03/15 -- America's Gestapo: The FBI's reign of terror; Trump's toxic aggrieved-nation schtick
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Thomas L. Knapp
Mar 15, 2016, 6:52:13 AM3/15/16
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 03/15/16
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Putin orders Russian troops to begin pulling out of Syria
2) Top US general wants to start striking the Taliban again
3) Serbia: US-bound combat missiles found on passenger flight
4) NASA tests first rocket engine designed to send humans to Mars
5) Vermont legislature on track to be first in US to legalize cannabis
6) Poland: Human rights body to examine new police law
7) Poll: Millennials still optimistic about success & American dream
8) Mexico: Police nab alleged cartel leader tied to border shootouts
9) Amazon files payment to let you complete a payment with a selfie
10) Facing backlash, Clinton says coal still has a future
11) Quigg switches support from Trump to Hillary Clinton
12) Study: Rising sea levels could put 50 percent of Florida population at risk
13) Clinton targeting NRA, gun lobby
14) Syria: 3.7 million children have lived their whole lives under war
15) Yemen: Invaders claim UAE plane crashed due to technical fault, pilots killed
16) NY: Family of student killed by police in 2010 accepts $6 million settlement
17) Iraq: Turkish regime forces carry out airstrikes
18) Mother Teresa to be declared a saint
19) Russia: Regime's energy monopoly proposes gas deal with Iran
20) RNC launches campaign to oppose Obama's SCOTUS pick
21) WA: Customer shoots, kills hatchet-wielding man in convenience store
22) ExoMars spacecraft sets off in search of alien life
23) Microsoft quietly drops Bitcoin support from the Windows Store
24) MD: One cop dead, two suspects held in "unprovoked attack" on gang HQ
25) West Bank: Three Arabs shot dead after attacks on Israelis
Today's Freedom Commentary:
26) America's Gestapo: The FBI's reign of terror
27) Trump's toxic aggrieved-nation schtick
28) Dealing in death
29) Blind voters
30) The clashes of values that Leviathan foments
31) My advice to Obama on his upcoming trip to Cuba
32) We've seen Donald Trump's like before
33) The Tom Woods Show, episode 617: Ron Paul's guide to the election
34) What's the problem with "free trade?"
35) We are headed toward a cashless society?
36) Clinton and Sanders migrate on immigration
37) A Bunkerville lesson learned
38) Obama and the Justice Department may be losing the PR battle over encryption, but watch the larger war
39) Attack the powerful
40) The Trump campaign's nasty turn
41) Addictive epidemic
42) The rise of Trump shows the danger and sham of compelled journalistic "neutrality"
43) The Bob Zadek Show, 03/13/16: Adam Bates on Stingray surveillance
44) It can't happen here ... can it?
45) Seeds of Liberty Podcast, episode 52: Free range slavery
46) The microaggressions of immigration
47) The Supreme Court: Our last hope?
48) Trump: A monster made by PC
49) What Sanders & his supporters must remember before November
50) How not to make America great again
51) Sanders didn't say
52) Why I won't miss Obama
53) Exposing the Libyan agenda: A closer look at Hillary's emails
54) Loretta Lynch and the government war on free speech
55) The left wing's Trump
56) Troublesome priest
57) Why are people so illogical about vaping?
58) Free Talk Live, 03/13/16
59) Americans toss Lady Liberty overboard during crises
60) Why shouldn't corporations flee high-tax countries, including America?
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FREEDOM NEWS
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1) Putin orders Russian troops to begin pulling out of Syria
Source: Fox News
"Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial pullout of the Russian military from Syria on Monday, after saying his troops largely achieved their combat goals in the country. He also ordered the country's diplomatic efforts be stepped up to secure a peace deal in Syria. The move was announced on the day U.N.-backed peace talks on Syria resumed in Geneva. Announcing his decision in a televised meeting with Russia's foreign and defense ministries in the Kremlin, Putin said the Russian air campaign has allowed Syrian President Bashar Assad's military to turn the tide of war and helped create conditions for peace talks." (03/14/16)
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2) Top US general wants to start striking the Taliban again
Source: Washington Post
"A senior American general has proposed resuming offensive strikes against the Taliban, exposing a rift between the military and senior administration officials over the U.S. role in the war in Afghanistan, according to military officials. Senior Pentagon officials complained that Gen. John F. Campbell, who commanded U.S. forces in Afghanistan until earlier this month, broke with standard military procedure when he forwarded his proposal in recent weeks directly to the White House without the backing of Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter. Campbell said he followed normal procedures in submitting his recommendations, which could draw the United States back into a broader air campaign against the Taliban." (03/14/16)
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3) Serbia: US-bound combat missiles found on passenger flight
Source: New York Times
"Serbia's authorities are investigating reports that a cargo package bound for the U.S. containing two missiles with explosive warheads was found on a passenger flight from Lebanon to Serbia. N1 television said the package with two guided armor-piercing missiles was discovered Saturday by a sniffer dog after an Air Serbia flight from Beirut landed at Belgrade airport."
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4) NASA tests first rocket engine designed to send humans to Mars
Source: TechCrunch
"NASA has successfully tested their first RS-25 rocket engine for the agency's next heavy lift rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), for 500 seconds. The SLS, which will use 4 RS-25 engines in its core stage, is designed to take humans to deep space destinations like asteroids or Mars." (03/13/16)
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5) Vermont legislature on track to be first in US to legalize cannabis
Source: Reuters
"Liberal-leaning Vermont could become the first U.S. state to legalize recreational marijuana use through legislation, rather than by voter initiative, in a move that advocates for the drug say could speed its acceptance across the nation. State representatives this month are set to take up a bill passed by the state Senate in February that would allow adults over 21 to purchase and smoke the drug beginning in 2018. The move follows a year of hearings in the Senate that lawmakers say allowed them to closely consider appropriate limits to place on the drug's use. The current proposal would prohibit users from growing plants at home and ban the sale of edible products containing marijuana extracts. But lawmakers must act before the end of May, when the current session ends, a deadline that may prove difficult to meet. It is uncertain whether it has enough support in the Democratic-controlled House to pass." (03/14/16)
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6) Poland: Human rights body to examine new police law
Source: Bismarck Tribune
"A human rights body that rebuked Poland last week over moves that hobble the Constitutional Tribunal plans to investigate a new police surveillance law passed by the country's conservative ruling party. The Venice Commission, an advisory body with the Council of Europe, will study the surveillance law passed in December and issue its opinion during a June 10-11 session, said Panos Kakaviatos, a spokesman for the group." (03/14/16)
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7) Poll: Millennials still optimistic about success & American dream
Source: USA Today
"In a changing economy, millennials still believe in the American dream. Despite growing up during the worst downturn since the Great Depression (and coming of age at a time of wage stagnation and widening income inequality) more than two-thirds of those in the nation's rising generation predict they will be more successful in their professional lives than their parents were. Just one in five say that won't be true. 'I feel that I will be more successful than my parents in my professional life because of my level of education,' says Diana Ruocco, 21, a student from Daytona Beach, Fla., who was among those surveyed. 'But I think the "American dream" has changed,' she adds, because of dramatic shifts in the economy." (03/14/16)
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8) Mexico: Police nab alleged cartel leader tied to border shootouts
Source: ABC News
"A suspected drug cartel boss linked to a string of deadly weekend gunbattles in a northern border city was arrested at a horse-race track in the capital, Mexican officials said Monday. Federal police captured Cleofas Alberto Martinez Gutierrez on Sunday based on intelligence provided by the military, National Security Commissioner Renato Sales said." (03/13/16)
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9) Amazon files payment to let you complete a payment with a selfie
Source: ABC News
"No need for a password -- the transaction of the future could be completed by simply taking a selfie. Amazon filed a patent application this month, spotted by Re/Code, for a system that would allow users to take a selfie or video of themselves to complete a transaction. The technology would identify the person completing the transaction is "a living human being" by using facial recognition technology, according to the patent application. They could also be prompted to perform an action, such as smiling, blinking or tilting their head a certain way to add an extra level of security and ensure the system isn't being duped by someone holding up a photo of a user." (03/14/16)
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10) Facing backlash, Clinton says coal still has a future
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
"Facing a backlash from Appalachian Democrats, Hillary Clinton's campaign on Monday tried to reaffirm her commitment to coal communities one day after declaring on national television she was going to 'to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business. ... I'm the only candidate [with] a policy about how to bring economic opportunity, using clean renewable energy as the key, into coal country. Because we're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business,' Clinton said. 'We're going to make it clear that we don't want to forget those people.' Clinton was touting a plan she released last year that would set aside $30 billion to protect the health benefits for coal miners and their families. But her quip about putting coal miners out of business gave Republicans a perfect soundbite to use against her in states like Kentucky and West Virginia." (03/14/16)
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11) Quigg switches support from Trump to Hillary Clinton
Source: Epoch Times
"A prominent white supremacist who was supporting Donald Trump has switched his support to Hillary Clinton, he said on Monday. Will Quigg, a grand dragon with the Ku Klux Klan's California branch, said he supports Clinton because she has a 'hidden agenda.'" (03/14/16)
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12) Study: Rising sea levels could put 50 percent of Florida population at risk
Source: Tampa Bay Times
"Sea-level rise, a problem exacerbated by greenhouse gas emissions, could disrupt the lives of more than 13 million people in the United States, three times more than most current estimates, according to a study published Monday. Rising seas, which already endanger coastal communities through tidal floods and storm surges, could rise three feet or possibly even more over the next century if emissions continue at a high level, threatening many shoreline communities. The study, published in Nature Climate Change, argues that most projections vastly underestimate the number of people at risk because they do not account for population growth." (03/14/16)
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13) Clinton targeting NRA, gun lobby
Source: Newsmax
"The National Rifle Association (NRA) is under fire from Hillary Clinton who is pushing the issue of gun violence to the center of her presidential campaign. The Wall Street Journal reports Clinton has teamed up with Mothers of the Movement -- whose members have been affected by shootings, police overreach and racism -- to hold town hall meetings to discuss the nation's gun laws." (03/14/16)
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14) Syria: 3.7 million children have lived their whole lives under war
Source: Anti Media
"One in three Syrian children have known nothing but a lifetime of war, Unicef said on Monday in a report on the eve of the country entering its sixth year of war. The UN's children's agency said that the lives of 3.7 million Syria children had been shaped only by conflict, as they are forced from their homes and schools, orphaned by violence and drafted into work or fighting." (03/14/16)
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15) Yemen: Invaders claim UAE plane crashed due to technical fault, pilots killed
Source: Reuters
"Two pilots died when a United Arab Emirates Mirage plane crashed in Yemen on Monday due to a technical fault while conducting military operations for the Saudi-led alliance, the coalition said in a statement carried by Saudi state media. Local Yemeni officials said the plane was flying low when it crashed into a mountain after it conducted bombing raids in Buraiqa district in northwestern Aden where Islamist militants are based." (03/14/16)
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16) NY: Family of student killed by police in 2010 accepts $6 million settlement
Source: CNN
"The parents of Danroy 'D.J.' Henry Jr., an African-American football player at Pace University who was shot and killed nearly six years ago by a white New York police officer, have accepted a partial settlement of $6 million. ... A grand jury decided not to indict anyone involved with Henry's death. The investigation was closed last April. His family watched protests erupt around the country following the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson and Eric Garner in New York." (03/14/16)
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17) Iraq: Turkish regime forces carry out airstrikes
Source: Detroit News
"Turkey's air force hit Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq on Monday, hours after a suicide car bombing in the capital killed 37 people and heightened tensions with the militants. Nine F-16s and two F-4 jets raided 18 positions of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq, including the Qandil mountains where the group's leadership is based, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Ammunition depots, bunkers and shelters were among the targets hit." (03/14/16)
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18) Mother Teresa to be declared a saint
Source: Zee News [India]
"Mother Teresa is likely to be canonised on September 4 this year. Pope Francis will preside over a consistory or formal meeting with cardinals and church officials on Tuesday to approve the canonisation of the founder of the Missionaries of Charity. The event, a day before Mother Teresa's death anniversary, will be followed by a thanksgiving celebration in Kolkata on October 2. ... The consistory formally marks the an end to the process of approving a new saint." (03/14/16)
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19) Russia: Regime's energy monopoly proposes gas deal with Iran
Source: Fox News
"Russian energy minister says Gazprom, Russia's state gas monopoly, has put forward proposals for the development of oil fields in Iran. Alexander Novak spoke at bilateral trade discussions in Tehran on Monday. He underscored Moscow's desire to strengthen trade relations with Iran and said the countries were considering opening a free-trade zone, according to reports from Russia's Tass news agency." (03/14/16)
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20) RNC launches campaign to oppose Obama's SCOTUS pick
Source: Washington Post
"The Republican Party is launching a campaign to try to derail President Barack Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, teaming up with a conservative opposition research group to target vulnerable Democrats and impugn whomever Obama picks. ... The RNC will contract with America Rising Squared, an outside group targeting Democrats that's run by a longtime aide to GOP Sen. John McCain. GOP chairman Reince Priebus said it would be the most comprehensive judicial response effort in the party's history." (03/14/16)
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21) WA: Customer shoots, kills hatchet-wielding man in convenience store
Source: Charlotte Observer
"When a masked man came into the store and attacked a clerk with a hatchet, the customer didn't hestitate: He pulled out a handgun and shot and killed the attacker. The masked man about 40 years old walked into a 7-Eleven in Burien, Wash., and swung a hatchet at a customer, said King County Sheriff's Sgt. Cindi West. The man then went behind the counter and attacked the 58-year-old clerk, never saying anything. Within seconds, a customer pulled out a handgun and shot and killed the attacker, likely saving the clerk's life, West said. He was pronounced dead at the scene." (03/14/16)
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22) ExoMars spacecraft sets off in search of alien life
Source: The Guardian [UK]
"The search for life on Mars has entered a new era with the launch of a spacecraft built to sniff out waste gases released by alien organisms. The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter blasted into an overcast sky on a Proton rocket from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 09:31 GMT on Monday. A joint mission by the European and Russian space agencies, the probe will circle the red planet and measure minute levels of atmospheric gases, among which may be the natural waste products of microbial Martians." (03/14/16)
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23) Microsoft quietly drops Bitcoin support from the Windows Store
Source: TechCrunch
"Microsoft has quietly stopped supporting bitcoin payments just over one year after it added support for the crypto currency within the Windows Store. Software encyclopedia Softpedia first noticed the change, which is confirmed in an FAQ note for customers: You can no longer redeem Bitcoin into your Microsoft account. Existing balances in your account will still be available for purchases from Microsoft Store, but can't be refunded. We contacted Microsoft for further details, but did not hear back from the company at the time of writing." (03/14/16)
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24) MD: One cop dead, two suspects held in "unprovoked attack" on gang HQ
Source: USA Today
"Police in suburban Washington, D.C., have taken two suspects into custody after an officer was shot dead outside a district station on Sunday. Officials in Prince George's County, Md., tweeted late Sunday: 'One of your defenders lost his life in defense of this community today.' Police Chief Henry P. Stawinski III said the shooting was 'an unprovoked attack.' Authorities said another person, who is not a police officer, also was wounded." (03/14/16)
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25) West Bank: Three Arabs shot dead after attacks on Israelis
Source: Newsweek
"Israeli forces shot and killed three [Arab] Palestinian attackers on Monday after back-to-back shooting and car-ramming attacks near an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, according to the Israeli military. Two [Arab] Palestinians, armed with a handgun and an automatic weapon, shot at civilians and soldiers at a bus stop near the settlement of Kiryat Arba, the military said in a statement. The attack wounded one soldier. Shortly after, a third [Arab] Palestinian drove his car into a military vehicle near the scene. The attack injured two soldiers, the military said. Israeli forces said they discovered two knives on the assailant. The military did not confirm if the attacks were coordinated." (03/14/16)
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FREEDOM COMMENTARY
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26) America's Gestapo: The FBI's reign of terror
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by John W Whitehead
"Owing largely to the influence and power of the FBI, the United States -- once a nation that abided by the rule of law and held the government accountable for its actions -- has steadily devolved into a police state where justice is one-sided, a corporate elite runs the show, representative government is a mockery, police are extensions of the military, surveillance is rampant, privacy is extinct, and the law is little more than a tool for the government to browbeat the people into compliance. The FBI's laundry list of crimes against the American people includes surveillance, disinformation, blackmail, entrapment, intimidation tactics, harassment and indoctrination, governmental overreach, abuse, misconduct, trespassing, enabling criminal activity, and damaging private property. And that's just based on what we know." (03/14/16)
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27) Trump's toxic aggrieved-nation schtick
Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman
"The key to Donald Trump's presidential campaign -- the feature that explains nearly everything else about that toxic dump -- is his aggrieved-nation shtick. Just about everything Trump says (when he's not adoring himself or belittling others) is about how the once-great American nation has been humbled by the rest of the world. To hear him tell it, the United States is a 99-pound weakling who repeatedly has had sand kicked in his face by everyone. 'We don't win anymore,' he says. 'We don't win with trade. We don't win with the military. We don't win.' ... Does anyone wonder why Trump rallies have a tinge of violence? The answer lies in the lust for vengeance central to Trump's aggrieved-nation shtick. If he were to rule, would we see trade wars and shooting wars? But there's a problem. America is no 99-pound weakling. It's more like a 900-pound gorilla that won't leave the rest of the world alone. It's not the abused -- it is the abuser." (03/14/16)
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28) Dealing in death
Source: Ruwart.com
by Mary J Ruwart
"The United States engaged in the War on Drugs for the same reason it passed Alcohol Prohibition -- to save people from themselves. However, people still used intoxicants anyway. When these substances were purchased on the black market, people paid the ultimate price when they died from bathtub gin or adulterated drugs. Shared needles became the most common transmission pathway for AIDS as sale of sterile needles, seen as 'drug paraphernalia,' were also banned in many states. Indeed, the War on Drugs kills about 10 times as many people as drugs do, primarily because AIDS is spread this way." (03/14/16)
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29) Blind voters
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
"Consider Wilson. Consider Nixon. Consider FDR and JFK and LBJ. What these candidates (and NOT just Sanders and Trump) are saying and doing, especially in 2014, 2015, and now 2016, is just what they figure that they need to get elected to office: nothing more. It has as little to do with what they will really do in office as any campaign promise made by their opponents. It has to do with the voters: say what the voters that you think might vote for you want to hear, and what the voters who will vote for you (or your party) anyway want to hear. And DO NOT say anything that will chase away your voters, if at all possible." (03/14/16)
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30) The clashes of values that Leviathan foments
Source: Cato Institute
by Ilya Shapiro
"Kathleen Brady's book The Distinctiveness of American Religion in Law: Rethinking Religion Clause Jurisprudence is a fascinating exposition of the changing role that religion plays in a rapidly secularizing society. What's so special about religion? Why should courts treat it differently from non-religious belief systems? Why do we still mostly speak of religious free exercise and not so much freedom of conscience or other formulations of broader ideological protections? Why, for example, does an institution like the Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School get exempted from employment-discrimination laws but not the Cato Institute (which is just as opposed to government incursions on how it wants to operate)?" (03/14/16)
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31) My advice to Obama on his upcoming trip to Cuba
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob Hornberger
"Don't lecture the Cuban regime on its violations of civil liberties, for two reasons. One, what goes on inside Cuba is none of your business or the business of the U.S. government. Two, and more important, you have no moral standing to be lecturing anyone on civil liberties." (03/14/16)
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32) We've seen Donald Trump's like before
Source: USA Today
by Jennifer R Mercieca
"How often have we seen political candidates like Donald Trump, who attract large and increasingly violent crowds of supporters and protesters? Trump is certainly different from modern politicians, but he does bring to mind a certain 19th century president. It's difficult to find an angrier or more polarizing political leader in American history than Andrew Jackson. Jackson regularly dueled with his enemies, forced the migration of entire populations of people (resulting in an estimated 7,500 deaths), and ran one of the nation's most despicable political campaigns in 1828. Trump's temperament, campaign and policy ideas are indeed reminiscent of Jackson's. What about Trump's campaign promise to 'Make America Great Again,' surely that is original? No, it turns out it's a retread of Ronald Reagan's 1980 campaign in which he urged Americans, 'Let's Make America Great Again.'" (03/14/16)
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/03/14/weve-seen-donald-trumps-like-before-column/81730762
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33) The Tom Woods Show, episode 617: Ron Paul's guide to the election
Source: The Tom Woods Show
"Twelve-term congressman, former presidential candidate, and #1 New York Times bestselling author Ron Paul answers listener questions -- and I limited them to questions he hasn-t been asked a million times before. So no 'Should I run for office?' or anything like that. Just good, interesting questions, covering the Israel Lobby, whether he regrets any of his votes, what his morning routine is, how he'd contribute if he weren't famous, what he thinks the most positive development in the world is, and much more." [various formats] (03/14/16)
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34) What's the problem with "free trade?"
Source: Our Future
by Dave Johnson
"Our country's 'free trade' agreements have followed a framework of trading away our democracy and middle-class prosperity in exchange for letting the biggest corporations dominate. There are those who say any increase in trade is good. But if you close a factory here and lay off the workers, open the factory 'there' to make the same things the factory here used to make, bring those things into the country to sell in the same outlets, you have just 'increased trade' because now those goods cross a border. Supporters of free trade are having a harder and harder time convincing American workers this is good for them." [editor's note: Once again, Mr. Johnson gets this issue right - SAT] (03/13/16)
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35) We are headed toward a cashless society?
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Thomas J DiLorenzo
Interview with Claudio Grass. Grass: "An important reason why the state would like to see a cashless society is that it would make it easier to seize our wealth electronically. It would be a modern-day version of FDR's confiscation of privately-held gold in the 1930s. The state will make more and more use of 'threats of terrorism' to seize financial assets. It is already talking about expanding the definition of 'terrorist threat' to include critics of government like myself. The American state already confiscates financial assets under the protection of various guises such as the PATRIOT Act." (03/14/16)
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36) Clinton and Sanders migrate on immigration
Source: Town Hall
by Debra J Saunders
"I learned a new word at Wednesday night's Univision Democratic debate: 'Hispandering.' Univision's Maria Elena Salinas asked former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton whether she was flip-flopping on her erstwhile opposition to 'illegal immigrants.' (It's interesting Salinas did not say 'undocumented.' She said 'illegal' immigrants.) Or was Clinton 'Hispandering'? Salinas explained that the term means 'pandering to Latinos.' I can only hope that Clinton is Hispandering. Her positions certainly have evolved. In 2008, for example, Clinton opposed states granting driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants." (03/13/16)
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37) A Bunkerville lesson learned
Source: Kent's "Hooligan Libertarian" Blog
by Kent McManigal
"If the feds have actually started an organized roundup of the Bunkerville defenders, there is a lesson to be learned. And that lesson is ... If you ever find yourself in a situation where you have to resist being molested by government employees, especially with weaponry, you might as well go all the way. Because they will come after you eventually anyway. You read that right. If you are in a situation where you have to be armed to avoid being immediately kidnapped or murdered, the bullies of The State can't let that go. So, unfortunately, you may as well get as many of them as you can. That's not my 'rule,' it is theirs. The anti-liberty bigots have made their beds." (03/14/16)
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38) Obama and the Justice Department may be losing the PR battle over encryption, but watch the larger war
Source: Reason
by Scott Shackford
"The government fight to access your private digital data has another front brewing. The Department of Justice wants to be able to listen in on conversations on WhatsApp, an encrypted messaging and phone service owned by Facebook. Everybody who knows anything about encryption has warned that it is not just about allowing government access to 'a single iPhone' possessed by San Bernardino terrorist Syed Farook. The Department of Justice and state-level prosecutors want to force Apple to help them access to dozens, even hundreds of encrypted phones." (03/14/16)
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39) Attack the powerful
Source: Center for a Stateless Society
by Hugh Crane
"The world today suffers from extreme deference to authority. There is a severe absence of challenges to power. That's not to say that there aren't lone wolves and small groups who succeed at holding the powerful accountable. But they're few and far between. The media and others who have the platform to do so fail miserably. It's as if they don't view it as one of their central responsibilities. Essentially, the great majority of those tasked with attacking power do the exact opposite, and end up playing the role of P.R. for the elite." (03/14/16)
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40) The Trump campaign's nasty turn
Source: The American Prospect
by Paul Waldman
"The last week has felt like an inflection point in the story of Donald Trump's run for the White House, when the undertone of hate and violence that has thrummed under his campaign became much louder and more explicit than it had been up until now. There had been protests before, and ugly words and some pushing and shoving—not to mention encouragement from the man with the microphone. But something has changed, and become impossible for nearly anyone to ignore. Every Trump rally now vibrates with the potential for violence, even more than they did before." (03/14/16)
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41) Addictive epidemic
Source: ifeminists.com
by Sandy Sandfort
"Statists like to twist the ordinary meaning of words to create fear. If you just called porn or comic books 'things that people enjoy,' it isn't nearly as scary as mischaracterizing them as 'addictions' -- and because lots of people enjoy them, well then, it's an 'epidemic.' But in reality, it is nothing more than a dishonest medical metaphor. Having said that, there is a medical metaphor here that is far more accurate. It has to do with memetics." (03/14/16)
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42) The rise of Trump shows the danger and sham of compelled journalistic "neutrality"
Source: The Intercept
by Glenn Greenwald
"As Donald Trump's campaign predictably moves from toxic rhetoric targeting the most marginalized minorities to threats and use of violence, there is a growing sense that American institutions have been too lax about resisting it. Political scientist Brendan Nyhan on Sunday posted a widely cited Twitter essay voicing this concern, arguing that 'Trump's rise represents a failure in American parties, media, and civic institutions -- and they're continuing to fail right now.' He added, 'Someone could capture a major party [nomination] who endorses violence [and] few seem alarmed.' Actually, many people are alarmed, but it is difficult to know that by observing media coverage, where little journalistic alarm over Trump is expressed. That's because the rules of large media outlets -- venerating faux objectivity over truth along with every other civic value -- prohibit the sounding of any alarms." [editor's note: With the partial and uneven exception of the Libertarians, what political candidate DOESN'T endorse violence? - TLK] (03/14/16)
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43) The Bob Zadek Show, 03/13/16: Adam Bates on Stingray surveillance
Source: The Bob Zadek Show
"Mobile technology has brought uncountable conveniences into modern life, making it easier to locate new restaurants, get a lift across town, and listen to your favorite radio personalities on the go. On the flip side, some innovations have enabled both criminals and law enforcement to abuse technology, and use shadowy means to evade accountability. Adam Bates, a policy analyst with Cato's Project on Criminal Justice, has been tracking the government's surreptitious use of portable 'Stingray' devices, which can locate and obtain data from cell phones by masquerading as a cell phone tower (often without a warrant)." [various formats] (03/13/16)
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44) It can't happen here ... can it?
Source: Tom Dispatch
by Bob Dreyfuss
"For figures ranging from comic Louis C.K. to right-wing commentator Glenn Beck, making direct Hitler-Trump comparisons has become the fashion of the moment. I must admit, however, that 'proto-fascist' sounds about right to me. Certainly, the rise of Trump has caused many voters to take notice -- the question being whether the real estate mogul (who further stirred the pot recently by retweeting a quote from Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini) could cobble together enough of a coalition of nationalists, Angry White Men, 'poorly educated' working-class backers, the disaffected religious right, Islamophobes, immigrant-bashers, and others to wield the figurative pitchforks in a march to victory in November." [editor's note: This guy's clarity on foreign policy cannot be denied, and his citing of one of the must-read-books for anyone confused by present-day politics just adds to the mix; alas, he's off the trail otherwise - SAT] (03/13/16)
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45) Seeds of Liberty Podcast, episode 52: Free range slavery
Source: Peaceful Anarchism
"Please enjoy this recent episode of the Seeds of Liberty Podcast. Herein we discussed the phenomenon of #DaniloMemes, offending Australian comics, being mortified over a meme, how taxation is extortion, Bernie Sanders and rampant socialism, Kasparov's warning to the US, the uselessness of voting, and more!" [MP#] (03/14/16)
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46) The microaggressions of immigration
Source: EconLog
by Bryan Caplan
"The microaggression label is narrowly tied to leftist identity politics. Support for the concept, however, is far broader. With the possible exception of Mormons, what group doesn't leap at the chance to decry the slightest of slights? On-campus, of course, we usually hear about straight cisgendered white males committing racist, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic microaggressions. Off-campus, however, I see a totally different pattern: Natives lamenting the microaggressions immigrants commit against our national identity. The most obvious case: Americans routinely grouse when immigrants publicly speak languages other than English." (03/14/16)
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47) The Supreme Court: Our last hope?
Source: Libertarian Alliance
by Keir Martland
"If Mrs May's Investigatory Powers Bill, drafted 4th November last year, receives Royal Assent, then the security services and the police shall, for the first time ever, be given the explicit power to hack our telephones and our computers. The Bill also specifies that the last year of our search history is fair game for the police and security services. In addition, all companies providing a 'telecommunications service' to more than 10,000 customers are also to be forced to aid the police and security services in hacking their own customers. This applies to more than just your internet service provider. Facebook will be bound by this law, should it pass. It is a thoroughly beastly Bill." (03/14/16)
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48) Trump: A monster made by PC
Source: spiked
by Sean Collins
"Many of Trump's working-class supporters dislike the way they are looked down upon and written off as bigots. Elites dismiss their concerns about controlling the border or fighting domestic terrorism as inherently racist, and place these topics off-limits. Rather than engage or try to convince Trump's supporters, the cultural establishment simply denounces them as having unacceptable views, and seeks to silence them via public shaming or more coercive methods. In response, supporting Trump then becomes a way of saying, 'Screw you, I'm not shutting up.' Trump's foes, like his supporters, recognise that Trump is more than a typical politician, and they, too, send a signal by opposing him: one that shows they are virtuous." (03/14/16)
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49) What Sanders & his supporters must remember before November
Source: In These Times
by Joe Conason
"Exactly one year before Election Day (on Nov. 8, 2015) Bernie Sanders was asked whether his agreement with Hillary Clinton on basic issues outweighed the conflicts that he proclaimed at every campaign appearance. Speaking on television rather than on the stump, the Vermont senator conceded reluctantly that he and Clinton concur on some issues. But then he added an entirely gratuitous endorsement: 'And by the way, on her worst day, Hillary Clinton will be an infinitely better candidate and President than the Republican candidate on his best day.' That moment of reassuring reason is worth remembering as the debate becomes more rancorous. Clinton isn't foreordained to win the Democratic nomination, so Sanders neither will nor should hesitate to emphasize their differences." [editor's note: This is yet another appeal to the "lesser evil" trope, things you'll hear when you remind the Berners how close HRC is on most issues to those oh-so-vile GOPers! (also, read some of the comments to find unsuspected allies who already see through those lies) - SAT] (03/12/16)
http://inthesetimes.com/article/18967/bernie-sanders-ralph-Nader-lessons-from-2000-election-november
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50) How not to make America great again
Source: Independent Institute
by Gary Galles
"Donald Trump promises to 'Make America Great Again.' Unfortunately, his 'us versus them' view of economic exchanges, prominent in his 'America doesn't win anymore' rant, would fail introductory economics. And his protectionist promises cannot make us great again, only less great and poorer." (03/14/16)
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51) Sanders didn't say
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
"What can we make of the leftist hatred of the Koch brothers, David and his elder brother Charles? For their support of libertarian and Tea Party causes, and a few Republican candidates, the left doesn't just demonize them, the left singles them out. I suppose a reasonable person could blanch at rich people giving money to political causes ... if they objected to all super-rich donors. But that's not what's happening here." (03/14/16)
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52) Why I won't miss Obama
Source: The American Conservative
by Daniel Larison
"While Obama's foreign policy has been compared to Eisenhower's by more than a few people, Obama has failed to do the one thing that clearly distinguishes Eisenhower from his predecessor and several of his successors: concluding the existing war(s) and avoiding new ones. This has supposedly been Obama's preoccupation throughout his presidency, and he has often boasted about ending America's foreign wars, but it hasn't happened. He has not only failed to conclude the U.S. role in the war in Afghanistan, but has started at least two new military interventions and routinized the waging of perpetual, unauthorized war in many countries during both of his terms." (03/14/16)
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53) Exposing the Libyan agenda: A closer look at Hillary's emails
Source: CounterPunch
by Ellen Brown
"US-NATO intervention was allegedly undertaken on humanitarian grounds, after reports of mass atrocities; but human rights organizations questioned the claims after finding a lack of evidence. Today, however, verifiable atrocities are occurring. ... The Secretary of State's victory lap was indeed premature, if what we're talking about is the officially stated goal of humanitarian intervention. But her newly-released emails reveal another agenda behind the Libyan war; and this one, it seems, was achieved." (03/14/16)
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54) Loretta Lynch and the government war on free speech
Source: Campaign For Liberty
by Ron Paul
"During her appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, Attorney General Loretta Lynch admitted that she asked the FBI to examine whether the federal government should take legal action against so-called climate change deniers. Attorney General Lynch is not responding to any criminal acts committed by climate change skeptics. Instead, she is responding to requests from those frustrated that dissenters from the alleged climate change consensuses have successfully blocked attempts to create new government programs to fight climate change. These climate change censors claim that the argument over climate change is settled and the deniers' success in blocking congressional action is harming the public. Therefore, the government must disregard the First Amendment and silence anyone who dares question the reigning climate change dogma." (03/13/16)
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55) The left wing's Trump
Source: The Atlantic
by Michelle Cottle
"Name this 2016 candidate: * He's a loud, crass New York native who delights in political name-calling. * He is filthy rich but peddling a very raw form of anti-establishment populism. * His business ethics are seriously sketchy. * He has questioned Ted Cruz's eligibility for the presidency based on Cruz's Canadian birth. * He has a colorful marital history. * The more obnoxious and controversial he becomes, the more his supporters love him. * He's considered so toxic by his own party that its leaders are actively working to tank his candidacy, even though he is currently ahead in the polls. * He has endorsed Bernie Sanders for president. Did I lose anyone with that last bit?" (03/14/16)
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56) Troublesome priest
Source: The Libertarian Enterprise
by AX Perez
"Mainstream Media wants Donald Trump to go away. The Republican leadership wants him to go away. The protesters who stopped him from speaking in Chicago sure as hell want him to go away. The problem is they are the people who make him necessary. The Republican leaders totally disregarded their followers, blowing off the Pauls, portraying the TEA Party members as a bunch of ignorant racists and in fact doing all they could to push out everyone who wasn't from that movement, and finally for putting sabotaging Mr. Obama ahead of actually pushing any kind of agenda. (Most people reading this would have probably hated the GOP's agenda, but the point is they created a lack of vision that made Trump necessary)." (03/13/16)
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57) Why are people so illogical about vaping?
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worstall
"There're certain subjects that seem to turn people into drooling idiots. Those subjects often involve people enjoying themselves so we can at least construct some clues as to why the idiocy. Vaping seems to be one of those subjects. The basic point is really easy enough for anyone to understand: human beings rather like the effects of nicotine and vaping is about 5% as dangerous or less as a manner of ingesting nicotine as the other popular method, smoking tobacco. Being able to abolish 95% of the damage done to health by a product seems like a pretty good idea to us but there are those out there who disagree ..." (03/14/16)
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58) Free Talk Live, 03/13/16
Source: Free Talk Live
"NSA handing over data to to local cops :: Government Lies :: FBI distributes child porn and hacks computers without a warrant :: Will Etherium replace Bitcoin? :: Arcade City :: Jaxx.io and Shapeshift.io." [Flash audio or MP3] (03/13/16)
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59) Americans toss Lady Liberty overboard during crises
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Ted Galen Carpenter
"Americans take great pride in their country's commitment to the values enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. At the top of that list are the rights enumerated in the first ten amendments to the Constitution -- the Bill of Rights. Americans are fond of contrasting the protections that freedom of speech, due process of law, equal protection of the law, and other fundamental rights enjoy in the United States, with their absence in many other nations. The historical record shows, however, that U.S. political leaders and much of the public have been extremely quick to sacrifice such liberties during apparent national-security crises. Three episodes over the past century illustrate that unfortunate tendency." (03/14/16)
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60) Why shouldn't corporations flee high-tax countries, including America?
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Doug Bandow
"Every day in Congress, it seems, a member who created a problem demands more power and money to 'solve' the resulting crisis. So it is with 'tax inversions,' by which companies change their tax domicile -- their country of residence, for tax purposes -- to escape Washington's clutches. Doing so deprives Uncle Sam of money to waste, which naturally drives politicians into a frenzy. ... High tax rates help politicians, not the country. An old-fashioned highwayman grabbed your money and went on his way. Uncle Sam seizes your cash and then uses it to boss you around in the name of helping you and everyone else. Moreover, higher corporate rates directly reduce business investment and indirectly cut consumer spending, thereby slowing job creation and economic growth." (03/14/16)
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