01/06 -- "Gun control" -- can someone please make that man a ham sandwich?; The LAVA Flow Podcast, episode 27: The new year, new laws edition
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Thomas L. Knapp
Jan 6, 2016, 6:54:16 AM1/6/16
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 01/06/16
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Today's Freedom News:
1) North Korea: Regime claims it's tested a hydrogen bomb
2) Obama: Crocodile tears for past victims, executive orders to create future victims
3) Afghanistan: One US soldier killed, two wounded
4) Yemen: Aden governor survives car bomb that kills two
5) Twitter suspends, restores Oregon occupation leader Ammon Bundy's account
6) Haiti: Election chief says runoff can't be held by January 17
7) UK: MPs to debate calls to ban Donald Trump
8) Venezuela: Opposition controls congress after 17 years
9) Nigeria: IMF chief says it can help recover stolen funds
10) Study: More Mexicans are leaving the US than coming in
11) Sanders lays out plan to break up big banks
12) Kuwait recalls ambassador from Tehran
13) WI: Despite harsh pot laws, companies find a way into industry
14) PA: Company ordered to pay $1.75 million over bathroom breaks
15) Report: Twitter may soon go beyond 140 characters
16) UK: Junior doctors to strike over contract row with government
17) Thailand: Police websites hacked with "failed law" message
18) Turkish authorities find bodies of 27 migrants, search for survivors
19) EFF blasts T-Mobile's Binge On, calls for FCC investigation
20) UK: Cameron will allow cabinet ministers to campaign for "Brexit"
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) "Gun control" -- can someone please make that man a ham sandwich?
22) The LAVA Flow Podcast, episode 27: The new year, new laws edition
23) Five things that will get you a libertarian society
24) Oregon and the injustice of mandatory minimums
25)No, the Bundys aren't terrorists
26) Why the Fed will never succeed
27) For a return to normalcy
28) Interview: Libertarian Mark Miller wants to frack the TRRC
29) Oregon standoff: Far bigger than a group of armed men in a refuge
30) Listing consumption differences
31) Weighing the Pacific trade deal's green demands
32) Jerry Brown behind bars
33) Thinking harder about political correctness
34) Seven reasons not to care about high pay
35) How Obama enables atrocities
36) Does Bernie Sanders's imperialism matter?
37) Why this socialist feminist is not voting for Hillary
38) Are we headed for another bust?
39) For newcomers to America, better a good friend than a CV
40) Who wants a sugar-free life?
41) Congress must vote on ISIS war
42) Review: The Man in the High Castle
43) Our ancestors were different, especially on immigration
44) Subsidizing illegal aliens [sic]
45) Consensual violence
46) Debate schedule allowing GOP to frame election narrative
47) The continued appeal of statism
48) Be careful who you make your heroes
49) Not only Trump recruits terrorists
50) People have strange fears
51) Breaking the law
52) The Libertarian Angle, 01/05/16: Presidential candidates and the status quo
53) The forgotten tax increase
54) The Saudis go full ISIS
55) Heartland Daily Podcast, 01/04/16: Federal mismanagement of public lands
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FREEDOM NEWS
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1) North Korea: Regime claims it's tested a hydrogen bomb
Source: MarketWatch
"North Korea said it staged its first test of a more powerful form of nuclear weapon, which expands the U.S.'s foreign policy challenges and highlights the limits of China's ability to rein in its volatile ally. An announcer on North Korean state television said in a midday broadcast that scientists had successfully detonated a hydrogen bomb at around 10 a.m. local time. The U.S. Geological Survey reported that a magnitude 5.1 earthquake was triggered at that time near North Korea's nuclear test site in the northeast of the country." (01/05/16)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/north-korea-quake-raises-suspicions-of-nuke-test-2016-01-05
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2) Obama: Crocodile tears for past victims, executive orders to create future victims
Source: USA Today
"President Obama again shed tears for the children of Newtown. As he did on the morning of the 2012 mass shooting, Obama choked up Tuesday as he mentioned the 'first graders' gunned down at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., while again proposing measures designed to [theatrically exploit gun violence for political advantage]. 'Every time I think about those kids, it makes me mad,' Obama said at the White House as he announced new executive actions designed to [disarm future victims of violent crime]. The Newtown massacre claimed the lives of 20 children, and Obama's emotional comments about the most innocent victims of gun violence inspired a flood of comments on social media." (01/05/16)
http://www.usatoday.com/story/onpolitics/2016/01/05/obama-newtown-crying-guns/78307648/
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3) Afghanistan: One US soldier killed, two wounded
Source: CNN
"One U.S. soldier was killed and two wounded during a joint U.S.-Afghan Special Operations mission in Marjah, Afghanistan, Tuesday, with fighting still continuing, the Pentagon announced. A U.S. official told CNN that a quick reaction force has been launched in an effort to rescue those forces on the ground in Marjah. The official could not say where the force was launched from or how many people were involved." (01/05/16)
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/05/politics/u-s-soldier-killed-in-afghanistan/
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4) Yemen: Aden governor survives car bomb that kills two
Source: Tuscaloosa News
"The governor of Yemen's southern port city of Aden survived a car bomb attack on Tuesday that killed two bodyguards and critically wounded three others, Yemeni officials said. The assassination attempt on Gov. Aidarous al-Zubaidi comes a month after his predecessor was killed in a bombing claimed by a local Islamic State affiliate." (01/05/16)
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20160105/API/301059763
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5) Twitter suspends, restores Oregon occupation leader Ammon Bundy's account
Source: USA Today
"The Twitter social media site on Tuesday restored the suspended the account of Ammon Bundy, the Nevada rancher who is leading a group of armed men occupying federal buildings at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. On Tuesday afternoon, the site suspended the account but did not respond to queries as to why. Bundy appeared to respond to USA TODAY's public request for a response from Twitter. 'Seditious Conspiracy is a serious federal crime as is aiding traitors #TwitterDidntWannaBeChargedWithTreason,' he tweeted. ... The social media site did not immediately respond to a query regarding why the account was suspended." (01/05/16)
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/01/05/twitter-account-oregon-organizer-bundy-suspended/78315656/
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6) Haiti: Election chief says runoff can't be held by January 17
Source: ABC News
"Haiti's outgoing leader met with election authorities Tuesday in search of a solution to the country's deepening electoral impasse, after an official said it would be impossible to hold a presidential runoff in time for a transfer of power by the constitutional deadline. President Michel Martelly announced last week that Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council was warning that the runoff must be held by Jan. 17 to fulfill the constitutional mandate of inaugurating a new president Feb. 7." (01/05/16)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/haiti-election-chief-runoff-held-jan-17-36105391
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7) UK: MPs to debate calls to ban Donald Trump
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"MPs are to debate whether to bar Donald Trump from entering the UK in response to a public petition calling for action against the US Presidential candidate. About 568,000 people have backed a petition calling on the tycoon to be barred for comments he made about banning Muslims from the US. Labour MP Paul Flynn will lead a debate in Westminster Hall on 18 January. David Cameron has condemned Mr Trump, who has major business interests in the UK, but said he should be allowed in." (01/05/16)
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-35238349
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8) Venezuela: Opposition controls congress after 17 years
Source: Idaho Press-Tribune
"Venezuela's opposition took majority control of the National Assembly on Tuesday after years in the political wilderness, setting the stage for a potential power struggle with embattled President Nicolas Maduro. Lawmakers were sworn in during a heated parliamentary session that saw pro-government representatives walk out in protest after pushing their way onto the dais as the new leadership tried to lay out its legislative agenda." (01/05/16)
http://www.idahopress.com/ap_news/international/venezuela-opposition-controls-congress-after-years/article_8293f211-9f87-5918-9031-8a5daac23ae6.html
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9) Nigeria: IMF chief says it can help recover stolen funds
Source: Virginian-Pilot
"The managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, said Tuesday that her organization wants to collaborate with Nigeria in plugging leaking of funds through corruption and to trace looted money. Lagarde, on a visit to the African economic giant, said Nigeria has enough of a financial war-chest to overcome the current economic challenge without resorting to the IMF for financial support." (01/05/16)
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AF_NIGERIA_IMF?SITE=VANOV&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-01-05-13-58-56
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10) Study: More Mexicans are leaving the US than coming in
Source: Raw Story
"During the most recent Republican debate, Donald Trump declared 'people are pouring across the southern border.' Trump is right that the United States has been a major immigrant destination since the 1960s, but if he is referring to Mexican flows today, he is wrong. According to sociologists Frank Bean and Gillian Stevens, Mexican migration to the United States is "the largest sustained flow of migrant workers in the contemporary world," and Mexico is the single largest contributor of migrants to the United States since 1965. But here's what Trump ignores: a recent Pew Report shows that more Mexicans are leaving than coming to the United States -- reversing a decades-long trend. The main reason for the trend is family reunification, but this migration back to Mexico is not driven by nostalgia for kin. The reasons behind it are much more complex." (01/05/16)
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/more-mexicans-are-leaving-the-us-than-coming-recent-study-shows
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11) Sanders lays out plan to break up big banks
Source: Reuters
"U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who has made reining in Wall Street a top campaign theme, warned on Tuesday that financial-sector greed is 'destroying the fabric of our nation" and detailed his plan to break up big banks. Sanders delivered what his campaign was calling a 'major policy address' on Wall Street reform in New York. The U.S. senator from Vermont is challenging front-runner Hillary Clinton, a former U.S. senator from New York, and former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley for the Democratic nomination to run for president in November 2016. ... 'If a bank is too big to fail, it is too big to exist; when it comes to Wall Street reform, that must be our bottom line,' said Sanders." (01/05/16)
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-sanders-idUSKBN0UJ1Q920160105
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12) Kuwait recalls ambassador from Tehran
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"Kuwait has announced it is recalling its ambassador to Iran as a regional row over the execution of a Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia deepens. Saudi Arabia's embassy in Tehran was ransacked and set alight on Saturday, after it executed Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others. Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic ties with Iran in response, followed on Monday by its allies Bahrain and Sudan. The US, UN and Turkey are among those calling for calm in the region. Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran are major rivals for power in the Middle East and back opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen." (01/05/16)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35231382
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13) WI: Despite harsh pot laws, companies find a way into industry
Source: Smell the Truth
"Even with stock markets plunging across the globe today, there is still one industry with nothing short of stellar growth expected in 2016. As cannabis markets continue to expand and develop across the US, even those in state's with some of the harshest laws around the plant are finding a way to make a buck. In Wisconsin, a state where less than an ounce can get you six months, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports many local companies are finding a way in to the $2.7 billion dollar a year industry that a Bank of America Merrill Lynch report estimated could hit $35 Billion by 2020." (01/05/16)
http://blog.sfgate.com/smellthetruth/2016/01/05/despite-harsh-pot-laws-wisconsin-companies-find-a-way-into-industry
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14) PA: Company ordered to pay $1.75 million over bathroom breaks
Source: Fox News
"A Pennsylvania company that publishes business newsletters will pay about $1.75 million to thousands of employees who had to clock out while going on short breaks, including for the bathroom. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that a federal judge has given the U.S. Department of Labor and the Malvern-based company, American Future Systems Inc., until Thursday to submit proposals on managing payment. The company had argued that it wasn't required to pay employees for short breaks. The bill includes back pay and damages to 6,000 employees at offices in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio between 2009 and 2013." [editor's note: Clocking out to take a leak, rather than letting it run down your leg and soil both you and the office? This was just plain stupid! - SAT] (01/05/16)
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/01/05/pennsylvania-company-ordered-to-pay-1-75-million-over-bathroom-breaks.html
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15) Report: Twitter may soon go beyond 140 characters
Source: USA Today
"Twitter may soon go beyond 140 characters. The company has been exploring extending the length permitted in a tweet on the service for months. Now Re/code reports the character limit for tweets could grow to 10,000, the same limit on direct messages on its service. And the new character limit could take effect early this year, the technology news service says, citing anonymous sources. Twitter spokesman Jim Prosser declined to comment." (01/05/16)
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/01/05/twitter-may-soon-go-beyond-140-characters/78304512
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16) UK: Junior doctors to strike over contract row with government
Source: Oxford Times [UK]
"Junior doctors will go on strike for 24 hours after talks with the Government broke down. The doctor's union announced last night that industrial action will go ahead next Tuesday over Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt's plans to change their contract. More than 37,000 junior doctors across the country -- including 2,000 in the Thames Valley -- voted in favour of industrial action on December 1 but the strike was called off at the 11th hour when discussions opened again on November 30. But the British Medical Association (BMA) announced last night that talks had stalled and junior doctors will walk out for 24 hours on Tuesday." (01/05/16)
http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/news/14182157.Juniors_doctors_to_go_on_strike_next_week_over_contract_row_with_Government/
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17) Thailand: Police websites hacked with "failed law" message
Source: Washington Post
"Hackers took over several police websites in Thailand, replacing the home pages with a message saying, 'Failed Law. We want Justice!' Police Tuesday said they were investigating if the hack was in response to a Thai court decision that has been widely protested in neighboring Myanmar. The Dec. 24 ruling resulted in death sentences for two Myanmar men convicted of murdering two British backpackers. Protesters believe the men were scapegoats and have threatened to boycott Thai goods after a trial that raised many unanswered questions about police and judicial conduct in Thailand." (01/05/16)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/thai-police-websites-hacked-with-failed-law-message/2016/01/05/c0b3597c-b3a2-11e5-8abc-d09392edc612_story.html
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18) Turkish authorities find bodies of 27 migrants, search for survivors
Source: Reuters
"Turkish authorities said they found the bodies of 27 migrants, at least three of them children, at two separate locations on the Aegean coast on Tuesday after a migrant boat apparently capsized as it tried to reach the Greek island of Lesbos. The flow of mostly Syrian refugees and migrants braving the seas to seek sanctuary in Europe dipped toward the end of last year coinciding with colder weather, but the total figure still reached 1 million in 2015, nearly five times more than in the previous year. Seventeen of the bodies were discovered on the shoreline in the district of Ayvalik, while ten others were found in the district of Dikili, a gendarmerie official in the local headquarters told Reuters." (01/05/16)
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-turkey-idUSKBN0UJ0MW20160105
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19) EFF blasts T-Mobile's Binge On, calls for FCC investigation
Source: The Verge
"The Electronic Frontier Foundation has taken a thorough look at T-Mobile's new Binge On feature, which lets customers watch video from Netflix, HBO, Hulu, and others without it counting against their data plan. And while some customers may appreciate the new perk of choosing T-Mobile, the EFF is decidedly unhappy with the whole thing. ... Customers have the option of disabling Binge On and seeing videos as they normally would, but T-Mobile's approach to the whole thing has compelled the EFF to call for the FCC to investigate the matter." [editor's note: It was bad enough that EFF, which USED to be pro-Internet-freedom, supported the "net neutrality" scam in the first place; now they're actively siccing the FCC gang on providers who offer good service to customers. Boo, EFF! - TLK] (01/05/17)
http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/5/10708876/eff-tmobile-binge-on-test
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20) UK: Cameron will allow cabinet ministers to campaign for "Brexit"
Source: Chicago Tribune
"Prime Minister David Cameron will allow ministers in his Cabinet to decide for themselves whether to campaign for Britain to stay in or leave the European Union -- a so-called Brexit -- in a referendum expected later this year. ... British ministers are usually expected to abide by the principle of collective responsibility, which means supporting the government's agreed position even if they have personal doubts. With Cameron on course to campaign to stay inside the EU, ministers who wish to publicly disagree would currently have to quit their posts." (01/05/16)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-wp-blm-britain-fa5b64f0-b3a0-11e5-8abc-d09392edc612-20160105-story.html
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FREEDOM COMMENTARY
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21) "Gun control" -- can someone please make that man a ham sandwich?
Source: William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism
by Thomas L Knapp
"The language of the US Constitution's 2nd Amendment is clear and its intended meaning is well-documented. The framers of that amendment -- who had just emerged from a long war against the world's most powerful army, a war won by an armed citizenry -- understood the right to keep and bear arms as a right 'of the people.' They specifically and intentionally barred the president, Congress, the state legislatures, your local city council, ANYONE, from infringing it. Every 'gun control' law now on the books is unconstitutional and therefore, per Madison v. Marbury, void. Not only is Obama's executive order sortie, taken in conspiracy ('consultation') with the Attorney General of the United States and other government functionaries, not within his legal authority, it's a crime." (01/05/16)
http://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/4000
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22) The LAVA Flow Podcast, episode 27: The new year, new laws edition
Source: The LAVA Flow Podcast
"In this fortnight's episode, several new laws take effect this year, what's in the news with stories on cigarette taxes and private police, a new segment, Netflix and Thrill, and a Statists Gonna State on John McAfee." [various formats] (01/05/16)
http://thelavaflow.com/the-new-year-new-laws-edition-tlf027/
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23) Five things that will get you a libertarian society
Source: Downsize DC
by Jim Babka and Perry Willis
"Let's start the New Year with some fresh ideas. How many active supporters do you think we would need to execute the following five tactics ... 1. Stop Congress from passing bad bills? 2. Pass good bills ... like Downsize DC's 'Read the Bills Act?' 3. Score constant policy victories using ballot initiatives? 4. Hang juries so frequently that bad laws would become unenforceable? 5. Win super-majorities in state legislatures and Congress? Well, four of these five things have already been accomplished by other groups. So we spent the last months of 2015 modeling those four examples and reverse engineering the fifth one." (01/05/16)
https://downsizedc.org/blog/5-things-that-will-get-you-a-libertarian-society
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24) Oregon and the injustice of mandatory minimums
Source: The Atlantic
by Conor Friedersdorf
"In theory, those on the left who care about vanquishing mandatory minimums could have used the news story about the Hammonds to broaden awareness and opposition to the practice among members of the Red Tribe. Libertarian intellectuals oppose mandatory minimums. Why not the populist right, too? Some folks in rural areas who've never known about the laws, or think that they only affect people in cities, might change their minds if they were to find out that what happened to the Hammonds is routine; that many Americans have suffered far more egregious sentences; and that mandatory minimums affect all sorts of defendants. Yes, the Oregon protestors have a larger agenda about the management of federal lands in the West and the degree to which they ought to be under local control. Still, in their opposition to mandatory minimums, they share common ground with the left." (01/05/16)
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/oregon-mandatory-minimums/422433/
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25)No, the Bundys aren't terrorists
Source: The New Republic
by Brian Beutler
"The occupation of the headquarters of a federal wildlife refuge in rural Oregon by armed insurrectionaries may as well have been designed to allow liberals to troll conservatives,and vice-versa. This is obnoxious, illegal, and incredibly reckless behavior. It's also quite different from, say, shooting several people in a Planned Parenthood clinic to scare women out of having elective abortions. For liberals, the ironies are especially potent. The siege is taking place against the backdrop of a long, polarizing national debate over racial bias in the criminal justice system. Liberals thus can use (and have used) the development to highlight the disparate ways law enforcement treats white and black citizens." (01/05/16)
https://newrepublic.com/article/126990/no-bundys-arent-terrorists
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26) Why the Fed will never succeed
Source: Cobden Centre
by Alasdair MacLeod
"The Fed will never succeed in its attempt to manage inflation and unemployment by varying interest rates, because it and its economists do not accept the relationship between, on one side, the money it creates and the bank credit its commercial banks issue out of thin air, and on the other the disruption unsound money causes in the economy. This has been going on since the Fed was created, which makes the question as to whether the Fed was right to raise interest rates recently irrelevant." (01/05/16)
http://www.cobdencentre.org/2016/01/why-the-fed-will-never-succeed/
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27) For a return to normalcy
Source: Antiwar.com
by Justin Raimondo
"As Murray Rothbard pointed out in America's Great Depression, it was Hoover who constructed the policy template later expanded by Franklin Roosevelt into the alphabet soup bureaucratization of the American economy. Hoover's policies exacerbated a recession which morphed into a full-scale downturn, thus paving the way for the New Deal -- and FDR's march to war. The ascension of Franklin Delano Roosevelt to four terms of the presidency marks the passing of our old republic and its replacement by an empire, a centralized state that seeks to expand its influence on every continent and into every American household. It meant the end of normalcy, the return of the eternal 'crisis' that empowered Washington to act in the name of meeting the 'emergency' -- and from that day until the present, the 'crisis' has been perpetual." (01/06/15)
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2016/01/05/for-a-return-to-normalcy/
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28) Interview: Libertarian Mark Miller wants to frack the TRRC
Source: Dallas Libertarian Examiner
by Garry Reed
"Dr. Mark Miller is bringing his Libertarian Party of Texas campaign for TRRC Commissioner to North Texas (Residence Inn Marriott, 13400 North Freeway, Fort Worth TX 76177) on Thursday, January 7, at 7:00 PM. The TRRC -- Texas Railroad Commission -- is a state regulatory agency that hasn't regulated railroads since 2005; it regulates the Texas oil and gas industry. Many claim it's the Texas Oil and Gas Industry that regulates the TRRC, making it what one libertarian calls 'the epitome of regulatory capture and cronyism.' Miller has the credentials for the job: A BS in Engineering, a PhD from Stanford, taught petroleum engineering at the University of Texas for 18 years, had a long career in the oil and gas industry as an engineer, served as an engineering consultant, and founded a company that provides software to the oil and gas industry. Dallas Libertarian Examiner asked the LP candidate a few questions." (01/05/16)
http://www.examiner.com/article/interview-libertarian-mark-miller-wants-to-frack-the-trrc
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29) Oregon standoff: Far bigger than a group of armed men in a refuge
Source: Washington Post
by Niraj Chokshi
"They say the federal government stripped them of their land and resources. And they're not alone. The weekend occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon may seem like the ravings of a small group of armed activists, but it belongs to a much larger movement in the western United States. Lawmakers in at least 11 states have in recent years explored the possibility of taking back federal land in their own way: through their state legislatures. Before this weekend's incident, and before the Cliven Bundy confrontation in Nevada in 2014, there was Utah's H.B. 148. In 2012, Utah passed that bill into law, requiring the federal government turn over the public lands within the state. The law carried little force -- the end-of-2014 deadline for the transfer came and went-- but it signified the start of a new chapter in the four-decade fight over Western land." (01/04/16)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/01/04/the-oregon-standoff-is-far-bigger-than-a-group-of-armed-men-in-a-forest
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30) Listing consumption differences
Source: Cafe Hayek
by Don Boudreaux
"When can median-income consumers afford products that, while not as high-quality as those versions that are bought by the super-rich, are nevertheless virtually indistinguishable -- because they are quite close in quality -- to the naked eye from those versions bought by the super-rich? On this list would be most clothing. For example, an ordinary American man can today afford a suit that, while it's neither tailor-made nor of a fabric as fine as are suits that I suspect are worn by most billionaires, is nevertheless close enough in fit and fabric quality to be indistinguishable by the naked eye from expensive suits worn by billionaires. (I suspect that the same it true for women's clothing, but I'm less expert on that topic.) Ditto for shoes, underwear, haircuts, corrective eye-wear, collars for dogs and cats, pet food, household bath towels and 'linens,' tableware and cutlery, automobile tires, hand tools, most household furniture, and wristwatches." (01/05/16)
http://cafehayek.com/2016/01/listing-consumption-differences.html
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31) Weighing the Pacific trade deal's green demands
Source: Cato Institute
by K William Watson
"When the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was still under negotiation, the Obama administration said it would be the 'most progressive' trade agreement in history. An important part of that agenda was to break ground on new environmental issues and include strong and enforceable environmental protection rules. But with the final text now released, environmentalists and anti-globalization activists are unimpressed and have criticized the TPP for, among many other things, having inadequate environmental protections." (01/05/16)
http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/weighing-pacific-trade-deals-green-demands
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32) Jerry Brown behind bars
Source: The Libertarian Enterpreise
by L Neil Smith
"As most gun activists are presently aware, late in December of what is now last year, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into 'law' an act which pretends to permit police in that state, unfettered by Constitutional considerations, to enter the property of otherwise innocent human beings and steal whatever firearms they may be keeping there. The Bill of rights lacks any enforcement or penalty clause, although there are criminal statutes within the United States Code which make Brown's signature and advocacy an unlawful act, for which any decent court -- counting up the number of individuals damaged by what he has done -- would sentence him to a couple of lifetimes in prison. Preferably in the reopened federal prison on Alcatraz Island. As it is, this decades-old sick leftist fetish for rendering ordinary people helpless, is going to cost some incalculable number of human lives, Americans defending to the death their right to own and carry weapons, and brain-dead jackbooted minions of the totalitarian state, intent on violating them. California will end up looking like Kosovo." (01/03/16)
http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2016/tle853-20160103-06.html
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33) Thinking harder about political correctness
Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner
"Donald Trump and the rest of the Republican presidential pack have had a field day disparaging political correctness as an affliction of liberals that is resented by regular Americans. Some liberal commentators have suggested that political correctness has become a serious albatross for Democrats. Columnist Thomas Edsall, in a piece for The New York Times online, cited polls showing that large numbers of Americans, Democrats as well as Republicans, agreed that 'political correctness' was a big problem. But what exactly is political correctness? The term was first used by lefties to make fun of themselves. I've been hearing it used ironically since the 1970s." (01/05/16)
http://prospect.org/article/thinking-harder-about-political-correctness
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34) Seven reasons not to care about high pay
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Sam Bowman
"Critics of high pay can't say how much they think CEOs should be paid. The High Pay Centre says it thinks CEOs are paid too much, but how much would be the right amount? They don't say, and don't suggest any real way of knowing. They emphasise multiples of employee pay on their website, but there's no reason at all to think that would be a good way of judging how much a CEO is worth to the firm, and doesn't even make sense across firms -- is the CEO of a giant firm with a low average wage, like McDonald's or Tesco, less important than the CEO of a relatively small firm with a high average wage, like QinetiQ?" (01/05/16)
http://www.adamsmith.org/blog/economics/seven-reasons-not-to-care-about-high-pay/
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35) How Obama enables atrocities
Source: OpEdNews
by Robert Parry
"As the New Year dawns, the neocons and their liberal interventionist sidekicks remain firmly in control of Official Washington's storylines -- on Syria, Russia and elsewhere -- even as their policies continue to wreak havoc across the Mideast and threaten the stability of Europe and indeed the future of civilization. The latest proof of this dangerous reality came when Saudi Arabia's repressive Sunni monarchy executed prominent Shiite political leader Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr for criticizing the nation's kings and princes. Before the killing, the Obama administration held its tongue in public so as not to antagonize the Saudi royals. (Nimr's nephew awaits Saudi 'crucifixion' for his role as a teenager in Arab Spring protests.)" (01/05/16)
http://www.opednews.com/articles/How-Obama-Enables-Atrociti-by-Robert-Parry-Atrocities_Gaddafi_Israel_Neocons-160104-883.html
-----
36) Does Bernie Sanders's imperialism matter?
Source: CounterPunch
by Shamus Cooke
"Critiquing Bernie Sanders from the left can be a lonely project. There is a 'hope'-powered hysteria surrounding his campaign, and bursting the 'hope' bubble can produce a fierce backlash. ... Bernie's version of hope is deeper than Obama's shallow PR electoral campaign, but under capitalism real 'hope' isn't a simple recipe, and Bernie is missing some key ingredients, most notably 'anti-imperialism,' which is exemplified in Bernie's reactionary foreign policy positions." (01/05/16)
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/01/05/does-bernie-sanders-imperialism-matter/
-----
37) Why this socialist feminist is not voting for Hillary
Source: The Nation
by Liza Featherstone
"Socialism, it turns out, can be a form of identity politics. Some feminists, including Suzanna Danuta Walters, brandish a 'red-diaper baby' heritage or some other cultural or sentimental affinity to hint that supporting Hillary Clinton's candidacy doesn't just represent some corporate gloss on feminism; it's a genuinely radical position. But no one who makes this argument can articulate what, beyond her identity as a woman, qualifies Clinton as a passable candidate for socialist feminists. That's understandable because, in a primary against an independent socialist who has been attracting an astonishing level of grassroots support, there are no socialist-feminist reasons to support Hillary Clinton." [editor's note: Good to hear this from another corner, even if her own agenda might be anathema to liberty-lovers - SAT] (01/05/16)
http://www.thenation.com/article/why-this-socialist-feminist-is-not-voting-for-hillary
-----
38) Are we headed for another bust?
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Frank Shostak
"On Wednesday December 16, 2015, Federal Reserve Bank policymakers raised the federal funds rate target by 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent for the first time since December 2008. There is the possibility that the target could be lifted gradually to 1.25 percent by December next year. Fed policymakers have justified this increase with the view that the economy is strong enough and can stand on its own feet. 'The Committee judges that there has been considerable improvement in labor market conditions this year, and it is reasonably confident the inflation will rise over the medium term to its 2 percent objective,' the Fed said in its policy statement. Various key economic indicators such as industrial production don't support this optimism." (01/05/16)
https://mises.org/library/are-we-headed-another-bust
-----
39) For newcomers to America, better a good friend than a CV
Source: The Canal
by Manuel Ballagas
"Every time I listen to someone whine about how difficult life is in America, I can't help but smile. It's not that I feel glad about it; it's just that I remember how many times I whined about it myself. As a newcomer, I was so clueless, I had no idea how to find a job in this country. My resume was a total disaster. To begin with, none of the information it provided about me was verifiable in the United States. Growing increasingly desperate, I turned to the patron saint of many recently arrived Latin Americans like myself: the government." (01/04/16)
http://blog.panampost.com/editor/2016/01/04/for-newcomers-to-america-better-a-good-friend-than-a-cv/
-----
40) Who wants a sugar-free life?
Source: spiked
by Rob Lyons
"According to Public Health England (PHE), the government agency that seems to spend its entire budget demanding that we stop doing anything enjoyable, children between the ages of four and 10 are eating the equivalent of 5,500 sugar lumps per year -- a grand total of 22kg of the sweet stuff. This is a very bad thing, apparently. And to enable us to see the shocking figures involved, PHE has catapulted itself right smack into the 21st century by launching an app. The app is designed to make it straightforward to discover the sugar 'lurking' in our food. (Yup, according to PHE, a simple white crystalline substance can 'lurk.') Just download the app to your smartphone, open it up, and then you, too, can scan the barcode on any food item and get the full, horrific details. This brilliant idea is a quick and easy way to get round the time-consuming chore of, er, just reading the label." (01/05/16)
http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/who-wants-a-sugar-free-life/17771
-----
41) Congress must vote on ISIS war
Source: USA Today
by US Rep Jim McGovern (D-MA)
"As the new year begins, we are more than 15 months into military operations against ISI[S], and Congress has yet to vote on an authorization for war. I have long called for Congress to get off the sidelines, and I am pleased that Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi agree that this is a priority for 2016. With our brave men and women in uniform in harm's way, Congress must honor its constitutional responsibility by voting on this war. We have seen progress from the strategy pursued by President Obama with the recovery of territory that was under ISI[S] control. These victories relied on coordinated operations with local, regional and international partners and highlight the importance of working with a strong international coalition united in defeating ISI[S]." (01/03/16)
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/01/03/islamic-state-congress-war-authorization-jim-mcgovern-editorials-debates/78240032
-----
42) Review: The Man in the High Castle
Source: Living Freedom
by Claire Wolfe
"Last spring, I wasn't aware that the pilot was the only bit that yet existed. I just knew that it was the most-watched pilot Amazon had produced, and I could see why. I fell headlong into it -- and about went nuts when I realized the cliffhanger ending was all I was going to get! The show was 'too expensive and too dangerous' for the networks. The BBC and SyFy both rejected it. But Amazon viewers said go! The 10-episode series has now been out a while and I just picked it up at episode two. No binge-watch yet. Episode two is as far as I've gotten. But by damn, it was better than the pilot. Without seeing another minute I'm ready to recommend this series to every freedomista anywhere." (01/04/16)
http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/ClaireWolfe/2016/01/04/the-man-in-the-high-castle/
-----
43) Our ancestors were different, especially on immigration
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
"Whatever else might be said about our American ancestors, one thing is beyond dispute: Their position on immigration was diametrically opposite from that of Americans living today. Just think: Open immigration, a concept that, with the exception of libertarians, no American alive today would even come close to endorsing. Except for a cursory health inspection at Ellis Island to ensure that immigrants didn't have tuberculosis, which could easily be spread to others, everyone who came to America via New York was free to enter and stay, no questions asked." (01/05/16)
http://fff.org/2016/01/05/our-ancestors-sure-were-different-especially-on-immigration/
-----
44) Subsidizing illegal aliens [sic]
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
"In The Mouse That Roared, a 1955 comic novel by Leonard Wibberley, a tiny English-speaking country in Europe loses market share for its only export, a wine label, to a cheap American knock-off. Seeking compensation for the loss, the duchy decides to do the only rational thing: declare war on America, and then, after the inevitable defeat, reap the rewards of reconstruction financing. I was reminded of the book when reading about another of the Obama Administration's subsidy programs, uncovered by Sen. Rand Paul. The program gives money to illegal aliens [sic] deported to their country of origin, El Salvador, to start small businesses." [editor's note: The subsidies are bad, of course. But there's no such thing as an "illegal alien," since the US Constitution forbids the federal government to regulate immigration - TLK] (01/05/16)
http://thisiscommonsense.com/2016/01/05/subsidizing-illegal-aliens/
-----
45) Consensual violence
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Mike Reid
"Aggression, as I understand the term, involves an uninvited invasion or use of force against person or property. To be aggression, it has to be nonconsensual. For instance, if I use a coat hanger to bypass the lock on your car door, that might be aggression. But what if you had locked your keys inside, and you asked me to help you get them out? If I kiss you, it's definitely aggression if you have just forbidden me to do so. It's probably not if the wedding officiant has just told me, 'You may kiss the bride.' So you cannot usually tell aggression from consensual behavior by looking at just a snapshot of physical action. You need to see the context of the interactions and know the intentions of the participants." (01/05/16)
http://fee.org/freeman/consensual-violence/
-----
46) Debate schedule allowing GOP to frame election narrative
Source: Our Future
by Dave Johnson
"There's just no way around it: the Democrats are intentionally hiding their presidential candidates from the public. The last Democratic presidential debate was buried on a Saturday night up against the opening of Star Wars. Naturally it drew a fraction of earlier Republican debate audiences -- and even of the earlier Democratic debates. The next debate is scheduled, astonishingly, on a Sunday night, January 17, the middle day of a three-day weekend. But just in case that might still draw an audience, it is also up against NFL playoff games. What is going on?" (01/04/16)
https://ourfuture.org/20160104/debate-schedule-is-allowing-gop-to-frame-election-narrative
-----
47) The continued appeal of statism
Source: Reason
by Marian Tupy
"Learning from other people's successes and failures can take time. Consider the examples of Argentina and Venezuela. The voters in both countries have recently rejected statist economic policies by voting for a market-friendly presidential candidate (in Argentina) and non-socialist parliamentary majority (in Venezuela). The electoral outcomes in the two Latin American countries were not completely unexpected, considering that Argentina and Venezuela have both suffered serious economic reversals in recent years. The continued appeal of statism is undeniable. It keeps on reappearing -- in different forms, but with similarly disastrous consequences." (01/05/16)
https://reason.com/archives/2016/01/05/the-continued-appeal-of-statism
-----
48) Be careful who you make your heroes
Source: The Zelman Partisans
by PigPen51
"Heroes have existed seemingly for all eternity, in nearly every culture. From Native Americans with tales of great bravery by men with names like 'Eagle Feather' or 'Bear Claw' to tales of heroes from ancient Israel like David vs Goliath to more modern times with real-world heroes like Audie Murphy, we all are familiar with the stories of those who inspire us to courage and faithfulness. Often, however, we in America have created heroic images around people who have actually harmed us rather than benefitted us or society." (01/05/16)
http://zelmanpartisans.com/?p=2688
-----
49) Not only Trump recruits terrorists
Source: Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland
"In America, the public, some politicians, and even President Obama have a vague awareness that U.S. government policies affect the recruitment of terrorists by radical groups. However, going too far with such self-awareness leads to excessively unsettling conclusions that would demand radical changes in U.S. foreign policy. Thus, as a nation, we generally avoid going down that road at all costs. It is to our peril." (01/04/16)
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=8636
-----
50) People have strange fears
Source: A Geek With Guns
by Christopher Burg
"When police continue to kick in doors at oh dark thirty, shoot the family dogs, and desperately scour homes for hours hoping to find something illegal to justify terrorizing the occupants at an incorrect address many people seem perfectly content with the situation. In fact they continue to be apologists for the police and remind us that police are necessary (their words, not mine) for our safety. But when a group of dip shits occupy an empty government building the previously mentioned people flip their shit. Supposedly these militia members, who haven't even hurt anybody as far as I know, are to be feared ..." (01/04/15)
https://blog.christopherburg.com/2016/01/04/people-have-strange-fears/
-----
51) Breaking the law
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
"Breaking the law? We do it all the time, either intentionally or unintentionally. Here are a couple of examples of INTENTIONAL law breaking." (01/04/16)
http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/?p=8365
-----
52) The Libertarian Angle, 01/05/16: Presidential candidates and the status quo
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
"Each week, FFF president Jacob Hornberger and Richard M. Ebeling discuss the hot topics of the day. This week, Jacob and Richard review the candidates for the upcoming presidential election." [various formats] (01/05/16)
http://fff.org/explore-freedom/article/libertarian-angle-presidential-candidates-status-quo/
-----
53) The forgotten tax increase
Source: LewRockwell.com
by Laurence M Vance
"The only good thing we can say about taxes going into 2016 is that at least they are not going up this year. Such was not the case in 2013, 1991, 1993 -- and especially 1994. In fact, the 'Bush tax cuts' notwithstanding, the forgotten tax increase of 1994 is still with us." (01/05/16)
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/01/laurence-m-vance/forgotten-tax-increases/
-----
54) The Saudis go full ISIS
Source: Antiwar.com
by Dan Sanchez
"Saudi Arabia has perpetrated a mass execution that puts ISIS's beach beheadings to shame. Forty-seven heads rolled on Saturday. One of them belonged to Nimr al-Nimr, a revered Shi'ite cleric who had been sentenced to death for sermons in which he criticized the government (especially for its persecution of the country's Shi'ite minority). His brother has been sentenced to be crucified. This was done as the Saudis continue to drop American bombs on Shia in Yemen (boosting Al Qaeda there) and to hire jihadis to help ISIS and Al-Qaeda kill Shia in Syria. It is no mystery why the Saudis are such brothers in arms with the Bin Ladenites, sharing both their hyper-sectarian aims and their gruesome methods." (01/05/16)
http://original.antiwar.com/dan_sanchez/2016/01/04/saudis-go-full-isis/
-----
55) Heartland Daily Podcast, 01/04/16: Federal mismanagement of public lands
Source: Heartland Institute
"In today's edition of The Heartland Daily Podcast, State Senator Jennifer Fielder (MT) sits down with Managing Editor of Environment & Climate News H. Sterling Burnett. Fielder joins Burnett to discuss the federal mismanagement of public lands. Fielder explains how his mismanagement of public lands and wildlife has resulted in catastrophic wildfires which harm people, the environment and the economy." [various formats] (01/04/16)
http://blog.heartland.org/2016/01/heartland-daily-podcast-state-sen-jennifer-fielder-mt-federal-mismanagement-of-public-lands/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) North Korea: Regime claims it's tested a hydrogen bomb
2) Obama: Crocodile tears for past victims, executive orders to create future victims
3) Afghanistan: One US soldier killed, two wounded
4) Yemen: Aden governor survives car bomb that kills two
5) Twitter suspends, restores Oregon occupation leader Ammon Bundy's account
6) Haiti: Election chief says runoff can't be held by January 17
7) UK: MPs to debate calls to ban Donald Trump
8) Venezuela: Opposition controls congress after 17 years
9) Nigeria: IMF chief says it can help recover stolen funds
10) Study: More Mexicans are leaving the US than coming in
11) Sanders lays out plan to break up big banks
12) Kuwait recalls ambassador from Tehran
13) WI: Despite harsh pot laws, companies find a way into industry
14) PA: Company ordered to pay $1.75 million over bathroom breaks
15) Report: Twitter may soon go beyond 140 characters
16) UK: Junior doctors to strike over contract row with government
17) Thailand: Police websites hacked with "failed law" message
18) Turkish authorities find bodies of 27 migrants, search for survivors
19) EFF blasts T-Mobile's Binge On, calls for FCC investigation
20) UK: Cameron will allow cabinet ministers to campaign for "Brexit"
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) "Gun control" -- can someone please make that man a ham sandwich?
22) The LAVA Flow Podcast, episode 27: The new year, new laws edition
23) Five things that will get you a libertarian society
24) Oregon and the injustice of mandatory minimums
25)No, the Bundys aren't terrorists
26) Why the Fed will never succeed
27) For a return to normalcy
28) Interview: Libertarian Mark Miller wants to frack the TRRC
29) Oregon standoff: Far bigger than a group of armed men in a refuge
30) Listing consumption differences
31) Weighing the Pacific trade deal's green demands
32) Jerry Brown behind bars
33) Thinking harder about political correctness
34) Seven reasons not to care about high pay
35) How Obama enables atrocities
36) Does Bernie Sanders's imperialism matter?
37) Why this socialist feminist is not voting for Hillary
38) Are we headed for another bust?
39) For newcomers to America, better a good friend than a CV
40) Who wants a sugar-free life?
41) Congress must vote on ISIS war
42) Review: The Man in the High Castle
43) Our ancestors were different, especially on immigration
44) Subsidizing illegal aliens [sic]
45) Consensual violence
46) Debate schedule allowing GOP to frame election narrative
47) The continued appeal of statism
48) Be careful who you make your heroes
49) Not only Trump recruits terrorists
50) People have strange fears
51) Breaking the law
52) The Libertarian Angle, 01/05/16: Presidential candidates and the status quo
53) The forgotten tax increase
54) The Saudis go full ISIS
55) Heartland Daily Podcast, 01/04/16: Federal mismanagement of public lands
------------------------------------------------------------------
FREEDOM NEWS
------------------------------------------------------------------
1) North Korea: Regime claims it's tested a hydrogen bomb
Source: MarketWatch
"North Korea said it staged its first test of a more powerful form of nuclear weapon, which expands the U.S.'s foreign policy challenges and highlights the limits of China's ability to rein in its volatile ally. An announcer on North Korean state television said in a midday broadcast that scientists had successfully detonated a hydrogen bomb at around 10 a.m. local time. The U.S. Geological Survey reported that a magnitude 5.1 earthquake was triggered at that time near North Korea's nuclear test site in the northeast of the country." (01/05/16)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/north-korea-quake-raises-suspicions-of-nuke-test-2016-01-05
-----
2) Obama: Crocodile tears for past victims, executive orders to create future victims
Source: USA Today
"President Obama again shed tears for the children of Newtown. As he did on the morning of the 2012 mass shooting, Obama choked up Tuesday as he mentioned the 'first graders' gunned down at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., while again proposing measures designed to [theatrically exploit gun violence for political advantage]. 'Every time I think about those kids, it makes me mad,' Obama said at the White House as he announced new executive actions designed to [disarm future victims of violent crime]. The Newtown massacre claimed the lives of 20 children, and Obama's emotional comments about the most innocent victims of gun violence inspired a flood of comments on social media." (01/05/16)
http://www.usatoday.com/story/onpolitics/2016/01/05/obama-newtown-crying-guns/78307648/
-----
3) Afghanistan: One US soldier killed, two wounded
Source: CNN
"One U.S. soldier was killed and two wounded during a joint U.S.-Afghan Special Operations mission in Marjah, Afghanistan, Tuesday, with fighting still continuing, the Pentagon announced. A U.S. official told CNN that a quick reaction force has been launched in an effort to rescue those forces on the ground in Marjah. The official could not say where the force was launched from or how many people were involved." (01/05/16)
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/05/politics/u-s-soldier-killed-in-afghanistan/
-----
4) Yemen: Aden governor survives car bomb that kills two
Source: Tuscaloosa News
"The governor of Yemen's southern port city of Aden survived a car bomb attack on Tuesday that killed two bodyguards and critically wounded three others, Yemeni officials said. The assassination attempt on Gov. Aidarous al-Zubaidi comes a month after his predecessor was killed in a bombing claimed by a local Islamic State affiliate." (01/05/16)
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20160105/API/301059763
-----
5) Twitter suspends, restores Oregon occupation leader Ammon Bundy's account
Source: USA Today
"The Twitter social media site on Tuesday restored the suspended the account of Ammon Bundy, the Nevada rancher who is leading a group of armed men occupying federal buildings at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. On Tuesday afternoon, the site suspended the account but did not respond to queries as to why. Bundy appeared to respond to USA TODAY's public request for a response from Twitter. 'Seditious Conspiracy is a serious federal crime as is aiding traitors #TwitterDidntWannaBeChargedWithTreason,' he tweeted. ... The social media site did not immediately respond to a query regarding why the account was suspended." (01/05/16)
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/01/05/twitter-account-oregon-organizer-bundy-suspended/78315656/
-----
6) Haiti: Election chief says runoff can't be held by January 17
Source: ABC News
"Haiti's outgoing leader met with election authorities Tuesday in search of a solution to the country's deepening electoral impasse, after an official said it would be impossible to hold a presidential runoff in time for a transfer of power by the constitutional deadline. President Michel Martelly announced last week that Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council was warning that the runoff must be held by Jan. 17 to fulfill the constitutional mandate of inaugurating a new president Feb. 7." (01/05/16)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/haiti-election-chief-runoff-held-jan-17-36105391
-----
7) UK: MPs to debate calls to ban Donald Trump
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"MPs are to debate whether to bar Donald Trump from entering the UK in response to a public petition calling for action against the US Presidential candidate. About 568,000 people have backed a petition calling on the tycoon to be barred for comments he made about banning Muslims from the US. Labour MP Paul Flynn will lead a debate in Westminster Hall on 18 January. David Cameron has condemned Mr Trump, who has major business interests in the UK, but said he should be allowed in." (01/05/16)
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-35238349
-----
8) Venezuela: Opposition controls congress after 17 years
Source: Idaho Press-Tribune
"Venezuela's opposition took majority control of the National Assembly on Tuesday after years in the political wilderness, setting the stage for a potential power struggle with embattled President Nicolas Maduro. Lawmakers were sworn in during a heated parliamentary session that saw pro-government representatives walk out in protest after pushing their way onto the dais as the new leadership tried to lay out its legislative agenda." (01/05/16)
http://www.idahopress.com/ap_news/international/venezuela-opposition-controls-congress-after-years/article_8293f211-9f87-5918-9031-8a5daac23ae6.html
-----
9) Nigeria: IMF chief says it can help recover stolen funds
Source: Virginian-Pilot
"The managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, said Tuesday that her organization wants to collaborate with Nigeria in plugging leaking of funds through corruption and to trace looted money. Lagarde, on a visit to the African economic giant, said Nigeria has enough of a financial war-chest to overcome the current economic challenge without resorting to the IMF for financial support." (01/05/16)
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AF_NIGERIA_IMF?SITE=VANOV&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-01-05-13-58-56
-----
10) Study: More Mexicans are leaving the US than coming in
Source: Raw Story
"During the most recent Republican debate, Donald Trump declared 'people are pouring across the southern border.' Trump is right that the United States has been a major immigrant destination since the 1960s, but if he is referring to Mexican flows today, he is wrong. According to sociologists Frank Bean and Gillian Stevens, Mexican migration to the United States is "the largest sustained flow of migrant workers in the contemporary world," and Mexico is the single largest contributor of migrants to the United States since 1965. But here's what Trump ignores: a recent Pew Report shows that more Mexicans are leaving than coming to the United States -- reversing a decades-long trend. The main reason for the trend is family reunification, but this migration back to Mexico is not driven by nostalgia for kin. The reasons behind it are much more complex." (01/05/16)
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/more-mexicans-are-leaving-the-us-than-coming-recent-study-shows
-----
11) Sanders lays out plan to break up big banks
Source: Reuters
"U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who has made reining in Wall Street a top campaign theme, warned on Tuesday that financial-sector greed is 'destroying the fabric of our nation" and detailed his plan to break up big banks. Sanders delivered what his campaign was calling a 'major policy address' on Wall Street reform in New York. The U.S. senator from Vermont is challenging front-runner Hillary Clinton, a former U.S. senator from New York, and former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley for the Democratic nomination to run for president in November 2016. ... 'If a bank is too big to fail, it is too big to exist; when it comes to Wall Street reform, that must be our bottom line,' said Sanders." (01/05/16)
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-sanders-idUSKBN0UJ1Q920160105
-----
12) Kuwait recalls ambassador from Tehran
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"Kuwait has announced it is recalling its ambassador to Iran as a regional row over the execution of a Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia deepens. Saudi Arabia's embassy in Tehran was ransacked and set alight on Saturday, after it executed Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others. Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic ties with Iran in response, followed on Monday by its allies Bahrain and Sudan. The US, UN and Turkey are among those calling for calm in the region. Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran are major rivals for power in the Middle East and back opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen." (01/05/16)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35231382
-----
13) WI: Despite harsh pot laws, companies find a way into industry
Source: Smell the Truth
"Even with stock markets plunging across the globe today, there is still one industry with nothing short of stellar growth expected in 2016. As cannabis markets continue to expand and develop across the US, even those in state's with some of the harshest laws around the plant are finding a way to make a buck. In Wisconsin, a state where less than an ounce can get you six months, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports many local companies are finding a way in to the $2.7 billion dollar a year industry that a Bank of America Merrill Lynch report estimated could hit $35 Billion by 2020." (01/05/16)
http://blog.sfgate.com/smellthetruth/2016/01/05/despite-harsh-pot-laws-wisconsin-companies-find-a-way-into-industry
-----
14) PA: Company ordered to pay $1.75 million over bathroom breaks
Source: Fox News
"A Pennsylvania company that publishes business newsletters will pay about $1.75 million to thousands of employees who had to clock out while going on short breaks, including for the bathroom. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that a federal judge has given the U.S. Department of Labor and the Malvern-based company, American Future Systems Inc., until Thursday to submit proposals on managing payment. The company had argued that it wasn't required to pay employees for short breaks. The bill includes back pay and damages to 6,000 employees at offices in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio between 2009 and 2013." [editor's note: Clocking out to take a leak, rather than letting it run down your leg and soil both you and the office? This was just plain stupid! - SAT] (01/05/16)
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/01/05/pennsylvania-company-ordered-to-pay-1-75-million-over-bathroom-breaks.html
-----
15) Report: Twitter may soon go beyond 140 characters
Source: USA Today
"Twitter may soon go beyond 140 characters. The company has been exploring extending the length permitted in a tweet on the service for months. Now Re/code reports the character limit for tweets could grow to 10,000, the same limit on direct messages on its service. And the new character limit could take effect early this year, the technology news service says, citing anonymous sources. Twitter spokesman Jim Prosser declined to comment." (01/05/16)
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/01/05/twitter-may-soon-go-beyond-140-characters/78304512
-----
16) UK: Junior doctors to strike over contract row with government
Source: Oxford Times [UK]
"Junior doctors will go on strike for 24 hours after talks with the Government broke down. The doctor's union announced last night that industrial action will go ahead next Tuesday over Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt's plans to change their contract. More than 37,000 junior doctors across the country -- including 2,000 in the Thames Valley -- voted in favour of industrial action on December 1 but the strike was called off at the 11th hour when discussions opened again on November 30. But the British Medical Association (BMA) announced last night that talks had stalled and junior doctors will walk out for 24 hours on Tuesday." (01/05/16)
http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/news/14182157.Juniors_doctors_to_go_on_strike_next_week_over_contract_row_with_Government/
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17) Thailand: Police websites hacked with "failed law" message
Source: Washington Post
"Hackers took over several police websites in Thailand, replacing the home pages with a message saying, 'Failed Law. We want Justice!' Police Tuesday said they were investigating if the hack was in response to a Thai court decision that has been widely protested in neighboring Myanmar. The Dec. 24 ruling resulted in death sentences for two Myanmar men convicted of murdering two British backpackers. Protesters believe the men were scapegoats and have threatened to boycott Thai goods after a trial that raised many unanswered questions about police and judicial conduct in Thailand." (01/05/16)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/thai-police-websites-hacked-with-failed-law-message/2016/01/05/c0b3597c-b3a2-11e5-8abc-d09392edc612_story.html
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18) Turkish authorities find bodies of 27 migrants, search for survivors
Source: Reuters
"Turkish authorities said they found the bodies of 27 migrants, at least three of them children, at two separate locations on the Aegean coast on Tuesday after a migrant boat apparently capsized as it tried to reach the Greek island of Lesbos. The flow of mostly Syrian refugees and migrants braving the seas to seek sanctuary in Europe dipped toward the end of last year coinciding with colder weather, but the total figure still reached 1 million in 2015, nearly five times more than in the previous year. Seventeen of the bodies were discovered on the shoreline in the district of Ayvalik, while ten others were found in the district of Dikili, a gendarmerie official in the local headquarters told Reuters." (01/05/16)
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-turkey-idUSKBN0UJ0MW20160105
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19) EFF blasts T-Mobile's Binge On, calls for FCC investigation
Source: The Verge
"The Electronic Frontier Foundation has taken a thorough look at T-Mobile's new Binge On feature, which lets customers watch video from Netflix, HBO, Hulu, and others without it counting against their data plan. And while some customers may appreciate the new perk of choosing T-Mobile, the EFF is decidedly unhappy with the whole thing. ... Customers have the option of disabling Binge On and seeing videos as they normally would, but T-Mobile's approach to the whole thing has compelled the EFF to call for the FCC to investigate the matter." [editor's note: It was bad enough that EFF, which USED to be pro-Internet-freedom, supported the "net neutrality" scam in the first place; now they're actively siccing the FCC gang on providers who offer good service to customers. Boo, EFF! - TLK] (01/05/17)
http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/5/10708876/eff-tmobile-binge-on-test
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20) UK: Cameron will allow cabinet ministers to campaign for "Brexit"
Source: Chicago Tribune
"Prime Minister David Cameron will allow ministers in his Cabinet to decide for themselves whether to campaign for Britain to stay in or leave the European Union -- a so-called Brexit -- in a referendum expected later this year. ... British ministers are usually expected to abide by the principle of collective responsibility, which means supporting the government's agreed position even if they have personal doubts. With Cameron on course to campaign to stay inside the EU, ministers who wish to publicly disagree would currently have to quit their posts." (01/05/16)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-wp-blm-britain-fa5b64f0-b3a0-11e5-8abc-d09392edc612-20160105-story.html
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FREEDOM COMMENTARY
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21) "Gun control" -- can someone please make that man a ham sandwich?
Source: William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism
by Thomas L Knapp
"The language of the US Constitution's 2nd Amendment is clear and its intended meaning is well-documented. The framers of that amendment -- who had just emerged from a long war against the world's most powerful army, a war won by an armed citizenry -- understood the right to keep and bear arms as a right 'of the people.' They specifically and intentionally barred the president, Congress, the state legislatures, your local city council, ANYONE, from infringing it. Every 'gun control' law now on the books is unconstitutional and therefore, per Madison v. Marbury, void. Not only is Obama's executive order sortie, taken in conspiracy ('consultation') with the Attorney General of the United States and other government functionaries, not within his legal authority, it's a crime." (01/05/16)
http://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/4000
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22) The LAVA Flow Podcast, episode 27: The new year, new laws edition
Source: The LAVA Flow Podcast
"In this fortnight's episode, several new laws take effect this year, what's in the news with stories on cigarette taxes and private police, a new segment, Netflix and Thrill, and a Statists Gonna State on John McAfee." [various formats] (01/05/16)
http://thelavaflow.com/the-new-year-new-laws-edition-tlf027/
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23) Five things that will get you a libertarian society
Source: Downsize DC
by Jim Babka and Perry Willis
"Let's start the New Year with some fresh ideas. How many active supporters do you think we would need to execute the following five tactics ... 1. Stop Congress from passing bad bills? 2. Pass good bills ... like Downsize DC's 'Read the Bills Act?' 3. Score constant policy victories using ballot initiatives? 4. Hang juries so frequently that bad laws would become unenforceable? 5. Win super-majorities in state legislatures and Congress? Well, four of these five things have already been accomplished by other groups. So we spent the last months of 2015 modeling those four examples and reverse engineering the fifth one." (01/05/16)
https://downsizedc.org/blog/5-things-that-will-get-you-a-libertarian-society
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24) Oregon and the injustice of mandatory minimums
Source: The Atlantic
by Conor Friedersdorf
"In theory, those on the left who care about vanquishing mandatory minimums could have used the news story about the Hammonds to broaden awareness and opposition to the practice among members of the Red Tribe. Libertarian intellectuals oppose mandatory minimums. Why not the populist right, too? Some folks in rural areas who've never known about the laws, or think that they only affect people in cities, might change their minds if they were to find out that what happened to the Hammonds is routine; that many Americans have suffered far more egregious sentences; and that mandatory minimums affect all sorts of defendants. Yes, the Oregon protestors have a larger agenda about the management of federal lands in the West and the degree to which they ought to be under local control. Still, in their opposition to mandatory minimums, they share common ground with the left." (01/05/16)
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/oregon-mandatory-minimums/422433/
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25)No, the Bundys aren't terrorists
Source: The New Republic
by Brian Beutler
"The occupation of the headquarters of a federal wildlife refuge in rural Oregon by armed insurrectionaries may as well have been designed to allow liberals to troll conservatives,and vice-versa. This is obnoxious, illegal, and incredibly reckless behavior. It's also quite different from, say, shooting several people in a Planned Parenthood clinic to scare women out of having elective abortions. For liberals, the ironies are especially potent. The siege is taking place against the backdrop of a long, polarizing national debate over racial bias in the criminal justice system. Liberals thus can use (and have used) the development to highlight the disparate ways law enforcement treats white and black citizens." (01/05/16)
https://newrepublic.com/article/126990/no-bundys-arent-terrorists
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26) Why the Fed will never succeed
Source: Cobden Centre
by Alasdair MacLeod
"The Fed will never succeed in its attempt to manage inflation and unemployment by varying interest rates, because it and its economists do not accept the relationship between, on one side, the money it creates and the bank credit its commercial banks issue out of thin air, and on the other the disruption unsound money causes in the economy. This has been going on since the Fed was created, which makes the question as to whether the Fed was right to raise interest rates recently irrelevant." (01/05/16)
http://www.cobdencentre.org/2016/01/why-the-fed-will-never-succeed/
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27) For a return to normalcy
Source: Antiwar.com
by Justin Raimondo
"As Murray Rothbard pointed out in America's Great Depression, it was Hoover who constructed the policy template later expanded by Franklin Roosevelt into the alphabet soup bureaucratization of the American economy. Hoover's policies exacerbated a recession which morphed into a full-scale downturn, thus paving the way for the New Deal -- and FDR's march to war. The ascension of Franklin Delano Roosevelt to four terms of the presidency marks the passing of our old republic and its replacement by an empire, a centralized state that seeks to expand its influence on every continent and into every American household. It meant the end of normalcy, the return of the eternal 'crisis' that empowered Washington to act in the name of meeting the 'emergency' -- and from that day until the present, the 'crisis' has been perpetual." (01/06/15)
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2016/01/05/for-a-return-to-normalcy/
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28) Interview: Libertarian Mark Miller wants to frack the TRRC
Source: Dallas Libertarian Examiner
by Garry Reed
"Dr. Mark Miller is bringing his Libertarian Party of Texas campaign for TRRC Commissioner to North Texas (Residence Inn Marriott, 13400 North Freeway, Fort Worth TX 76177) on Thursday, January 7, at 7:00 PM. The TRRC -- Texas Railroad Commission -- is a state regulatory agency that hasn't regulated railroads since 2005; it regulates the Texas oil and gas industry. Many claim it's the Texas Oil and Gas Industry that regulates the TRRC, making it what one libertarian calls 'the epitome of regulatory capture and cronyism.' Miller has the credentials for the job: A BS in Engineering, a PhD from Stanford, taught petroleum engineering at the University of Texas for 18 years, had a long career in the oil and gas industry as an engineer, served as an engineering consultant, and founded a company that provides software to the oil and gas industry. Dallas Libertarian Examiner asked the LP candidate a few questions." (01/05/16)
http://www.examiner.com/article/interview-libertarian-mark-miller-wants-to-frack-the-trrc
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29) Oregon standoff: Far bigger than a group of armed men in a refuge
Source: Washington Post
by Niraj Chokshi
"They say the federal government stripped them of their land and resources. And they're not alone. The weekend occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon may seem like the ravings of a small group of armed activists, but it belongs to a much larger movement in the western United States. Lawmakers in at least 11 states have in recent years explored the possibility of taking back federal land in their own way: through their state legislatures. Before this weekend's incident, and before the Cliven Bundy confrontation in Nevada in 2014, there was Utah's H.B. 148. In 2012, Utah passed that bill into law, requiring the federal government turn over the public lands within the state. The law carried little force -- the end-of-2014 deadline for the transfer came and went-- but it signified the start of a new chapter in the four-decade fight over Western land." (01/04/16)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/01/04/the-oregon-standoff-is-far-bigger-than-a-group-of-armed-men-in-a-forest
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30) Listing consumption differences
Source: Cafe Hayek
by Don Boudreaux
"When can median-income consumers afford products that, while not as high-quality as those versions that are bought by the super-rich, are nevertheless virtually indistinguishable -- because they are quite close in quality -- to the naked eye from those versions bought by the super-rich? On this list would be most clothing. For example, an ordinary American man can today afford a suit that, while it's neither tailor-made nor of a fabric as fine as are suits that I suspect are worn by most billionaires, is nevertheless close enough in fit and fabric quality to be indistinguishable by the naked eye from expensive suits worn by billionaires. (I suspect that the same it true for women's clothing, but I'm less expert on that topic.) Ditto for shoes, underwear, haircuts, corrective eye-wear, collars for dogs and cats, pet food, household bath towels and 'linens,' tableware and cutlery, automobile tires, hand tools, most household furniture, and wristwatches." (01/05/16)
http://cafehayek.com/2016/01/listing-consumption-differences.html
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31) Weighing the Pacific trade deal's green demands
Source: Cato Institute
by K William Watson
"When the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was still under negotiation, the Obama administration said it would be the 'most progressive' trade agreement in history. An important part of that agenda was to break ground on new environmental issues and include strong and enforceable environmental protection rules. But with the final text now released, environmentalists and anti-globalization activists are unimpressed and have criticized the TPP for, among many other things, having inadequate environmental protections." (01/05/16)
http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/weighing-pacific-trade-deals-green-demands
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32) Jerry Brown behind bars
Source: The Libertarian Enterpreise
by L Neil Smith
"As most gun activists are presently aware, late in December of what is now last year, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into 'law' an act which pretends to permit police in that state, unfettered by Constitutional considerations, to enter the property of otherwise innocent human beings and steal whatever firearms they may be keeping there. The Bill of rights lacks any enforcement or penalty clause, although there are criminal statutes within the United States Code which make Brown's signature and advocacy an unlawful act, for which any decent court -- counting up the number of individuals damaged by what he has done -- would sentence him to a couple of lifetimes in prison. Preferably in the reopened federal prison on Alcatraz Island. As it is, this decades-old sick leftist fetish for rendering ordinary people helpless, is going to cost some incalculable number of human lives, Americans defending to the death their right to own and carry weapons, and brain-dead jackbooted minions of the totalitarian state, intent on violating them. California will end up looking like Kosovo." (01/03/16)
http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2016/tle853-20160103-06.html
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33) Thinking harder about political correctness
Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner
"Donald Trump and the rest of the Republican presidential pack have had a field day disparaging political correctness as an affliction of liberals that is resented by regular Americans. Some liberal commentators have suggested that political correctness has become a serious albatross for Democrats. Columnist Thomas Edsall, in a piece for The New York Times online, cited polls showing that large numbers of Americans, Democrats as well as Republicans, agreed that 'political correctness' was a big problem. But what exactly is political correctness? The term was first used by lefties to make fun of themselves. I've been hearing it used ironically since the 1970s." (01/05/16)
http://prospect.org/article/thinking-harder-about-political-correctness
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34) Seven reasons not to care about high pay
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Sam Bowman
"Critics of high pay can't say how much they think CEOs should be paid. The High Pay Centre says it thinks CEOs are paid too much, but how much would be the right amount? They don't say, and don't suggest any real way of knowing. They emphasise multiples of employee pay on their website, but there's no reason at all to think that would be a good way of judging how much a CEO is worth to the firm, and doesn't even make sense across firms -- is the CEO of a giant firm with a low average wage, like McDonald's or Tesco, less important than the CEO of a relatively small firm with a high average wage, like QinetiQ?" (01/05/16)
http://www.adamsmith.org/blog/economics/seven-reasons-not-to-care-about-high-pay/
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35) How Obama enables atrocities
Source: OpEdNews
by Robert Parry
"As the New Year dawns, the neocons and their liberal interventionist sidekicks remain firmly in control of Official Washington's storylines -- on Syria, Russia and elsewhere -- even as their policies continue to wreak havoc across the Mideast and threaten the stability of Europe and indeed the future of civilization. The latest proof of this dangerous reality came when Saudi Arabia's repressive Sunni monarchy executed prominent Shiite political leader Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr for criticizing the nation's kings and princes. Before the killing, the Obama administration held its tongue in public so as not to antagonize the Saudi royals. (Nimr's nephew awaits Saudi 'crucifixion' for his role as a teenager in Arab Spring protests.)" (01/05/16)
http://www.opednews.com/articles/How-Obama-Enables-Atrociti-by-Robert-Parry-Atrocities_Gaddafi_Israel_Neocons-160104-883.html
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36) Does Bernie Sanders's imperialism matter?
Source: CounterPunch
by Shamus Cooke
"Critiquing Bernie Sanders from the left can be a lonely project. There is a 'hope'-powered hysteria surrounding his campaign, and bursting the 'hope' bubble can produce a fierce backlash. ... Bernie's version of hope is deeper than Obama's shallow PR electoral campaign, but under capitalism real 'hope' isn't a simple recipe, and Bernie is missing some key ingredients, most notably 'anti-imperialism,' which is exemplified in Bernie's reactionary foreign policy positions." (01/05/16)
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/01/05/does-bernie-sanders-imperialism-matter/
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37) Why this socialist feminist is not voting for Hillary
Source: The Nation
by Liza Featherstone
"Socialism, it turns out, can be a form of identity politics. Some feminists, including Suzanna Danuta Walters, brandish a 'red-diaper baby' heritage or some other cultural or sentimental affinity to hint that supporting Hillary Clinton's candidacy doesn't just represent some corporate gloss on feminism; it's a genuinely radical position. But no one who makes this argument can articulate what, beyond her identity as a woman, qualifies Clinton as a passable candidate for socialist feminists. That's understandable because, in a primary against an independent socialist who has been attracting an astonishing level of grassroots support, there are no socialist-feminist reasons to support Hillary Clinton." [editor's note: Good to hear this from another corner, even if her own agenda might be anathema to liberty-lovers - SAT] (01/05/16)
http://www.thenation.com/article/why-this-socialist-feminist-is-not-voting-for-hillary
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38) Are we headed for another bust?
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Frank Shostak
"On Wednesday December 16, 2015, Federal Reserve Bank policymakers raised the federal funds rate target by 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent for the first time since December 2008. There is the possibility that the target could be lifted gradually to 1.25 percent by December next year. Fed policymakers have justified this increase with the view that the economy is strong enough and can stand on its own feet. 'The Committee judges that there has been considerable improvement in labor market conditions this year, and it is reasonably confident the inflation will rise over the medium term to its 2 percent objective,' the Fed said in its policy statement. Various key economic indicators such as industrial production don't support this optimism." (01/05/16)
https://mises.org/library/are-we-headed-another-bust
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39) For newcomers to America, better a good friend than a CV
Source: The Canal
by Manuel Ballagas
"Every time I listen to someone whine about how difficult life is in America, I can't help but smile. It's not that I feel glad about it; it's just that I remember how many times I whined about it myself. As a newcomer, I was so clueless, I had no idea how to find a job in this country. My resume was a total disaster. To begin with, none of the information it provided about me was verifiable in the United States. Growing increasingly desperate, I turned to the patron saint of many recently arrived Latin Americans like myself: the government." (01/04/16)
http://blog.panampost.com/editor/2016/01/04/for-newcomers-to-america-better-a-good-friend-than-a-cv/
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40) Who wants a sugar-free life?
Source: spiked
by Rob Lyons
"According to Public Health England (PHE), the government agency that seems to spend its entire budget demanding that we stop doing anything enjoyable, children between the ages of four and 10 are eating the equivalent of 5,500 sugar lumps per year -- a grand total of 22kg of the sweet stuff. This is a very bad thing, apparently. And to enable us to see the shocking figures involved, PHE has catapulted itself right smack into the 21st century by launching an app. The app is designed to make it straightforward to discover the sugar 'lurking' in our food. (Yup, according to PHE, a simple white crystalline substance can 'lurk.') Just download the app to your smartphone, open it up, and then you, too, can scan the barcode on any food item and get the full, horrific details. This brilliant idea is a quick and easy way to get round the time-consuming chore of, er, just reading the label." (01/05/16)
http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/who-wants-a-sugar-free-life/17771
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41) Congress must vote on ISIS war
Source: USA Today
by US Rep Jim McGovern (D-MA)
"As the new year begins, we are more than 15 months into military operations against ISI[S], and Congress has yet to vote on an authorization for war. I have long called for Congress to get off the sidelines, and I am pleased that Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi agree that this is a priority for 2016. With our brave men and women in uniform in harm's way, Congress must honor its constitutional responsibility by voting on this war. We have seen progress from the strategy pursued by President Obama with the recovery of territory that was under ISI[S] control. These victories relied on coordinated operations with local, regional and international partners and highlight the importance of working with a strong international coalition united in defeating ISI[S]." (01/03/16)
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/01/03/islamic-state-congress-war-authorization-jim-mcgovern-editorials-debates/78240032
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42) Review: The Man in the High Castle
Source: Living Freedom
by Claire Wolfe
"Last spring, I wasn't aware that the pilot was the only bit that yet existed. I just knew that it was the most-watched pilot Amazon had produced, and I could see why. I fell headlong into it -- and about went nuts when I realized the cliffhanger ending was all I was going to get! The show was 'too expensive and too dangerous' for the networks. The BBC and SyFy both rejected it. But Amazon viewers said go! The 10-episode series has now been out a while and I just picked it up at episode two. No binge-watch yet. Episode two is as far as I've gotten. But by damn, it was better than the pilot. Without seeing another minute I'm ready to recommend this series to every freedomista anywhere." (01/04/16)
http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/ClaireWolfe/2016/01/04/the-man-in-the-high-castle/
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43) Our ancestors were different, especially on immigration
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
"Whatever else might be said about our American ancestors, one thing is beyond dispute: Their position on immigration was diametrically opposite from that of Americans living today. Just think: Open immigration, a concept that, with the exception of libertarians, no American alive today would even come close to endorsing. Except for a cursory health inspection at Ellis Island to ensure that immigrants didn't have tuberculosis, which could easily be spread to others, everyone who came to America via New York was free to enter and stay, no questions asked." (01/05/16)
http://fff.org/2016/01/05/our-ancestors-sure-were-different-especially-on-immigration/
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44) Subsidizing illegal aliens [sic]
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
"In The Mouse That Roared, a 1955 comic novel by Leonard Wibberley, a tiny English-speaking country in Europe loses market share for its only export, a wine label, to a cheap American knock-off. Seeking compensation for the loss, the duchy decides to do the only rational thing: declare war on America, and then, after the inevitable defeat, reap the rewards of reconstruction financing. I was reminded of the book when reading about another of the Obama Administration's subsidy programs, uncovered by Sen. Rand Paul. The program gives money to illegal aliens [sic] deported to their country of origin, El Salvador, to start small businesses." [editor's note: The subsidies are bad, of course. But there's no such thing as an "illegal alien," since the US Constitution forbids the federal government to regulate immigration - TLK] (01/05/16)
http://thisiscommonsense.com/2016/01/05/subsidizing-illegal-aliens/
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45) Consensual violence
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Mike Reid
"Aggression, as I understand the term, involves an uninvited invasion or use of force against person or property. To be aggression, it has to be nonconsensual. For instance, if I use a coat hanger to bypass the lock on your car door, that might be aggression. But what if you had locked your keys inside, and you asked me to help you get them out? If I kiss you, it's definitely aggression if you have just forbidden me to do so. It's probably not if the wedding officiant has just told me, 'You may kiss the bride.' So you cannot usually tell aggression from consensual behavior by looking at just a snapshot of physical action. You need to see the context of the interactions and know the intentions of the participants." (01/05/16)
http://fee.org/freeman/consensual-violence/
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46) Debate schedule allowing GOP to frame election narrative
Source: Our Future
by Dave Johnson
"There's just no way around it: the Democrats are intentionally hiding their presidential candidates from the public. The last Democratic presidential debate was buried on a Saturday night up against the opening of Star Wars. Naturally it drew a fraction of earlier Republican debate audiences -- and even of the earlier Democratic debates. The next debate is scheduled, astonishingly, on a Sunday night, January 17, the middle day of a three-day weekend. But just in case that might still draw an audience, it is also up against NFL playoff games. What is going on?" (01/04/16)
https://ourfuture.org/20160104/debate-schedule-is-allowing-gop-to-frame-election-narrative
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47) The continued appeal of statism
Source: Reason
by Marian Tupy
"Learning from other people's successes and failures can take time. Consider the examples of Argentina and Venezuela. The voters in both countries have recently rejected statist economic policies by voting for a market-friendly presidential candidate (in Argentina) and non-socialist parliamentary majority (in Venezuela). The electoral outcomes in the two Latin American countries were not completely unexpected, considering that Argentina and Venezuela have both suffered serious economic reversals in recent years. The continued appeal of statism is undeniable. It keeps on reappearing -- in different forms, but with similarly disastrous consequences." (01/05/16)
https://reason.com/archives/2016/01/05/the-continued-appeal-of-statism
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48) Be careful who you make your heroes
Source: The Zelman Partisans
by PigPen51
"Heroes have existed seemingly for all eternity, in nearly every culture. From Native Americans with tales of great bravery by men with names like 'Eagle Feather' or 'Bear Claw' to tales of heroes from ancient Israel like David vs Goliath to more modern times with real-world heroes like Audie Murphy, we all are familiar with the stories of those who inspire us to courage and faithfulness. Often, however, we in America have created heroic images around people who have actually harmed us rather than benefitted us or society." (01/05/16)
http://zelmanpartisans.com/?p=2688
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49) Not only Trump recruits terrorists
Source: Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland
"In America, the public, some politicians, and even President Obama have a vague awareness that U.S. government policies affect the recruitment of terrorists by radical groups. However, going too far with such self-awareness leads to excessively unsettling conclusions that would demand radical changes in U.S. foreign policy. Thus, as a nation, we generally avoid going down that road at all costs. It is to our peril." (01/04/16)
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=8636
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50) People have strange fears
Source: A Geek With Guns
by Christopher Burg
"When police continue to kick in doors at oh dark thirty, shoot the family dogs, and desperately scour homes for hours hoping to find something illegal to justify terrorizing the occupants at an incorrect address many people seem perfectly content with the situation. In fact they continue to be apologists for the police and remind us that police are necessary (their words, not mine) for our safety. But when a group of dip shits occupy an empty government building the previously mentioned people flip their shit. Supposedly these militia members, who haven't even hurt anybody as far as I know, are to be feared ..." (01/04/15)
https://blog.christopherburg.com/2016/01/04/people-have-strange-fears/
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51) Breaking the law
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
"Breaking the law? We do it all the time, either intentionally or unintentionally. Here are a couple of examples of INTENTIONAL law breaking." (01/04/16)
http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/?p=8365
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52) The Libertarian Angle, 01/05/16: Presidential candidates and the status quo
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
"Each week, FFF president Jacob Hornberger and Richard M. Ebeling discuss the hot topics of the day. This week, Jacob and Richard review the candidates for the upcoming presidential election." [various formats] (01/05/16)
http://fff.org/explore-freedom/article/libertarian-angle-presidential-candidates-status-quo/
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53) The forgotten tax increase
Source: LewRockwell.com
by Laurence M Vance
"The only good thing we can say about taxes going into 2016 is that at least they are not going up this year. Such was not the case in 2013, 1991, 1993 -- and especially 1994. In fact, the 'Bush tax cuts' notwithstanding, the forgotten tax increase of 1994 is still with us." (01/05/16)
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/01/laurence-m-vance/forgotten-tax-increases/
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54) The Saudis go full ISIS
Source: Antiwar.com
by Dan Sanchez
"Saudi Arabia has perpetrated a mass execution that puts ISIS's beach beheadings to shame. Forty-seven heads rolled on Saturday. One of them belonged to Nimr al-Nimr, a revered Shi'ite cleric who had been sentenced to death for sermons in which he criticized the government (especially for its persecution of the country's Shi'ite minority). His brother has been sentenced to be crucified. This was done as the Saudis continue to drop American bombs on Shia in Yemen (boosting Al Qaeda there) and to hire jihadis to help ISIS and Al-Qaeda kill Shia in Syria. It is no mystery why the Saudis are such brothers in arms with the Bin Ladenites, sharing both their hyper-sectarian aims and their gruesome methods." (01/05/16)
http://original.antiwar.com/dan_sanchez/2016/01/04/saudis-go-full-isis/
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55) Heartland Daily Podcast, 01/04/16: Federal mismanagement of public lands
Source: Heartland Institute
"In today's edition of The Heartland Daily Podcast, State Senator Jennifer Fielder (MT) sits down with Managing Editor of Environment & Climate News H. Sterling Burnett. Fielder joins Burnett to discuss the federal mismanagement of public lands. Fielder explains how his mismanagement of public lands and wildlife has resulted in catastrophic wildfires which harm people, the environment and the economy." [various formats] (01/04/16)
http://blog.heartland.org/2016/01/heartland-daily-podcast-state-sen-jennifer-fielder-mt-federal-mismanagement-of-public-lands/
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