12/24 -- CA: Schwarzenegger to seek federal bailout; Senate prepares for Christmas Eve vote on "health care" scam
Thomas L. Knapp
* RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
* The Freedom Movement's Daily Newspaper
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* Volume VIII, Issue #1,819
* Thursday, December 24th, 2009
* Email Circulation 2,148
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* Published every non-holiday weekday
* by the staff of Rational Review
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In The News:
0) Notice: Ad space auction
1) CA: Schwarzenegger to seek federal bailout
2) Senate prepares for Christmas Eve vote on "health care" scam
3) Bombs target Iraqi Christians, Shiites
4) Afghanistan: Police hunting insurgent kill parliament member
instead
5) Pakistan: Four dead in Peshawar blast
6) Citi, Wells Fargo repay $45 billion in TARP money
7) Pakistani Taliban "helping" beef up Afghan fight
8) Gates proposes $2 billion for unstable countries
9) Guantanamo prison may "have" to stay open until 2011
10) Madoff moved from federal prison to medical center
11) House Democrats making plans for final health care bill
12) Officials seek to reassure Illinois residents on Guantanamo prison
transfer
13) Canada court increases libel protections
14) Health fight shifts to insurer shopping
15) Cops: NYU admin "bam-booze-led" $400k
16) China: Quickie kangaroo court "trial" for Liu Xiaobo
17) TN: Wineries say state law discourages shipping
18) CA: Christmas angel being removed after complaint
19) TN: Waffle House waitresses given $400 tip
20) Yitzhak "Ike" Ahronovitch, 1923-2009
Everybody Has An Opinion:
21) The myth of surplus wealth
22) There ain't no such thing as a free lumpectomy
23) Why I don't write about Sarah Palin's Facebook posts
24) The Nolan Chart vs. the Political Compass
25) Obamacare and the legacy of Progressivism
26) Christians United for War
27) America under Barack Obama
28) Yesterday's Christmas
29) Libertarianism in ancient China
30) Rise in minimum wage added to teens' burdens
31) All we want for Christmas ...
32) The Cheney offense
33) Schmidt smart pick for cyber czar
34) The problem of Pakistan
35) Slaughterhouse-Five at forty
36) Healthcare pressure points
37) Comprehensive redux
38) Why war will take no holiday in 2010
39) As we forgive, can I forgive?
40) Santa baby, just slip some world peace under the tree for me
41) Trying to reduce our only existential threat
42) Nazis, commies, and death panels
43) The Copenhagen conference a victory for polluters?
44) Darwin turns 200
45) Don't waste your time on Russian-American nuke talks, Mr.
President
46) Obama has failed his words
47) Palin rewrites history on "death panels"
48) The great ideas are simple
49) Screw job
50) The micro-politics of hospital privatization
51) Dialogue ensues
52) The real right to health care
53) Toleration vs. diversity
54) Pants on fire
55) The state of our affairs: Seven haiku
56) Federalism resurgent?
57) An analogy illustrating the inadequacy of the Constitution
58) The line in the sand
59) Statists employ an ancient tactic
60) Chile's second transition
See No Evil, Hear No Evil:
61) Russ Jones on Freedom Rings Radio, 12/28/09
What's Up In The Freedom Movement:
62) Today's events
WaYbAcK:
63) Forrest's evil folly
***************
* In The News
***************
0) Notice: Ad space auction
Top bid as of 1:00am Central, 12/24/09 -- $225
For more information, see:
http://www.rationalreview.com/content/74432
-----
1) CA: Schwarzenegger to seek federal bailout
Los Angeles Times
"Facing a budget deficit of more than $20 billion, Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger is expected to call for deep reductions in already
suffering local mass transit programs, renew his push to expand oil
drilling off the Santa Barbara coast and appeal to Washington for
billions of dollars in federal help, according to state officials and
lobbyists familiar with the plan. If Washington does not provide
roughly $8 billion in new aid for the state, the governor threatens to
severely cut back -- if not eliminate -- CalWORKS, the state's main
welfare program; the In-Home Health Care Services program for the
disabled and elderly poor, and two tax breaks for large corporations
recently approved by the Legislature, the officials said." (12/23/09)
-----
2) Senate prepares for Christmas Eve vote on "health care" scam
ABC News
"Senate Democrats today cleared the final procedural hurdle on the way
to passage of their health care bill. By a majority vote -- the last
needed to end debate on the health care legislation -- Democrats
defeated a series of points of orders raised by Republicans, including
one that questioned whether the requirement for all Americans to
purchase health insurance was constitutional." (12/23/09)
-----
3) Bombs target Iraqi Christians, Shiites
Salt Lake Tribune
"Bombs targeted Iraqi Christians and Shiite Muslims Wednesday, killing
at least eight people and wounding four dozen before coinciding
religious observances that will take place under heavy guard.
Insurgents have routinely targeted Shiites and Christians in an
attempt to undermine the country's security gains and its Shiite-
dominated government. Security forces in recent days have been
concerned that the Shiite holy observances known as Ashoura and
Christmas gatherings would be targeted by large-scale
attacks." (12/23/09)
-----
4) Afghanistan: Police hunting insurgent kill parliament member
instead
Los Angeles Times
"National police hunting for a wounded insurgent commander mistakenly
ambushed a vehicle carrying a member of the Afghan parliament, killing
him and his son, provincial officials said Wednesday. ... The
lawmaker, Mohammad Yunos Shirnagha, was returning home after a late-
night meeting with constituents when the shootout with police erupted,
said Gen. Kabir Andarabi, the provincial police chief. Police in the
provincial capital, Pul-i-Khumri, had been expecting insurgents to try
to transport a commander who was believed to have been injured in a
clash hours earlier, on Tuesday. That battle left four police officers
and at least four militants dead, and several insurgents
wounded." (12/23/09)
-----
5) Pakistan: Four dead in Peshawar blast
Agence France-Presse
"A suicide bomber struck near an army and police checkpoint in
Pakistan's northwestern Peshawar city Thursday, killing at least four
people and wounding about 10 more, officials said." (12/24/09)
-----
6) Citi, Wells Fargo repay $45 billion in TARP money
USA Today
"Citigroup and Wells Fargo said Wednesday they have repaid the $45
billion in bailout money they received from the government. Citi (C)
said it paid for the previously announced repayment with a recent
stock offering that raised $20.5 billion. The offering included $17
billion in common shares and $3.5 billion in what are called tangible
equity units, which can be converted into common stock at a later
date." (12/23/09)
-----
7) Pakistani Taliban "helping" beef up Afghan fight
MSNBC
"Thousands of Pakistani Taliban fighters have been sent to neighboring
Afghanistan to rebuff incoming U.S. troops, a top Pakistani Taliban
commander said. The claim comes as a Pakistani army offensive is
believed to have pushed many of his men to flee their main redoubt.
Waliur Rehman told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview
Monday night that the Pakistani Taliban remain committed to battling
the army in South Waziristan tribal region, but that they are
essentially waging a guerrilla war." (12/23/09)
-----
8) Gates proposes $2 billion for unstable countries
MSNBC
"Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has proposed a major overhaul of
the way the Pentagon and State Department do nation-building, seeking
to end friction between the bureaucracies by putting them jointly in
charge of three huge new funds aimed at stabilizing strife-ridden
countries. The proposal is aimed at addressing problems that have
dogged the U.S. effort in Iraq and Afghanistan -- particularly,
disputes over whether civilians or the better-funded military should
be in charge of stabilization." (12/23/09)
-----
9) Guantanamo prison may "have" to stay open until 2011
Houston Chronicle
"President Barack Obama's commitment to close the U.S. detention
center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by next month may be delayed until
2011 because it will take months for the government to buy an Illinois
prison and upgrade it to hold suspected terrorists. The drawn-out
construction timetable shows the political risk of Obama's pledge, a
delay that could even be extended by congressional opposition to
funding the purchase and upgrades for the Thomson Correctional Center,
an underused state facility about 150 miles west of
Chicago." (12/23/09)
-----
10) Madoff moved from federal prison to medical center
Denver Post
"Bernard Madoff has been moved from a North Carolina federal prison to
a prison medical facility. Federal Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Traci
Billingsley said Wednesday that Madoff was moved Friday. She says the
bureau won't publicly discuss the reasons for an inmate's transfer.
Madoff has been imprisoned since March." (12/23/09)
http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_14057168
-----
11) House Democrats making plans for final health care bill
CNN
"House Democrats are already home for the holidays, but they huddled
on a conference call Wednesday afternoon to discuss the next steps in
negotiating a final health care bill with the Senate. Speaker Nancy
Pelosi restated that the goal is to get a final bill to the
president's desk before his State of the Union address in late January
or early February, but she admitted the timeline could slip, according
to two senior Democratic aides who were on the call." (12/23/09)
-----
12) Officials seek to reassure Illinois residents on Guantanamo prison
transfer
Chicago Tribune
"Facing anxious citizens afraid of becoming terrorist targets, federal
officials confirmed Tuesday that some of the most notorious Guantanamo
detainees could be sent to Illinois if the Obama administration buys a
state prison. The proposed federal prison in Thomson would be the site
for military tribunals for five alleged plotters in the 2000 bombing
of the U.S. destroyer Cole, said Alan Liotta, the Defense Department's
principal director for detainee policy, at a public hearing on the
plan." (12/23/09)
-----
13) Canada court increases libel protections
Boston Globe
"The Supreme Court of Canada strengthened protections for journalists
and bloggers in a pair of rulings, hailed as a victory for press
freedom in a country with especially stringent libel laws. Tuesday's
rulings involving the Toronto Star and Ottawa Citizen newspapers,
created a new responsible journalism defense giving reporters more
leeway to pursue controversial stories as long as they are deemed to
be in the public interest." (12/23/09)
-----
14) Health fight shifts to insurer shopping
Boston Globe
"The public option is gone. Expansion of Medicare is dead. But an
intense fight continues over a crucial issue in the proposed
healthcare overhaul: how far Congress should go in emulating the type
of insurance marketplace that is at the center of the pioneering
Massachusetts insurance program. Called 'exchanges' in the federal
health bills and modeled on the Massachusetts Health Connector, they
would enable people to compare and purchase insurance as easily as
they shop for airline tickets at an all-in-one travel website. The
concept of such comparison shopping is generally backed by insurance
firms." [editor's note: If this opening of options includes crossing
state lines to seek policies, it could improve the game; if not, it
merely cements the current monopolies - SAT] (12/23/09)
-----
15) Cops: NYU admin "bam-booze-led" $400k
NBC News [NY]
"An administrator for New York University's chemistry department was
arrested Wednesday on charges he stole $400,000 from the school's
budget by allegedly submitting bogus liquor store receipts.
Prosecutors said John Runowicz, 47, submitted 13,000 bogus petty cash
receipts over a six-year period to line his own pockets. Runowicz
'scavenged' the garbage of Warehouse Wines on Broadway for discarded
liquor receipts, then allegedly attached those receipts to his
reimbursement forms, according to investigators. He allegedly claimed
the receipts were for legitimate business expenses including chemistry
department supply purchases. Runowicz is charged with grand larceny
and falsifying business records and is expected to be arraigned in
Manhattan criminal court Wednesday afternoon." (12/23/09)
-----
16) China: Quickie kangaroo court "trial" for Liu Xiaobo
Christian Science Monitor
"The subversion trial of Liu Xiaobo, China's most prominent dissident,
opened and shut in Beijing on Wednesday in strict secrecy without an
immediate outcome. The verdict is now expected to be postponed until
Christmas Day. The delay and the degree of secrecy ... contrast
sharply with the widespread international attention that the case
against the Tiananmen-era pro-democracy activist has drawn. It is
'quite unusual' for a Chinese criminal trial to be left hanging this
way, said Teng Biao, a prominent human rights lawyer and one of 60
people who stood outside the courtroom Wednesday in near-freezing
temperatures before he and seven others were removed by plainclothes
police." (12/23/09)
-----
17) TN: Wineries say state law discourages shipping
Tennessean
"Want to mail order a special bottle of Chardonnay for that holiday
toast? It might be a little harder than you think, despite a new law
that lets wineries send bottles directly to Tennessee residents'
doors. Nearly 160 wineries, including a handful in Tennessee, have
signed up to take part in the state's 6-month-old direct shipment
program. But with more than 5,000 winemakers nationwide, some
connoisseurs say finding a grower that will ship has been
difficult." (12/23/09)
-----
18) CA: Christmas angel being removed after complaint
Fox News
"There's no place for angels atop Christmas trees, according to one
California man who successfully lobbied for the removal of religious
symbols at county buildings after spotting a yuletide decoration last
week. Stars and other religious emblems were ordered removed from
Christmas trees in all government buildings in Sonoma County on Monday
following a complaint by Irv Sutley, a disabled 65-year-old Marine
veteran who said the symbols were 'extremely offensive' and part of
the 'cult' of Christianity. 'I just don't believe government has the
right to intrude on anyone and force them into sectarian behavior,'
Sutley told FoxNews.com. 'I've opposed Buddhist statues, the star of
David ... anything of a religious nature.'" (12/23/09)
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,580959,00.html
-----
19) TN: Waffle House waitresses given $400 tip
WKRN
"Like most of us, Diane Galbraith and Karla Lauv work hard for their
money and try to make every dollar count, especially during the
holidays. They work as waitresses at the Waffle House on Highway 96 in
Franklin and typically make about $30 a night in tips. Tuesday night,
they were given the tip of a lifetime when they waited on four
'regular businessmen,' as Galbraith described them. She said they
weren't eating and only ordered drinks. Lauv recalled, 'Two minutes
later they just said, 'Have you guys been busy?' I was like we have
been kind of steady but not really. One said 'Merry Christmas' and
handed me a $100 bill and the rest laid down $100.'" [editor's note:
reminds me a little of the very busy night I had last year delivering
pizzas, and when I was counting up my change, I found a Benjamin among
the bills; I had no idea which customer did it, but I wanted to thank
them all - SAT] (12/23/09)
http://www.wkrn.com/global/story.asp?s=11725031
-----
20) Yitzhak "Ike" Ahronovitch, 1923-2009
MSNBC
"Yitzhak 'Ike' Ahronovitch, the captain of the Exodus ship whose
attempt to take Holocaust survivors to Palestine built support for
Israel's founding, has died. He was 86. He died Wednesday in northern
Israel after a long illness, his daughter Ella said. The Exodus 1947
ship left France in July 1947 carrying more than 4,500 people -- most
of them Holocaust survivors and other displaced Jews -- in a secret
effort to reach Palestine. ... The British navy seized the vessel off
Palestine's shores, and after a battle on board that left three people
dead, turned the ship and its passengers back to Europe, where the
refugees were forced to disembark in Germany." (12/23/09)
*******************************************************************
* HEALTH-OF-THE-STATE-O-METER, 12/24/09
*
* Reported Civilian Deaths in Iraq: Min - 94,902 ... Max - 103,549
* (source: www.iraqbodycount.org)
*
* American Military Deaths in Iraq: 4,371
* (source: www.antiwar.com/casualties/)
*******************************************************************
****************************
* Everybody Has An Opinion
****************************
21) The myth of surplus wealth
A Passion for Liberty
by Tibor R. Machan
"It isn't true that surplus wealth makes no sense at all but only the
most intimate knowledge of someone could enable us to tell if that
person is in possession of wealth that he or she can easily do
without. Maybe the individual is saving for a rainy day, for a time
when he or she will be giving this wealth away to relatives or
favorite causes. Maybe such an individual is powerfully enriched,
psychologically, by holding on to wealth beyond what others may
consider reasonable. Having the right to private property means, in
large measure, that the individual with that right is the one who is
free to decide to what purposes his or her property will be devoted.
It is a matter of who is to choose." (12/23/09)
-----
22) There ain't no such thing as a free lumpectomy
Reason
by Jacob Sullum
"This week Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared that his
chamber's health care bill 'demands for the first time in American
history that good health will not depend on great wealth.' Reid said
the legislation 'acknowledges, finally, that health care is a
fundamental right -- a human right -- and not just a privilege for the
most fortunate.' Since more than four-fifths of Americans already have
medical insurance, and even those without 'great wealth' have been
known to enjoy 'good health,' Reid was laying it on a little thick.
But his premise, which is shared by President Obama, explains the
moral urgency felt by supporters of the health care overhaul that is
making its way through Congress. It also reveals a radical assault on
the traditional American understanding of rights." (12/23/09)
http://reason.com/archives/2009/12/23/there-aint-no-such-thing-as-a
-----
23) Why I don't write about Sarah Palin's Facebook posts
Washington Independent
by David Weigel
"The problem is that Palin has put the political press in a submissive
position, one in which the only information it prints about her comes
from prepared statements or from Q&As with friendly interviewers. This
isn't something most politicians get away with, or would be allowed to
get away with. But Palin has leveraged her celebrity -- her ability to
get ratings, the ardor of her fans and the bitterness of her critics
-- to win a truly unique relationship with the press. She is allowed
to shape the public debate without actually engaging in
it." (12/23/09)
-----
24) The Nolan Chart vs. the Political Compass
Dallas Libertarian Examiner
by Garry Reed
"Most modern American individualist laissez-faire free market
libertarians are familiar with the Nolan chart, which asks a few
simple questions about your political proclivities and then plots your
answers on a two-axis grid rather than the traditional left-right
linear scale. But The Political Compass becomes a real head-scratcher
in its attempt to map the entirety of the world's socio-politico-
economic thought." (12/23/09)
-----
25) Obamacare and the legacy of Progressivism
Foundation for Economic Education
by William L. Anderson
"The suspense is over and it is inevitable that the monstrous medical
care bill will become law. There is no way to sanitize this thing,
period. It is the ultimate 'Progressivist' legacy. Paul Krugman,
perhaps the most visible 'Progressive' today, supports this bill
because it vastly expands the scope of the state in our lives. Like
most 'Progressives,' Krugman believes many things about a state
controlled by people he supports." (12/23/09)
-----
26) Christians United for War
AntiWar.Com
by Philip Giraldi
"On December 10th a group calling itself the Christian Leaders for a
Nuclear-Free Iran sent a letter to both political parties' leaders in
Congress as well as to the chairman and ranking member of the House
Foreign Relations committee. The letter, beginning 'We write today as
Christian leaders,' preceded a December 15th vote in the House of
Representatives in which 412 house members approved the Iran Refined
Petroleum Sanctions Act of 2009, with only twelve votes opposed. The
sanctions proposed by the House of Representatives and endorsed by the
Christian leadership have correctly been seen by many as amounting to
an act of war." (12/24/09)
-----
27) America under Barack Obama
LewRockwell.Com
by John W. Whitehead
Interview with Nat Hentoff. Hentoff: "Obama has little, if any,
principles except to aggrandize and make himself more and more
important. You see that in his foreign policy. Obama lacks a backbone
-- both a constitutional backbone and a personal backbone. This is a
man who is causing us and will cause us a great deal of harm
constitutionally and personally. I say personally because I am 84
years old, and this is the first administration that has scared me in
terms of my lifespan." (12/24/09)
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig8/whitehead6.1.1.html
-----
28) Yesterday's Christmas
Liberty For All
by Jessi Winchester
"A blanket of snow covered the ground and crunched under the weight of
small feet running and laughing in the protection and shelter of a
time long past. Mother bundled us up in warm leggings and galoshes for
the traditional Christmas hayride. A tractor pulled a flatbed filled
with hay and happy families and my father held my tiny hand on one
side and my sister's on the other as our short legs struggled to climb
up onto the hay with the rest of our friends and neighbors. The sound
of Christmas carols filled the air as we carefully made our way down
the road to the hot apple cider waiting at the Yeager
farm." (12/23/09)
http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=3566
-----
29) Libertarianism in ancient China
Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Murray N. Rothbard
"The three main schools of political thought: the Legalists, the
Taoists, and the Confucians, were established from the sixth to the
fourth centuries BC. Roughly, the Legalists, the latest of the three
broad schools, simply believed in maximal power to the state, and
advised rulers how to increase that power. The Taoists were the
world's first libertarians, who believed in virtually no interference
by the state in economy or society, and the Confucians were middle-of-
the-roaders on this critical issue." (posted 12/23/09)
-----
30) Rise in minimum wage added to teens' burdens
Tennessean
by Kristen Lopez Eastlick
"Though the holiday season is traditionally a time of celebration,
this year the teen unemployment crisis threatens to be a lump of coal
in the stockings of many young Americans. But it's not job seekers who
have been naughty; it's their representatives in Congress. In the
midst of economic turmoil and a deep recession, Congress ignored the
pleas of economists and allowed the third of three planned hikes to
the federal minimum wage to go into effect in July. Teen unemployment
has increased 12 percent since then, double the increase in the
national unemployment rate. And almost half of African-American teens
seeking a job have been unable to find one." [editor's note: There are
so many reasons the min-wage hike was wrong; this is only the most
obvious - SAT] (12/23/09)
-----
31) All we want for Christmas ...
Heartland Institute
by Peter Fotos and John O'Hara
"President Barack Obama and his Congressional allies talk a lot about
the need to control health care costs and avoid pressure from special
interests. We couldn't agree more. Too bad the current 'ObamaCare'
proposals withstand neither litmus test. The health care and
pharmaceutical industries enjoyed unprecedented access to this White
House during the crafting of both the House and Senate bills. As the
recent WellPoint study indicates, under the Senate proposal costs are
expected to increase, not decrease, for most individuals and families
well beyond forecast increases under the status quo." (12/23/09)
-----
32) The Cheney offense
The American Prospect
by Adam Serwer
"According to John Bolton, the conservative magazine Human Events
chose Dick Cheney as its 'conservative of the year' because of his
'persuasive positions on substantive policy matters.' In fact, Cheney
was chosen for his ability to effectively manipulate American fear to
defend the lawlessness of the prior administration. In a year when the
GOP has tried to ride a wave of understandable but wrongheaded
populist anger and anxiety over rising deficits, it chose as its
figurehead a conservative who thinks deficits don't matter and whose
crowning achievement is making torture a central part of the
Republican platform. ... The Obama administration's national security
policies differ in substance from those of the Bush administration's
second term mostly at the margins." (12/23/09)
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_cheney_offense
-----
33) Schmidt smart pick for cyber czar
Christian Science Monitor
by staff
"After far too long, President Obama finally appointed a 'cyberczar'
on Tuesday. Howard Schmidt has the credentials to coordinate the
government's defense against digital sabotage. Will he also have the
authority? Appropriately, his experience is as deep as the cyberthreat
is wide. Mr. Schmidt has been involved with cybersecurity in
government (the George W. Bush administration), in the private sector
(at eBay and Microsoft), in law enforcement (at the FBI), and
internationally (heading up a nonprofit dedicated to this problem). He
has both technical and policy know-how. He also served in the
military, which this month confirmed that Iraqi insurgents learned to
intercept video feeds from unmanned drones." [editor's note: The
question should be, not how good he'll maybe be in the position, but
whether or not another "American czar" is either good or necessary -
SAT] (12/23/09)
-----
34) The problem of Pakistan
Boston Globe
by Kapil Komireddi
"Washington's critics in Pakistan trace the origins of today's crisis
to America's abrupt abandonment of Afghanistan in the late '80s.
Writing in the New York Times earlier this month, Pakistan President
Asif Ali Zardari claimed that this is what caused the 'current
horror.' The only trouble with this version of history is that the
1990s are curiously absent from it: it is as if Afghanistan went
straight from 1989 to 2001. In reality, however, it was during the
1990s that the Taliban -- actively backed by Pakistan -- flourished
and seized control of Kabul." (12/23/09)
-----
35) Slaughterhouse-Five at forty
In These Times
by Gregory Sumner
"Slaughterhouse-Five first appeared in bookstores forty years ago, and
it remains the signature achievement of Kurt Vonnegut's long and
distinguished writing career. Long in gestation, it oscillates between
realism and science fiction, mordant humor and grief, relieved by
moments of unexpectedly lyrical imagery to convey the author's
experience as a young soldier in the Second World War." [editor's
note: I still think Cat's Cradle was better, but what do I know? -
SAT] (12/23/09)
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/5348/slaughterhouse-five_at_forty
-----
36) Healthcare pressure points
The Nation
by J. Lester Feder
"At this writing, the Senate is finally poised to pass a healthcare
bill that has frequently teetered on the brink of death. ... Given
that Democratic leaders in both chambers were forced to bow to party
conservatives to win initial passage of legislation, progressives are
almost certain to be disappointed with how these questions are
resolved. But there are other important issues that divide the two
bills that have not made headlines, and they will help determine how
much good the positive parts can do." [editor's note: This is posted
as a decent summary of what's different between the bill-versions; its
conclusions are not necessarily representative of a cogent pro-con
analysis - SAT] (12/23/09)
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100111/feder
-----
37) Comprehensive redux
Competitive Enterprise Institute
by Alex Nowrasteh
"The Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and
Prosperity Act (CIR ASAP) was introduced last week by Rep. Luis V.
Gutierrez, Illinois Democrat. The co-sponsors are a mix of mostly left-
wing groups, and the bill is a hodgepodge of different ideas and
political compromises all too common in today's Washington.
Consequently, few are enthusiastic about it, and many will be
outraged. Republican opposition leaders state that it would exacerbate
the unemployment problem during a recession. That economic fallacy,
and the readiness with which it is believed, could kill the good in
this bill." (12/20/09)
http://cei.org/articles/2009/12/20/comprehensive-redux
-----
38) Why war will take no holiday in 2010
Campaign For Liberty
by Tom Engelhardt
"Excuse the gloom in the holiday season, but I feel like we're all
locked inside a malign version of the movie Groundhog Day. You
remember, the one in which the characters are forced to relive the
same 24 hours endlessly. Put more personally, TomDispatch started in
November 2001 as an email to friends in response to the first moments
of our latest Afghan War. More than eight years later ... well, you
know the story." (12/23/09)
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=465
-----
39) As we forgive, can I forgive?
Acton Institute
by Tabitha Blanski
"Two and a half years ago I lost my good friend, Tim. He had just
reenlisted for his second term in the Army after having already served
once in Iraq. On a late summer evening, while stationed on his base in
Washington, a fight broke out. Tim tried to break it up and was
stabbed in the neck by a fellow soldier. He died shortly afterward at
the hospital. Tim was 22. I haven't ever thought much about the young
man who took his life. And if I had the opportunity to meet him, I
can't think of any reason that I would. Tim's killer is locked behind
bars for the rest of his life, and for all intents and purposes
justice has been served. For me it's easier to forget that he still
lives while my friend is dead." (12/15/09)
-----
40) Santa baby, just slip some world peace under the tree for me
Liberty For All
by Della Croft
"I have absolutely no idea where this past year went. It seems as if
we were just toasting the New Year and here we are again stuffing
ourselves with Holiday Cheer. Remember when you were a kid and the
time between Thanksgiving and Christmas seemed like an eternity? Now
it seems just when you have eaten the last turkey sandwich, it is time
to make the Egg Nog." (written 12/23/01; posted 12/23/09)
http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=3562
-----
41) Trying to reduce our only existential threat
Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland
"Despite its recession from the headlines, the Soviet Union and now
Russia has been and still is the only country to have enough nuclear
warheads to pose such a cataclysmic threat to the U.S. homeland. To
his credit, despite only a minimal chance of making political hay from
working on a problem that American and world public opinion think has
been solved, Obama is on the verge of signing a replacement for the
just-expired Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty of 1991 that would cut
U.S. and Russian deployed strategic nuclear arsenals by about a
quarter from 2,200 to 1,600 warheads apiece. The new treaty would also
limit each side's strategic bombers and sea- and land-based missiles
to 800, a reduction from the current ceiling of 1,600. And if he can
nail down this agreement, Obama wants to try to cut warhead totals to
1,000 on each side. Of course, if Russia and the United States could
successfully negotiate cuts down to this level, they then would need
to bring in the lesser nuclear powers of Britain, France, and China to
go farther." (12/23/09)
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=2691
-----
42) Nazis, commies, and death panels
Reason
by Michael C. Moynihan
"[T]his is bare-knuckle, or perhaps just knuckle-dragging, politics,
not history. We cannot expect our elected officials, the broadcasters
paid to gin up anger, the tea party rabble comparing Norwegian health
care to Dachau and confusing Leninism with Tsarism, to abide the
unwritten rules governing historical analogy. Hyperbole is part of a
fine American political tradition -- from denunciations of FDR as a
Soviet stooge to charges that George W. Bush was part of Nazi
collaborationist family -- and it certainly didn't begin with the
election of Barack Obama." (12/23/09)
http://reason.com/archives/2009/12/23/nazis-commies-and-death-panels
-----
43) The Copenhagen conference a victory for polluters?
The Free Liberal
by Fred E. Foldvary
"A 'Danish' is a sweet, flaky, layered pastry with fruit, nuts, jam,
cheese, or custard in the middle. It is not of Danish origin, but was
brought to Denmark by cooks from Austria during a bakers' strike in
1850. In Denmark it is called 'wienerbrod,' or 'Viennese bread.' In
Vienna they call it 'Golatschen.' The ultimate origin may be the
Turkish baklava, which is also sweet and flaky. The outcome of the
Copenhagen Climate Conference of December 2009 is much like a Danish
Pastry. It may taste good, but it is not a healthy way to start your
day, since it is made with sugar and white flour and fat from milk,
eggs, and butter. Just as a Danish pastry is not really Danish, the
Climate Conference will not really reduce climate change." (12/23/09)
http://www.freeliberal.com/archives/003961.html
-----
44) Darwin turns 200
The Weekly Standard
by David Gelernter
"Darwin is a huge presence in the modern world, in two ways. He was a
remarkable thinker, a great scientist, and the most influential
biologist in history. He revolutionized the study of nature. He is
also a cultural presence. Increasingly he is the venerated image
carried in torchlight processions by bands of angry, chanting atheists
('Darwin! Darwin! Darwin!') who dominate the impoverished streets of
the intellectual world. Tim Berra's Charles Darwin -- published on the
bicentennial of Darwin's birth -- is an adequate introduction to the
man and his thought for those who aren't terribly interested. The text
runs less than 200 pages, and brings to mind a kindly teacher reading
to a rapt circle of eight-year-olds." (for publication 12/28/09)
-----
45) Don't waste your time on Russian-American nuke talks, Mr.
President
Slate
by Fred Kaplan
"As the United States and Russia near completion of a new strategic
arms treaty, and as President Barack Obama envisions a further round
of negotiations to cut the stockpiles of short-range nuclear missiles
and of nuclear warheads locked in storage bins, I would offer one bit
of advice: Don't spend so much time and effort on nuclear-arms talks;
better to focus on more important matters. This may seem perverse.
What could be more important than reducing the chances of nuclear war?
The thing is, the substance of nuclear-arms accords has little effect
on the prospect of nuclear war." (12/23/09)
http://www.slate.com/id/2239737/
-----
46) Obama has failed his words
National Review
by Jonah Goldberg
"From his 2004 DNC keynote speech onward, Obama rejected the partisan
divide. He earned points by insisting that invidious descriptions of
political opponents were deleterious to civic health and distracted us
from the fact that 'we are one people, all of us pledging allegiance
to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of
America.' In a speech following a June primary victory, Obama said he
was 'absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to
look back and tell our children ... this was the moment -- this was
the time -- when we came together to remake this great nation.' So,
does anyone feel like Americans are coming together? Obama the
outsider hasn't changed the way Washington works; he's worked
Washington in a way that only an outsider with no respect for the
place would dare." (12/23/09)
-----
47) Palin rewrites history on "death panels"
Salon
by Alex Koppelman
"Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin just can't let go of her 'death
panels' myth. After getting back on the subject -- which Politifact
recently named 'Lie of the Year' -- on Twitter, on Wednesday Palin's
Facebook page played host to yet another missive about it. This time,
she sought to rewrite her own history, rather incredibly asserting
that what she was referring to when she first mentioned 'death panels'
was an advisory board she claims would lead to healthcare
rationing." (12/23/09)
-----
48) The great ideas are simple
J. Neil Schulman @ Rational Review
by J. Neil Schulman
"If an idea can't be expressed simply and elegantly, it's bullshit.
Take, for example, the central theme of Christianity: 'Love thy
neighbor as thyself.' Five words. If you need to make it a bit more
explicit, it doesn't add very many more words: 'Whatever excuses you
make for your own faults, give those same breaks to everyone else.' Or
how about Marxism: 'From each according to his ability, to each
according to his need.' It's an easily understandable idea. Of course
that doesn't mean it's a good idea -- but you need to understand the
simple idea that 'People won't work if they don't feel they're getting
the benefits of working' before you understand why putting it into
practice has severe unintended consequences." (12/23/09)
-----
49) Screw job
The New Republic
by Jonathan Chait
"The Obama administration predicted in January that, if its stimulus
package passed, unemployment would stay below 8 percent, yet it has
crossed 10 percent. You have probably heard this statistic if you have
heard any Republican in elected or unelected office open his mouth at
any point over the last half-dozen months. The implication of this
statistic -- sometimes made explicit -- is that the stimulus failed to
alleviate, or even caused, rising unemployment. The more plausible
interpretation is that the Obama administration's January forecast,
along with most private forecasts at the time, underestimated the
depth of the recession." (12/23/09)
http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/screw-job
-----
50) The micro-politics of hospital privatization
Adam Smith Institute
by Dr. Helen Evans
"Mindful of a likely change of government in 2010, Nurses for Reform
believes that the NHS should be renamed the National Health SYSTEM and
that it should work through the universal supply of independent
hospital care and treatment. Simply put, there should be no hospitals
in this country owned by the state or managed by its
agents." (12/23/09)
-----
51) Dialogue ensues
Rad Geek People's Daily
by Rad Geek
"The existence of quacks and dangerous drugs today, in spite of
already-existing heavy government regulation, seems like an odd
argument for relying on government regulation as a means of getting
rid of quacks and dangerous drugs. In any case, the free-market
position is not that we need to get rid of drug testing or medical
accreditation. The free-market position is that the state should not
force any particular scheme for drug safety or efficacy testing, or
for medical licensure, on you or me without our consent." (12/23/09)
http://radgeek.com/gt/2009/12/23/dialogue-ensues/
-----
52) The real right to health care
The Liberty Papers
by Quincy
"Democrats are addicted to saying that there is a right to health
care, and subsequently hammering anyone who opposes their disastrous
reform bill as opposing that right. The truth is, there is a right to
health care, and it is consistently opposed by the left, not the
right. Put simply, each person has the right to seek the health care
he deems appropriate for him and his family within the limits of his
budget or insurance. A corollary to this is that each person has the
right to seek the health insurance that he deems appropriate. This
same right applies when buying TVs, cars, dinner, books, etc., and is
fundamental to a free existence." (12/23/09)
-----
53) Toleration vs. diversity
Ideas
by David Friedman
"Both toleration and diversity are viewed by many moderns as good
things. I am not sure to what extent people realize that they are to
some degree conflicting goals, that toleration can be a threat to
diversity. The point occurred to me most recently in my readings on
Jewish law." (12/23/09)
-----
54) Pants on fire
KN@PPSTER
by Thomas L. Knapp
"I always thought of Bill Clinton as a narcissistic liar -- he thought
he wouldn't get caught because he was Bill Clinton. George W. Bush, I
never did quite figure out. It was a tossup between 'he's crazy enough
to actually believe the stuff he's reading off the telemprompter' and
'he just really doesn't care whether we know he's lying or not ...
he's the decider and the whole talking bit is just a way to pass some
time with his subjects, not anything to be taken seriously or referred
to later.' Obama's a liar of a different sort." (12/23/09)
http://knappster.blogspot.com/2009/12/pants-on-fire.html
-----
55) The state of our affairs: Seven haiku
Liberty & Power
by Robert Higgs
"Change you can believe
Dark clouds on the horizon
Night comes on quickly" (12/23/09)
http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/121603.html
-----
56) Federalism resurgent?
Delaware Libertarian
by Tyler Nixon
"This is an interesting development, by which the Democrats'
disgusting secretive self-dealing process of health care lawmaking-by-
payoff is not being accepted merely as the ugly side of politics-as-
usual deal cutting and vote buying. Now actual prosecutors from
various states are taking notice of the putrid stench of corruption
permeating the Harry Reid health care monstrosity. But of course,
these are just partisan Republicans driven purely by political
considerations, unlike those exemplars of moral and political virtue
intent on ramming this shit sausage straight down the public's
throats." (12/23/09)
-----
57) An analogy illustrating the inadequacy of the Constitution
Fr33 Agents
by Justin Longo
"As anarchists of some stripe, we must endure a barrage of silly
rhetoric about the Constitution. It's a never-ending deluge of 'If
only we got back to the Constitution ...' or 'If only the Supreme
Court observed the Constitutionality of laws ...' We must endure an
ever increasing supply of Constitutionalists wishing that if only the
citizens, or this group of officials, politicians, or school teachers,
etc recognized the divine inspiration that is the Constitution,
everything would be better. Others, such as Lysander Spooner, argued,
'the Constitution has either authorized such a government as we have
had or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case it is unfit to
exist.'" (12/23/09)
-----
58) The line in the sand
Idaho Liberty
by Ted Dunlap
"Austrian economists call it fiat currency. They point out that the
ending of every fiat currency ever made by man is hyperinflation and
collapse of the government that created or allowed it. Common people
call it abject poverty. The ruling elite will call it an opportunity
to consolidate power. Lovers of liberty call it the line in the sand.
What will you call it?" (12/23/09)
http://idaholiberty.com/?p=240
-----
59) Statists employ an ancient tactic
Burlington Free Press
by Amanda Hall
"An ancient strategy has been successfully employed by today's
statists in their lust for power -- divide and conquer. The old
dictators and tyrants knew that a population warring among itself was
susceptible to a takeover for the very reason that the enemy was never
recognized. Citizen groups were too busy fighting each other to
understand that the terms of the fight were false and had been imposed
by an overseer who had an interest in fanning the anger as
justification for imposing controls. By the time the citizen groups
realized they should not have been warring among themselves and should
have banded together against the tyrant, it was too late. Tyranny had
been established. The same pattern has been followed in America." [hat
tip -- JF] (12/23/09)
-----
60) Chile's second transition
Independent Institute
by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
"Spain's political transition was not completed until the heirs to
those who had governed under Francisco Franco won free elections and
proved that they had killed their ghosts. Chile's own 20-year old
transition will be completed if businessman Sebastian Pinera, who
finished first in the recent presidential election, defeats the
governing center-left coalition in the runoff on Jan. 17. In any
country, the success of a democratic transition after a pro-market
military dictatorship brought about by radical socialism depends on
the socialists embracing the rule of law and private property rights,
and on the heirs of the old regime taking the long passage through
purgatory -- a 'crossing of the desert,' in Charles de Gaulle's
expression, from which they emerge chastised. The first part of
Chile's transition was successful." (12/23/09)
http://independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=2690
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* See No Evil, Hear No Evil
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61) Russ Jones on Freedom Rings Radio, 12/28/09
Russ Jones of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition joins host Kenneth
John. 9-10am Central on WRMN 1410 AM, Elgin, IL or live on the web.
[live radio or stream] (12/28/09)
*************************************
* What's Up In The Freedom Movement
*************************************
62) Today's events
Check our sidebar calendar for this week's freedom movement events.
Don't see your event? Drop us a line at in...@rationalreview.com ... or
see:
www.rationalreview.com/add-your-event-to-our-calendar
... for instructions on adding your events directly!
http://upcoming.yahoo.com/group/4042/
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* WaYbAcK
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63) Forrest's evil folly
Details, and the "quote of the day," from Leon's Political Almanac at: