07/27 -- Yemen: Army battles rebels in north; dozens dead; WikiLeaks data seem to show Pakistan helped attack American troops
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Thomas L. Knapp
Jul 27, 2010, 12:58:32 AM7/27/10
to Rational Review News Digest
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In The News:
0) RRND/FND 3rd quarter fundraiser
1) Yemen: Army battles rebels in north; dozens dead
2) WikiLeaks data seem to show Pakistan helped attack American troops
3) Iraq: Two car bombs kill 25
4) Karzai: 52 Afghan civilians killed in NATO strike
5) Pakistan: Suicide bomber targets mourners, kills seven
6) Lawyers left off memo to destroy CIA terror tapes
7) US shows its power to North Korea with drills
8) Immigrant groups criticize fingerprint initiative
9) Afghan businesses, troops accused of stealing fuel
10) Nicaragua: Prosecutors drop Ortega massacre case
11) Iran sends letter to nuclear watchdog about restarting talks
12) MA: Ideas percolate in Innovation District
13) Haiti: Wyclef Jean may seek highest office
14) Prediction: World about to run out of Internet addresses
15) AZ: Packing heat to become easier soon
16) WA: Aggressive panhandler shot outside McDonald's
17) Blagojevich trial : Judge shills for prosecution; court dismissed
early
18) EU, Canada launch fresh sanctions on Iran
19) Cambodia: Anger follows Khmer Rouge sentencing
20) VA: Judge orders Fairfax terror suspect to remain jailed till
trial
Everybody Has An Opinion:
21) A free press means no subsidies
22) WikiLeaks.org helping Obama with that "transparency" thing
23) IP is dead, long live media!
24) No substitute for economic justice
25) On the bloated intelligence bureaucracy
26) Let them eat losses
27) Taking a look at new "antiwar" Republicans
28) Food police
29) Corporate bunker mentality
30) The middle man
31) The shame of the Fourth Estate
32) Elizabeth Warren and her discontents
33) It isn't about hunting
34) As Stevens retires from court, one final duel with Scalia
35) The year America dissolved
36) On being one step ahead of totalitarianism
37) The Tea Party mocks the founders
38) Buckingham revisited
39) Hating Congress, hating ourselves
40) Minnesota government mistreats ladies
41) Attracting businesses during the Great Recession
42) Yoo, Bybee, and the Taliban prisoner
43) Extending unemployment benefits will extend recession
44) Sweet for producers; sour for consumers
45) Leakistan: The new insurgency
46) Not more capital -- the right capital
47) Wars don't make heroes
48) Let us all solemnly praise Wikileaks
49) Consequences, chapter 15
50) Rule by decree
51) The WikiLeaks war logs change everything
52) The end of secrecy
53) Not the Pentagon Papers
54) On the intrinsic value of precious metals
55) Ground truth from Afghanistan
56) Early returns on ObamaCare are disappointing
57) Bill for the unborn: $20,000 (FY2011)
58) Internet addiction
59) How to lose an empire
60) Fight back against the oligarchy
See No Evil, Hear No Evil:
61) Free Talk Live, 07/25/10
62) QandO Podcast, 07/25/10
63) Birgitta Jonsdottir on Antiwar Radio
64) Damon Root on judicial activism, conservatives v. libertarians,
and more!
65) Freedomain Radio #1704
What's Up In The Freedom Movement:
66) Today's events
***************
* In The News
***************
0) RRND/FND 3rd quarter fundraiser
Update, 07/27/10: Thanks to TD and GD, whose $60 in contributions
yesterday bring our fundraiser total to $1,428.82 ($198 higher than
the ChipIn meter shows due to contributions coming via other avenues)!
We are now about 66% of the way to our $2,083 goal. Only $654.18 to
go ... and YOU can help put us over the finish line!
The move of RRND's email edition from Google Groups to TrafficWave
continues apace. If you received a confirmation message today, tried
to confirm this evening, and couldn't get through, not to worry --
TrafficWave was down for scheduled maintenance. Try again tomorrow. If
you haven't received a confirmation message, or if you aren't
subscribed to RRND's email edition and want to be, visit:
http://www.trafficwave.net/lcp/rationalreview/rrnd
Right now, the tentative plan is to start publishing from TrafficWave
on Wednesday - TLK
http://www.rationalreview.com/content/83890
-----
1) Yemen: Army battles rebels in north; dozens dead
USA Today
"Yemeni soldiers battled Shiite rebels a short distance from the
capital on Monday in clashes that killed dozens, a tribal leader said.
A cease-fire unraveled in June, re-igniting a six-year conflict that
spilled across the border last year by drawing in the Saudi military.
The new fighting threatens to siphon Yemeni military resources away
from a separate battle against the country's al-Qaeda
offshoot." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2exol7e
-----
2) WikiLeaks data seem to show Pakistan helped attack American troops
ABC News
"Perhaps the single most damming collection of data in a massive trove
of secret documents from Afghanistan released by the website WikiLeaks
is some 180 files that seem to show Pakistan's premiere intelligence
service, the ISI, helping the Afghan insurgency attack American
troops. The United States provides more than a billion dollars to
Pakistan each year for help in fighting terrorism, but the papers seem
to link the ISI with major Afghan insurgent commanders; claim its
representatives meet directly with the Taliban; accuse the agency of
training suicide bombers; and indicts Pakistani intelligence officials
on hatching up sensational ways to assassinate Afghan president Hamid
Karzai and even poison the beer drunk by Americans in
Afghanistan." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/29w5ef5
-----
3) Iraq: Two car bombs kill 25
Chicago Sun-Times
"Two car bombs targeting Shiite pilgrims during a religious festival
in the holy city of Karbala killed 25 people on Monday, Iraqi police
and hospital officials said. Sunni extremists are suspected. Militants
detonated two parked cars filled with explosives about two miles apart
as crowds of pilgrims passed by. Police and medical officials in
Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, said 68 people were injured in the
attacks." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/28cvbjv
-----
4) Karzai: 52 Afghan civilians killed in NATO strike
Los Angeles Times
"President Hamid Karzai asserted Monday that up to 52 civilians had
been killed by NATO rocket fire in southern Afghanistan, a controversy
that erupted just as thousands of leaked military documents depicted a
pervasive pattern of underreported civilian deaths and injuries in the
course of the long conflict. Karzai's claim of civilian casualties
last week in Helmand province was sharply disputed by the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization force. Provincial authorities said the
incident was still being investigated, and that neither the number of
deaths nor culpability had been established." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2f6gyaw
-----
5) Pakistan: Suicide bomber targets mourners, kills seven
BBC News [UK]
"A suicide bomb near Peshawar has killed seven people near a gathering
mourning a cabinet minister's son murdered in a suspected Taliban
attack, police say. About 20 people were also injured when the bomber
struck on foot near the home of Provincial Information Minister Mian
Iftikhar Hussain in the town of Pabbi. Three policemen and four
civilians died. The minister was not among the mourners. The Taliban
told the BBC they killed his 28-year-old only son two days
ago." (07/26/10)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10762468
-----
6) Lawyers left off memo to destroy CIA terror tapes
MSNBC
"When the CIA sent word in 2005 to destroy scores of videos showing
waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics, there was an
unusual omission in the carefully worded memo: the names of two agency
lawyers. Once a CIA lawyer has weighed in on even a routine matter,
officers rarely give an order without copying the lawyer in on the
decision. It's standard procedure, a way for managers to cover
themselves if a decision goes bad." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/25luhta
-----
7) US shows its power to North Korea with drills
MSNBC
"The East Sea off the coast of the Korean peninsula roiled with U.S.
and South Korean ships, submarines, fighter jets and helicopters --
high-profile military maneuvers intended to show North Korea that it
is being watched. Military officials said that despite threats of
retaliation, North Korea was staying clear. Most of the firepower for
the four-day exercises -- which North Korea condemns -- has been
flying off the decks of the USS George Washington, a U.S. supercarrier
that can carry up to 70 aircraft and more than 5,000 sailors and
aviators." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2d6pxr9
-----
8) Immigrant groups criticize fingerprint initiative
Naples Daily News
"The federal government is rapidly expanding a program to identify
illegal immigrants using fingerprints from arrests, drawing opposition
from local authorities and advocates who argue the initiative amounts
to an excessive dragnet. The program has gotten less attention than
Arizona's new immigration law, but it may end up having a bigger
impact because of its potential to round up and deport so many
immigrants nationwide." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2bwyu8u
-----
9) Afghan businesses, troops accused of stealing fuel
Newnan Times-Herald
"Two ex-soldiers and two Afghan companies schemed to steal $1.6
million of fuel from a military base, the U.S. military disclosed
Monday as an example of its efforts to root out shady dealings in the
contracting business in Afghanistan. The two Afghan companies have
been suspended from doing business with the U.S. government and the
two former American soldiers -- allegedly caught with more than
$400,000 in cash at the base -- have been charged with conspiracy to
commit theft of government property, according to Brig. Gen. Camille
Nichols, head of the contracting authority for both Afghanistan and
Iraq." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/29fwqwu
-----
10) Nicaragua: Prosecutors drop Ortega massacre case
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
"Nicaragua's attorney general has dropped a complaint against
President Daniel Ortega and other former Sandinista officials in the
killings of at least 64 Miskito Indians by Nicaraguan troops in the
early 1980s. Prosecutor Ana Julia Guido told reporters Monday that the
case was dropped because of insufficient evidence about who gave the
orders to engage in the confrontation." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2676btl
-----
11) Iran sends letter to nuclear watchdog about restarting talks
CNN
"Iran submitted a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency on
Monday, proposing to restart limited talks on an exchange of nuclear
fuel. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters about Iran's
planned letter to the U.N. nuclear watchdog Sunday after a lunchtime
meeting with diplomats from Brazil and Turkey to discuss Tehran's
nuclear program." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2anxjbh
-----
12) MA: Ideas percolate in Innovation District
Boston Globe
"They all believe they have invented the next big thing, these
engineers, MBAs, and scientists with ideas as lofty as the view from
their perch on the 14th floor of a new high-rise on Boston's
waterfront. A bottle-top filter to solve the world's drinking-water
woes. A stiletto high heel that converts into a comfortable walking
shoe. A wind turbine that uses helium to float up to 2,000 feet in the
air to generate electricity in the steady breeze aloft. The creators
are among 110 nascent entrepreneurs who have won free office space
situated in what city planners are calling the Innovation District, a
1,000-acre swath of South Boston that encompasses much of the view
from the 14th floor of One Marina Park Drive at Fan Pier, where
entrepreneurial teams will work. The envisioned district stretches
from Fort Point Channel to the Boston Marine Industrial Park, from the
Seaport to the Convention Center." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2dzmqv2
-----
13) Haiti: Wyclef Jean may seek highest office
Raw Story
"There have been rumors for some time the Haitian-born entertainer
might enter the 2010 presidential contest, ever since his 2007
appointment as ambassador-at-large for the Caribbean nation by
President Rene Preval, who cannot seek re-election. In a statement e-
mailed to reporters, the family said, 'Wyclef's commitment to his
homeland and its youth is boundless, and he will remain its greatest
supporter regardless of whether he is part of the government moving
forward ... If and when a decision is made, media will be alerted
immediately.' The letter was signed 'The Jean Family.' A spokeswoman
for the musician confirmed the message's authenticity. Jean, 37, was
born on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince but left the hemisphere's
poorest country as a child and grew up in New York City's borough of
Brooklyn." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/24jc5hn
-----
14) Prediction: World about to run out of Internet addresses
Fox News
"In 2003, Geoff Huston gave a presentation titled 'IPv4 Address
Lifetime Expectancy Revisited' where he showed the trends in IP
address deployment, and used a simple model to extrapolate these
trends to predict the moment the last IP address would be used up.
Experts predict the world will run out of internet addresses in less
than a year, the Sydney Morning Herald reported Monday. The internet
protocol used by the majority of web users, IPv4, provides for about
four billion IP addresses -- the unique 32-digit number used to
identify each computer, website or internet-connected device. There
are currently only 232 million IP addresses left -- enough for about
340 days -- thanks to the explosion in smartphones and other web-
enabled devices." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/23urw6e
-----
15) AZ: Packing heat to become easier soon
Arizona Daily Star
"The Wild West is about to get wilder -- on Thursday, Arizona will
join Alaska and Vermont as one of the states with the country's most
liberal gun laws. Senate Bill 1108 removes the requirement that gun
owners must be trained and licensed to carry a concealed weapon.
Arizona already allows for 'open carry' -- anyone not legally
prohibited from possessing a firearm, such as convicted felons or
those adjudicated mentally incompetent, can carry firearms in public
as long as they are clearly visible. After Thursday, the requirement
that weapons be displayed openly will be dropped, and anyone who is
not a 'prohibited possessor' will be able to carry concealed
weapons." (07/25/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2bxx5r5
-----
16) WA: Aggressive panhandler shot outside McDonald's
Spokane Spokesman-Review
"The alleged shooter ... was a regular customer at the restaurant. ...
Police said he was asked for money on his way in just before 11:30
a.m., then went inside and ordered something to drink, and on his way
out he was panhandled again. The beggar, a 41-year-old man carrying
Kentucky identification, followed the Marysville man out to his small
pickup, police said. The older man grabbed a handgun and fired one
shot into the beggar's abdomen, police said." (07/25/10)
http://tinyurl.com/298eakj
-----
17) Blagojevich trial : Judge shills for prosecution; court dismissed
early
ABC 7 News
"The defense attorney for former governor Rod Blagojevich said he
would be willing to go to jail for his client. Judge James Zagel told
attorney Sam Adam Junior he could not mention witnesses who did not
testify in the corruption trial during his closing argument. The
prosecution had named several witnesses in its opening statements,
some of whom were not called. Adam said naming those people and
talking about how they did not take the stand was pertinent to his
close." (07/26/10)
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=7574973
-----
18) EU, Canada launch fresh sanctions on Iran
All Headline News
"The European Union has approved tough sanctions against Iran's energy
sector at a meeting of its foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.
The measures come in addition to a fourth round of United Nations'-
backed sanctions. On Monday, the EU approved sanctions that aim to ban
on the sale of technology, equipment and services to hamper Tehran's
exploration and production in the oil and gas sector. The fresh
sanctions will also ban foreign trade and financial
services." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/26zadyw
-----
19) Cambodia: Anger follows Khmer Rouge sentencing
San Jose Mercury News
"For 30 years since the brutal Khmer Rouge regime was driven from
power, Cambodians have lived with unresolved trauma, with skulls and
bones from some killing fields still lying in the open and with
parents hiding the pain of their past from their children. Monday,
Cambodia took a significant step toward addressing its harsh past with
the first conviction of a major Khmer Rouge figure in connection with
the deaths of 1.7 million people from 1975 to 1979. But some survivors
were distraught over what they saw as a lenient sentence, one that
could allow the defendant -- Kaing Guek Eav, 67, the commandant of the
central Khmer Rouge prison and torture house -- to possibly walk free
one day, despite being convicted of war crimes and crimes against
humanity for overseeing the torture and killing of more than 14,000
people." (07/26/10)
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_15607717
-----
20) VA: Judge orders Fairfax terror suspect to remain jailed till
trial
Washington Post
"A Fairfax man accused of trying to join an al-Qaeda-affiliated
terrorist group in Somalia poses a danger to the community and his
family and will remain in jail until trial, U.S. Magistrate Judge Ivan
D. Davis ordered Monday. Zachary A. Chesser, 20, dressed in a green
prison jump suit for a half-hour hearing, argued through his attorney,
Michael Nachmanoff, that he had no criminal history, had met with FBI
agents at least four times since May 2009, had given up his U.S.
passport and was no more a threat to flee than after those
meetings." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/27jutrx
*******************************************************************
* HEALTH-OF-THE-STATE-O-METER, 07/27/10
*
* Reported Civilian Deaths in Iraq: Min - 97,129 ... Max - 105,977
* (source: www.iraqbodycount.org)
*
* American Military Deaths in Iraq: 4,413
* (source: www.antiwar.com/casualties/)
*******************************************************************
****************************
* Everybody Has An Opinion
****************************
21) A free press means no subsidies
Boston Globe
by Jeff Jacoby
"'The 10 most dangerous words in the English language,' said Ronald
Reagan in 1988, 'are 'Hi, I'm from the government, and I'm here to
help." But how dangerous could it be for the news industry to accept
government help in the form of subsidies, tax credits, or other
financial support? The rise of the Internet, as everyone knows, has
been hell on traditional media outlets -- especially newspapers and
magazines, which have seen their circulation, advertising, and profits
plummet as millions of readers have gone digital. Thousands of
journalists have lost their jobs, national and foreign bureaus have
been shut, news coverage has dwindled, and the long-range forecast is
for more of the same. To stop the bleeding and keep American
journalism viable, some are suggesting a government lifeline in the
form of enhanced public funding." (07/25/10)
http://tinyurl.com/29jn8d8
-----
22) WikiLeaks.org helping Obama with that "transparency" thing
Fr33 Agents
by Lounge Daddy
"It is brilliance dumping all of these papers just ahead of the
election cycle because the main stream media is going to be gabbing
about politics for the next few weeks anyway. WikiLeaks gave them all
something worth talking about. And the topic of conversation is going
to be Democrats and Republicans, and about how the more things change
the more they stay the same. We The People are noticing this. I think
that the politicians will not seriously try and refute the papers.
They can't. They probably don't even know what is in them. They will,
however, spend the next few weeks condemning WikiLeaks." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2ea77mk
-----
23) IP is dead, long live media!
The Libertarian Enterprise
by Theodore Minick
"The Internet is a wonderful thing. It has enabled communication in a
way no other invention since the telephone has. It has also enabled
the sharing and reproduction of all kinds of media, from print, to
audio and video. The only comparable revolution was the Printing
press. Before the printing press, a copy of a manuscript was only
possible through long hours of manually copying each page. While this
resulted in beautiful works of art which are still cherished today, it
also drastically limited the audience for those books. With the advent
of the Printing Press, a book could be completely reproduced in the
time it once took to copy a few pages. Data became less scarce, only
as scarce as the resources required to print a book." (07/25/10)
http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2010/tle580-20100725-04.html
-----
24) No substitute for economic justice
Center for a Stateless Society
by Kevin Carson
"Once the state substitutes privilege for justice, it inevitably
creates destabilizing tendencies that must be met by one of two
possible courses of action. One is to remove the privileges and allow
the natural operation of justice, so that the chronic instabilities
don't arise. The other is to add secondary interventions like the
welfare state and Keynesian fiscal policy, so the destabilizing
tendencies don't get too bad -- and to keep increasing the level of
such intervention when it no longer works the way it
should." (07/26/10)
http://c4ss.org/content/3261
-----
25) On the bloated intelligence bureaucracy
Freedom's Phoenix
by US Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)
"The problem with our intelligence community before 9/11 was not an
inability to collect information. Therefore, the post-September 11
build-up of the surveillance state does nothing to enhance safety.
Instead what Americans have gotten in return for the billions of tax
dollars spent on security is a surveillance state that reads our e-
mails, wiretaps us without warrants, and strip searches grandmothers
at airports. This is yet another instance in which Americans would be
safer, richer and freer if our government would simply look to the
Constitution and respect the boundaries it has set." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/28mkefy
-----
26) Let them eat losses
LewRockwell.Com
by Gerald Celente
"This had nothing to do with the so-called 'Trickle Down' theory. This
was 'Gush Up.' In Bush/Obama economics, the richest and biggest that
had lost billions through bad investments, or were in danger of going
bust, had to be rescued. If the Uber-Rich weren't saved, there would
be nothing left to trickle down to the population below. By government
decree, those taxpayers who had never felt any trickle to begin with,
now had to finance the failed financiers. If taxpayers found
themselves unable to understand the thinking behind 'Gush Up,' it was
not surprising. Why should it make sense? Nothing else did. The entire
financial system had been hijacked by bandits. It was criminal from
beginning to end." (07/27/10)
http://www.lewrockwell.com/celente/celente43.1.html
-----
27) Taking a look at new "antiwar" Republicans
AntiWar.Com
by Kelley B. Vlahos
"Nine Republican members of the House sided with Democrats in July to
start bringing troops home from Afghanistan. Though one can still
count on two hands the number of congressional Republicans who
publicly oppose the war, this latest development is not insignificant.
Only five Republicans had the guts to cast a similar vote three and a
half months ago." (07/27/10)
http://original.antiwar.com/vlahos/2010/07/26/new-antiwar-republicans/
-----
28) Food police
John Stossel's Take
by John Stossel
"On my TV show on New Threats to Freedom, I thought I was joking when
I used the term 'Food Police,' but here they are. Food faddists who
buy raw food and unpasteurized milk are fools. There's no good
evidence that the food is healthier, and they risk their families'
health. The risk is real but small. If buyers of unpasteurized milk
get sick, word will get out, and those sellers will be punished. Whole
Foods already dropped these products because selling them would have
raised their liability costs. But the LA Times reveals that that's not
good enough for our ever more intrusive government: With no warning
one weekday morning, investigators entered an organic grocery with a
search warrant and ordered the hemp-clad workers to put down their
buckets of mashed coconut cream and to step away from the nuts. Then,
guns drawn, four officers fanned out across Rawesome Foods in Venice.
Skirting past the arugula and peering under crates of zucchini, they
found the raid's target inside a walk-in refrigerator: unmarked jugs
of raw milk ..." (067/26/10)
http://stossel.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2010/07/26/food-police
-----
29) Corporate bunker mentality
Washington Post
by Robert J. Samuelson
"Judging from corporate profits, we should be enjoying a powerful
economic recovery. The drop in profits in the recession was about a
third, apparently the worst since World War II. But every day brings
reports of gains. In the second quarter, IBM's earnings rose 9.1
percent from a year earlier. Government statistics through the first
quarter (the latest available) show that profits have recovered 87
percent of what they lost in the recession. When second-quarter
results are tabulated, profits may exceed their previous peak. The
rebound in profits ought to be a good omen. It frees companies to be
more aggressive. ... Except for startups, loss-making companies don't
generate many new jobs." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/27kkzc3
-----
30) The middle man
The American Prospect
by David Weigel
"As a journalist, I've worked for both the George Soros-funded
Washington Independent and the libertarian Reason magazine. I've
mostly covered Republicans and conservatives, but I've also paid
plenty of attention to liberals to know what they wanted to read
about. I have shared a stage with Van Jones and appeared at events
sponsored by conservative manufacturing magnates the Koch brothers. I
called Sarah Palin's decision to attack a biographer who moved next
door 'despicable' and also defended Rand Paul from the charge that his
debate-class problems with the Civil Rights Act meant that he was a
racist. I have gotten on everybody's nerves." (07/26/10)
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_middle_man
-----
31) The shame of the Fourth Estate
The Nation
by Charles Kaiser
"It has become fashionable to dismiss Keith Olbermann as an over-the-
top ranter ... But there was nothing over-the-top about his special
comment about Shirley Sherrod. Every word he spoke was true. And the
only thing that made his stance so remarkable is the abject failure of
the mainstream media -- especially this week -- to accurately describe
the source of the allegation against Sherrod, or to chronicle the long-
term impact of the 'complete perversion of journalism' practiced 365
days a year by Fox News (and the right-wing bloggers and radio hosts
that make up the rest of this wackosphere)." [editor's note: I stopped
watching Keith O about two years ago, when it became clear that his
anti-imperialism only exists with GOPers on the throne; I'm open to
hearing that he's regained his bite, since I really liked the style of
his anti-Shrub commentaries - SAT] (07/26/10)
http://www.thenation.com/article/37940/shame-fourth-estate
-----
32) Elizabeth Warren and her discontents
Our Future Blog
by Richard (RJ) Eskow
"Somebody really, really doesn't want Elizabeth Warren to run the new
Consumer Protection Financial Bureau, or 'CFPB,' which she first
envisioned and proposed. Who? The big banks, for sure, as well as
others who don't want their misbehavior brought to light. And Tim
Geithner, whose vision of Wall Street and its problems is
fundamentally different from Warren's. There are others, too --
ideologues like Megan McArdle of the Atlantic, who has made something
of a cottage industry out of attacking Warren on specious grounds. The
President's attempting to split the baby when it comes to appointing
Ms. Warren, but the facts and public perception are aligned. They
present him with a stark reality: He must choose between appointing
Ms. Warren or placating the big banks. There is no Third Way.
Unfortunately for the President, Elizabeth Warren is a yes or no
question." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/23qkmx9
-----
33) It isn't about hunting
Chatanoogan
by Tommy Crandall
"Since I grew up on a farm, being around guns, owning my own guns and
hunting were important parts of my life. On many an afternoon, I would
come home from school, get my dog, King, and head out to hunt
squirrels or rabbits. My precious Mother would cook anything I caught.
I have hunted and owned guns all my life. Gun ownership is just a
natural thing to me. Although I'm not convinced that we should even be
required to have carry permits, my wife, Pamper, and I both have them.
I've had mine many years. She has had hers since 2006." (07/25/10)
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_180558.asp
-----
34) As Stevens retires from court, one final duel with Scalia
Washington Post
by Robert Barnes
"It is fitting that the last duel between the old ink-slingers at the
Marble Palace was over guns. Justices John Paul Stevens and Antonin
Scalia have been taking shots at each other for more than two decades
-- their grudging mutual respect apparently as deep as their
disagreements. Their last showdown before Stevens rode off into the
sunset came in McDonald v. City of Chicago. The court's 5 to 4
decision said the Second Amendment applies to state and local
governments as well as Congress. Scalia was in the majority, Stevens
among the dissenters, and the two of them took about a third of the
ruling's 214 pages to explain their reasonings." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/24uzpap
-----
35) The year America dissolved
CounterPunch
by Paul Craig Roberts
"The Roman Empire lasted for centuries. The American one collapsed
overnight. Rome's corruption became the strength of her enemies, and
the Western Empire was overrun. America's collapse occurred when
government ceased to represent the people and became the instrument of
a private oligarchy. Decisions were made in behalf of short-term
profits for the few at the expense of unmanageable liabilities for the
many. Overwhelmed by liabilities, the government
collapsed." (07/26/10)
http://counterpunch.org/roberts07262010.html
-----
36) On being one step ahead of totalitarianism
Economic Policy Journal
by Simon Black
"It's true that no one had a crystal ball back then ... but it would
certainly stand to reason that with Hitler knocking at your door, you
would probably want to have an escape plan. Even more prudently,
perhaps to have already executed it. Many Poles did just that; they
spent the preceding seasons liquidating assets, stocking up on gold,
and getting their travel documents in order. By the time Hitler came
to town, many of the smart ones were already gone. My guess is that
the ones who left were probably ridiculed by their peers as 'crazy,'
or 'fringe,' or 'out of touch,' or my personal favorite,
'unpatriotic.'" (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2bndmwb
-----
37) The Tea Party mocks the founders
Huffington Post
by Doug Kendall
"After ratification of the Constitution, the powers of the new federal
government were quickly tested in the early 1790s with the Whiskey
Rebellion. Like the Tea Partiers, the whiskey rebels of the late 18th
Century believed the federal government had overreached and had
unfairly imposed taxes upon them. As recounted in Ron Chernow's
brilliant biography of Alexander Hamilton, President George Washington
determined the rebellion must be crushed, stating that if 'a minority
is to dictate to the majority, there is an end put at one stroke to
republican government.' Then, the 62-year-old Father of our Country
joined Alexander Hamilton and the federal army on a westward journey
that put the rebellion to rest." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/34ajbmd
-----
38) Buckingham revisited
Adam Smith Institute
by Nigel Hawkins
"The pronouncement by David Willetts, the Universities Minister, that
the UK should have more private universities is very welcome. He has
also confirmed that BPP, the business and law college, has been
granted 'university college' status, the first such award for 34
years. Of course, BPP is very different from a conventional redbrick
university but it shows that new thinking is afoot in higher
education. Currently, the UK's only private university is at
Buckingham, which first admitted a small student body -- less than 70
-- in 1976." (07/26/10)
http://www.adamsmith.org/blog/education/buckingham-revisited%3f/
-----
39) Hating Congress, hating ourselves
The American Spectator
by G. Tracy Mehan III
"The recent survey by Gallup indicate that Americans rated Congress
dead last among 16 institutions. Only 11 percent of respondents
expressed confidence in the deliberative bodies. This was a drop of 17
percent from last year. There is, of course, great irony in these
numbers, representing a collective, negative judgment on the
institution as a whole, despite the fact that incumbents are
overwhelmingly re-elected year after year after year. Presumably,
Americans feel about their congressmen and women the way they do about
lawyers. They hate them all, except for their own." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/28k4cbp
-----
40) Minnesota government mistreats ladies
Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Robert P. Murphy
"Recently the Minnesota Department of Human Rights -- a funny title in
itself -- declared that the practice of 'ladies' night' was illegal
gender discrimination. Apparently, five establishments in the Twin
Cities area were denying men 'full and equal enjoyment' of their
services because they charged women lower cover and drink prices.
Besides the unjust (and absurd) violation of private-property rights,
the Minnesota government's harassment of businesses will end up
hurting female and male customers." (07/26/10)
http://mises.org/daily/4555
-----
41) Attracting businesses during the Great Recession
Heartland Institute
by Joseph L. Bast
"The latest unemployment numbers show the nation remains in the
deepest economic recession since the Great Depression. Economists are
predicting a 'double dip' recession, meaning things may get worse
before they get better. What can elected officials do to attract
businesses during the Great Recession? The key lies in building a
better business climate, the panoply of public policies that affect
investment, business startups, and profitability. A good business
climate encourages people to start new businesses, existing businesses
to grow, and national and international businesses to invest in an
area. A poor business climate does the opposite." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2f623ou
-----
42) Yoo, Bybee, and the Taliban prisoner
Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G. Hornberger
"I wonder what torture-memo attorneys John Yoo and Jay Bybee are
thinking regarding the report of a U.S. sailor who was apparently
taken captive by the Taliban yesterday. Time will tell whether the
sailor who was killed with him was actually the lucky one. Would the
Taliban torture the guy? It wouldn't surprise anyone, but one thing is
certain: the U.S. government unfortunately has no moral standing
whatsoever to demand proper treatment of the soldier, given its own
position and its own track record regarding torture and
abuse." (07/26/10)
http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2010-07-26.asp
-----
43) Extending unemployment benefits will extend recession
FreedomWorks
by Katy Bachelder
"Today, President Obama signed legislation to extend unemployment
benefits. Congress claims this measure is both necessary and
beneficial. Art Laffer wrote an excellent piece in the Wall Street
Journal a couple weeks ago explaining why such claims demonstrate
flawed and dangerous thinking. Extending benefits will extend
unemployment. People respond to incentives. As Laffer points out, if
unemployment benefits provided a person with $150,000 a year, there
would be no reason to find a job." (07/23/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2cduuvs
-----
44) Sweet for producers; sour for consumers
Freedom Politics
by Gary Galles
"For years, domestic sugar producers have profited from quotas
limiting sugar imports, boosting prices to American users. While such
protectionism indefensibly takes from American consumers for
politically powerful sugar producers, it usually hides under the
public radar. But the difference between American prices and world
prices recently reached its highest level in over a decade, again
raising it as an issue." (07/18/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2g5cvyf
-----
45) Leakistan: The new insurgency
The New Republic
by Andrew J. Bacevich
"The leaks are unlikely to affect the course of events on the ground.
However, they may well affect the debate over the war here at home. In
that regard, the effect is likely to be pernicious, intensifying the
already existing inclination to focus on peripheral matters while
ignoring vastly more important ones. For months on end, Washington has
fixated on this question: what, oh what, are we to do about
Afghanistan? Implicit in the question are at least two assumptions:
first, that something must be done; and, second, that if the United
States and its allies can just devise the right approach (or assign
the right general), then surely something can be done. Both
assumptions are highly dubious. To indulge them is to avoid the
question that should rightly claim Washington's attention: What
exactly is the point of the Afghanistan war?" (07/25/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2763h2d
-----
46) Not more capital -- the right capital
Foundation for Economic Education
by Steven Horwitz
"Of all the unique contributions of the Austrian school of economics,
none is as central as the theory of capital. Other economists have
consistently misunderstood that theory, leading to much confusion,
particularly in the two controversies that defined Austrian economics
in the twentieth century: the socialist calculation debate and the
Hayek-Keynes debate. Even today, mainstream economists commenting on
the Austrian theory of the business cycle misunderstand these
issues." (07/22/10)
http://www.thefreemanonline.org/headline/right-capital/#
-----
47) Wars don't make heroes
Campaign For Liberty
by William Astore and Tom Engelhardt
"Consider a strange aspect of our wars since October 2001: they have
yet to establish a bona fide American hero, a national household name.
Two were actually 'nominated' early by the Bush administration --
Jessica Lynch, a 19-year-old private and clerk captured by the Iraqis
in the early days of the American invasion and later 'rescued' by Army
Rangers and Navy Seals, and Pat Tillman, the former NFL safety who
volunteered for service in the Army Rangers eight months after 9/11
and died under 'enemy' gunfire in Afghanistan. Both stories were later
revealed to be put-up jobs, pure Bush-era propaganda and
deceit." (07/26/10)
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=1031
-----
48) Let us all solemnly praise Wikileaks
The Power of Narrative
by Arthur Silber
"When you face a genocidal serial murderer, a murderer without
conscience or soul, it is your obligation as a minimally decent human
being to oppose him in any way you can. Through its leak of material
such as that now made public, Wikileaks seeks to fulfill this solemn
responsibility." (07/25/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2ee8soo
-----
49) Consequences, chapter 15
The Price of Liberty
by Susan Callaway
Fiction. (07/26/10)
http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/2010/06/14/consequences-15.html
-----
50) Rule by decree
National Review
by Mario Loyola
"America's economic strength has always depended upon a healthy legal
climate for business activity -- an environment in which rights and
obligations are legally enforceable. Obama has discovered that, using
federal regulatory action to create uncertainty and prohibitive risk
for private commerce, he has almost unchecked power to advance his
green-energy agenda by shutting down entire sectors of the U.S.
economy. And there isn't anything that any court or any legislature
can do about it -- at least, not fast enough to make a
difference." (07/26/10)
http://article.nationalreview.com/438623/rule-by-decree/mario-loyola
-----
51) The WikiLeaks war logs change everything
Salon
by Dan Gillmor
"Whatever our keepers of intelligence secrets do know, and whatever
abuses they've done to our civil liberties to learn them, they must
feel less sure today about keeping it all contained. When that many
people have access to information, however compartmentalized their
bosses may think they've made the system, some of it will get out,
which leads to something else we should worry about. ... The WikiLeaks
war diary will absolutely spur our powerful institutions to look for
increasingly draconian ways to clamp down on how we share information.
What WikiLeaks represents is what governments and corporations fear: a
threat to their cultures of secrecy and dominance in their
domains." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2g7ugya
-----
52) The end of secrecy
The Weekly Standard
by Gabriel Schoenfeld
"Is the leak of 92,000 classified documents pertaining to the war in
Afghanistan now published by WikiLeaks and reprinted by the New York
Times and some European publications a catastrophe? An affirmative
answer is certainly suggested by a White House statement that says the
document dump 'could put the lives of Americans and our partners at
risk, and threaten our national security.'" (07/26/10)
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/end-secrecy-wikileaks
-----
53) Not the Pentagon Papers
Slate
by Fred Kaplan
"Just because some documents are classified doesn't mean that they're
news or even necessarily interesting. A case in point is the cache of
92,000 secret documents about the Afghanistan war that someone leaked
to WikiLeaks, which passed them on to the New York Times, Britain's
Guardian, and Der Spiegel in Germany. All three published several of
these documents -- presumably the highlights -- in today's editions.
Some of the conclusions to be drawn from these files: Afghan civilians
are sometimes killed. Many Afghan officials and police chiefs are
corrupt and incompetent. Certain portions of Pakistan's military and
intelligence service have nefarious ties to the Taliban. If any of
this startles you, then welcome to the world of reading newspapers.
Today's must be the first one you've read." (07/26/10)
http://www.slate.com/id/2261780/
-----
54) On the intrinsic value of precious metals
TCS Daily
by Erik Voorhees
"It is often said that precious metals have no intrinsic value, and
thus the man who claims it as a safe asset and store of wealth has
been mislead by superstition. Economists, financial advisors, and
politicians of all stripes perpetuate this sentiment. Gold, they
claim, is just like anything else -- it's only valuable to the extent
to which it's trusted by people. Yet, this is not quite accurate.
Gold, silver, and other precious metals do indeed have intrinsic
value, and it's time for the source of this value to be understood.
Certainly, financial experts have no excuse for ignorance on this
subject." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2g3vsld
-----
55) Ground truth from Afghanistan
Mother Jones
by David Corn
"Afghanistan is truly an under-reported war -- and, more important, an
under-discussed and under-debated war. ... The media and public pay
attention in spurts .... these short bursts come and go -- while the
war slogs on, with much of the United States remaining detached from
and ignorant of what is happening day to day in their name, with their
tax dollars, in Afghanistan. So when Wikileaks posts 92,000 classified
US military reports detailing assorted aspects of the war, it is
disheartening to see bloggers and commentators dismiss this document
dump as not much that's new." (07/26/10)
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/07/ground-truth-afghanistan
-----
56) Early returns on ObamaCare are disappointing
Cato Institute
by Michael D. Tanner
"Obamacare was conceived around three goals: (1) provide health
insurance coverage for all Americans; (2) reduce insurance costs for
individuals, businesses, and government; and (3) increase the quality
of health care and the value received for each dollar of health care
spending. Just over 100 days after the law was signed, the evidence
shows it is failing on each and every one of those goals." (07/25/10)
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=12003
-----
57) Bill for the unborn: $20,000 (FY2011)
Independent Institute
by Jonathan Bean
"Here we come to the grand irony of the Keynesian worldview: Keynes
saw the Great Depression and declared that there is no contract
between generations. Spend the next generation's money! As my state
lottery commission chants: 'Go for it!' Live for today because 'in the
long run we are all dead' (J.M. Keynes). But once the really big
spending is locked in as an entitlement, the Left dreams up a
'contract between generations' on the spending side." (07/25/10)
http://www.independent.org/blog/?p=7143
-----
58) Internet addiction
Reason
by Greg Beato
"On a pound-for-pound basis, the average World of Warcraft junkie
undoubtedly represents a much less destructive social force than the
average meth head. But it's not extreme anecdotes that make the
specter of Internet addiction so threatening; it's the fact that
Internet overuse has the potential to scale in a way that few other
addictions do. Even if Steve Jobs designed a really cool-looking
syringe and started distributing free heroin on street corners, not
everyone would try it. But who among us doesn't already check his
email more often than necessary? As the Internet weaves itself more
and more tightly into our lives, only the Amish are completely
safe." (for publication 08/10)
http://reason.com/archives/2010/07/26/internet-addiction
-----
59) How to lose an empire
The American Conservative
by Eamonn Fingleton
"Here's an economic history test: 1. Which Great Power pioneered the
secular trend towards freer international trade? 2. Which Great Power
first resorted to spiraling foreign indebtedness to pay for its wars?
3. Which Great Power first permitted large-scale foreign direct
investment in its domestic industries and infrastructure? If you
guessed such latter-day globalizers as the United States or Britain,
you flunked. The correct answer in each case is the Ottoman
Empire." (for publication 08/01/10)
http://www.amconmag.com/article/2010/aug/01/00041/
-----
60) Fight back against the oligarchy
AlterNet
by US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
"While the middle class disappears and poverty increases the
wealthiest people in our country are not only doing extremely well,
they are using their wealth and political power to protect and expand
their very privileged status at the expense of everyone else. This
upper-crust of extremely wealthy families are hell-bent on destroying
the democratic vision of a strong middle-class which has made the
United States the envy of the world. In its place they are determined
to create an oligarchy in which a small number of families control the
economic and political life of our country." (07/25/10)
http://tinyurl.com/23gl89n
*****************************
* See No Evil, Hear No Evil
*****************************
61) Free Talk Live, 07/25/10
Free Talk Live
"NOT FOR BROADCAST!!!!! Sunday co-host edition. Luthor hosts with
Johnny Ray and Andrew Carroll. Moonshine, intellectual property,
dressing for the occasion, video games, Andrew's State Rep
campaign." [MP3] (07/25/10)
http://media.libsyn.com/media/ftl/FTL2010-07-25.mp3
-----
62) QandO Podcast, 07/25/10
QandO
"Bruce and Dale discuss the dissatisfaction about President Obama's
competence, the oil spill, and the American stranded in
Egypt." [various formats] (07/25/10)
http://www.qando.net/?p=9061
-----
63) Birgitta Jonsdottir on Antiwar Radio
AntiWar.Com
"Birgitta Jonsdottir, member of the Icelandic parliament, talks about
the role the financial meltdown in 2008 played in the people there's
insistence on transparency in government and banking, the new whistle-
blower protection law working its way through their system which would
protect computer servers, prevent judges from compelling disclosure of
sources, the hero Bradley Manning's plight, the importance of
Wikileaks, the inability of Iceland to protect whistleblowers from
extradition, but their important ability to promise that whatever
documents people do risk life and liberty to leak will reach the
public and not be removed from the Web and the delay behind the
release of the Garani airstrike video." [Flash audio or MP3]
(07/25/10)
http://antiwar.com/radio/2010/07/25/birgitta-jonsdottir/
-----
64) Damon Root on judicial activism, conservatives v. libertarians,
and more!
Hit & Run
"Root sat down with Reason.tv Editor in Chief Nick Gillespie to
discuss libertarian and conservative legal theories, judicial
activism, Elena Kagan's nomination, and more." [Flash video]
(07/23/10)
http://reason.com/blog/2010/07/23/now-playing-at-reasontv-damon
-----
65) Freedomain Radio #1704
Freedomain Radio
"Children as property: The relationship between coercion, authority
and parenting." [MP3] (07/23/10)
http://tinyurl.com/fdr1704
*************************************
* What's Up In The Freedom Movement
*************************************
66) 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/
* RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
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* Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
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In The News:
0) RRND/FND 3rd quarter fundraiser
1) Yemen: Army battles rebels in north; dozens dead
2) WikiLeaks data seem to show Pakistan helped attack American troops
3) Iraq: Two car bombs kill 25
4) Karzai: 52 Afghan civilians killed in NATO strike
5) Pakistan: Suicide bomber targets mourners, kills seven
6) Lawyers left off memo to destroy CIA terror tapes
7) US shows its power to North Korea with drills
8) Immigrant groups criticize fingerprint initiative
9) Afghan businesses, troops accused of stealing fuel
10) Nicaragua: Prosecutors drop Ortega massacre case
11) Iran sends letter to nuclear watchdog about restarting talks
12) MA: Ideas percolate in Innovation District
13) Haiti: Wyclef Jean may seek highest office
14) Prediction: World about to run out of Internet addresses
15) AZ: Packing heat to become easier soon
16) WA: Aggressive panhandler shot outside McDonald's
17) Blagojevich trial : Judge shills for prosecution; court dismissed
early
18) EU, Canada launch fresh sanctions on Iran
19) Cambodia: Anger follows Khmer Rouge sentencing
20) VA: Judge orders Fairfax terror suspect to remain jailed till
trial
Everybody Has An Opinion:
21) A free press means no subsidies
22) WikiLeaks.org helping Obama with that "transparency" thing
23) IP is dead, long live media!
24) No substitute for economic justice
25) On the bloated intelligence bureaucracy
26) Let them eat losses
27) Taking a look at new "antiwar" Republicans
28) Food police
29) Corporate bunker mentality
30) The middle man
31) The shame of the Fourth Estate
32) Elizabeth Warren and her discontents
33) It isn't about hunting
34) As Stevens retires from court, one final duel with Scalia
35) The year America dissolved
36) On being one step ahead of totalitarianism
37) The Tea Party mocks the founders
38) Buckingham revisited
39) Hating Congress, hating ourselves
40) Minnesota government mistreats ladies
41) Attracting businesses during the Great Recession
42) Yoo, Bybee, and the Taliban prisoner
43) Extending unemployment benefits will extend recession
44) Sweet for producers; sour for consumers
45) Leakistan: The new insurgency
46) Not more capital -- the right capital
47) Wars don't make heroes
48) Let us all solemnly praise Wikileaks
49) Consequences, chapter 15
50) Rule by decree
51) The WikiLeaks war logs change everything
52) The end of secrecy
53) Not the Pentagon Papers
54) On the intrinsic value of precious metals
55) Ground truth from Afghanistan
56) Early returns on ObamaCare are disappointing
57) Bill for the unborn: $20,000 (FY2011)
58) Internet addiction
59) How to lose an empire
60) Fight back against the oligarchy
See No Evil, Hear No Evil:
61) Free Talk Live, 07/25/10
62) QandO Podcast, 07/25/10
63) Birgitta Jonsdottir on Antiwar Radio
64) Damon Root on judicial activism, conservatives v. libertarians,
and more!
65) Freedomain Radio #1704
What's Up In The Freedom Movement:
66) Today's events
***************
* In The News
***************
0) RRND/FND 3rd quarter fundraiser
Update, 07/27/10: Thanks to TD and GD, whose $60 in contributions
yesterday bring our fundraiser total to $1,428.82 ($198 higher than
the ChipIn meter shows due to contributions coming via other avenues)!
We are now about 66% of the way to our $2,083 goal. Only $654.18 to
go ... and YOU can help put us over the finish line!
The move of RRND's email edition from Google Groups to TrafficWave
continues apace. If you received a confirmation message today, tried
to confirm this evening, and couldn't get through, not to worry --
TrafficWave was down for scheduled maintenance. Try again tomorrow. If
you haven't received a confirmation message, or if you aren't
subscribed to RRND's email edition and want to be, visit:
http://www.trafficwave.net/lcp/rationalreview/rrnd
Right now, the tentative plan is to start publishing from TrafficWave
on Wednesday - TLK
http://www.rationalreview.com/content/83890
-----
1) Yemen: Army battles rebels in north; dozens dead
USA Today
"Yemeni soldiers battled Shiite rebels a short distance from the
capital on Monday in clashes that killed dozens, a tribal leader said.
A cease-fire unraveled in June, re-igniting a six-year conflict that
spilled across the border last year by drawing in the Saudi military.
The new fighting threatens to siphon Yemeni military resources away
from a separate battle against the country's al-Qaeda
offshoot." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2exol7e
-----
2) WikiLeaks data seem to show Pakistan helped attack American troops
ABC News
"Perhaps the single most damming collection of data in a massive trove
of secret documents from Afghanistan released by the website WikiLeaks
is some 180 files that seem to show Pakistan's premiere intelligence
service, the ISI, helping the Afghan insurgency attack American
troops. The United States provides more than a billion dollars to
Pakistan each year for help in fighting terrorism, but the papers seem
to link the ISI with major Afghan insurgent commanders; claim its
representatives meet directly with the Taliban; accuse the agency of
training suicide bombers; and indicts Pakistani intelligence officials
on hatching up sensational ways to assassinate Afghan president Hamid
Karzai and even poison the beer drunk by Americans in
Afghanistan." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/29w5ef5
-----
3) Iraq: Two car bombs kill 25
Chicago Sun-Times
"Two car bombs targeting Shiite pilgrims during a religious festival
in the holy city of Karbala killed 25 people on Monday, Iraqi police
and hospital officials said. Sunni extremists are suspected. Militants
detonated two parked cars filled with explosives about two miles apart
as crowds of pilgrims passed by. Police and medical officials in
Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, said 68 people were injured in the
attacks." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/28cvbjv
-----
4) Karzai: 52 Afghan civilians killed in NATO strike
Los Angeles Times
"President Hamid Karzai asserted Monday that up to 52 civilians had
been killed by NATO rocket fire in southern Afghanistan, a controversy
that erupted just as thousands of leaked military documents depicted a
pervasive pattern of underreported civilian deaths and injuries in the
course of the long conflict. Karzai's claim of civilian casualties
last week in Helmand province was sharply disputed by the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization force. Provincial authorities said the
incident was still being investigated, and that neither the number of
deaths nor culpability had been established." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2f6gyaw
-----
5) Pakistan: Suicide bomber targets mourners, kills seven
BBC News [UK]
"A suicide bomb near Peshawar has killed seven people near a gathering
mourning a cabinet minister's son murdered in a suspected Taliban
attack, police say. About 20 people were also injured when the bomber
struck on foot near the home of Provincial Information Minister Mian
Iftikhar Hussain in the town of Pabbi. Three policemen and four
civilians died. The minister was not among the mourners. The Taliban
told the BBC they killed his 28-year-old only son two days
ago." (07/26/10)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10762468
-----
6) Lawyers left off memo to destroy CIA terror tapes
MSNBC
"When the CIA sent word in 2005 to destroy scores of videos showing
waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics, there was an
unusual omission in the carefully worded memo: the names of two agency
lawyers. Once a CIA lawyer has weighed in on even a routine matter,
officers rarely give an order without copying the lawyer in on the
decision. It's standard procedure, a way for managers to cover
themselves if a decision goes bad." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/25luhta
-----
7) US shows its power to North Korea with drills
MSNBC
"The East Sea off the coast of the Korean peninsula roiled with U.S.
and South Korean ships, submarines, fighter jets and helicopters --
high-profile military maneuvers intended to show North Korea that it
is being watched. Military officials said that despite threats of
retaliation, North Korea was staying clear. Most of the firepower for
the four-day exercises -- which North Korea condemns -- has been
flying off the decks of the USS George Washington, a U.S. supercarrier
that can carry up to 70 aircraft and more than 5,000 sailors and
aviators." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2d6pxr9
-----
8) Immigrant groups criticize fingerprint initiative
Naples Daily News
"The federal government is rapidly expanding a program to identify
illegal immigrants using fingerprints from arrests, drawing opposition
from local authorities and advocates who argue the initiative amounts
to an excessive dragnet. The program has gotten less attention than
Arizona's new immigration law, but it may end up having a bigger
impact because of its potential to round up and deport so many
immigrants nationwide." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2bwyu8u
-----
9) Afghan businesses, troops accused of stealing fuel
Newnan Times-Herald
"Two ex-soldiers and two Afghan companies schemed to steal $1.6
million of fuel from a military base, the U.S. military disclosed
Monday as an example of its efforts to root out shady dealings in the
contracting business in Afghanistan. The two Afghan companies have
been suspended from doing business with the U.S. government and the
two former American soldiers -- allegedly caught with more than
$400,000 in cash at the base -- have been charged with conspiracy to
commit theft of government property, according to Brig. Gen. Camille
Nichols, head of the contracting authority for both Afghanistan and
Iraq." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/29fwqwu
-----
10) Nicaragua: Prosecutors drop Ortega massacre case
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
"Nicaragua's attorney general has dropped a complaint against
President Daniel Ortega and other former Sandinista officials in the
killings of at least 64 Miskito Indians by Nicaraguan troops in the
early 1980s. Prosecutor Ana Julia Guido told reporters Monday that the
case was dropped because of insufficient evidence about who gave the
orders to engage in the confrontation." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2676btl
-----
11) Iran sends letter to nuclear watchdog about restarting talks
CNN
"Iran submitted a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency on
Monday, proposing to restart limited talks on an exchange of nuclear
fuel. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters about Iran's
planned letter to the U.N. nuclear watchdog Sunday after a lunchtime
meeting with diplomats from Brazil and Turkey to discuss Tehran's
nuclear program." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2anxjbh
-----
12) MA: Ideas percolate in Innovation District
Boston Globe
"They all believe they have invented the next big thing, these
engineers, MBAs, and scientists with ideas as lofty as the view from
their perch on the 14th floor of a new high-rise on Boston's
waterfront. A bottle-top filter to solve the world's drinking-water
woes. A stiletto high heel that converts into a comfortable walking
shoe. A wind turbine that uses helium to float up to 2,000 feet in the
air to generate electricity in the steady breeze aloft. The creators
are among 110 nascent entrepreneurs who have won free office space
situated in what city planners are calling the Innovation District, a
1,000-acre swath of South Boston that encompasses much of the view
from the 14th floor of One Marina Park Drive at Fan Pier, where
entrepreneurial teams will work. The envisioned district stretches
from Fort Point Channel to the Boston Marine Industrial Park, from the
Seaport to the Convention Center." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2dzmqv2
-----
13) Haiti: Wyclef Jean may seek highest office
Raw Story
"There have been rumors for some time the Haitian-born entertainer
might enter the 2010 presidential contest, ever since his 2007
appointment as ambassador-at-large for the Caribbean nation by
President Rene Preval, who cannot seek re-election. In a statement e-
mailed to reporters, the family said, 'Wyclef's commitment to his
homeland and its youth is boundless, and he will remain its greatest
supporter regardless of whether he is part of the government moving
forward ... If and when a decision is made, media will be alerted
immediately.' The letter was signed 'The Jean Family.' A spokeswoman
for the musician confirmed the message's authenticity. Jean, 37, was
born on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince but left the hemisphere's
poorest country as a child and grew up in New York City's borough of
Brooklyn." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/24jc5hn
-----
14) Prediction: World about to run out of Internet addresses
Fox News
"In 2003, Geoff Huston gave a presentation titled 'IPv4 Address
Lifetime Expectancy Revisited' where he showed the trends in IP
address deployment, and used a simple model to extrapolate these
trends to predict the moment the last IP address would be used up.
Experts predict the world will run out of internet addresses in less
than a year, the Sydney Morning Herald reported Monday. The internet
protocol used by the majority of web users, IPv4, provides for about
four billion IP addresses -- the unique 32-digit number used to
identify each computer, website or internet-connected device. There
are currently only 232 million IP addresses left -- enough for about
340 days -- thanks to the explosion in smartphones and other web-
enabled devices." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/23urw6e
-----
15) AZ: Packing heat to become easier soon
Arizona Daily Star
"The Wild West is about to get wilder -- on Thursday, Arizona will
join Alaska and Vermont as one of the states with the country's most
liberal gun laws. Senate Bill 1108 removes the requirement that gun
owners must be trained and licensed to carry a concealed weapon.
Arizona already allows for 'open carry' -- anyone not legally
prohibited from possessing a firearm, such as convicted felons or
those adjudicated mentally incompetent, can carry firearms in public
as long as they are clearly visible. After Thursday, the requirement
that weapons be displayed openly will be dropped, and anyone who is
not a 'prohibited possessor' will be able to carry concealed
weapons." (07/25/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2bxx5r5
-----
16) WA: Aggressive panhandler shot outside McDonald's
Spokane Spokesman-Review
"The alleged shooter ... was a regular customer at the restaurant. ...
Police said he was asked for money on his way in just before 11:30
a.m., then went inside and ordered something to drink, and on his way
out he was panhandled again. The beggar, a 41-year-old man carrying
Kentucky identification, followed the Marysville man out to his small
pickup, police said. The older man grabbed a handgun and fired one
shot into the beggar's abdomen, police said." (07/25/10)
http://tinyurl.com/298eakj
-----
17) Blagojevich trial : Judge shills for prosecution; court dismissed
early
ABC 7 News
"The defense attorney for former governor Rod Blagojevich said he
would be willing to go to jail for his client. Judge James Zagel told
attorney Sam Adam Junior he could not mention witnesses who did not
testify in the corruption trial during his closing argument. The
prosecution had named several witnesses in its opening statements,
some of whom were not called. Adam said naming those people and
talking about how they did not take the stand was pertinent to his
close." (07/26/10)
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=7574973
-----
18) EU, Canada launch fresh sanctions on Iran
All Headline News
"The European Union has approved tough sanctions against Iran's energy
sector at a meeting of its foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.
The measures come in addition to a fourth round of United Nations'-
backed sanctions. On Monday, the EU approved sanctions that aim to ban
on the sale of technology, equipment and services to hamper Tehran's
exploration and production in the oil and gas sector. The fresh
sanctions will also ban foreign trade and financial
services." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/26zadyw
-----
19) Cambodia: Anger follows Khmer Rouge sentencing
San Jose Mercury News
"For 30 years since the brutal Khmer Rouge regime was driven from
power, Cambodians have lived with unresolved trauma, with skulls and
bones from some killing fields still lying in the open and with
parents hiding the pain of their past from their children. Monday,
Cambodia took a significant step toward addressing its harsh past with
the first conviction of a major Khmer Rouge figure in connection with
the deaths of 1.7 million people from 1975 to 1979. But some survivors
were distraught over what they saw as a lenient sentence, one that
could allow the defendant -- Kaing Guek Eav, 67, the commandant of the
central Khmer Rouge prison and torture house -- to possibly walk free
one day, despite being convicted of war crimes and crimes against
humanity for overseeing the torture and killing of more than 14,000
people." (07/26/10)
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_15607717
-----
20) VA: Judge orders Fairfax terror suspect to remain jailed till
trial
Washington Post
"A Fairfax man accused of trying to join an al-Qaeda-affiliated
terrorist group in Somalia poses a danger to the community and his
family and will remain in jail until trial, U.S. Magistrate Judge Ivan
D. Davis ordered Monday. Zachary A. Chesser, 20, dressed in a green
prison jump suit for a half-hour hearing, argued through his attorney,
Michael Nachmanoff, that he had no criminal history, had met with FBI
agents at least four times since May 2009, had given up his U.S.
passport and was no more a threat to flee than after those
meetings." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/27jutrx
*******************************************************************
* HEALTH-OF-THE-STATE-O-METER, 07/27/10
*
* Reported Civilian Deaths in Iraq: Min - 97,129 ... Max - 105,977
* (source: www.iraqbodycount.org)
*
* American Military Deaths in Iraq: 4,413
* (source: www.antiwar.com/casualties/)
*******************************************************************
****************************
* Everybody Has An Opinion
****************************
21) A free press means no subsidies
Boston Globe
by Jeff Jacoby
"'The 10 most dangerous words in the English language,' said Ronald
Reagan in 1988, 'are 'Hi, I'm from the government, and I'm here to
help." But how dangerous could it be for the news industry to accept
government help in the form of subsidies, tax credits, or other
financial support? The rise of the Internet, as everyone knows, has
been hell on traditional media outlets -- especially newspapers and
magazines, which have seen their circulation, advertising, and profits
plummet as millions of readers have gone digital. Thousands of
journalists have lost their jobs, national and foreign bureaus have
been shut, news coverage has dwindled, and the long-range forecast is
for more of the same. To stop the bleeding and keep American
journalism viable, some are suggesting a government lifeline in the
form of enhanced public funding." (07/25/10)
http://tinyurl.com/29jn8d8
-----
22) WikiLeaks.org helping Obama with that "transparency" thing
Fr33 Agents
by Lounge Daddy
"It is brilliance dumping all of these papers just ahead of the
election cycle because the main stream media is going to be gabbing
about politics for the next few weeks anyway. WikiLeaks gave them all
something worth talking about. And the topic of conversation is going
to be Democrats and Republicans, and about how the more things change
the more they stay the same. We The People are noticing this. I think
that the politicians will not seriously try and refute the papers.
They can't. They probably don't even know what is in them. They will,
however, spend the next few weeks condemning WikiLeaks." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2ea77mk
-----
23) IP is dead, long live media!
The Libertarian Enterprise
by Theodore Minick
"The Internet is a wonderful thing. It has enabled communication in a
way no other invention since the telephone has. It has also enabled
the sharing and reproduction of all kinds of media, from print, to
audio and video. The only comparable revolution was the Printing
press. Before the printing press, a copy of a manuscript was only
possible through long hours of manually copying each page. While this
resulted in beautiful works of art which are still cherished today, it
also drastically limited the audience for those books. With the advent
of the Printing Press, a book could be completely reproduced in the
time it once took to copy a few pages. Data became less scarce, only
as scarce as the resources required to print a book." (07/25/10)
http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2010/tle580-20100725-04.html
-----
24) No substitute for economic justice
Center for a Stateless Society
by Kevin Carson
"Once the state substitutes privilege for justice, it inevitably
creates destabilizing tendencies that must be met by one of two
possible courses of action. One is to remove the privileges and allow
the natural operation of justice, so that the chronic instabilities
don't arise. The other is to add secondary interventions like the
welfare state and Keynesian fiscal policy, so the destabilizing
tendencies don't get too bad -- and to keep increasing the level of
such intervention when it no longer works the way it
should." (07/26/10)
http://c4ss.org/content/3261
-----
25) On the bloated intelligence bureaucracy
Freedom's Phoenix
by US Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)
"The problem with our intelligence community before 9/11 was not an
inability to collect information. Therefore, the post-September 11
build-up of the surveillance state does nothing to enhance safety.
Instead what Americans have gotten in return for the billions of tax
dollars spent on security is a surveillance state that reads our e-
mails, wiretaps us without warrants, and strip searches grandmothers
at airports. This is yet another instance in which Americans would be
safer, richer and freer if our government would simply look to the
Constitution and respect the boundaries it has set." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/28mkefy
-----
26) Let them eat losses
LewRockwell.Com
by Gerald Celente
"This had nothing to do with the so-called 'Trickle Down' theory. This
was 'Gush Up.' In Bush/Obama economics, the richest and biggest that
had lost billions through bad investments, or were in danger of going
bust, had to be rescued. If the Uber-Rich weren't saved, there would
be nothing left to trickle down to the population below. By government
decree, those taxpayers who had never felt any trickle to begin with,
now had to finance the failed financiers. If taxpayers found
themselves unable to understand the thinking behind 'Gush Up,' it was
not surprising. Why should it make sense? Nothing else did. The entire
financial system had been hijacked by bandits. It was criminal from
beginning to end." (07/27/10)
http://www.lewrockwell.com/celente/celente43.1.html
-----
27) Taking a look at new "antiwar" Republicans
AntiWar.Com
by Kelley B. Vlahos
"Nine Republican members of the House sided with Democrats in July to
start bringing troops home from Afghanistan. Though one can still
count on two hands the number of congressional Republicans who
publicly oppose the war, this latest development is not insignificant.
Only five Republicans had the guts to cast a similar vote three and a
half months ago." (07/27/10)
http://original.antiwar.com/vlahos/2010/07/26/new-antiwar-republicans/
-----
28) Food police
John Stossel's Take
by John Stossel
"On my TV show on New Threats to Freedom, I thought I was joking when
I used the term 'Food Police,' but here they are. Food faddists who
buy raw food and unpasteurized milk are fools. There's no good
evidence that the food is healthier, and they risk their families'
health. The risk is real but small. If buyers of unpasteurized milk
get sick, word will get out, and those sellers will be punished. Whole
Foods already dropped these products because selling them would have
raised their liability costs. But the LA Times reveals that that's not
good enough for our ever more intrusive government: With no warning
one weekday morning, investigators entered an organic grocery with a
search warrant and ordered the hemp-clad workers to put down their
buckets of mashed coconut cream and to step away from the nuts. Then,
guns drawn, four officers fanned out across Rawesome Foods in Venice.
Skirting past the arugula and peering under crates of zucchini, they
found the raid's target inside a walk-in refrigerator: unmarked jugs
of raw milk ..." (067/26/10)
http://stossel.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2010/07/26/food-police
-----
29) Corporate bunker mentality
Washington Post
by Robert J. Samuelson
"Judging from corporate profits, we should be enjoying a powerful
economic recovery. The drop in profits in the recession was about a
third, apparently the worst since World War II. But every day brings
reports of gains. In the second quarter, IBM's earnings rose 9.1
percent from a year earlier. Government statistics through the first
quarter (the latest available) show that profits have recovered 87
percent of what they lost in the recession. When second-quarter
results are tabulated, profits may exceed their previous peak. The
rebound in profits ought to be a good omen. It frees companies to be
more aggressive. ... Except for startups, loss-making companies don't
generate many new jobs." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/27kkzc3
-----
30) The middle man
The American Prospect
by David Weigel
"As a journalist, I've worked for both the George Soros-funded
Washington Independent and the libertarian Reason magazine. I've
mostly covered Republicans and conservatives, but I've also paid
plenty of attention to liberals to know what they wanted to read
about. I have shared a stage with Van Jones and appeared at events
sponsored by conservative manufacturing magnates the Koch brothers. I
called Sarah Palin's decision to attack a biographer who moved next
door 'despicable' and also defended Rand Paul from the charge that his
debate-class problems with the Civil Rights Act meant that he was a
racist. I have gotten on everybody's nerves." (07/26/10)
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_middle_man
-----
31) The shame of the Fourth Estate
The Nation
by Charles Kaiser
"It has become fashionable to dismiss Keith Olbermann as an over-the-
top ranter ... But there was nothing over-the-top about his special
comment about Shirley Sherrod. Every word he spoke was true. And the
only thing that made his stance so remarkable is the abject failure of
the mainstream media -- especially this week -- to accurately describe
the source of the allegation against Sherrod, or to chronicle the long-
term impact of the 'complete perversion of journalism' practiced 365
days a year by Fox News (and the right-wing bloggers and radio hosts
that make up the rest of this wackosphere)." [editor's note: I stopped
watching Keith O about two years ago, when it became clear that his
anti-imperialism only exists with GOPers on the throne; I'm open to
hearing that he's regained his bite, since I really liked the style of
his anti-Shrub commentaries - SAT] (07/26/10)
http://www.thenation.com/article/37940/shame-fourth-estate
-----
32) Elizabeth Warren and her discontents
Our Future Blog
by Richard (RJ) Eskow
"Somebody really, really doesn't want Elizabeth Warren to run the new
Consumer Protection Financial Bureau, or 'CFPB,' which she first
envisioned and proposed. Who? The big banks, for sure, as well as
others who don't want their misbehavior brought to light. And Tim
Geithner, whose vision of Wall Street and its problems is
fundamentally different from Warren's. There are others, too --
ideologues like Megan McArdle of the Atlantic, who has made something
of a cottage industry out of attacking Warren on specious grounds. The
President's attempting to split the baby when it comes to appointing
Ms. Warren, but the facts and public perception are aligned. They
present him with a stark reality: He must choose between appointing
Ms. Warren or placating the big banks. There is no Third Way.
Unfortunately for the President, Elizabeth Warren is a yes or no
question." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/23qkmx9
-----
33) It isn't about hunting
Chatanoogan
by Tommy Crandall
"Since I grew up on a farm, being around guns, owning my own guns and
hunting were important parts of my life. On many an afternoon, I would
come home from school, get my dog, King, and head out to hunt
squirrels or rabbits. My precious Mother would cook anything I caught.
I have hunted and owned guns all my life. Gun ownership is just a
natural thing to me. Although I'm not convinced that we should even be
required to have carry permits, my wife, Pamper, and I both have them.
I've had mine many years. She has had hers since 2006." (07/25/10)
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_180558.asp
-----
34) As Stevens retires from court, one final duel with Scalia
Washington Post
by Robert Barnes
"It is fitting that the last duel between the old ink-slingers at the
Marble Palace was over guns. Justices John Paul Stevens and Antonin
Scalia have been taking shots at each other for more than two decades
-- their grudging mutual respect apparently as deep as their
disagreements. Their last showdown before Stevens rode off into the
sunset came in McDonald v. City of Chicago. The court's 5 to 4
decision said the Second Amendment applies to state and local
governments as well as Congress. Scalia was in the majority, Stevens
among the dissenters, and the two of them took about a third of the
ruling's 214 pages to explain their reasonings." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/24uzpap
-----
35) The year America dissolved
CounterPunch
by Paul Craig Roberts
"The Roman Empire lasted for centuries. The American one collapsed
overnight. Rome's corruption became the strength of her enemies, and
the Western Empire was overrun. America's collapse occurred when
government ceased to represent the people and became the instrument of
a private oligarchy. Decisions were made in behalf of short-term
profits for the few at the expense of unmanageable liabilities for the
many. Overwhelmed by liabilities, the government
collapsed." (07/26/10)
http://counterpunch.org/roberts07262010.html
-----
36) On being one step ahead of totalitarianism
Economic Policy Journal
by Simon Black
"It's true that no one had a crystal ball back then ... but it would
certainly stand to reason that with Hitler knocking at your door, you
would probably want to have an escape plan. Even more prudently,
perhaps to have already executed it. Many Poles did just that; they
spent the preceding seasons liquidating assets, stocking up on gold,
and getting their travel documents in order. By the time Hitler came
to town, many of the smart ones were already gone. My guess is that
the ones who left were probably ridiculed by their peers as 'crazy,'
or 'fringe,' or 'out of touch,' or my personal favorite,
'unpatriotic.'" (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2bndmwb
-----
37) The Tea Party mocks the founders
Huffington Post
by Doug Kendall
"After ratification of the Constitution, the powers of the new federal
government were quickly tested in the early 1790s with the Whiskey
Rebellion. Like the Tea Partiers, the whiskey rebels of the late 18th
Century believed the federal government had overreached and had
unfairly imposed taxes upon them. As recounted in Ron Chernow's
brilliant biography of Alexander Hamilton, President George Washington
determined the rebellion must be crushed, stating that if 'a minority
is to dictate to the majority, there is an end put at one stroke to
republican government.' Then, the 62-year-old Father of our Country
joined Alexander Hamilton and the federal army on a westward journey
that put the rebellion to rest." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/34ajbmd
-----
38) Buckingham revisited
Adam Smith Institute
by Nigel Hawkins
"The pronouncement by David Willetts, the Universities Minister, that
the UK should have more private universities is very welcome. He has
also confirmed that BPP, the business and law college, has been
granted 'university college' status, the first such award for 34
years. Of course, BPP is very different from a conventional redbrick
university but it shows that new thinking is afoot in higher
education. Currently, the UK's only private university is at
Buckingham, which first admitted a small student body -- less than 70
-- in 1976." (07/26/10)
http://www.adamsmith.org/blog/education/buckingham-revisited%3f/
-----
39) Hating Congress, hating ourselves
The American Spectator
by G. Tracy Mehan III
"The recent survey by Gallup indicate that Americans rated Congress
dead last among 16 institutions. Only 11 percent of respondents
expressed confidence in the deliberative bodies. This was a drop of 17
percent from last year. There is, of course, great irony in these
numbers, representing a collective, negative judgment on the
institution as a whole, despite the fact that incumbents are
overwhelmingly re-elected year after year after year. Presumably,
Americans feel about their congressmen and women the way they do about
lawyers. They hate them all, except for their own." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/28k4cbp
-----
40) Minnesota government mistreats ladies
Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Robert P. Murphy
"Recently the Minnesota Department of Human Rights -- a funny title in
itself -- declared that the practice of 'ladies' night' was illegal
gender discrimination. Apparently, five establishments in the Twin
Cities area were denying men 'full and equal enjoyment' of their
services because they charged women lower cover and drink prices.
Besides the unjust (and absurd) violation of private-property rights,
the Minnesota government's harassment of businesses will end up
hurting female and male customers." (07/26/10)
http://mises.org/daily/4555
-----
41) Attracting businesses during the Great Recession
Heartland Institute
by Joseph L. Bast
"The latest unemployment numbers show the nation remains in the
deepest economic recession since the Great Depression. Economists are
predicting a 'double dip' recession, meaning things may get worse
before they get better. What can elected officials do to attract
businesses during the Great Recession? The key lies in building a
better business climate, the panoply of public policies that affect
investment, business startups, and profitability. A good business
climate encourages people to start new businesses, existing businesses
to grow, and national and international businesses to invest in an
area. A poor business climate does the opposite." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2f623ou
-----
42) Yoo, Bybee, and the Taliban prisoner
Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G. Hornberger
"I wonder what torture-memo attorneys John Yoo and Jay Bybee are
thinking regarding the report of a U.S. sailor who was apparently
taken captive by the Taliban yesterday. Time will tell whether the
sailor who was killed with him was actually the lucky one. Would the
Taliban torture the guy? It wouldn't surprise anyone, but one thing is
certain: the U.S. government unfortunately has no moral standing
whatsoever to demand proper treatment of the soldier, given its own
position and its own track record regarding torture and
abuse." (07/26/10)
http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2010-07-26.asp
-----
43) Extending unemployment benefits will extend recession
FreedomWorks
by Katy Bachelder
"Today, President Obama signed legislation to extend unemployment
benefits. Congress claims this measure is both necessary and
beneficial. Art Laffer wrote an excellent piece in the Wall Street
Journal a couple weeks ago explaining why such claims demonstrate
flawed and dangerous thinking. Extending benefits will extend
unemployment. People respond to incentives. As Laffer points out, if
unemployment benefits provided a person with $150,000 a year, there
would be no reason to find a job." (07/23/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2cduuvs
-----
44) Sweet for producers; sour for consumers
Freedom Politics
by Gary Galles
"For years, domestic sugar producers have profited from quotas
limiting sugar imports, boosting prices to American users. While such
protectionism indefensibly takes from American consumers for
politically powerful sugar producers, it usually hides under the
public radar. But the difference between American prices and world
prices recently reached its highest level in over a decade, again
raising it as an issue." (07/18/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2g5cvyf
-----
45) Leakistan: The new insurgency
The New Republic
by Andrew J. Bacevich
"The leaks are unlikely to affect the course of events on the ground.
However, they may well affect the debate over the war here at home. In
that regard, the effect is likely to be pernicious, intensifying the
already existing inclination to focus on peripheral matters while
ignoring vastly more important ones. For months on end, Washington has
fixated on this question: what, oh what, are we to do about
Afghanistan? Implicit in the question are at least two assumptions:
first, that something must be done; and, second, that if the United
States and its allies can just devise the right approach (or assign
the right general), then surely something can be done. Both
assumptions are highly dubious. To indulge them is to avoid the
question that should rightly claim Washington's attention: What
exactly is the point of the Afghanistan war?" (07/25/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2763h2d
-----
46) Not more capital -- the right capital
Foundation for Economic Education
by Steven Horwitz
"Of all the unique contributions of the Austrian school of economics,
none is as central as the theory of capital. Other economists have
consistently misunderstood that theory, leading to much confusion,
particularly in the two controversies that defined Austrian economics
in the twentieth century: the socialist calculation debate and the
Hayek-Keynes debate. Even today, mainstream economists commenting on
the Austrian theory of the business cycle misunderstand these
issues." (07/22/10)
http://www.thefreemanonline.org/headline/right-capital/#
-----
47) Wars don't make heroes
Campaign For Liberty
by William Astore and Tom Engelhardt
"Consider a strange aspect of our wars since October 2001: they have
yet to establish a bona fide American hero, a national household name.
Two were actually 'nominated' early by the Bush administration --
Jessica Lynch, a 19-year-old private and clerk captured by the Iraqis
in the early days of the American invasion and later 'rescued' by Army
Rangers and Navy Seals, and Pat Tillman, the former NFL safety who
volunteered for service in the Army Rangers eight months after 9/11
and died under 'enemy' gunfire in Afghanistan. Both stories were later
revealed to be put-up jobs, pure Bush-era propaganda and
deceit." (07/26/10)
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=1031
-----
48) Let us all solemnly praise Wikileaks
The Power of Narrative
by Arthur Silber
"When you face a genocidal serial murderer, a murderer without
conscience or soul, it is your obligation as a minimally decent human
being to oppose him in any way you can. Through its leak of material
such as that now made public, Wikileaks seeks to fulfill this solemn
responsibility." (07/25/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2ee8soo
-----
49) Consequences, chapter 15
The Price of Liberty
by Susan Callaway
Fiction. (07/26/10)
http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/2010/06/14/consequences-15.html
-----
50) Rule by decree
National Review
by Mario Loyola
"America's economic strength has always depended upon a healthy legal
climate for business activity -- an environment in which rights and
obligations are legally enforceable. Obama has discovered that, using
federal regulatory action to create uncertainty and prohibitive risk
for private commerce, he has almost unchecked power to advance his
green-energy agenda by shutting down entire sectors of the U.S.
economy. And there isn't anything that any court or any legislature
can do about it -- at least, not fast enough to make a
difference." (07/26/10)
http://article.nationalreview.com/438623/rule-by-decree/mario-loyola
-----
51) The WikiLeaks war logs change everything
Salon
by Dan Gillmor
"Whatever our keepers of intelligence secrets do know, and whatever
abuses they've done to our civil liberties to learn them, they must
feel less sure today about keeping it all contained. When that many
people have access to information, however compartmentalized their
bosses may think they've made the system, some of it will get out,
which leads to something else we should worry about. ... The WikiLeaks
war diary will absolutely spur our powerful institutions to look for
increasingly draconian ways to clamp down on how we share information.
What WikiLeaks represents is what governments and corporations fear: a
threat to their cultures of secrecy and dominance in their
domains." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2g7ugya
-----
52) The end of secrecy
The Weekly Standard
by Gabriel Schoenfeld
"Is the leak of 92,000 classified documents pertaining to the war in
Afghanistan now published by WikiLeaks and reprinted by the New York
Times and some European publications a catastrophe? An affirmative
answer is certainly suggested by a White House statement that says the
document dump 'could put the lives of Americans and our partners at
risk, and threaten our national security.'" (07/26/10)
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/end-secrecy-wikileaks
-----
53) Not the Pentagon Papers
Slate
by Fred Kaplan
"Just because some documents are classified doesn't mean that they're
news or even necessarily interesting. A case in point is the cache of
92,000 secret documents about the Afghanistan war that someone leaked
to WikiLeaks, which passed them on to the New York Times, Britain's
Guardian, and Der Spiegel in Germany. All three published several of
these documents -- presumably the highlights -- in today's editions.
Some of the conclusions to be drawn from these files: Afghan civilians
are sometimes killed. Many Afghan officials and police chiefs are
corrupt and incompetent. Certain portions of Pakistan's military and
intelligence service have nefarious ties to the Taliban. If any of
this startles you, then welcome to the world of reading newspapers.
Today's must be the first one you've read." (07/26/10)
http://www.slate.com/id/2261780/
-----
54) On the intrinsic value of precious metals
TCS Daily
by Erik Voorhees
"It is often said that precious metals have no intrinsic value, and
thus the man who claims it as a safe asset and store of wealth has
been mislead by superstition. Economists, financial advisors, and
politicians of all stripes perpetuate this sentiment. Gold, they
claim, is just like anything else -- it's only valuable to the extent
to which it's trusted by people. Yet, this is not quite accurate.
Gold, silver, and other precious metals do indeed have intrinsic
value, and it's time for the source of this value to be understood.
Certainly, financial experts have no excuse for ignorance on this
subject." (07/26/10)
http://tinyurl.com/2g3vsld
-----
55) Ground truth from Afghanistan
Mother Jones
by David Corn
"Afghanistan is truly an under-reported war -- and, more important, an
under-discussed and under-debated war. ... The media and public pay
attention in spurts .... these short bursts come and go -- while the
war slogs on, with much of the United States remaining detached from
and ignorant of what is happening day to day in their name, with their
tax dollars, in Afghanistan. So when Wikileaks posts 92,000 classified
US military reports detailing assorted aspects of the war, it is
disheartening to see bloggers and commentators dismiss this document
dump as not much that's new." (07/26/10)
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/07/ground-truth-afghanistan
-----
56) Early returns on ObamaCare are disappointing
Cato Institute
by Michael D. Tanner
"Obamacare was conceived around three goals: (1) provide health
insurance coverage for all Americans; (2) reduce insurance costs for
individuals, businesses, and government; and (3) increase the quality
of health care and the value received for each dollar of health care
spending. Just over 100 days after the law was signed, the evidence
shows it is failing on each and every one of those goals." (07/25/10)
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=12003
-----
57) Bill for the unborn: $20,000 (FY2011)
Independent Institute
by Jonathan Bean
"Here we come to the grand irony of the Keynesian worldview: Keynes
saw the Great Depression and declared that there is no contract
between generations. Spend the next generation's money! As my state
lottery commission chants: 'Go for it!' Live for today because 'in the
long run we are all dead' (J.M. Keynes). But once the really big
spending is locked in as an entitlement, the Left dreams up a
'contract between generations' on the spending side." (07/25/10)
http://www.independent.org/blog/?p=7143
-----
58) Internet addiction
Reason
by Greg Beato
"On a pound-for-pound basis, the average World of Warcraft junkie
undoubtedly represents a much less destructive social force than the
average meth head. But it's not extreme anecdotes that make the
specter of Internet addiction so threatening; it's the fact that
Internet overuse has the potential to scale in a way that few other
addictions do. Even if Steve Jobs designed a really cool-looking
syringe and started distributing free heroin on street corners, not
everyone would try it. But who among us doesn't already check his
email more often than necessary? As the Internet weaves itself more
and more tightly into our lives, only the Amish are completely
safe." (for publication 08/10)
http://reason.com/archives/2010/07/26/internet-addiction
-----
59) How to lose an empire
The American Conservative
by Eamonn Fingleton
"Here's an economic history test: 1. Which Great Power pioneered the
secular trend towards freer international trade? 2. Which Great Power
first resorted to spiraling foreign indebtedness to pay for its wars?
3. Which Great Power first permitted large-scale foreign direct
investment in its domestic industries and infrastructure? If you
guessed such latter-day globalizers as the United States or Britain,
you flunked. The correct answer in each case is the Ottoman
Empire." (for publication 08/01/10)
http://www.amconmag.com/article/2010/aug/01/00041/
-----
60) Fight back against the oligarchy
AlterNet
by US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
"While the middle class disappears and poverty increases the
wealthiest people in our country are not only doing extremely well,
they are using their wealth and political power to protect and expand
their very privileged status at the expense of everyone else. This
upper-crust of extremely wealthy families are hell-bent on destroying
the democratic vision of a strong middle-class which has made the
United States the envy of the world. In its place they are determined
to create an oligarchy in which a small number of families control the
economic and political life of our country." (07/25/10)
http://tinyurl.com/23gl89n
*****************************
* See No Evil, Hear No Evil
*****************************
61) Free Talk Live, 07/25/10
Free Talk Live
"NOT FOR BROADCAST!!!!! Sunday co-host edition. Luthor hosts with
Johnny Ray and Andrew Carroll. Moonshine, intellectual property,
dressing for the occasion, video games, Andrew's State Rep
campaign." [MP3] (07/25/10)
http://media.libsyn.com/media/ftl/FTL2010-07-25.mp3
-----
62) QandO Podcast, 07/25/10
QandO
"Bruce and Dale discuss the dissatisfaction about President Obama's
competence, the oil spill, and the American stranded in
Egypt." [various formats] (07/25/10)
http://www.qando.net/?p=9061
-----
63) Birgitta Jonsdottir on Antiwar Radio
AntiWar.Com
"Birgitta Jonsdottir, member of the Icelandic parliament, talks about
the role the financial meltdown in 2008 played in the people there's
insistence on transparency in government and banking, the new whistle-
blower protection law working its way through their system which would
protect computer servers, prevent judges from compelling disclosure of
sources, the hero Bradley Manning's plight, the importance of
Wikileaks, the inability of Iceland to protect whistleblowers from
extradition, but their important ability to promise that whatever
documents people do risk life and liberty to leak will reach the
public and not be removed from the Web and the delay behind the
release of the Garani airstrike video." [Flash audio or MP3]
(07/25/10)
http://antiwar.com/radio/2010/07/25/birgitta-jonsdottir/
-----
64) Damon Root on judicial activism, conservatives v. libertarians,
and more!
Hit & Run
"Root sat down with Reason.tv Editor in Chief Nick Gillespie to
discuss libertarian and conservative legal theories, judicial
activism, Elena Kagan's nomination, and more." [Flash video]
(07/23/10)
http://reason.com/blog/2010/07/23/now-playing-at-reasontv-damon
-----
65) Freedomain Radio #1704
Freedomain Radio
"Children as property: The relationship between coercion, authority
and parenting." [MP3] (07/23/10)
http://tinyurl.com/fdr1704
*************************************
* What's Up In The Freedom Movement
*************************************
66) 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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