10/12 -- The LAVA Flow Podcast, episode 47; What's your slavery percentage?
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Thomas L. Knapp
Oct 12, 2016, 6:37:09 AM10/12/16
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 10/12/16
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Afghanistan: Gunman kills 14 at Shiite shrine in Kabul
2) SCOTUS to consider post-9/11 detention lawsuit against Ashcroft, other regime figures
3) China: Protests outside defense ministry at army cuts
4) AZ: US DoJ to charge Arpaio with contempt of court
5) Russia considers opening military base in Cuba
6) Warming Russia-Turkey relations send a chill through Ukraine
7) WA: Two wounded in reported officer-involved shooting near Jungle cleanup
8) Report: US regime to turn Mars project into corporate welfare slush fund
9) SCOTUS weighs Colorado juror race bias dispute
10) Samantha Bee's "vagina monologue" the best line-by-line Trump non-apology takedown you're going to see
11) Trump campaign notes DoJ collusion with Clinton over email probe
12) Nicaragua: Newspaper decries spying by army, ruling party
13) Feds: Hezbollah associate laundered drug cartel money through Miami banks
14) Pakistan: Regime bans journalist from leaving country
15) OK: Medical Examiner tries to save killer cop from manslaughter charge: Claims unarmed, hands-up victim was on PCP
16) Duterte on US alliance: "Do you really think we need it?"
17) Colombia: Youth set up tent city to demand peace deal
18) CA: Suspects in attack on Sikh man were Chevron contractors
19) Advertising groups hit FCC on Wheeler's latest idiotic idea
20) Maduro to sue small paper for negative report on Venezuela's finances
21) Yahoo makes it difficult to leave its service by disabling automatic email forwarding
22) WHO urges regimes to raise taxes on sugary drinks
23) Australia: Labor Party votes to block referendum on marriage apartheid
24) UT: Gubernatorial candidate threatens non-supporters with "judgment of God"
25) Samsung shuts Galaxy Note 7 production down
Today's Freedom Commentary:
26) The LAVA Flow Podcast, episode 47
27) What's your slavery percentage?
28) In the age of the embarrassing leak, can we all admit that encryption is a good thing?
29) The Science of Success and the Art of Prudence
30) What Duterte demonstrates about US security commitments abroad
31) Nobody left to like
32) If corporations have rights, why not nature?
33) What's wrong with an independent prosecutor for Clinton?
34) Science, democracy casualties of the climate war
35) In the Democratic echo chamber, inconvenient truths are recast as Putin plots
36) Leaked emails show Hillary would continue worst of Obama's economic legacy
37) Price gouging: Not as bad as people think
38) Rule yourself
39) Trump and Clinton: How low can they go?
40) US should get out of the way in Syria
41) The Fed who cried growth
42) Who protects kids from predatory police and prosecutors?
43) Coming out as neoliberals
44) The Jason Stapleton Program, 10/11/16
45) Who's selling you?
46) Why it takes local activists to end school-to-prison pipeline
47) Non you-ers' trade deficit with you
48) Trump's guerilla politics are here to stay
49) Defeating doomsday derp: Tactical tidbits for Threepers
50) The truth about the war in Aleppo
51) America after November
52) Trump likes everything shiny and new, but older bombers are better
53) Freedom Feens Radio, 10/11/16
54) Asset forfeiture money is funding the surveillance state
55) Even bugs will be bugged
56) A brief history of the last fifty years in this nation of swine
57) Afghanistan: Enduring occupation
58) Free Talk Live, 10/10/16
59) Will tariffs make American great again?
60) Healthcare cronies seek monopoly powers over contact lenses
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FREEDOM NEWS
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1) Afghanistan: Gunman kills 14 at Shiite shrine in Kabul
Source: CNN
"A gunman opened fire in a Shiite shrine in Kabul on Tuesday morning, killing 14 people before Afghan security forces killed him, reported Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs. The attack happened about 7:50 a.m. at the Karte Sakhi shrine. A police officer and a child were killed and 36 people were wounded, including 19 women, Sediqqi said. After a two-hour gunbattle, security forces killed the gunman. No group has claimed responsibility yet." (10/11/16)
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2) SCOTUS to consider post-9/11 detention lawsuit against Ashcroft, other regime figures
Source: Washington Post
"The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would consider a long-running lawsuit against former attorney general John D. Ashcroft and other top officials filed by immigrants who say they were racially profiled and illegally detained after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. ... The case was filed by six men on behalf of hundreds of mainly Muslim noncitizens who were detained on civil immigration charges for as long as eight months. They never were charged with terrorism but were held in harsh conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Besides Ashcroft, they attempt to sue former FBI director Robert Mueller and former Immigration and Naturalization Service commissioner James W. Ziglar." (10/11/16)
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3) China: Protests outside defense ministry at army cuts
Source: The Guardian [UK]
"More than 1,000 protesters have walked and chanted in front of China's defence ministry, in the latest apparent demonstration by soldiers as the world's largest standing military modernises and downsizes. The protesters stood for several hours in front of the Bayi building in central Beijing, home of the Chinese ministry of national defence. Many wore green fatigues bearing the hammer-and-sickle logo of China's ruling Communist party. The purpose of their demonstration was unclear. Protesters approached by the Associated Press declined to be interviewed and censors blocked searches on social media about retired soldiers or the defence ministry." (10/11/16)
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4) AZ: US DoJ to charge Arpaio with contempt of court
Source: USA Today
"The U.S. Department of Justice officials have opted to charge Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio with criminal contempt for violating a federal court's orders in a racial-profiling case. Arpaio has not yet officially been charged, but U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton asked the federal government to write an order to show cause, by Wednesday, for her to sign. That will serve as a charging document for the case to go forward against Arpaio only. The announcement came Tuesday morning at the case's first criminal hearing in downtown Phoenix's federal court." (10/11/16)
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5) Russia considers opening military base in Cuba
Source: Tacoma News Tribune
"Russia is looking to expand its military presence and has its eye on Cuba and other Latin American countries. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russia has come up with a list of countries where it's considering opening military bases. They include Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Vietnam, according to Russia's state-owned RIA Novosti news agency." (10/11/16)
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6) Warming Russia-Turkey relations send a chill through Ukraine
Source: Christian Science Monitor
"Leaders of Turkey and Russia signed a long-delayed deal Monday to build the TurkStream gas pipeline under the Black Sea to deliver Russian gas to Europe's doorstep within three years. ... Acrimony is surging between Russia and the West over the situation in Syria. On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin angrily canceled a planned state visit to France later this month after French President Francois Hollande suggested Russia may be guilty of 'war crimes,' and wondered aloud whether meeting Mr. Putin at this time would be 'useful.' But there was little sign of tension as Putin met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the World Energy Congress in Istanbul Monday." (10/11/16)
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7) WA: Two wounded in reported officer-involved shooting near Jungle cleanup
Source: Seattle Times
"Two people were wounded in an officer-involved shooting near the area of The Jungle where crews and police officers had worked to move people out of the troubled homeless camp, authorities said. Seattle police first reported an officer-involved shooting at Airport Way South and South Bayview Street, where a news conference was held earlier in the day. It's unclear whether the shooting was related to the sweep." (10/11/16)
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8) Report: US regime to turn Mars project into corporate welfare slush fund
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"President Barack Obama says the US will work with private companies on its plan to send humans to Mars in the 2030s. President Obama announced his proposals for a crewed mission to the Red Planet in 2010. But Nasa's plan to realise this presidential vision has been broadly criticised, particularly by Congress. In an article, President Obama pledged to work with private companies to 'to build new habitats that can sustain and transport astronauts. We have set a clear goal vital to the next chapter of America's story in space: sending humans to Mars by the 2030s and returning them safely to Earth, with the ultimate ambition to one day remain there for an extended time,' [he] said in an opinion piece for CNN." (10/11/16)
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9) SCOTUS weighs Colorado juror race bias dispute
Source: Reuters
"The role of race in the U.S. criminal justice system came before the Supreme Court again on Tuesday in a case in which a Hispanic man is seeking to overturn his sexual offense convictions due to a juror's racially charged statements during deliberations. Several justices appeared sympathetic to the arguments made by lawyers for Miguel Pena Rodriguez, who was convicted after being accused of sexually groping two teenage girls in a bathroom in 2007 at a Colorado race track where he worked. At issue is whether racially biased statements violate a defendant's right to a fair trial under the U.S. Constitution's Sixth Amendment. Prosecutors cite a long-standing legal tradition of jury deliberations generally remaining off-limits in any attempt to overturn a verdict. Other jurors said one juror in the case, a former law enforcement officer, stated during deliberations that the defendant 'did it because he's Mexican, and Mexican men take whatever they want.' The juror also called the defendant an 'illegal' despite the fact that Pena Rodriguez, originally from Mexico, was a legal permanent U.S. resident." (10/11/16)
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10) Samantha Bee's "vagina monologue" the best line-by-line Trump non-apology takedown you're going to see
Source: Raw Story
"You waited all weekend, and now it is Monday night so we can find out what exactly Full Frontal host Samantha Bee thinks about Donald Trump's disgusting comments about 'grabbing women by the pussy.' Bee was unsparing of both Trump and Today show host Billy Bush, seen giggling and egging the now-GOP presidential nominee on to talk about how he sexually assaults women. ... Bee later launched into what she called her 'vagina monologue,' ridiculing cable show hosts and journalists who balked at saying what they often called, 'the p-word.'" (10/10/16)
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11) Trump campaign notes DoJ collusion with Clinton over email probe
Source: Daily Mail [UK]
"The Department of Justice is facing allegations of 'collusion' over its handling of the probe into Hillary Clinton's secret email server. Donald Trump's campaign questioned the integrity of the investigation after an email on Wikileaks in which one of Clinton's aides said he had had 'DOJ folks inform me' about a hearing. The actual message was not part of the leak beyond an apparent start to it saying: 'Hey Brian, This was filed tonight.' The message, from Brian Fallon, her national press spokesman, was sent to Huma Abedin, her right-hand woman, and appears to have been copied to John Podesta, whose emails were leaked." (10/11/16)
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12) Nicaragua: Newspaper decries spying by army, ruling party
Source: PanAm Post
"Director of the Nicaraguan newspaper Confidencial Carlos Fernando Chamorro told the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) that members of his organization have been victims of intimidation and political espionage by the Nicaraguan army and the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). Chamorro said at a news conference that two employees of the newspaper were stopped by an official of the Nicaraguan Army and were asked about Confidencial operations, as well as wanting data from a computer security system." (10/11/16)
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13) Feds: Hezbollah associate laundered drug cartel money through Miami banks
Source: Fox News
"Three alleged associates of the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah purportedly laundered $500,000 from a Colombian drug cartel through South Florida banks in a case that underscores the growing collaboration between organized crime groups in Latin America and Middle Eastern terror groups. Mohammad Ahmad Ammar, a 32-year-old who was living in Colombia, has been charged in Florida with felony money laundering, while another suspect has been arrested in France. A third is still on the lam. Ammar's arrest was the result of a DEA investigation into Colombian cocaine operations which has led to the arrest of dozens of drug trafficking and money-laundering suspects." (10/11/16)
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14) Pakistan: Regime bans journalist from leaving country
Source: CNN
"A leading Pakistani journalist has been banned from leaving the country after writing a column that exposed significant rifts between the civilian government and the military. The report, written by journalist Cyril Almeida for the 'The Daily Dawn' -- one of Pakistan's leading English language papers -- on October 6, said the civilian government had clashed with military chiefs over the issue of homegrown militancy in Pakistan. Almeida, who was attempting to fly out on a holiday on Monday evening was informed that he had been placed on the Pakistan's Exit Control List, which prevented him from leaving the country." (10/11/16)
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15) OK: Medical Examiner tries to save killer cop from manslaughter charge: Claims unarmed, hands-up victim was on PCP
Source: NBC News
"A 40-year-old Tulsa unarmed man fatally shot by police last month had the hallucinogenic drug PCP in his system at the time of his death, according to results of a toxicology report released Tuesday. Terence Crutcher died in a Sept. 16 roadside encounter with police, who were called to the scene on reports of a broken down SUV. Several officers approached Crutcher, and one of them, Betty Shelby, fired at him while his hands were up beside the car, according to police. A second officer shot him with a Taser." (10/11/16)
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16) Duterte on US alliance: "Do you really think we need it?"
Source: Fox News
"Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday he will not abrogate a defense treaty with the United States but questioned its importance and that of joint combat exercises, which he says only benefit America. ... 'I do not mean to cancel or abrogate the military alliances,' Duterte said in a speech before new government officials at the presidential palace. 'But let me ask you ... do you really think we need it?' He did not clearly specify his reason for questioning the treaty alliance but said if a conflict pitting the world's most powerful nations breaks out, 'there will be no more American aid to talk of.'" (10/11/16)
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17) Colombia: Youth set up tent city to demand peace deal
Source: Sacramento Bee
"Dozens of activists have raised a multicolored, makeshift tent city in Bogota's main square to demand the government and rebels save a deal meant to end a half century of conflict -- part of a belated outburst of activism across the country by Colombians stunned at last week's unexpected defeat of the peace accord in a referendum. The mostly youthful demonstrators at what's called the 'Peace Camp' reject any political affiliation. Organizers say their only goal is to make sure the peace deal signed last month by the government and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia isn't scuttled." (10/11/16)
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18) CA: Suspects in attack on Sikh man were Chevron contractors
Source: San Jose Mercury News
"Two men suspected of attacking a 41-year-old Sikh man last month were contractors for Chevron, officials said Monday. Chase Little, 31, of Beaumont, Texas, and Dustin Albarado, 25, of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, were in Richmond for contract work when they and a third unidentified man reportedly assaulted Maan Singh Khalsa on Sept. 25. The suspects assaulted him and cut off his religiously mandated unshorn hair at an intersection near Hilltop Mall Drive Little and Albarado were arrested shortly after on suspicion of felony assault and later released on bail. The third suspect has not been identified and remains at large." (10/11/16)
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19) Advertising groups hit FCC on Wheeler's latest idiotic idea
Source: The Hill
"Advertising trade groups on Monday bashed proposed privacy rules for internet providers at the Federal Communications Commission. In a letter to the agency, six advertising industry groups, including the Association of National Advertisers and the Interactive Advertising Bureau, said they had 'deep concerns' about FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's privacy proposal. Under Wheeler's proposal internet service providers like Comcast or Verizon would have to get permission from their users to target advertisements based on their web browsing or application-use history." (10/10/16)
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20) Maduro to sue small paper for negative report on Venezuela's finances
Source: PanAm Post
"President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro said he plans to sue a newspaper Saturday, October 8 for publishing information about the supposed financial crisis facing the state-owned company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). Maduro did not release the name of the newspaper, but did call it 'trash,' saying that it was a small one operating out of Miami, Florida that reaches around two thousand readers." (10/09/16)
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21) Yahoo makes it difficult to leave its service by disabling automatic email forwarding
Source: TechCrunch
"Following Yahoo's September announcement of a data breach affecting 500 million user accounts, the company has made it more difficult for Yahoo Mail users to transition to another email service. At the beginning of October, Yahoo disabled an email forwarding feature, which would allow users to automatically redirect incoming emails sent to their Yahoo address to another account. The AP first reported this change, citing conversations with several Yahoo customers who sought out the feature in wake of the news regarding the data breach. Disabling email forwarding is a fairly transparent move aimed at stemming a potential exodus from Yahoo Mail to other email providers." (10/10/16)
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22) WHO urges regimes to raise taxes on sugary drinks
Source: Fox News
"The U.N. health agency on Tuesday recommended that countries use tax policy to increase the price of sugary drinks like sodas, sport drinks and even 100-percent fruit juices as a way to fight obesity, diabetes and tooth decay. The World Health Organization, in a statement timed for World Obesity Day, said that the prevalence of obesity worldwide more than doubled between 1980 and 2014, when nearly 40 percent of people globally were overweight. In a 36-page report on fiscal policy and diet, WHO also cited 'strong evidence' that subsidies to reduced prices for fresh fruits and vegetables can help improve diets. It said that tax policies that lead to a 20-percent increase in the retail prices of sugary drinks would result in a proportional reduction in consumption." (10/11/16)
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23) Australia: Labor Party votes to block referendum on marriage apartheid
Source: NBC News
"Australia's opposition Labor Party has voted to block a government-backed referendum on same-sex marriage. The move means it will remain one of the last countries in the Western world to grant [sic] gay and lesbian couples the right to wed. Labor Party leader Bill Shorten -- as well as a majority of Australians, according to recent Essential opinion polls -- support marriage for same-sex couples. But Shorten said Tuesday his party voted unanimously against the referendum proposed for February amid concerns it would be too costly and create an acrimonious climate for LGBT Australians." [editor's note: Same-sex couples have the right to wed whether governments "grant" it or not. The question is whether or not governments SUPPRESS it, as has been the case since governments started requiring that marriages be "licensed" - TLK]
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24) UT: Gubernatorial candidate threatens non-supporters with "judgment of God"
Source: Washington Post
"Donald Trump is the king of dire post-election predictions, warning that a Hillary Clinton presidency would result in -- among other things -- terrorists flooding the country, illegal immigrants 'flowing across the border,' 'disasters on the Supreme Court' and 'a very massive recession.' 'It won't be pretty,' Trump has warned. But Dell 'Super Dell' Schanze, a little-known candidate running for governor of Utah, may have one-upped the presidential hopeful. Voters who fail to cast their ballots next month for Schanze, a member of the Independent American Party, will 'face the judgments of God,' according to language the candidate authored in the state's official voter information pamphlet." (10/11/16)
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25) Samsung shuts Galaxy Note 7 production down
Source: CNet News
"The Galaxy Note 7 is no more. Samsung issued a statement on Tuesday to say it would be taking the drastic step of halting production of the problematic device altogether. 'For the benefit of consumers' safety, we stopped sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note 7 and have consequently decided to stop production,' said a Samsung spokeswoman. ... The Galaxy Note 7 has caused major problems for Samsung ever since it launched back in mid-August. Safety concerns meant the company had to issue a recall for early versions of the phone and put an exchange program in place. Reports that replacement phones were exhibiting the same battery problems as the originals led to the exchange program also being called to a halt." (10/11/16)
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FREEDOM COMMENTARY
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26) The LAVA Flow Podcast, episode 47
Source: The LAVA Flow Podcast
"Yahoo screwed you over and didn't even have the courtesy to tell you about it. Should you drop Yahoo like a hot potato? What's in the News with a Spurt update, Defense Distributed, America being sued, police misconduct, taxing vape shops, World War III, and more, and a Statists Gonna State on the 'OG libertarian.' And be sure to hang out until the end of the show to find out if you won our September contest!" [various formats] (10/11/16)
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27) What's your slavery percentage?
Source: Freeman's Perspective
by Paul Rosenberg
"Very few things in human life are truly all or nothing. Almost everything works on a sliding scale, even slavery. The problem is, very few people have ever studied slavery, leaving them with a few emotional slogans instead of actual knowledge. A Roman slave in a major city, for example, could start and run his own business, might be very rich, and might even become a major intellectual, like Epictetus. A Roman slave working in a mine ... well ... that was about as bad as it gets. So, all-or-nothing representations of slavery are false and more often than not are propaganda. This being the case, a question sits in front of us: How enslaved are we?" (10/11/16)
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28) In the age of the embarrassing leak, can we all admit that encryption is a good thing?
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
"It's one thing to have your friends in business found out for turning people's personal communications over to your friends in government. It's quite more troubling when you're Hillary Clinton and your own missives are hacked and reveal your strong belief in the value of telling the voting public one thing while firmly planning on doing another. ... FBI Director James Comey can't shut up about how much he hates anything that makes it hard for him to steam open the nation's envelopes. Presidential hopeful and national embarrassment Donald Trump called for a boycott of Apple for refusing to help the FBI crack its phones' security. Our horrifyingly likely next president, Hillary Clinton, famously called for a 'Manhattan-like project' to crack encryption. Who knows whether Comey will ever change his tune? But both presidential candidates probably have a stronger appreciation for privacy these days. " (10/11/16)
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29) The Science of Success and the Art of Prudence
Source: WendyMcElroy.com
by Wendy McElroy
"One of the most influential books in my life has been The Science of Success and the Art of Prudence by the 17th century Spanish Jesuit Baltasar Gracian. The Science of Success offers a moral and psychological blueprint for navigating the rocky shores of daily life. The 'advice' is presented in a somewhat obscure fashion as to meaning and so makes for a highly interpretative read. For someone like me, who is generally drawn to the hard black-and white of things (e.g.Ayn Rand), Gracian yanks me out of my intellectual comfort zone and into what is often uncomfortable self-analysis." (10/11/16)
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30) What Duterte demonstrates about US security commitments abroad
Source: Cato Institute
by Ted Galen Carpenter
"By every measure, both economic and military, the United States is the most powerful nation on the planet. And most of the time it acts that way, sometimes to the benefit of humanity and sometimes not. But there are occasions involving Washington's mushrooming network of global security dependents when the United States plays the role of supplicant superpower. At those times, U.S. leaders act as though allies, even small, utterly dependent allies, are doing America a favor by maintaining a close relationship. That point has become apparent most recently in Washington's reaction to the behavior of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte." (10/11/16)
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31) Nobody left to like
Source: Town Hall
by Debra J Saunders
"There are too many faults stacked in Donald Trump's towering inferno. Republicans have trained themselves to downplay his negatives such that he seems poised to destroy the GOP. Hillary Clinton knows them well. During the debate Sunday night she recited a handy list of his sins: Trump never apologizes. He didn't make amends to the Khans, the Muslim Gold Star parents who lost a son in Iraq. He suggests crazy, unrealistic schemes like barring Muslims from entering the United States. He made fun of a disabled reporter and stoked the absurd 'birther' rumors about America's first black president. His staunchest defenders know his demerits well, yet they are so demoralized about the direction of this country that they have chosen to see his shortcomings as strengths. At least, they tell themselves, Trump breaks the mold." (10/11/16)
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32) If corporations have rights, why not nature?
Source: The New Republic
by Chip Colwell
"In recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court has solidified the concept of corporate personhood. Following rulings in cases such as Hobby Lobby and Citizens United, U.S. law has established that companies are, like people, entitled to certain rights and protections. But that's not the only instance of extending legal rights to nonhuman entities. New Zealand took a radically different approach in 2014 with the Te Urewera Act which granted an 821-square-mile forest the legal status of a person. The forest is sacred to the Tūhoe people, an indigenous group of the Maori. For them, Te Urewera is an ancient and ancestral homeland that breathes life into their culture. The forest is also a living ancestor. The Te Urewera Act concludes that 'Te Urewera has an identity in and of itself,' and thus must be its own entity with 'all the rights, powers, duties, and liabilities of a legal person.' Te Urewera holds title to itself. Although this legal approach is unique to New Zealand, the underlying reason for it is not. Over the last 15 years I have documented similar cultural expressions by Native Americans about their traditional, sacred places." (10/10/16)
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33) What's wrong with an independent prosecutor for Clinton?
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
"Hillary Clinton supporters, including the mainstream press, are outraged that if elected president, Donald Trump intends to appoint a special prosecutor to look into Clinton's email scandal. They're saying that that would be akin to converting America into a 'banana republic.' But why is that? In a banana republic a new ruler simply jails or kills his political opponents, without any judicial process whatsoever. Isn't that different from a country in which an independent prosecutor employs a long-established judicial system to target an official who is accused of having committed a crime -- a system that includes such procedural protections as a grand-jury indictment, due process of law, an independent federal judge, and trial by jury?" (10/11/16)
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34) Science, democracy casualties of the climate war
Source: Heartland Institute
by H Sterling Burnett
"Only transparency allows the public to confirm that the laws and rules they must live under reflect their will, and only transparency gives them the ability to oversee and restrain government when necessary. The lack of transparency in the scientific and political spheres of the climate war -- recognizing the two are almost inextricably intertwined these days -- debases both." (10/11/16)
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35) In the Democratic echo chamber, inconvenient truths are recast as Putin plots
Source: The Intercept
by Glenn Greenwald
"On Friday, WikiLeaks published its first installment of emails obtained from the account of Clinton campaign chair John Podesta. Despite WikiLeaks' perfect, long-standing record of only publishing authentic documents, MSNBC's favorite ex-intelligence official, Malcolm Nance, within hours of the archive's release, posted a tweet claiming -- with zero evidence and without citation to a single document in the WikiLeaks archive -- that it was compromised with fakes .... Clinton's campaign officials spent the day fueling these insinuations, strongly implying that the documents were unreliable and should thus be ignored. Poof: Just like that, unpleasant facts about Hillary Clinton just disappeared, like a fairy protecting frightened children by waving her magic wand and sprinkling fairy dust over a demon and causing it to scatter away. Except the only fraud here was Nance's claim, not any of the documents published by WikiLeaks." (10/11/16)
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36) Leaked emails show Hillary would continue worst of Obama's economic legacy
Source: In These Times
by Branko Marcetic
"Nearly nine months ago, Hillary Clinton was first asked to release the transcripts of her paid speeches to Wall Street firms, for which she received $225,000 a pop. Speculation abounded about just what she said at the closed-door events. 'Now if you give a speech for $225,000, it must be a pretty damn good speech,' Bernie Sanders remarked back in April. 'And that is why I believe Secretary Clinton should share that speech with all of us.' Now, thanks to the latest WikiLeaks release, the public has finally been able to read what appears to be a sampling of the speeches' contents. A Clinton campaign staffer had excerpted the most politically damaging sections back in January, which were leaked last week. The excerpts suggest that if elected president, Clinton would carry on many of the Obama administration's worst tendencies on Wall Street and economic issues." (10/11/16)
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37) Price gouging: Not as bad as people think
Source: Students For Liberty
by Natalie Bao Tram Le
"Price gouging is a natural, market mechanism that spikes the cost of goods and services due to consumers' high demand, which distributes those goods and services to those who need them the most. By allowing prices to be dictated by market demand, commodities will not fall to shortages and, instead, remain abundant for consumers. But some do not grasp this." (10/11/16)
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38) Rule yourself
Source: Kent's "Hooligan Libertarian" Blog
by Kent McManigal
"The only "problem" with the word 'anarchy' is that bad guys have used the word to describe their non-anarchist acts, and other bad guys embraced and spread the misinformation. Not much you can do about that, besides use the word correctly when you use it. Maybe the word 'autarchy' has less baggage (not none), but if it started being talked about, it would gather baggage very quickly. I don't really see much point in abandoning a word you like to use due to baggage. But, whatever." (10/11/16)
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39) Trump and Clinton: How low can they go?
Source: spiked
by Sean Colllins
"This is an election campaign that is nearly devoid of true politics -- the vital decisions over the economy, society and world affairs. And the blame for this lies with both Trump and Clinton. Our media pundits single out Trump, for being a tacky businessman who has dumbed down politics, a bouffanted showman who has introduced reality TV into political life. Yes, Trump is as bad as they say. But Clinton also bears responsibility for dragging the debate to the gutter level that we're seeing today." (10/11/16)
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40) US should get out of the way in Syria
Source: USA Today
by Robert Robb
"The Obama administration's effort to enlist Russia as a partner in imposing a peace settlement in Syria has been a predictable failure. So, what's next? Arizona Sen. John McCain is the nation's foremost neoconservative hawk. In a recent Wall Street Journal column, he advocated an aggressive U.S. military engagement in the Syrian civil war. Its failure is also highly likely. And it would take risks and incur costs highly disproportionate to true U.S. interests in the outcome. According to McCain, the United States should ground Bashar Assad's air force by destroying his planes if they fly. McCain says we should do this with 'coalition partners.' But so long as Russia is in the picture, no other country will be joining in that mission." (10/10/16)
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41) The Fed who cried growth
Source: The Cobden Centre
by Jonathan Newman
"The FOMC has consistently overestimated future Fed Funds Rate (FFR) hikes. For a body that prides itself on super-scientific research methods and has teams of economists (self-described) and statisticians, it's interesting that they can't even predict their own behavior." (10/11/16)
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42) Who protects kids from predatory police and prosecutors?
Source: Pro Libertate
by William Norman Grigg
"Raising teenage girls in the age of Snapchat exhibitionism is a challenging proposition -- and it's not made any easier by ambitious prosecutors seeking to criminalize unwise acts that fall within parental jurisdiction. Last April 6, two parents from Knoxville, Iowa were summoned to a meeting with Lt. Aaron Fuller and Sgt. Kyle Keller of the city police department. A few days earlier, they had been informed by Carolyn Johnson, a guidance counselor at Knoxville High School, that their 14-year-old girl had sent 'inappropriate' pictures to a male friend. ... The parents were acting to protect their daughter, and discipline her, if necessary. The police were trying to build a case for a criminal prosecution. Those objectives were irreconcilable, which is why the parents should have either refused all cooperation, or insisted on being accompanied by an attorney during their meeting with the police." (10/11/16)
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43) Coming out as neoliberals
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Sam Bowman
"You may have spotted that we've recently decided to start calling ourselves free market 'neoliberals,' instead of libertarians. Nothing has changed about what we believe about the world, or the approach we take to making it better. But after thinking about it and discussing it among ourselves we decided that this was a clearer label for what we already believe and do." (10/11/16)
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44) The Jason Stapleton Program, 10/11/16
Source: The Jason Stapleton Program
"When I talk about a game of inches, I think some people mistake me for being in favor of progressive compromise. I am more than willing to take less than the total elimination of all taxation in America, but it will always be a discussion of tax reduction. I will never compromise my way to a tax increase. The same goes for our principles. We don't have to change our beliefs or sacrifice what makes us libertarian to win over converts. We simply need to share the message of individualism and free markets with love and a sincere desire to affect those around us in a positive way." [various formats] (10/11/16)
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45) Who's selling you?
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Kelly Hackman
"Do you desire great things for yourself? I'm not talking about achievement without merit. You've been striving, creating, and hustling like a marmot out there in this world. Busting your ass at work, streamlining procedures, inventing cheaper protocols, and nobody notices. Your friends and family all have noticed, mainly because that's all you bitterly talk about now. They say 'Don't worry. You deserve all the good things' then they pat you on the head and themselves on the back. And nothing changes. So, what's the problem? Who's heading your sales department? No, I don't mean at the office. I mean YOU. Who's selling YOU?" (10/11/16)
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46) Why it takes local activists to end school-to-prison pipeline
Source: Our Future
by Jeff Bryant
"It had been a difficult summer for Darian (not his real name). The 14-year-old had recently lost his father to a gun homicide. He had grown sullen and prone to angry outbursts and had recently texted to a friend, 'You say that to me again and I'm going to kill you,' in response to a taunt. Darian had no history of violent behavior, but the family had grown concerned about his emotional health, according to his grandmother Eunice Haigler. In a phone conversation, she tells me they hoped once Darian started school again in the fall, he would have access to a school counselor who would be able to help him with his emotions. But on the first day of the new school year, what Darian encountered instead of a counselor was a cop. School police, typically called school resource officers or SROs, took Darian into custody, charged him with making threats via an electronic device and saddled him with a criminal record." (10/11/16)
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47) Non you-ers' trade deficit with you
Source: Cafe Hayek
by Don Boudreaux
"You earn $1,000 this week. You spend $650 on consumption items (rent, food, gasoline, a new pair of jeans) and save -- you admirably prudent person you -- $350. You use this $350 to buy three shares of stock in Apple, Inc. (which are priced today at just over $116 per share). The rest of the world -- the non-you world; the economic entity that we might call the 'non-youers' -- has, as result of your transactions, a trade deficit with you this week of $350, and you have a trade surplus of exactly the same amount with the non-you world. You exported to non-youers $350 more of goods and services (that is, of whatever it is you produced to earn your weekly income) than you imported from non-youers. If mainstream media and most pundits are to be believed, you should be ashamed. You must be up to no good! You must be trading unfairly! You must be stopped!!" (10/10/16)
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48) Trump's guerilla politics are here to stay
Source: OpEdNews
by Ted Rall
"The reason Trump is still in the race, merely wounded and behind (rather than humiliated and out), is important to note. This novice politician understands media better than anyone else. Normally, we'd expect the election to be a referendum on Hillary Clinton and by extension President Obama. She's the incumbent effectively running for a third term of the same policies. Instead, everyone is talking about Donald Trump -- his fitness or lack thereof, his authenticity or lack thereof, his sanity or lack thereof. The reason is simple: Hillary Clinton delivers a cut-and-paste stump speech at every appearance (except for those to Wall Street, where she likes to share her 'private position'). Trump, meanwhile, performs jazz. He extemporizes. No one, including him, knows what he's going to say. So every rally gets covered live. How can she compete?" (10/11/16)
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49) Defeating doomsday derp: Tactical tidbits for Threepers
Source: Zero Gov
by John Meyers
"The older generation of survivalists who grew up in an era when the AR15 was less reliable tend to be very fond of full size .308 Battle Rifles for all situations. A myriad of multi volume prepper novels will be sure to point out the superiority of the HK91 over the poodle shooter 5.56 rifles or how great God's Gun in .45 ACP will hit someone in the arm and go back in time and kill their grandparents. I don't intend to have a caliber debate. But I do intend to make you think. For the .308 M1A/FAL/HK91 only crew, have you ever tried to work that platform in tight or confined areas? Have you tried searching your house or slicing corners in confined spaces? Close quarters work with a cumbersome platform often will turn out like a monkey screwing a football bat." (10/11/16)
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50) The truth about the war in Aleppo
Source: Antiwar.com
by David Stockman
"This is starting to sound pretty ominous. The Washington War Party is coming unhinged and appears to be leaving no stone unturned when it comes to provoking Putin's Russia and numerous others. The recent collapse of cooperation in Syria -- based on the false claim that Assad and his Russian allies are waging genocide in Aleppo -- is only the latest example. So now comes the U.S. Army's chief of staff, General Mark Milley, doing his best imitation of Curtis LeMay in a recent speech dripping with bellicosity. While America has no industrial state enemy left on the planet that can even remotely challenge its economic might, technological superiority and overwhelming military power, General Milley unloaded a fusillade of bluster at the Association of the United States Army's annual meeting in Washington DC ..." (10/11/16)
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51) America after November
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
"Yesterday, I bemoaned the disaster that is this year's presidential race. But big whup. As the LifeLock commercial rightly asks, 'Why monitor a problem if you don't fix it?' Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump will be the next president. That means we have our work cut out for us. And we can't wait for the 2020 presidential race to fix the problem." (10/11/16)
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52) Trump likes everything shiny and new, but older bombers are better
Source: Reuters
by David Axe
"During the second presidential debate, Republican nominee Donald Trump complained that the U.S. nuclear arsenal is old, Russia's is new -- and that is a big problem. He was wrong on all counts. First, both countries' nuclear arsenals are mixes of old and new bombers, missiles, warheads and submarines. Most important, though, when talking about strategic weapons, age is not a decisive factor in rating their usefulness, value and safety. But Trump's fixation on 'new' (and his insistence on equating it with 'far better') shouldn't be surprising. He's demonstrated a similar obsession in his real-estate career." (10/11/16)
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53) Freedom Feens Radio, 10/11/16
Source: Freedom Feens Radio
"Angela W. Keaton, Michael W. Dean, Jim W. Jesus, and Steve W. Miller W. Miller bring you live election coverage from the great state of LibPar, in the Alpha-Centauri region. They eat quisling pie with a side of troll." [various formats] (10/11/16)
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54) Asset forfeiture money is funding the surveillance state
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by Mike Maharrey
"A recent report shows how police have purchased a huge arsenal of surveillance equipment with proceeds from asset forfeiture. Information gathered through public records requests by the Chicago Reader reveals how the Chicago Police Department utilizes money collected through civil asset forfeiture to secretly fund the purchase of intrusive surveillance equipment. The staggering amount of money collected by the CPD and the spy gear it has funded underscores the need for both asset forfeiture reform, and strict limits on the acquisition and use of surveillance equipment such as stingrays and automatic license plate readers (ALPRs)." (10/10/16)
http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2016/10/10/asset-forfeiture-money-is-funding-the-surveillance-state/
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55) Even bugs will be bugged
Source: The Atlantic
by Matthew Hutson
"Many of the cameras that can be pointed at us today are easy to spot. But researchers are developing recording devices that can hide in plain sight, some by mimicking animals. A company called AeroVironment has produced a drone that looks and flies like a hummingbird. Engineers at Carnegie Mellon, nasa, and elsewhere have designed 'snakebots' that can maneuver in tight spaces and could be adapted for surveillance. Robotic bugs are in development, too, and engineers at UC Berkeley and in Singapore are developing cyborg beetles -- real insects that can be remote-controlled via implanted electrodes and that might someday pack cameras. If even an insect is too obvious, Kristofer Pister, an engineer at Berkeley, and David Blaauw, an engineer at the University of Michigan, are developing 'smart dust' and 'micro motes,' respectively: tiny computers mere millimeters wide that can be equipped with cameras and other sensors. One can (or can't, as it were) see where this is going." (10/11/16)
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56) A brief history of the last fifty years in this nation of swine
Source: CounterPunch
by Ron Jacobs
"Although the drama of Watergate was delightful to watch, the damage had been done. The war was still dragging on, the revolution had been shot at, killed, co-opted and otherwise destroyed and the war on drugs was changing what citizens were willing to accept when it came to policing. In other words, many citizens had no problem with no-knock police raids and stop-and-frisk. People look back on those days, especially, right-wingers and those who weren't around and tell me that Nixon was a liberal compared to today's 'conservative' politicians. I've got at least two responses to that line of lies: firstly, he wasn't a liberal; secondly the fact that people can get away with saying he was proves that his reign opened the way for the authoritarian, not quite textbook fascist reality we accept as commonplace today." (10/11/16)
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57) Afghanistan: Enduring occupation
Source: Voltaire Network
by Manlio Dinucci
"The fifteenth anniversary of 11 September was featured in the front pages for days. This contrasts with the media blackout for the fifteenth anniversary of the war in Afghanistan, launched on 7 October 2001 through operation Enduring Freedom. The official justification: hunting down Osama bin Laden, the lead organizer of the September 11 attacks, hidden in an Afghan cavern under the protection of the Taliban. In actual fact, we will later find out that a plan for the operation had already been laid out on President Bush's table prior to September 11. What the strategic objectives might be emerged clearly from the report, Quadrennial Defense Review, published by the Pentagon on 30 September 2001, a week before the beginning of the war in Afghanistan." (10/11/16)
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58) Free Talk Live, 10/10/16
Source: Free Talk Live
"Police Shooting Dogs :: Children Cursing :: Renters vs Home Owning :: Pets vs Kids :: Children and Choices :: Cops Actually Held Accountable for Shooting Dog :: Cops Inherently Aggressors? :: Commitment :: Marriage Sex and Boredom :: Ricky's Marriage Advice :: Pagan Blood Ceremony :: Self-Sufficiency :: Federal Court Affirms Right of Open Carry." [Flash audio or MP3] (10/10/16)
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59) Will tariffs make American great again?
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Laurence M Vance
"Implied in the idea that tariffs are part of what made America great is that the United States has gone off course economically because it has eliminated protective tariffs and instituted free trade. A look at the U.S. 'Harmonized Tariff Schedule' says otherwise (just reading the regulations regarding, and duties imposed on, different types of cheeses imported from the various countries is mind-boggling). The trade agreements that the United States has made with other countries, although they lower or eliminate tariffs on certain goods from certain countries, are managed trade, not free trade. And that is the first problem with tariffs: they are part of government attempts to manage trade." (10/11/16)
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60) Healthcare cronies seek monopoly powers over contact lenses
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Beth Johnson
"Once upon a time, contact lens manufacturer Johnson & Johnson was on top of the world in terms of its market dominance. Today, it still produces nearly 40 percent of the world's contact lenses, but this is nothing compared to the company's heyday, when it enjoyed numerous government-granted monopoly powers over the contact-lens market. Unfortunately for the nation's 41 million contact lens users, the good old days of exploiting contact lens customers via government regulations might be coming back if the new Contact Lens Consumer Health Protection Act is passed into law. This legislation will strip consumers of their right to choose in an effort to further the financial interests of the billion-dollar medical lobby." (10/11/16)
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