06/29 -- SCOTUS: Render unto Caesar ... er, Kaiser Permanente; What next? Nullify!
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Thomas L. Knapp
Jun 29, 2012, 12:31:12 AM6/29/12
to Freedom News Daily
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Today's Freedom News:
1) SCOTUS: Obamacare "individual mandate" constitutional
2) US House finds Holder in contempt
3) Iraq: 38 killed, 146 wounded
4) Afghanistan: Two occupation troops killed
5) Pakistan: At least 17 killed in attacks
6) European leaders agree on long-term union
7) US spares China, Singapore from sanctions over Iran oil imports
8) Japan, South Korea sign first military pact since WWII
9) Australia: Vote keeps question mark over asylum seekers
10) British police demand Assange report to station
11) NH: Lawmakers override voter ID, tax credit vetoes
12) IN: Police SWAT wrong home over open wifi network
13) Mexico: All eyes on candidate likely to lose presidential election
14) TX: Houston strip clubs paying "pole tax"
15) Congress poised to prevent doubling of student loan rates
16) Navsop navigation system rivals GPS
17) From Nazi to Terminator, Europe's media target Merkel
18) New Zealand: Court finds Megaupload search warrants illegal
19) SCOTUS: Not a crime to make up military stories
20) US House panel OKs bill expanding rewards program
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) SCOTUS: Render unto Caesar ... er, Kaiser Permanente
22) What next? Nullify!
23) How hawkish is John Allison?
24) Obama vs. the rule of law
25) Responses to the Nazgul
26) Homeschooling for free minds
27) Julian Heicklen: Exclusive interview from Israel, part 1
28) Julian Heicklen: Exclusive interview from Israel, part 2
29) Self-defense and the anti-gun mentality
30) Why unions don't want workers to earn more
31) Moral injury and American War
32) Writing "The Troy Standard"
33) Doing more with less
34) Review: The Higher Education Bubble
35) Homeschooling myths
36) Why ObamaCare will fail: A reading list
37) Inviting the state into our intimacies
38) The stupidification of America
39) It may be constitutional, but it's still a bad law
40) The key passage from the healthcare ruling
41) Arthritic docs
42) Government transparency becoming a joke
43) It's Roberts's court now
44) Berlusconi's latest clown act
45) Government sociopaths
46) Jonathan Rauch is uncharitable
47) Laws create a smoking gun
48) Syria and the Phantom
49) In praise of discrimination in the health insurance market
50) College loan interest rates: Real change or spare change?
51) Pragmatism's problems
52) We need more competition to break the banking oligopoly
53) Paul Krugman: "We have always been at war with a bloated housing
sector"
54) "Naming names"
55) Now, repeal Obamacare
Today's Freedom Audio and Video:
56) Free Talk Live, 06/27/12
57) Adam Morrow on Antiwar Radio
58) Cato Daily Podcast, 06/27/12
59) Interview: Joseph Campbell
60) Freedomain Radio #2165
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FREEDOM NEWS
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1) SCOTUS: Obamacare "individual mandate" constitutional
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
"In an historic decision, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld
the individual insurance requirement at the heart of President Barack
Obama's health care overhaul. The decision means the overhaul will
continue to go into effect over the next several years, affecting the
way that countless Americans receive and pay for their personal
medical care. The ruling also handed Obama a campaign-season victory
in rejecting arguments that Congress went too far in requiring most
Americans to have health insurance or pay a penalty." (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/NFVGgk
-----
2) US House finds Holder in contempt
Source: New York Times
"The Republican-led House of Representatives on Thursday voted to hold
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt for failing to
disclose internal Justice Department documents in response to a
subpoena. It was the first time in American history that Congress has
imposed the sanction on a sitting member of a president's
cabinet." (06/28/12)
http://nyti.ms/MaPCB5
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3) Iraq: 38 killed, 146 wounded
Source: Antiwar.com
"At least 38 people were killed and 146 more were wounded in attacks
across the country. As usual insurgents focused on security forces and
government locations. A surge in violence that has taken place in
recent weeks seemed to target Shi'ites, but today's attacks took place
in Sunni neighborhoods as well." (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/MaNnO1
-----
4) Afghanistan: Two occupation troops killed
Source: Press TV [Iranian state media]
"Two US-led foreign soldiers have been killed in a roadside bomb blast
in Afghanistan, NATO says. NATO made the announcement without
providing further information about the location of the incident or
the indentities of the slain soldiers." (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/MaMrcA
-----
5) Pakistan: At least 17 killed in attacks
Source: Washington Post
"Suspected Sunni Muslim militants attacked a bus carrying Shiite
pilgrims in southwest Pakistan Thursday, killing at least 10 people,
officials said. In a separate incident, a roadside bomb hit a
paramilitary convoy in the country's northwest, killing seven
soldiers, a government official said." (06/28/12)
http://wapo.st/MaMgOo
-----
6) European leaders agree on long-term union
Source: USA Today
"European leaders have agreed to use the continent's permanent bailout
fund to recapitalize struggling banks, and agreed to the idea of a
tighter union in the long term. The bank decision at overnight
meetings in Brussels on Friday was aimed at helping Spain, which
sought a euro100 billion rescue to help its troubled banks and is
facing rising borrowing costs." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7asztx2
-----
7) US spares China, Singapore from sanctions over Iran oil imports
Source: MSNBC
"The United States on Thursday gave China and Singapore six-month
reprieves from sanctions over importing Iranian oil. Secretary of
State Hillary Rodham Clinton commended the two Asian countries for
'significantly' reducing the oil purchases. Eighteen other governments
have received similar waivers designed to pressure Iran to curb its
nuclear program by choking off its oil revenues." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7agfvkr
-----
8) Japan, South Korea sign first military pact since WWII
Source: Macon Telegraph
"Japan and South Korea have agreed to share intelligence in their
first joint military pact since World War II.Japan's Cabinet approved
the pact Friday. It will allow sharing intelligence in such areas as
missile defense, North Korea's nuclear weapons program and other
regional security matters. It has already been approved by South Korea
and is to be signed in Tokyo later in the day." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7xtx5lx
-----
9) Australia: Vote keeps question mark over asylum seekers
Source: CNN
"The Australian Senate has rejected a bill that would have revived
plans to process asylum seekers in offshore detention centers in a
highly emotional vote following the sinking of two boats packed with
people in one week. Senators voted down the legislation by 39 votes to
29, after hours of heated debate that saw one politician break down in
tears as she described the plight of one 15-year-old boy's journey
from Afghanistan." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/798b8kv
-----
10) British police demand Assange report to station
Source: Salt Lake Tribune
"British police served Julian Assange on Thursday with a demand that
he report to a police station as the first step in his extradition to
Sweden to face sex crime allegations. The WikiLeaks founder said he
was unlikely to obey the order to show up on Friday." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/8yvavev
-----
11) NH: Lawmakers override voter ID, tax credit vetoes
Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette
"Voter identification and education tax credits for businesses were
among the victories scored by the Republican-led Legislature when it
tackled Democrat Gov. John Lynch's vetoes on Wednesday. Voters in the
state will now have to provide photo ID at the polls and sign a
document when they register saying New Hampshire is their home state.
And businesses will be allowed to get tax credits for donating to
scholarship organizations to send students to private or public
schools." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/767qtg3
-----
12) IN: Police SWAT wrong home over open wifi network
Source: The Raw Story
"An unsecured wifi network triggered a SWAT team raid on the wrong
home in Evansville, Indiana last week after officers began
investigating specific threats made in an online forum. As it turns
out, nobody inside the home made those threats, which apparently came
from someone who simply accessed their network. But that didn't stop
police from gearing up for the raid blocks away and inviting a local
reporter and cameraman to tag along." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/6wcyayw
-----
13) Mexico: All eyes on candidate likely to lose presidential election
Source: Arizona Republic
"Four days before Mexico's presidential election, much of the nation's
attention is focused on a man who appears certain to lose. That man is
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the fiery, feisty leftist who shut down
the heart of Mexico City after the last election with mass protests
against a narrow loss that he blamed on electoral fraud. Final polls
released Wednesday showed Lopez Obrador in second place, with the
candidate of Mexico's former ruling party, Enrique Pena Nieto,
anywhere from 8 to 17 percentage points in the lead." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7b825sy
-----
14) TX: Houston strip clubs paying "pole tax"
Source: Fox News
"The city of Houston is turning to an unusual source to help fund rape
investigations: strip clubs. The City Council of the nation's fourth-
largest city passed an ordinance Wednesday that requires strip clubs
to pay a $5-per-visitor fee to help pay for the analysis of biological
evidence collected from rape victims in hopes of identifying their
attackers." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7s8haf9
-----
15) Congress poised to prevent doubling of student loan rates
Source: Christian Science Monitor
"College student borrowers can breathe easier for one more year. Late
Wednesday, Congress reached an agreement that is expected to prevent
the interest rate on federally subsidized loans from doubling on July
1. The bipartisan compromise came on the heels of months of political
bickering over how to pay for extending the 3.4 percent rate on newly
issued subsidized Stafford loans for the coming school
year." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7wklbs7
-----
16) Navsop navigation system rivals GPS
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"A new positioning system has been developed to complement or even
replace current technologies such as GPS. Made by UK defence firm BAE
Systems, it relies on the same signals used by mobile phones, TVs,
radios and wi-fi rather than navigation satellites. The firm says
Navsop could help find victims inside buildings during a fire and
locate stolen vehicles hidden in underground car parks. It could also
be used in a war if the sat-nav system was turned off." (06/28/12)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18633917
-----
17) From Nazi to Terminator, Europe's media target Merkel
Source: Reuters
"Demonized in Europe's media as a red-eyed Terminator robot, a flabby
centerfold pinup and a fleshy Roman god eating Greeks, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel has become the subject of a new wave of
vitriol for her tough stance on the euro zone crisis. Already a figure
of hate in Greece for insisting on austerity in exchange for aid,
Merkel has long endured montages of herself in a Nazi uniform, but the
run-up to this week's EU summit has unleashed particularly savage
images and headlines." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/ckpnjgb
-----
18) New Zealand: Court finds Megaupload search warrants illegal
Source: Canoe Technology [Canada]
"Search warrants used when 70 New Zealand police raided the mansion of
the suspected kingpin of an Internet piracy ring were illegal, a New
Zealand court ruled on Thursday, dealing a blow to the FBI's highest
profile global copyright theft case. ... 'The warrants did not
adequately describe the offences to which they related,' [High Court
Judge Justice Helen] Winkelmann said in her ruling. 'Indeed they fell
well short of that. They were general warrants, and as such, are
invalid.'" (06/28/12)
http://technology.canoe.ca/2012/06/28/19929191.html
-----
19) SCOTUS: Not a crime to make up military stories
Source: New York Times
"A divided Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a federal law that
made it a crime to lie about having earned a military decoration,
saying that the law was an unconstitutional infringement on free
speech." (06/28/12)
http://nyti.ms/NG1giF
-----
20) US House panel OKs bill expanding rewards program
Source: San Angelo Standard-Times
"A House panel has approved legislation that would expand the State
Department's rewards for justice program to target the world's most
serious human rights abusers such as African warlord Joseph Kony. The
Foreign Affairs Committee, on a voice vote Wednesday, approved a
bipartisan bill authorizing operations for the State
Department." [editor's note: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
herself, however, will likely not be subject to any of the bounties
this bill pays for. Too bad - TLK] (06/27/12)
http://tinyurl.com/79oxwsq
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HEALTH-OF-THE-STATE-O-METER, 06/29/12
Iraqi Deaths Due to US Invasion: 1,455,590
(source: justforeignpolicy.org/iraq)
US Deaths in Afghanistan: Bush 575, Obama 1348
(source: justforeignpolicy.org/obamavsbush)
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FREEDOM COMMENTARY
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21) SCOTUS: Render unto Caesar ... er, Kaiser Permanente
Source: Center for a Stateless Society
by Thomas L. Knapp
"Most people I've talked with about CannibalCare ... er, ObamaCare ...
realize that there's something deeply immoral in the whole concept.
But at the same time they despair over ever-increasing health care
costs, without ever noticing that those cost increases have been the
result of more than a century of successive political interventions,
not of anything resembling actual market processes. And more, they
don't realize that those interventions have been created and defended
by the 'right' as often as by the 'left.'"
http://c4ss.org/content/10769
-----
22) What next? Nullify!
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by staff
"On Thursday, the Supreme Court sent shockwaves across America,
upholding the constitutionality of the federal health care act. Tenth
Amendment Center executive director Michael Boldin said it didn't
surprise him one bit. 'The federal government always expands its own
power. The Supreme Court is part of the federal government. I don't
see what's so shocking here.'" (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/82w37bv
-----
23) How hawkish is John Allison?
Source: The Moral Sciences Club
by Will Wilkinson
"During the whole Koch v. Crane hullabaloo, I got an earful from some
of my former colleagues about how Cato would be absolutely ruined if
its reputation for independence were compromised, and that this would
be especially tragic if it led Cato to lose influence in foreign
policy, since it is Washington's most visible, principled anti-war
institution. So now Cato's about to have a president who does not
happen to be, as far as I know, a GOP partisan, but does happen to be
an Ayn Rand evangelist who gives time and money to an institution that
is actively campaigning for war in Iran. Does this, on the whole,
really help Cato's reputation?" (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/NG0t1m
-----
24) Obama vs. the rule of law
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G. Hornberger
"Some people believe that the term 'the rule of law' means that people
are expected to obey the law. You hear this often from public
officials, who say such things as, 'People might not agree with the
drug laws or immigration laws, but the rule of law dictates that
people obey the law so long as it's the law.' Actually, the term means
something entirely different." (06/28/12)
http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2012-06-28.asp
-----
25) Responses to the Nazgul
Source: Living Freedom
by Claire Wolfe
"So how did you react when you heard the woefully misnamed Supreme
Court had upheld Obamacare?" (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/MaFLLq
-----
26) Homeschooling for free minds
Source: Zero Gov
by Lilo Gray
"Our government does not want a populace that questions its authority.
Free thinkers are dangerous. Homeschoolers are a threat to the Borg
and believe me, I want to be that threat. But do you? If we want a
society built on freedom, how does locking them up all day long and
chastising them for being individualists encourage their own gifts and
talents? " (06/28/12)
http://zerogov.com/?p=2725
-----
27) Julian Heicklen: Exclusive interview from Israel , part 1
Source: Libertarian News Examiner
by Garry Reed
"The Libertarian News Examiner, long a champion of libertarian rights
activist Julian Heicklen, reported on June 1 'Rights activist Julian
Heicklen flees US, takes refuge in Israel.' ... This exclusive
interview is a follow-up to what some may see as a drastic decision on
Heicklen's part." (06/28/12)
http://exm.nr/MaJSY3
-----
28) Julian Heicklen: Exclusive interview from Israel, part 2
Source: Libertarian News Examiner
by Garry Reed
Part 2 of Reed's interview with Julian Heicklen. (06/28/12)
http://exm.nr/MaJIzR
-----
29) Self-defense and the anti-gun mentality
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Scott McPherson
"I've been carrying a 9mm Smith & Wesson automatic for 15 years. I
started doing this when my wife and I moved to a bad part of town.
Since then we've changed states a couple of times, and I daresay that
the quality of neighborhoods we've lived in has improved with each
move. Now we live in quaint and quiet Portsmouth, New Hampshire --
hands down the best city on Earth. But the habit of carrying my pistol
has stayed with me; I rarely leave home without it." (06/27/12)
http://www.fff.org/comment/com1206w.asp
-----
30) Why unions don't want workers to earn more
Source: Competitive Enterprise Institute
by Michael Giles
"During the recent debate on the farm bill, the Senate voted down an
amendment that would allow unionized employers to give workers raises
based on merit. The amendment, called the Rewarding Achievement and
Incentivizing Successful Employees Act, eliminates the federally
mandated ceiling on the union wages for nearly 8 million
workers." (06/26/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7wkblmd
-----
31) Moral injury and American War
Source: CounterPunch
by Nan Levinson
"When your job requires you to pull sleeping families from their beds
at midnight thousands of miles from your home, or to shoot at oncoming
cars without knowing who's driving them, or to refuse medical care to
decrepit old men, you begin to question what doing your job means.
When the reasons keep shifting for what you're supposed to be doing in
a country where most of the population wants you to go home even more
than you want to, it's hard to maintain any sense of innocence. When
someone going about his daily life is regularly mistaken for someone
who means to kill you -- as has repetitively been the case in our
occupations of both Iraq and Afghanistan -- everyone becomes the
enemy. And when you try -- and fail -- to do the right thing in a
chaotic and threatening situation, which nothing could have trained
you for, the enemy can move inside you and stay there for a very long
time." (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/MaH5hE
-----
32) Writing "The Troy Standard"
Source: Strike the Root
by AG Fredericks
"This wasn't a book that I wanted to write, rather it was one I needed
to write. I was sick of being the paranoid guy sitting in the corner
and keeping quiet. I'm sad to say that after completing The Troy
Standard, it did nothing to curb my fear of the impending economic and
social crisis that we are facing. If anything, it only heightened
it." (06/28/12)
http://www.strike-the-root.com/writing-troy-standard
-----
33) Doing more with less
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Steven Horwitz
"The Vulture Capitalists may be an intimidating name for the Cato
Institute's softball team, but Texas Governor Rick Perry's phrase is
an example of a common attack on venture capitalists such as Mitt
Romney and his former firm, Bain Capital. This attack takes a familiar
form: that venture capitalists care about profits over people and will
do whatever it takes to make a buck--including shedding workers and
picking over the dead remains of firms." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7rbr787
-----
34) Review: The Higher Education Bubble
Source: Encounter Books
by Glenn Reynolds
"Like the housing bubble, it is the product of cheap credit coupled
with popular expectations of ever-increasing returns on investment,
and as with housing prices, the cheap credit has caused college
tuitions to vastly outpace inflation and family incomes. Now this
bubble is bursting." (06/28/12)
http://www.encounterbooks.com/books/the-higher-education-bubble/
-----
35) Homeschooling myths
Source: Policy Mic
by Judith Ayers
"Contrary to popular opinion, forced association by the government
isn't socialization, it's a violent assembly style system that isn't
really educating and socializing anyone." (06/27/12)
http://bit.ly/MaGjBe
-----
36) Why ObamaCare will fail: A reading list
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by staff
"The Supreme Court today upheld 'Obamacare,' a massive economic
intervention ostensibly designed to cure the ills of American
healthcare. Of course those ills were themselves caused by
intervention, and this 'cure' will only make the situation even worse.
The 'cycle of interventionism' Mises warned us about continues to
intensify." (06/28/12)
http://mises.org/daily/3737/Why-ObamaCare-Will-Fail-A-Reading-List
-----
37) Inviting the state into our intimacies
Source: Spiked
by Frank Furedi
"Gay marriage is presented as an issue of equal rights, but it's
better understood as a top-down overhaul of the institution of
marriage." (06/28/12)
http://www.spiked-online.com/site/article/12539/
-----
38) The stupidification of America
Source: Liberty For All
by Garry Reed
"People have voluntarily stupidified themselves because they've bought
into assorted cultural caca, ideological concepts frequently abetted
or opportunistically manipulated after the fact by the nation's
political donkey dung dishers and elephant effluvia flingers.
Libertarians are uniquely positioned to snicker, sneer and snort at
this ongoing social stupidification because they don't subscribe to
the lefty-righty fakery of political correctness." (06/28/12)
http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=7771
-----
39) It may be constitutional, but it's still a bad law
Source: Reuters
by Nicholas Wapshott
"So the Supreme Court has upheld most of the Affordable Care Act as
constitutional. As someone who supports universal healthcare, who has
lived most of his life in the UK, which has an admirable national
health service, and who believes affordable healthcare for all is the
mark of a civilized nation, I say it's too bad. It is a wretched piece
of legislation: complex, expensive, incomprehensible -- do you know
anyone, even a health expert, who can tell you what it means in a
single sentence -- easy for the unscrupulous to manipulate, unpopular,
and politically catastrophic for the president." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/6qa3ct8
-----
40) The key passage from the healthcare ruling
Source: The Nation
by Ari Melber
"This is the heart of the case: Although the breadth of Congress's
power to tax is greater than its power to regulate commerce, the
taxing power does not give Congress the same degree of control over
individual behavior. Once we recognize that Congress may regulate a
particular decision under the Commerce Clause, the Federal Government
can bring its full weight to bear. ... By contrast, Congress's
authority under the taxing power is limited to requiring an individual
to pay money into the Federal Treasury, no more." [editor's note: So
it's just more incentive to become a tax-resister? - SAT] (06/28/12)
http://www.thenation.com/blog/168647/key-passage-healthcare-ruling
-----
41) Arthritic docs
Source: In These Times
by Michael Atkinson
"We're living in an era of unparalleled, unfettered political
filmmaking; cheap consumer technology has made it so, allowing anyone
with a camcorder and a FinalCut download to make their own spiffy
feature about What's Wrong with Just About Everything. Mix in the
eight-year window of wonders we called the Bush Administration, and a
new epoch of cinematic engagement was born. Films and filmmakers have
been plentiful, but so have audiences." (06/28/12)
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/13357/arthritic_docs
-----
42) Government transparency becoming a joke
Source: Orange County Register
by Gene Healy
"For those of us with a mordant sense of humor, the Obama
administration's record on transparency is comedy gold. In his letter
last week formally requesting that President Obama invoke executive
privilege in the Fast and Furious scandal, Attorney General Eric
Holder fretted that turning over documents sought by the House
Oversight and Government Reform Committee raised 'substantial
separation of powers concerns' and could 'create an imbalance in the
relationship between these two co-equal branches of government.' 'Co-
equal branches'? An 'imbalance[d] relationship'? Don't make me
laugh." (06/27/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7srbdmz
-----
43) It's Roberts's court now
Source: The American Prospect
by Garrett Epps
"For months before today's announcement of the Supreme Court's
decision in the Health Care Cases, the conventional wisdom had
centered on two things: (1) The vote would be 6-3; and (2) Chief
Justice John G. Roberts would write the opinion. Roberts would jump
the way Justice Anthony Kennedy jumped and then write the opinion to
shape doctrine for the future. It's a good day for conventional wisdom
when it is half right, but that the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
survived, 5-4, with a majority opinion by Roberts and an angry dissent
by Kennedy was an outcome few people would have predicted." (06/28/12)
http://prospect.org/article/its-robertss-court-now
-----
44) Berlusconi's latest clown act
Source: Cato Institute
by Alberto Mingardi
"When Silvio Berlusconi left Italy's political stage last November,
paving the way for a technocratic government led by Mario Monti, he
appeared to have resolved to keep his peace. He pledged the
conditional support of his party, People of Freedom, and insisted that
Mr. Monti be allowed to govern until 2013. But Mr. Berlusconi is now
reclaiming the attention of the Italian people -- and in customary
spectacular fashion." (06/26/12)
http://bit.ly/M8ND01
-----
45) Government sociopaths
Source: Authority!
by Timothy J Taylor
"Many government employees, agents and officials today perform their
functions much like mindless soulless zombies, i.e. sociopaths -
people who exhibit antisocial personality disorders while not feeling
the least bit guilty about their abominable behavior towards others.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in particular seems
to attract these types; people in uniforms who relate to other people
without empathy, humanity, decency and kindness in deliberate
disregard for the dignity of their victims." (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/M8Njyz
-----
46) Jonathan Rauch is uncharitable
Source: EconLog
by Arnold Kling
"Rauch implies that libertarians face a dilemma. Either coerce
hospitals to provide care to the indigent (as we do now) or coerce
individuals to buy insurance. There is a third alternative:
charity." (06/28/12)
http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2012/06/jonathan_rauch.html
-----
47) Laws create a smoking gun
Source: Jeffersonville Evening News
by Debbie Harbeson
"I've always maintained that government-mandated smoking bans ignore
the concept of property ownership and the decision on whether or not
to allow smoking in a given business belongs to each individual
business owner. Patrons and other interested parties can certainly
work to persuade a business owner to take a specific action, but the
ultimate decision belongs to the owner. Like the smoking ban, the
'smoker's bill of rights' legislation also ignores the concept of
property ownership." (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/NG41AL
-----
48) Syria and the Phantom
Source: Antiwar.com
by Conn Hallinan
"What was that Turkish F-4 Phantom II up to when the Syrians shot it
down? Ankara said the plane strayed into Syrian airspace but quickly
left and was over international waters when it was attacked, a simple
case of carelessness on the part of the Turkish pilot that Syrian
paranoia turned deadly. But the Phantom -- eyewitnesses told Turkish
television that there were two aircraft, but there is no official
confirmation of that observation -- was hardly on a Sunday
outing." (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/NG2ZEI
-----
49) In praise of discrimination in the health insurance market
Source: Reason
by John Stossel
"No-discrimination insurance isn't insurance. It's
welfare." (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/NG1INY
-----
50) College loan interest rates: Real change or spare change?
Source: Independent Institute
by Vicki Alger
"The interest rate on federally subsidized student loans is set to
double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1 absent Congressional
action. Apparently a deal is forthcoming. Too bad the rhetoric
surrounding this debate isn't." (06/27/12)
http://bit.ly/NG0Lp0
-----
51) Pragmatism's problems
Source: A Passion for Liberty
by Tibor R. Machan
"In what is commonly taken as the pragmatic turn, Posner illustrates
that when it comes to morals and politics, no truth is available to
us. Objectively speaking, neither the Nazis nor those who condemned
them could be said to have had it right (nor indeed those proposing
that it's all subjective)! According to our lights they were vicious
but according to theirs they were not -- and there is simply no way to
adjudicate between them and us." (06/27/12)
http://tibormachan.rationalreview.com/2012/06/pragmatisms-problems/
-----
52) We need more competition to break the banking oligopoly
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Dr. Eamonn Butler
"It's not surprising that bank business-getters were paid huge amounts
to take more risks and do more deals -- because in this fantasy
boomland, every risk paid off and every deal worked. Until over-
indebted governments and householders could no longer afford to keep
the boom going, of course." (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/NFWRwe
-----
53) Paul Krugman: "We have always been at war with a bloated housing
sector"
Source: Free Advice
by Robert P. Murphy
"Usually I'm pretty good at seeing how Krugman isn't actually
contradicting himself, but instead is engaging in mere Kontradiction
-- where he twists the dials on something that could plausibly go
either way, in order to always come down on the side of more
government activism on an issue. It's not that his decision to turn
the dial one way or the other is outrageous on any given issue, but
rather that his calibration of the dials isn't random, or guided by
how he actually feels on the issue -- it matters where it will lead
him on that particular policy issue, for that particular blog
post." (06/26/12)
http://bit.ly/NFV9uT
-----
54) "Naming names"
Source: LewRockwell.com
by Charles A. Burris
"Over the past several weeks at LRC I have written various articles
and blogs touching upon my favorite area of commentary: that of power
elite analysis and the hidden history related to this subject. These
topics have included Watergate, the Bush dynasty, the 1980 October
Surprise, and the 1980s Vatican Banking scandal. I have received quite
a number of enthusiastic responses from readers seeking more
information on these concerns." (06/28/12)
http://lewrockwell.com/burris/burris28.1.html
-----
55) Now, repeal Obamacare
Source: Orange County Register
by Grace-Marie Turner
"Yes, the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the health overhaul law
is disappointing, but the final judgment on the law will be made by
the voters in November. The president must now spend the next four
months defending a law that the majority of Americans dislike, and the
more they learn about it, the more they dislike it. Worse, the part of
the law that is the least popular -- the individual mandate -- has now
been declared a tax. That's double jeopardy for the president: The
unpopular mandate stands, and now it is called a tax." [editor's note:
Now that SCOTUS declares it IS indeed a tax -- or it would be
unconstitutional -- how will POTUS dance around this one? - SAT]
(06/28/12)
http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/law-361189-health-tax.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
FREEDOM AUDIO & VIDEO
------------------------------------------------------------------
56) Free Talk Live, 06/27/12
Source: Free Talk Live
"Legal Sex, Illegal Photos :: Taking Down the Internet Paranoia ::
Recording Naked Neighbors :: Bathing Suit Ban :: Upset Letter to the
Editor about Memorial Day Peace Protest :: PTSD :: Sharing FTL ::
Fired for Refusing to Sell Cigarettes to Welfare Recipient :: Bad
Crank :: Kokesh in Hostile Interview :: Population Extermination
Paranoia :: Memorial Day :: Mark Interviews Will Coley, President of
Muslims for Liberty." [MP3] (06/27/12)
http://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/ftl2012-06-27/download
-----
57) Adam Morrow on Antiwar Radio
Source: Antiwar.com
"IPS News journalist Adam Morrow discusses how Muslim Brotherhood
candidate Mohammed Morsi's presidential victory averted a crisis in
Egypt ..." [Flash audio or MP3] (06/27/12)
http://antiwar.com/radio/2012/06/27/adam-morrow-20/
-----
58) Cato Daily Podcast, 06/27/12
Source: Cato Institute
"Montana speech restrictions tossed out by SCOTUS." [Flash audio or
MP3] (06/27/12)
http://bit.ly/M8Xt21
-----
59) Interview: Joseph Campbell
Source: Hit & Run
"Campbell sat down with ReasonTV's Nick Gillespie to discuss Cronkite
and other myths propelled by the media." [Flash video] (06/26/12)
http://bit.ly/M8Xljd
-----
60) Freedomain Radio #2165
Source: Freedomain Radio
"The ethics of idiocy." [MP3] (06/20/12)
http://tinyurl.com/fdr2165
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Today's Freedom News:
1) SCOTUS: Obamacare "individual mandate" constitutional
2) US House finds Holder in contempt
3) Iraq: 38 killed, 146 wounded
4) Afghanistan: Two occupation troops killed
5) Pakistan: At least 17 killed in attacks
6) European leaders agree on long-term union
7) US spares China, Singapore from sanctions over Iran oil imports
8) Japan, South Korea sign first military pact since WWII
9) Australia: Vote keeps question mark over asylum seekers
10) British police demand Assange report to station
11) NH: Lawmakers override voter ID, tax credit vetoes
12) IN: Police SWAT wrong home over open wifi network
13) Mexico: All eyes on candidate likely to lose presidential election
14) TX: Houston strip clubs paying "pole tax"
15) Congress poised to prevent doubling of student loan rates
16) Navsop navigation system rivals GPS
17) From Nazi to Terminator, Europe's media target Merkel
18) New Zealand: Court finds Megaupload search warrants illegal
19) SCOTUS: Not a crime to make up military stories
20) US House panel OKs bill expanding rewards program
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) SCOTUS: Render unto Caesar ... er, Kaiser Permanente
22) What next? Nullify!
23) How hawkish is John Allison?
24) Obama vs. the rule of law
25) Responses to the Nazgul
26) Homeschooling for free minds
27) Julian Heicklen: Exclusive interview from Israel, part 1
28) Julian Heicklen: Exclusive interview from Israel, part 2
29) Self-defense and the anti-gun mentality
30) Why unions don't want workers to earn more
31) Moral injury and American War
32) Writing "The Troy Standard"
33) Doing more with less
34) Review: The Higher Education Bubble
35) Homeschooling myths
36) Why ObamaCare will fail: A reading list
37) Inviting the state into our intimacies
38) The stupidification of America
39) It may be constitutional, but it's still a bad law
40) The key passage from the healthcare ruling
41) Arthritic docs
42) Government transparency becoming a joke
43) It's Roberts's court now
44) Berlusconi's latest clown act
45) Government sociopaths
46) Jonathan Rauch is uncharitable
47) Laws create a smoking gun
48) Syria and the Phantom
49) In praise of discrimination in the health insurance market
50) College loan interest rates: Real change or spare change?
51) Pragmatism's problems
52) We need more competition to break the banking oligopoly
53) Paul Krugman: "We have always been at war with a bloated housing
sector"
54) "Naming names"
55) Now, repeal Obamacare
Today's Freedom Audio and Video:
56) Free Talk Live, 06/27/12
57) Adam Morrow on Antiwar Radio
58) Cato Daily Podcast, 06/27/12
59) Interview: Joseph Campbell
60) Freedomain Radio #2165
------------------------------------------------------------------
FREEDOM NEWS
------------------------------------------------------------------
1) SCOTUS: Obamacare "individual mandate" constitutional
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
"In an historic decision, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld
the individual insurance requirement at the heart of President Barack
Obama's health care overhaul. The decision means the overhaul will
continue to go into effect over the next several years, affecting the
way that countless Americans receive and pay for their personal
medical care. The ruling also handed Obama a campaign-season victory
in rejecting arguments that Congress went too far in requiring most
Americans to have health insurance or pay a penalty." (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/NFVGgk
-----
2) US House finds Holder in contempt
Source: New York Times
"The Republican-led House of Representatives on Thursday voted to hold
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt for failing to
disclose internal Justice Department documents in response to a
subpoena. It was the first time in American history that Congress has
imposed the sanction on a sitting member of a president's
cabinet." (06/28/12)
http://nyti.ms/MaPCB5
-----
3) Iraq: 38 killed, 146 wounded
Source: Antiwar.com
"At least 38 people were killed and 146 more were wounded in attacks
across the country. As usual insurgents focused on security forces and
government locations. A surge in violence that has taken place in
recent weeks seemed to target Shi'ites, but today's attacks took place
in Sunni neighborhoods as well." (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/MaNnO1
-----
4) Afghanistan: Two occupation troops killed
Source: Press TV [Iranian state media]
"Two US-led foreign soldiers have been killed in a roadside bomb blast
in Afghanistan, NATO says. NATO made the announcement without
providing further information about the location of the incident or
the indentities of the slain soldiers." (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/MaMrcA
-----
5) Pakistan: At least 17 killed in attacks
Source: Washington Post
"Suspected Sunni Muslim militants attacked a bus carrying Shiite
pilgrims in southwest Pakistan Thursday, killing at least 10 people,
officials said. In a separate incident, a roadside bomb hit a
paramilitary convoy in the country's northwest, killing seven
soldiers, a government official said." (06/28/12)
http://wapo.st/MaMgOo
-----
6) European leaders agree on long-term union
Source: USA Today
"European leaders have agreed to use the continent's permanent bailout
fund to recapitalize struggling banks, and agreed to the idea of a
tighter union in the long term. The bank decision at overnight
meetings in Brussels on Friday was aimed at helping Spain, which
sought a euro100 billion rescue to help its troubled banks and is
facing rising borrowing costs." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7asztx2
-----
7) US spares China, Singapore from sanctions over Iran oil imports
Source: MSNBC
"The United States on Thursday gave China and Singapore six-month
reprieves from sanctions over importing Iranian oil. Secretary of
State Hillary Rodham Clinton commended the two Asian countries for
'significantly' reducing the oil purchases. Eighteen other governments
have received similar waivers designed to pressure Iran to curb its
nuclear program by choking off its oil revenues." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7agfvkr
-----
8) Japan, South Korea sign first military pact since WWII
Source: Macon Telegraph
"Japan and South Korea have agreed to share intelligence in their
first joint military pact since World War II.Japan's Cabinet approved
the pact Friday. It will allow sharing intelligence in such areas as
missile defense, North Korea's nuclear weapons program and other
regional security matters. It has already been approved by South Korea
and is to be signed in Tokyo later in the day." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7xtx5lx
-----
9) Australia: Vote keeps question mark over asylum seekers
Source: CNN
"The Australian Senate has rejected a bill that would have revived
plans to process asylum seekers in offshore detention centers in a
highly emotional vote following the sinking of two boats packed with
people in one week. Senators voted down the legislation by 39 votes to
29, after hours of heated debate that saw one politician break down in
tears as she described the plight of one 15-year-old boy's journey
from Afghanistan." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/798b8kv
-----
10) British police demand Assange report to station
Source: Salt Lake Tribune
"British police served Julian Assange on Thursday with a demand that
he report to a police station as the first step in his extradition to
Sweden to face sex crime allegations. The WikiLeaks founder said he
was unlikely to obey the order to show up on Friday." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/8yvavev
-----
11) NH: Lawmakers override voter ID, tax credit vetoes
Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette
"Voter identification and education tax credits for businesses were
among the victories scored by the Republican-led Legislature when it
tackled Democrat Gov. John Lynch's vetoes on Wednesday. Voters in the
state will now have to provide photo ID at the polls and sign a
document when they register saying New Hampshire is their home state.
And businesses will be allowed to get tax credits for donating to
scholarship organizations to send students to private or public
schools." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/767qtg3
-----
12) IN: Police SWAT wrong home over open wifi network
Source: The Raw Story
"An unsecured wifi network triggered a SWAT team raid on the wrong
home in Evansville, Indiana last week after officers began
investigating specific threats made in an online forum. As it turns
out, nobody inside the home made those threats, which apparently came
from someone who simply accessed their network. But that didn't stop
police from gearing up for the raid blocks away and inviting a local
reporter and cameraman to tag along." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/6wcyayw
-----
13) Mexico: All eyes on candidate likely to lose presidential election
Source: Arizona Republic
"Four days before Mexico's presidential election, much of the nation's
attention is focused on a man who appears certain to lose. That man is
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the fiery, feisty leftist who shut down
the heart of Mexico City after the last election with mass protests
against a narrow loss that he blamed on electoral fraud. Final polls
released Wednesday showed Lopez Obrador in second place, with the
candidate of Mexico's former ruling party, Enrique Pena Nieto,
anywhere from 8 to 17 percentage points in the lead." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7b825sy
-----
14) TX: Houston strip clubs paying "pole tax"
Source: Fox News
"The city of Houston is turning to an unusual source to help fund rape
investigations: strip clubs. The City Council of the nation's fourth-
largest city passed an ordinance Wednesday that requires strip clubs
to pay a $5-per-visitor fee to help pay for the analysis of biological
evidence collected from rape victims in hopes of identifying their
attackers." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7s8haf9
-----
15) Congress poised to prevent doubling of student loan rates
Source: Christian Science Monitor
"College student borrowers can breathe easier for one more year. Late
Wednesday, Congress reached an agreement that is expected to prevent
the interest rate on federally subsidized loans from doubling on July
1. The bipartisan compromise came on the heels of months of political
bickering over how to pay for extending the 3.4 percent rate on newly
issued subsidized Stafford loans for the coming school
year." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7wklbs7
-----
16) Navsop navigation system rivals GPS
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"A new positioning system has been developed to complement or even
replace current technologies such as GPS. Made by UK defence firm BAE
Systems, it relies on the same signals used by mobile phones, TVs,
radios and wi-fi rather than navigation satellites. The firm says
Navsop could help find victims inside buildings during a fire and
locate stolen vehicles hidden in underground car parks. It could also
be used in a war if the sat-nav system was turned off." (06/28/12)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18633917
-----
17) From Nazi to Terminator, Europe's media target Merkel
Source: Reuters
"Demonized in Europe's media as a red-eyed Terminator robot, a flabby
centerfold pinup and a fleshy Roman god eating Greeks, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel has become the subject of a new wave of
vitriol for her tough stance on the euro zone crisis. Already a figure
of hate in Greece for insisting on austerity in exchange for aid,
Merkel has long endured montages of herself in a Nazi uniform, but the
run-up to this week's EU summit has unleashed particularly savage
images and headlines." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/ckpnjgb
-----
18) New Zealand: Court finds Megaupload search warrants illegal
Source: Canoe Technology [Canada]
"Search warrants used when 70 New Zealand police raided the mansion of
the suspected kingpin of an Internet piracy ring were illegal, a New
Zealand court ruled on Thursday, dealing a blow to the FBI's highest
profile global copyright theft case. ... 'The warrants did not
adequately describe the offences to which they related,' [High Court
Judge Justice Helen] Winkelmann said in her ruling. 'Indeed they fell
well short of that. They were general warrants, and as such, are
invalid.'" (06/28/12)
http://technology.canoe.ca/2012/06/28/19929191.html
-----
19) SCOTUS: Not a crime to make up military stories
Source: New York Times
"A divided Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a federal law that
made it a crime to lie about having earned a military decoration,
saying that the law was an unconstitutional infringement on free
speech." (06/28/12)
http://nyti.ms/NG1giF
-----
20) US House panel OKs bill expanding rewards program
Source: San Angelo Standard-Times
"A House panel has approved legislation that would expand the State
Department's rewards for justice program to target the world's most
serious human rights abusers such as African warlord Joseph Kony. The
Foreign Affairs Committee, on a voice vote Wednesday, approved a
bipartisan bill authorizing operations for the State
Department." [editor's note: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
herself, however, will likely not be subject to any of the bounties
this bill pays for. Too bad - TLK] (06/27/12)
http://tinyurl.com/79oxwsq
------------------------------------------------------------------
HEALTH-OF-THE-STATE-O-METER, 06/29/12
Iraqi Deaths Due to US Invasion: 1,455,590
(source: justforeignpolicy.org/iraq)
US Deaths in Afghanistan: Bush 575, Obama 1348
(source: justforeignpolicy.org/obamavsbush)
------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------
FREEDOM COMMENTARY
------------------------------------------------------------------
21) SCOTUS: Render unto Caesar ... er, Kaiser Permanente
Source: Center for a Stateless Society
by Thomas L. Knapp
"Most people I've talked with about CannibalCare ... er, ObamaCare ...
realize that there's something deeply immoral in the whole concept.
But at the same time they despair over ever-increasing health care
costs, without ever noticing that those cost increases have been the
result of more than a century of successive political interventions,
not of anything resembling actual market processes. And more, they
don't realize that those interventions have been created and defended
by the 'right' as often as by the 'left.'"
http://c4ss.org/content/10769
-----
22) What next? Nullify!
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by staff
"On Thursday, the Supreme Court sent shockwaves across America,
upholding the constitutionality of the federal health care act. Tenth
Amendment Center executive director Michael Boldin said it didn't
surprise him one bit. 'The federal government always expands its own
power. The Supreme Court is part of the federal government. I don't
see what's so shocking here.'" (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/82w37bv
-----
23) How hawkish is John Allison?
Source: The Moral Sciences Club
by Will Wilkinson
"During the whole Koch v. Crane hullabaloo, I got an earful from some
of my former colleagues about how Cato would be absolutely ruined if
its reputation for independence were compromised, and that this would
be especially tragic if it led Cato to lose influence in foreign
policy, since it is Washington's most visible, principled anti-war
institution. So now Cato's about to have a president who does not
happen to be, as far as I know, a GOP partisan, but does happen to be
an Ayn Rand evangelist who gives time and money to an institution that
is actively campaigning for war in Iran. Does this, on the whole,
really help Cato's reputation?" (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/NG0t1m
-----
24) Obama vs. the rule of law
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G. Hornberger
"Some people believe that the term 'the rule of law' means that people
are expected to obey the law. You hear this often from public
officials, who say such things as, 'People might not agree with the
drug laws or immigration laws, but the rule of law dictates that
people obey the law so long as it's the law.' Actually, the term means
something entirely different." (06/28/12)
http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2012-06-28.asp
-----
25) Responses to the Nazgul
Source: Living Freedom
by Claire Wolfe
"So how did you react when you heard the woefully misnamed Supreme
Court had upheld Obamacare?" (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/MaFLLq
-----
26) Homeschooling for free minds
Source: Zero Gov
by Lilo Gray
"Our government does not want a populace that questions its authority.
Free thinkers are dangerous. Homeschoolers are a threat to the Borg
and believe me, I want to be that threat. But do you? If we want a
society built on freedom, how does locking them up all day long and
chastising them for being individualists encourage their own gifts and
talents? " (06/28/12)
http://zerogov.com/?p=2725
-----
27) Julian Heicklen: Exclusive interview from Israel , part 1
Source: Libertarian News Examiner
by Garry Reed
"The Libertarian News Examiner, long a champion of libertarian rights
activist Julian Heicklen, reported on June 1 'Rights activist Julian
Heicklen flees US, takes refuge in Israel.' ... This exclusive
interview is a follow-up to what some may see as a drastic decision on
Heicklen's part." (06/28/12)
http://exm.nr/MaJSY3
-----
28) Julian Heicklen: Exclusive interview from Israel, part 2
Source: Libertarian News Examiner
by Garry Reed
Part 2 of Reed's interview with Julian Heicklen. (06/28/12)
http://exm.nr/MaJIzR
-----
29) Self-defense and the anti-gun mentality
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Scott McPherson
"I've been carrying a 9mm Smith & Wesson automatic for 15 years. I
started doing this when my wife and I moved to a bad part of town.
Since then we've changed states a couple of times, and I daresay that
the quality of neighborhoods we've lived in has improved with each
move. Now we live in quaint and quiet Portsmouth, New Hampshire --
hands down the best city on Earth. But the habit of carrying my pistol
has stayed with me; I rarely leave home without it." (06/27/12)
http://www.fff.org/comment/com1206w.asp
-----
30) Why unions don't want workers to earn more
Source: Competitive Enterprise Institute
by Michael Giles
"During the recent debate on the farm bill, the Senate voted down an
amendment that would allow unionized employers to give workers raises
based on merit. The amendment, called the Rewarding Achievement and
Incentivizing Successful Employees Act, eliminates the federally
mandated ceiling on the union wages for nearly 8 million
workers." (06/26/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7wkblmd
-----
31) Moral injury and American War
Source: CounterPunch
by Nan Levinson
"When your job requires you to pull sleeping families from their beds
at midnight thousands of miles from your home, or to shoot at oncoming
cars without knowing who's driving them, or to refuse medical care to
decrepit old men, you begin to question what doing your job means.
When the reasons keep shifting for what you're supposed to be doing in
a country where most of the population wants you to go home even more
than you want to, it's hard to maintain any sense of innocence. When
someone going about his daily life is regularly mistaken for someone
who means to kill you -- as has repetitively been the case in our
occupations of both Iraq and Afghanistan -- everyone becomes the
enemy. And when you try -- and fail -- to do the right thing in a
chaotic and threatening situation, which nothing could have trained
you for, the enemy can move inside you and stay there for a very long
time." (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/MaH5hE
-----
32) Writing "The Troy Standard"
Source: Strike the Root
by AG Fredericks
"This wasn't a book that I wanted to write, rather it was one I needed
to write. I was sick of being the paranoid guy sitting in the corner
and keeping quiet. I'm sad to say that after completing The Troy
Standard, it did nothing to curb my fear of the impending economic and
social crisis that we are facing. If anything, it only heightened
it." (06/28/12)
http://www.strike-the-root.com/writing-troy-standard
-----
33) Doing more with less
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Steven Horwitz
"The Vulture Capitalists may be an intimidating name for the Cato
Institute's softball team, but Texas Governor Rick Perry's phrase is
an example of a common attack on venture capitalists such as Mitt
Romney and his former firm, Bain Capital. This attack takes a familiar
form: that venture capitalists care about profits over people and will
do whatever it takes to make a buck--including shedding workers and
picking over the dead remains of firms." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7rbr787
-----
34) Review: The Higher Education Bubble
Source: Encounter Books
by Glenn Reynolds
"Like the housing bubble, it is the product of cheap credit coupled
with popular expectations of ever-increasing returns on investment,
and as with housing prices, the cheap credit has caused college
tuitions to vastly outpace inflation and family incomes. Now this
bubble is bursting." (06/28/12)
http://www.encounterbooks.com/books/the-higher-education-bubble/
-----
35) Homeschooling myths
Source: Policy Mic
by Judith Ayers
"Contrary to popular opinion, forced association by the government
isn't socialization, it's a violent assembly style system that isn't
really educating and socializing anyone." (06/27/12)
http://bit.ly/MaGjBe
-----
36) Why ObamaCare will fail: A reading list
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by staff
"The Supreme Court today upheld 'Obamacare,' a massive economic
intervention ostensibly designed to cure the ills of American
healthcare. Of course those ills were themselves caused by
intervention, and this 'cure' will only make the situation even worse.
The 'cycle of interventionism' Mises warned us about continues to
intensify." (06/28/12)
http://mises.org/daily/3737/Why-ObamaCare-Will-Fail-A-Reading-List
-----
37) Inviting the state into our intimacies
Source: Spiked
by Frank Furedi
"Gay marriage is presented as an issue of equal rights, but it's
better understood as a top-down overhaul of the institution of
marriage." (06/28/12)
http://www.spiked-online.com/site/article/12539/
-----
38) The stupidification of America
Source: Liberty For All
by Garry Reed
"People have voluntarily stupidified themselves because they've bought
into assorted cultural caca, ideological concepts frequently abetted
or opportunistically manipulated after the fact by the nation's
political donkey dung dishers and elephant effluvia flingers.
Libertarians are uniquely positioned to snicker, sneer and snort at
this ongoing social stupidification because they don't subscribe to
the lefty-righty fakery of political correctness." (06/28/12)
http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=7771
-----
39) It may be constitutional, but it's still a bad law
Source: Reuters
by Nicholas Wapshott
"So the Supreme Court has upheld most of the Affordable Care Act as
constitutional. As someone who supports universal healthcare, who has
lived most of his life in the UK, which has an admirable national
health service, and who believes affordable healthcare for all is the
mark of a civilized nation, I say it's too bad. It is a wretched piece
of legislation: complex, expensive, incomprehensible -- do you know
anyone, even a health expert, who can tell you what it means in a
single sentence -- easy for the unscrupulous to manipulate, unpopular,
and politically catastrophic for the president." (06/28/12)
http://tinyurl.com/6qa3ct8
-----
40) The key passage from the healthcare ruling
Source: The Nation
by Ari Melber
"This is the heart of the case: Although the breadth of Congress's
power to tax is greater than its power to regulate commerce, the
taxing power does not give Congress the same degree of control over
individual behavior. Once we recognize that Congress may regulate a
particular decision under the Commerce Clause, the Federal Government
can bring its full weight to bear. ... By contrast, Congress's
authority under the taxing power is limited to requiring an individual
to pay money into the Federal Treasury, no more." [editor's note: So
it's just more incentive to become a tax-resister? - SAT] (06/28/12)
http://www.thenation.com/blog/168647/key-passage-healthcare-ruling
-----
41) Arthritic docs
Source: In These Times
by Michael Atkinson
"We're living in an era of unparalleled, unfettered political
filmmaking; cheap consumer technology has made it so, allowing anyone
with a camcorder and a FinalCut download to make their own spiffy
feature about What's Wrong with Just About Everything. Mix in the
eight-year window of wonders we called the Bush Administration, and a
new epoch of cinematic engagement was born. Films and filmmakers have
been plentiful, but so have audiences." (06/28/12)
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/13357/arthritic_docs
-----
42) Government transparency becoming a joke
Source: Orange County Register
by Gene Healy
"For those of us with a mordant sense of humor, the Obama
administration's record on transparency is comedy gold. In his letter
last week formally requesting that President Obama invoke executive
privilege in the Fast and Furious scandal, Attorney General Eric
Holder fretted that turning over documents sought by the House
Oversight and Government Reform Committee raised 'substantial
separation of powers concerns' and could 'create an imbalance in the
relationship between these two co-equal branches of government.' 'Co-
equal branches'? An 'imbalance[d] relationship'? Don't make me
laugh." (06/27/12)
http://tinyurl.com/7srbdmz
-----
43) It's Roberts's court now
Source: The American Prospect
by Garrett Epps
"For months before today's announcement of the Supreme Court's
decision in the Health Care Cases, the conventional wisdom had
centered on two things: (1) The vote would be 6-3; and (2) Chief
Justice John G. Roberts would write the opinion. Roberts would jump
the way Justice Anthony Kennedy jumped and then write the opinion to
shape doctrine for the future. It's a good day for conventional wisdom
when it is half right, but that the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
survived, 5-4, with a majority opinion by Roberts and an angry dissent
by Kennedy was an outcome few people would have predicted." (06/28/12)
http://prospect.org/article/its-robertss-court-now
-----
44) Berlusconi's latest clown act
Source: Cato Institute
by Alberto Mingardi
"When Silvio Berlusconi left Italy's political stage last November,
paving the way for a technocratic government led by Mario Monti, he
appeared to have resolved to keep his peace. He pledged the
conditional support of his party, People of Freedom, and insisted that
Mr. Monti be allowed to govern until 2013. But Mr. Berlusconi is now
reclaiming the attention of the Italian people -- and in customary
spectacular fashion." (06/26/12)
http://bit.ly/M8ND01
-----
45) Government sociopaths
Source: Authority!
by Timothy J Taylor
"Many government employees, agents and officials today perform their
functions much like mindless soulless zombies, i.e. sociopaths -
people who exhibit antisocial personality disorders while not feeling
the least bit guilty about their abominable behavior towards others.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in particular seems
to attract these types; people in uniforms who relate to other people
without empathy, humanity, decency and kindness in deliberate
disregard for the dignity of their victims." (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/M8Njyz
-----
46) Jonathan Rauch is uncharitable
Source: EconLog
by Arnold Kling
"Rauch implies that libertarians face a dilemma. Either coerce
hospitals to provide care to the indigent (as we do now) or coerce
individuals to buy insurance. There is a third alternative:
charity." (06/28/12)
http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2012/06/jonathan_rauch.html
-----
47) Laws create a smoking gun
Source: Jeffersonville Evening News
by Debbie Harbeson
"I've always maintained that government-mandated smoking bans ignore
the concept of property ownership and the decision on whether or not
to allow smoking in a given business belongs to each individual
business owner. Patrons and other interested parties can certainly
work to persuade a business owner to take a specific action, but the
ultimate decision belongs to the owner. Like the smoking ban, the
'smoker's bill of rights' legislation also ignores the concept of
property ownership." (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/NG41AL
-----
48) Syria and the Phantom
Source: Antiwar.com
by Conn Hallinan
"What was that Turkish F-4 Phantom II up to when the Syrians shot it
down? Ankara said the plane strayed into Syrian airspace but quickly
left and was over international waters when it was attacked, a simple
case of carelessness on the part of the Turkish pilot that Syrian
paranoia turned deadly. But the Phantom -- eyewitnesses told Turkish
television that there were two aircraft, but there is no official
confirmation of that observation -- was hardly on a Sunday
outing." (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/NG2ZEI
-----
49) In praise of discrimination in the health insurance market
Source: Reason
by John Stossel
"No-discrimination insurance isn't insurance. It's
welfare." (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/NG1INY
-----
50) College loan interest rates: Real change or spare change?
Source: Independent Institute
by Vicki Alger
"The interest rate on federally subsidized student loans is set to
double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1 absent Congressional
action. Apparently a deal is forthcoming. Too bad the rhetoric
surrounding this debate isn't." (06/27/12)
http://bit.ly/NG0Lp0
-----
51) Pragmatism's problems
Source: A Passion for Liberty
by Tibor R. Machan
"In what is commonly taken as the pragmatic turn, Posner illustrates
that when it comes to morals and politics, no truth is available to
us. Objectively speaking, neither the Nazis nor those who condemned
them could be said to have had it right (nor indeed those proposing
that it's all subjective)! According to our lights they were vicious
but according to theirs they were not -- and there is simply no way to
adjudicate between them and us." (06/27/12)
http://tibormachan.rationalreview.com/2012/06/pragmatisms-problems/
-----
52) We need more competition to break the banking oligopoly
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Dr. Eamonn Butler
"It's not surprising that bank business-getters were paid huge amounts
to take more risks and do more deals -- because in this fantasy
boomland, every risk paid off and every deal worked. Until over-
indebted governments and householders could no longer afford to keep
the boom going, of course." (06/28/12)
http://bit.ly/NFWRwe
-----
53) Paul Krugman: "We have always been at war with a bloated housing
sector"
Source: Free Advice
by Robert P. Murphy
"Usually I'm pretty good at seeing how Krugman isn't actually
contradicting himself, but instead is engaging in mere Kontradiction
-- where he twists the dials on something that could plausibly go
either way, in order to always come down on the side of more
government activism on an issue. It's not that his decision to turn
the dial one way or the other is outrageous on any given issue, but
rather that his calibration of the dials isn't random, or guided by
how he actually feels on the issue -- it matters where it will lead
him on that particular policy issue, for that particular blog
post." (06/26/12)
http://bit.ly/NFV9uT
-----
54) "Naming names"
Source: LewRockwell.com
by Charles A. Burris
"Over the past several weeks at LRC I have written various articles
and blogs touching upon my favorite area of commentary: that of power
elite analysis and the hidden history related to this subject. These
topics have included Watergate, the Bush dynasty, the 1980 October
Surprise, and the 1980s Vatican Banking scandal. I have received quite
a number of enthusiastic responses from readers seeking more
information on these concerns." (06/28/12)
http://lewrockwell.com/burris/burris28.1.html
-----
55) Now, repeal Obamacare
Source: Orange County Register
by Grace-Marie Turner
"Yes, the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the health overhaul law
is disappointing, but the final judgment on the law will be made by
the voters in November. The president must now spend the next four
months defending a law that the majority of Americans dislike, and the
more they learn about it, the more they dislike it. Worse, the part of
the law that is the least popular -- the individual mandate -- has now
been declared a tax. That's double jeopardy for the president: The
unpopular mandate stands, and now it is called a tax." [editor's note:
Now that SCOTUS declares it IS indeed a tax -- or it would be
unconstitutional -- how will POTUS dance around this one? - SAT]
(06/28/12)
http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/law-361189-health-tax.html
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FREEDOM AUDIO & VIDEO
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56) Free Talk Live, 06/27/12
Source: Free Talk Live
"Legal Sex, Illegal Photos :: Taking Down the Internet Paranoia ::
Recording Naked Neighbors :: Bathing Suit Ban :: Upset Letter to the
Editor about Memorial Day Peace Protest :: PTSD :: Sharing FTL ::
Fired for Refusing to Sell Cigarettes to Welfare Recipient :: Bad
Crank :: Kokesh in Hostile Interview :: Population Extermination
Paranoia :: Memorial Day :: Mark Interviews Will Coley, President of
Muslims for Liberty." [MP3] (06/27/12)
http://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/ftl2012-06-27/download
-----
57) Adam Morrow on Antiwar Radio
Source: Antiwar.com
"IPS News journalist Adam Morrow discusses how Muslim Brotherhood
candidate Mohammed Morsi's presidential victory averted a crisis in
Egypt ..." [Flash audio or MP3] (06/27/12)
http://antiwar.com/radio/2012/06/27/adam-morrow-20/
-----
58) Cato Daily Podcast, 06/27/12
Source: Cato Institute
"Montana speech restrictions tossed out by SCOTUS." [Flash audio or
MP3] (06/27/12)
http://bit.ly/M8Xt21
-----
59) Interview: Joseph Campbell
Source: Hit & Run
"Campbell sat down with ReasonTV's Nick Gillespie to discuss Cronkite
and other myths propelled by the media." [Flash video] (06/26/12)
http://bit.ly/M8Xljd
-----
60) Freedomain Radio #2165
Source: Freedomain Radio
"The ethics of idiocy." [MP3] (06/20/12)
http://tinyurl.com/fdr2165
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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