season become aggressors the next. Coaches frequently say they're not aware of what's happening. But AP found multiple cases where coaches knew and failed to intervene or, worse, tried to cover it up." (05/08/17)
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16) TX: Abbot signs bill implementing big-government anti-federalist authoritarianism vis a vis sanctuary cities
Source: CNN
"Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday signed a bill that would ban sanctuary cities in his state. The bill, which Abbott could be seen signing on Facebook Live Sunday evening, establishes criminal and civil penalties for local government entities and law enforcement that don't comply with immigration laws and detention requests, the governor's office said. The new measure would fine government entities up to $25,500 for each day the law is violated. It would also result in a misdemeanor charge for sheriffs, police chiefs and constables who fail to comply with detention requests and in removal from office for elected and appointed officials, Abbott's office said." (05/08/17)
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17) UK: Conservatives open up record polling lead
Source: Reuters
"British Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party has opened up the biggest lead on record for polls conducted by research firm ICM, suggesting it remains on course for a sweeping win in a national election in a month's time. An ICM poll published on Monday, which was conducted immediately after the Conservatives scored big wins in local elections last week, gave May's party a 22-point lead over the opposition Labour Party ahead of the June 8 national election. May caught her political rivals and investors unawares last month when she called the election, saying she wanted strong backing from voters before she launches into tough negotiations with the European Union about Britain's departure from the bloc." (05/08/17)
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18) Facebook removes "tens of thousands" of accounts in attempt to fix upcoming UK election
Source: Engadget
"Facebook has doubled its efforts to tackle fake news in the UK. As the nation heads towards a snap general election, the company has removed 'tens of thousands' of accounts which it believes were involved in the spread of misinformation. The crack-down is attributed to new detection tools, first announced in April, which can spot suspicious patterns of activity, including repeat posting and sudden spikes in post volume. Tackling these bogus accounts will, as a byproduct, curb the spread of spam, fake news and other 'deceptive content,' Facebook claims." (05/08/17)
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19) Officials: Obama warned Trump against hiring Flynn
Source: NBC News
"Former President Obama warned President Donald Trump against hiring Mike Flynn as his national security adviser, three former Obama administration officials tell NBC News. The warning, which has not been previously reported, came less than 48 hours after the November election when the two sat down for a 90-minute conversation in the Oval Office. A senior Trump administration official acknowledged Monday that Obama raised the issue of Flynn, saying the former president made clear he was 'not a fan of Michael Flynn.' Another official said Obama's remark seemed like it was made in jest." (05/08/17)
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20) Bitcoin hits $1,600 for the first time
Source: CNBC
"Bitcoin is 'fully valued' and could see a pullback in the short term after hitting $1,600 for the first time on Monday, according to one investor, but the price could go as high as $4,000 over the next 14 months. The cryptocurrency has been on an upward move since April and was trading around $1,575.52 by early afternoon trading in London after hitting an all-time high $1,601.05 during morning trade, according to the Coindesk bitcoin price index. In the last 30 days, bitcoin has risen over 33 percent." (05/08/17)
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Can libertarians reclaim the antiwar position?
Source: Students For Liberty
by Conor Fogarty
"Who will be willing to take up the antiwar banner is probably subject to future circumstances. But where the narrative of forever war continues to dominate mainstream politics, the libertarian movement can gather those few on both sides who reject those hawkish views. Libertarians can harken back to the antiwar position with its support for individual freedom, reminding our politicians that liberty lies in the hands of those who would shape their society from within, and not ours. This issue should be approached in a uniquely libertarian way, searching for truth while recognizing that individuals must come to it willingly." (05/08/17)
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22) Can libertarians end the communist monopoly in Cuba?
Source: The Libertarian Republic
by Dries Van Thielen
"Ever since some guy on a motorcycle and another guy in the Sierra Maestra hunted President Fulgencio Batista away, the government in Cuba consisted solely of members from the Cuban Communist Party. Thusly, all 612 seats in parliament are controlled by communists. Fortunately, it seems as if this communist monopoly will soon come to an end. On May 7, the Libertarian Party of Nevada announced that Cuba will have its own libertarian party named 'Partido Libertario Cubano -- Jose Marti.' They based their name on Jose Marti, Cuba's most prolific 19th-century poet and nationalist. News of the founding of the Libertarian Party was brought into the United States by a Havana-based libertarian individual who contacted a fellow national in Miami, FL." (05/08/17)
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23) The healthcare insurance quagmire as a linguistic problem
Source: Independent Institute
by Robert Higgs
"The federal government and the state governments have intervened haphazardly in the health-care insurance business so pervasively and for so long that by now the whole setup is nothing but a gigantic mess that flies in the face of the insurance principle and dictates a host of requirements that make no sense except as answers to the prayers of special-interest groups and rent seekers. Once a net benefit has been created, however, each beneficiary group will scream to the heavens if reforms should threaten to remove its privilege, and legislators will be reluctant to buck such organized political insistence on continued subsidies and privileges no matter how irrational these interventionist distortions are as components of an insurance system." (05/08/17)
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24) Mr. President, stay home and play golf!
Source: Campaign For Liberty
by Norm Singleton
"President Trump is about to embark on his first foreign trip, where he will stop in Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Vatican, before attending a NATO meeting in Brussels and the G-7 summit in Sicily. The media and pundits have loudly wondered why hasn't he gone on a foreign trip sooner. I wonder why go at all? What does the president hope to achieve with these meetings? This is a president who came into office with promises that we would finally start to mind our own business overseas. In December, he said that the policy of US 'intervention and chaos' overseas must come to an end. Instead, he is jumping into a region -- the Middle East -- that has consumed the presidencies of numerous of his predecessors." (05/08/17)
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25) The council house smoking ban
Source: Libertarian Alliance
by Sean Gabb
"his is a step in the War on Smoking I have predicted for years. Smoking has been banned almost everywhere else. Why not redraft council tenancies to ban smoking? Indeed, why stop here? The next step will be to lean on insurance companies to make it hard for private landlords not to ban their tenants from smoking. After that, it will be more pressure on the insurance companies, and perhaps on mortgage lenders too, to cover owner-occupied properties. No one expects these bans to be universally obeyed. They will not at first be universally enforced. The idea is to bring them in, and leave them for a while. First enforcement will probably be against the sort of council tenants who deserve to be evicted on other grounds. After that, the vice will gradually tighten. Before it is very tight, smoking will have been effectively made a criminal offence." (05/08/17)
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26) Why our beef with North Korea is mostly theatrics
Source: Cracked
by Luis Prada
"Thanks to the growing threat of nuclear war between the United States and North Korea, I'll finally get to live my Fallout-inspired dream of fending off hammer-wielding psychos in the irradiated wastelands of America by day and struggling to wrap my head around the existential horror of being a walking remnant of humanity's mistakes by night. Hooray! At least, that's the sense we'd all have if we were only paying attention to the surface-level of Trump's blustery, tough-guy dick-waggling contest with North Korea's Kim Jong-un (who is clearly living out some weird Tom Hanks Big scenario). North Korea has a long history of saying they're going to nuke whoever looks at them funny as they throw their annual temper tantrum. But it's not often that an American president responds by brandishing the jagged edges of a beer bottle he's broken over his head." (05/08/17)
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27) If you call it "school choice," you'll go to hell
Source: Center for a Stateless Society
by Kevin Carson
"The charter school movement's inroads occur, almost without exception, in places where choice has been suppressed by the state. The Charter Mafia hates choice. Charterization, where it occurs, is imposed by a process about as free and democratic as the National Party coup that established Apartheid in South Africa. Charterization is just another example of the kind of corporate 'privatization' that is advocated by right-libertarians, in which public assets created at taxpayer or ratepayer expense are enclosed by politically connected private actors." (05/08/17)
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28) Is there a Pence defense?
Source: Strike The Root
by Paul Hein
"On October 18 of last year, Vice President-elect Michael Pence went to see the play Hamilton in Manhattan. The producer of that show, Jeffrey Seller, and the show's creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, were not Pence fans. Indeed, Miranda was an outspoken fan of Hillary during the campaign, inspired, no doubt, by her honesty, intelligence, and virtue. Thus it was not surprising that they should take advantage of Pence's presence to lecture him on the proper way to govern, based, no doubt, upon the way that Hillary herself would govern, had she been elected." (05/08/17)
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29) Protection as cronyism
Source: Bleeding Heart Libertarians
by Fernando Teson
"Supporters of protectionism such as President Trump say that they are trying to save jobs in the United States. What's wrong, they ask, with showing some solicitude and help to our own workers hurt by foreign competition? Surely we cannot be against that. The standard reply is that these laws help workers but hurt local consumers and foreign producers and their workers. This causes a net deadweight loss, or unrecovered loss of social welfare. But this reply, correct as it is, does not go far enough: Protectionist laws harm workers in our own country." (05/08/17)
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30) On that day began lies
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
"Like many other mainstream political commentators, Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum is outraged and indignant over Donald Trump's public praise and open embrace of foreign dictators who are allied or friendly with the U.S. government. In an op-ed in the Post's Sunday edition entitled 'How Trump Makes Dictators Stronger,' Applebaum argues that Trump's words and actions constitute a 'paradigm shift' for the United States because they are now, she asserts, going to solidify pro-U.S. dictators, justify their brutality, and reinforce their power. That's sheer nonsense. It's not Trump's words or actions that are solidifying and reinforcing the brutal, tyrannical rule of these regimes. It is U.S. foreign aid -- money and weaponry -- that does that. Trump's words and actions simply confirm the truth." (05/08/17)
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31) Duck and cover, again?
Source: USA Today
by Glenn Harlan Reynolds
"I've been reading Garrett Graff's Raven Rock, which is a fairly gripping history of the Cold War effort to ensure 'continuity of government' in the event of a nuclear apocalypse. As the Cold War progressed, defense experts went from 'duck and cover' type initiatives, to plans for massive evacuations from major cities, to fallout shelters within those cities, to an abandonment of efforts to protect the civilian populations in favor of trying to save a decision-making core of government and industry. This sounds callous, and the book's subtitle (The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan To Save Itself, While The Rest of Us Die) makes it sound more so. But in fact, plenty of top leaders, from Eisenhower to Kennedy to Chief Justice Earl Warren, rather than fleeing, said that they would die at their desks in the event of a nuclear exchange." (05/08/17)
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32) JNeilCare
Source: J Neil Schulman @ Rational Review
by J Neil Schulman
"The 'Overton window' of the politically possible is not where a libertarian like me is. Conservatives and Minarchists (this latter a term coined by my old friend, Samuel Edward Konkin III) believe in restricting the State as much as humanly possible. Democrats, liberals, progressives all favor Universal Health Care, also known as 'Single Payer' also known as Socialized Medicine. Even a former Nixon administration economist like Ben Stein sees this as inevitable. I don't. I see a possible stopgap from destroying all remnants of the free market in medicine, health care, and health insurance." (05/06/17)
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33) Greatness is rightful action in trying times
Source: Everything Voluntary
by Gregory V Diehl
"Nothing is ever stable. Without warning, life demands us to go beyond what we think we can do. These moments test us. We cower away from the strangeness of the new demands, or we prove our worth by acting. Whether we fail or succeed in these spontaneous exams is no matter. What matters is that we are elevated to something better than we were before. Prepare your mind to evaluate extraordinary situations with rapidity. You cannot get lost in the surprise of a new situation. The outcome is dependent on the actions you will take in the face of unfamiliar stimuli." (05/08/17)
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34) Cuomo's "free college" gambit exacts a heavy price
Source: Heartland Institute
by Robert Holland
"New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) may figure that becoming the first governor to champion and sign 'free four-year college' legislation will give him a campaign slogan sure to appeal to fans of the socialist heartthrob of the 2016 presidential campaign, Bernie Sanders, if Cuomo decides to run in 2020. Unfortunately for Cuomo, and even worse for residents of the Empire State, the design for making tuition at New York's public colleges free for applicants whose parents make no more than $100,000 a year (rising to $125,000 by 2019) is riddled with inequities and structural flaws that should be apparent well before the next Democratic presidential primaries. The fundamental reality is nothing connected with public higher education is free." (05/08/17)
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35) Disagreement is a bad reason to unfriend
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Sarah Skwire
"Some disagreements, we are told, are just so profound, so deeply seated, so indicative of the other person's moral turpitude that no reaching over the division is possible. That may be true, in some cases. Cultures all over the world have long had methods for shunning those whose behavior was so counter to cultural norms that they were viewed as potentially destructive threats to the culture's continuation. I'm not saying that such threats don't ever exist. But in the last little while, I've seen claims that anyone who voted for Trump should be 'cut off' from communication with 'civilized society.' I've heard people argue that voting against the continuation of the ACHA reveals people to be morally bereft and outside the bonds of normal human interaction. I've heard college students and faculty argue not that they should not have to attend or listen to speakers with whom they disagree, but that no one else should be allowed to do so. Some insist that all of this exclusion is being done because the excluders are brave. That's a lot of people to vote off the island." (05/08/17)
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36) Questioning the competence of politicians in Britain and beyond
Source: Reuters
by John Lloyd
When Labour member Diane Abbott told a radio interviewer that her party planned to recruit 10,000 new police officers at a cost of 300,000 pounds a year, she cast doubt on the future of Britain's political opposition. As the shadow home secretary, an office that oversees crime and punishment, among other responsibilities, she should havebeen more prepared. Instead, when she was pushed to explain how she'd be paying those officers, given that her figures put their individual salaries at just 30 pounds a year, Abbott melted down. She finally found the prepared figures, and later blamed the media for reporting on her gaffe." (05/04/17)
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37) Paris Agreement does not create litigation risk for Trump's climate agenda
Source: Niskanen Center
by David Bookbinder
"As the Administration continues to wrestle with whether to stay with or leave the Paris Agreement, one of the key issues is whether staying in creates a legal risk for the Administration's plans to scrap many of the Obama-era climate regulations. In other words, would the U.S. emissions reductions commitment be a legal barrier to withdrawing any of these regulations? The short answer is 'no.'" (05/08/17)
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38) No, white girls wearing braids is not racist
Source: spiked
by Courtney Hamilton
"Witness the latest 'racism' controversy involving the Braid Bar -- a trendy UK-based hairstylist that offers professionally created braided plaits. The company, located in high-end department store Selfridges, has been accused of culturally appropriating black hairstyles (it used white models in its latest campaign). According to BBC Radio 1 DJ Clara Amfo, this is a -prime example of very entitled cultural appropriation that has to be called out.' Teen Vogue then ploughed in, with journalist Siraad Dirshe agreeing that the Braid Bar and its products were 'extremely problematic.' Dirshe berated the salon for having the temerity to sell and promote a hairstyle that has allegedly been 'worn exclusively by black women and men for centuries.' Of all the accusations of cultural appropriation or racial insensitivity that have been made recently, this has got to be the most miserable." (05/08/17)
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39) Six ways the New York Times could genuinely make its op-ed page more representative of America
Source: The Intercept
by Zaid Jilani
"The New York Times defended hiring former Wall Street Journal columnist Bret Stephens -- a writer who has promoted climate denial and bigotry against Arabs -- by insisting that it is seeking diversity of thought. Public editor Liz Spayd responded to readers' complaints about Stephens by writing that the Times is looking 'to include a wider range of views, not just on the Opinion pages but in its news columns.' But hiring another prominent writer whose ideology hems close to that of the nation's elites -- in this case, fossil fuel corporations who are polluting the world and advocates of Western military might -- is hardly adding intellectual diversity to the pages of the Times. Here are six categories of writers who would truly broaden and diversify the op-ed pages of the NYT ..." (05/08/17)
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40) On churches in politics, Trump does ... nothing
Source: Reason
by Steve Chapman
"In the executive order he signed Thursday titled 'Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty,' Donald Trump had a rare opportunity to pursue a small yet significant change that would have accomplished both of his stated purposes. Instead, he ceremoniously unveiled a heaping platter of nothingburgers." (05/08/17)
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41) Four flagrant lies Republicans are telling to sell Trumpcare
Source: The New Republic
by Brian Beutler
"It is difficult to overstate how essential the peddling of outright lies was to the House GOP's ability to pass the morally obscene American Health Care Act last week. Much has been made of the fact that Republican leaders railroaded their members into voting for an ink-wet bill that hadn't been analyzed by the Congressional Budget Office, but one of the main reasons they did so was to make it easier to lie about what the legislation would do, rather than respond to what non-partisan experts say the bill would do. Until Thursday, this was as much about convincing reluctant members to vote yes as it was about deceiving the public. With the bill now out of the House and in the Senate's hands, the lies only serve the latter purpose. Top Republicans fanned out on the Sunday morning news shows, and rank-and-file Republicans returned to their districts, to mislead as many people as possible about what would happen if the AHCA became law." (05/08/17)
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42) The destructiveness of call-out culture on campus
Source: The Atlantic
by Conor Friedersdorf
"Whatever differences there are in the moral psychology of today's college students, as compared to their elders, there is little doubt that technology is driving some of the worry about violating social norms, getting called out, and becoming objects of stigma. Social media enables students to be hostile from behind a screen, or to pile on. But there is a more subtle way that social media can increase stress over call-outs -- one I hadn't grasped before reading this email from an eager-to-please undergraduate." (05/08/17)
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43) Just when you thought Hillary Clinton was finished ...
Source: Hawaii Reporter
by Frank Salvato
"Pay no attention to the fact that Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 General Election because she was a poor and unsympathetic candidate who proposed a continuation of disastrous Progressive policies and initiatives. Mrs. Clinton is convinced that 'her people' still love her and that she has a leadership role to play in guiding the country to its future. Not since Marie Antoinette has a person in a position of political privilege been so tone-deaf to reality. Clinton's camp has made it known that she intended to launch a Super PAC (Political Action Committee) -- Onward Together -- to both aid in the election of Progressives and Democrats in the 2018 Midterm Elections, and 'resist' the agenda being executed by President Donald Trump. While some may see this as just another Clinton scam to raise money for their politically-inclined globalist lifestyle (look at the cash cow the Clinton Foundation turned out to be), we would all be well advised to take her effort seriously." (05/08/17)
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44) In France, the center holds
Source: The American Conservative
by Noah Millman
"Marine Le Pen significantly underperformed expectations on election day yesterday, winning only slightly more than half of the votes won by president-elect Emmanuel Macron, or slightly more than a third of the total. Polls only a week ago showed her getting just above 40%, though over the past few days it was clear that she was bleeding rather than gaining support. Nonetheless, I think a lot of the commentariat expected that some combination of higher-than-estimated abstentions (turnout was indeed sharply down from recent prior elections) and enthusiasm by Le Pen's base would lead to at least a small error in the opposite direction -- a Macron win, but not an overwhelming one. But his victory was indeed overwhelming. Why did Le Pen underperform? I can think of several plausible reasons." (05/08/17)
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45) The day of the censors
Source: Antiwar.com
by Justin Raimondo
"In short, there are influential groups of people -- in government, in academia, and especially in the news media, which wants to nip its 'illegitimate' competition in the bud -- who are pushing for censorship of the Internet. They want to prevent any more Brexits, any more Donald Trumps, any more populist uprisings against the Establishment -- and they're doing it in true Orwellian fashion, in the name of preserving 'democracy.' These people are worse than mere hypocrites: they're a danger to the free society. They're closet totalitarians who like to portray themselves as 'liberals' -- according to the Bizarro World definition, that is. The Internet is the biggest threat to the Establishment since the invention of the printing press. That's why they want to neuter it, harness it, and banish people like me from it. That's why my tweets are labeled 'sensitive': and maybe someday soon, you won't be able to see them at all." (05/08/17)
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46) Our bankrupt policy for Puerto Rico
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
"The endgame for Puerto Rico's debilitating fiscal crisis has begun. Unable to manage a $74 billion debt that has accompanied a decade of recession, spikes in poverty, and a mass exodus of citizens, the island will now turn to federal courts to approve a resolution with its creditors. But in many ways nothing has changed for Puerto Rico. The congressionally-imposed fiscal oversight board, known locally as the junta, remains in control as lead negotiator in restructuring talks. Whether Puerto Rico's three million citizens get a fair deal or a continuation of harsh austerity depends almost entirely on seven unelected, unaccountable technocrats." (05/08/17)
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47) Business cycles are credit cycles
Source: Cobden Centre
by Alasdair MacLeod
"The original Keynesian idea behind monetary and fiscal stimulation was to help the economy recover from a recession by encouraging extra consumption through bank credit expansion and unfunded government deficits. Originally, Keynes did not recommend a policy of continual monetary expansion, because he presumed that a recession was the result of a business cycle that could be smoothed by the application of extra credit. The error was to fail to understand that the cycle is of credit itself, the consequence being the imposition of boom and bust on what would otherwise be a non-cyclical economy." (05/08/17)
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48) French beacon
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
"'Since the French Revolution,' the New York Times pontificated online, 'the nation has often been viewed as a beacon of democratic ideals.' Really? Can a nation of constitutional turnovers -- kings and republics and revolutions and foreign occupation -- be a beacon? Most often we in America compare our Revolution to France's, focusing on The Terror: mob rule and proto-totalitarianism." (05/08/17)
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49) Political planning versus personal planning by everyone
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Richard M Ebeling
"Planning is inseparable from being a conscious, thinking human being. So if we all do it, what's wrong with people proposing and governments implementing political plans attempting to impact upon, influence or direct outcomes in society? A fundamental difference between the plans each of us make as individuals and those made by government is that of voluntary choice versus political compulsion." (05/08/17)
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50) The myth of the rule of law
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Robert Taylor
"Any state, no matter how powerful, cannot not rule solely through the use of brute force. There are too few rulers and too many of us for coercion alone to be an effective means of control. The political class must rely on ideology to achieve popular compliance, masking the iron fist in a velvet glove. Violence is always behind every state action, but the most efficient form of expropriation occurs when the public believes it is in their interest to be extorted. Mythology is necessary to blunt the violent nature of state power in order to maximize the plunder of property -- and, most importantly, provide an aura of legitimacy." (05/07/17)
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Foreign Policy Focus, episode 37
Source: Foreign Policy Focus
"On FPF #37, I discuss the hidden costs of US military spending. The defense budget is over $500 billion. However, the US government spends an additional $250 billion on the military. By keeping the money for overseas operations, veterans, and homeland security off the Pentagon's budget, the US can spend billions on defense without the taxpayers knowing. I also update Africa, France, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan." [various formats] (05/08/17)
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52) The Freedom Report, 05/08/17
Source: The Libertarian Republic
"National Review columnist Kevin Williamson posted a brilliant piece examining progressive orthodoxy. In it, Williamson argues that progressives are more than happy to set scientific principles aside when it doesn't confirm their biases. Bill Nye the 'Science' Guy is a perfect example. Nye has proclaimed pseudoscientific theories on GMOs, but retracted them when his fan base elicited a stinging backlash. Austin Petersen breaks down the news." [various formats] (05/08/17)
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53) The Jason Stapleton Program, episode 596
Source: The Jason Stapleton Program
"Last week Rep. Amash wrote a two-page letter explaining why he voted for the Republican healthcare modification to Obamacare. Darren and I are divided over his comments. Well, not really decided [sic] since I can't argue any of the points he made on today's show. I'm jus[t] a little less critical than he is. We ask our representatives to treat liberty as a primary political value and always to vote in a way that takes us closer to liberty. Did Justin Amash do that? I'll let you be the judge." [various formats] (05/08/176)
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54) Freedom Feens Radio, 05/08/17
Source: Freedom Feens Radio
"Steve reminisces fondly of his years as a public school teacher in inner Philly. In the second hour Phil and MWD explain how kids get acclimated to society BETTER if they're home schooled than if they go to public school, and how to survive in the contract economy. (BTC address for 'Get outta town fund' for MurdaDawg: 13wNPqhTr4U8AmtYG78Pgh9XahA5JTb3HY ... In the second hour, Lou and Phil discuss how successful businesses operate. They talk about James J Hill of the Great Northern Railroad and also talked about how Marx was an idiot and lazy." [various formats] (05/08/17)
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55) Lions of Liberty Podcast, episode 294
Source: Lions of Liberty
"In today's episode, host Marc Clair is joined by Dr Elaina George, a board certified otolaryngologist and author of the book 'Big Medicine: The Cost of Corporate Control and How Doctors and Patients Working Together Can Rebuild a Better System.'" [various formats] (05/08/17)
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56) Free Talk Live, 05/07/17
Source: Free Talk Live
"Venezuela Update :: Kallen's Life in Mexico :: AMA Doctor Oligopoly :: Separation of Church and State and Freedom of Religion :: 501c3 :: Government, Regulations, and Corporations :: Child Labor :: Convenience of the State :: Venezuela Thugs :: Property and Libertarianism :: Kim Jong Un :: HOSTS -- Ian, Mark, Kallen." [Flash audio or MP3] (05/07/17)
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57) Peaceful Anarchism, episode 11
Source: Everything Voluntary
"It is common practice for many anarchists and voluntaryists to incessantly bash feelings and belittle their importance. Is there a place for feelings in the human condition?" [various formats] (05/05/17)
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58) Reason Podcast, 05/06/17
Source: Reason
by Nick Gillespie
"In a new Reason Podcast, Reason's Peter Suderman tells Nick Gillespie why The American Health Care Act (AHCA) not only fails to really 'repeal and replace' Obamcare but actually makes the system even worse." [various formats] (05/06/17)
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59) Johnny Rocket Launch Pad, episode 123
Source: Johnny Rocket Launch Pad
"This is the main man! The president of the Mises Institute! The one and only Jeff Deist! Mr. Deist talks to us about his experiences and path toward libertarianism. Jeff also talks about his experiences with Dr. Ron Paul as his chief of staff! This was one of our most memorable interviews ever on the show!" [various formats] (05/05/17)
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