12/04 -- Somalia: 22, including cabinet ministers, students killed in suicide blast; White House approves expansion of Pakistan remote control murder campaign
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Thomas L. Knapp
Dec 4, 2009, 3:05:51 AM12/4/09
to Rational Review News Digest
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In The News:
1) Somalia: 22, including cabinet ministers, students killed in
suicide blast
2) White House approves expansion of Pakistan remote control murder
campaign
3) Iraq: 16 killed, 27 wounded
4) Taliban detainee "met Bin Laden this year"
5) John Famularo, RIP
6) Bogus flu vaccine registry is Internet scam
7) Fed chairman Bernanke blasted at confirmation hearing
8) US: Isolationism [sic] at highest level in 40 years
9) Mexico: Government raids underground tunnel into the US
10) Pelosi nixes Obey's war tax proposal
11) Boxer: Not "Climate-gate" but "E-mail-theft-gate"
12) Afghan training mission faces tough obstacles
13) Blackwater chief confirms CIA ties
14) Report: Obesity maybe worse than smoking
15) MA: $40 million to Wal-Mart workers
16) Gitmo "judge" denies request to expand case
17) Congress confused about Afghanistan plan
18) Bin Laden not in Pakistan, PM says
19) Clinton arrives for NATO talks, praises allies
20) White House jobs summit: Real progress or PR stunt?
Everybody Has An Opinion:
21) FIsHing for an explanation
22) Medical marijuana does not equal freedom
23) Without remorse
24) We will be your insurgency
25) The laboratory of democracy
26) Obama's war: The reaction
27) The legacy of 1989, in two hemispheres
28) Victory at last! Monty Python in Afghanistan
29) Before you appoint Ben, audit Ben
30) Huckabee handed out pardons like candy
31) Too risky to regulate? Not with proper verification
32) Corporate speak
33) On the road to the servile state
34) Keeping the populace alarmed
35) President Obama to discuss job creation
36) Random thoughts
37) Show me the warming
38) An answer to Bernanke
39) A few questions for Fed chief Bernanke
40) Obama's LBJ moment
41) Reading people's faces
42) Civil war president
43) Fed up with federalism
44) Generalissimo Joe poised to turn Arizona into a banana republic
45) Economic rights in a nutshell
46) In search of a jobs agenda
47) The fog of war
48) A postscript: Choices have consequences
49) The Obama war plan: A recipe for disaster!
50) Let's not make a federal case out of it!
51) The problem of Islamic religious prosecution
52) America's regression
53) On "the American people"
54) The business of education reform
55) Beware of overconfidence
See No Evil, Hear No Evil:
56) The Libertarian Solution, 12/05/09
57) Free Talk Live, 12/03/09
58) Robert Higgs on Federal Reserve transparency
59) Garrett Peck on The Prohibition Hangover
60) James W. Douglass on Antiwar Radio
What's Up In The Freedom Movement:
61) Today's events
WaYbAcK:
62) Goodbye, WPA
***************
* In The News
***************
1) Somalia: 22, including cabinet ministers, students killed in
suicide blast
Wall Street Journal
"On Thursday morning, hundreds of people had gathered in a hall at
Hotel Shamo in Mogadishu to mark the graduation of doctors, engineers
and others from Benadir University. Until last year, no medical
students had graduated in Somalia for nearly two decades. Toward the
end of the ceremony, a blast shook the hall, filling the room with
smoke and spreading blood and body parts. People began screaming and
running for the exit, trampling the wounded as they fled. Three Somali
ministers -- of health, education and higher education -- were killed
in the bombing, said Mohamed Ali Nur, the Somali ambassador to
Kenya." (12/03/09)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125983594130174329.html
-----
2) White House approves expansion of Pakistan remote control murder
campaign
Fox News
"The White House has approved an expansion of the CIA's drone program
in Pakistan, the New York Times reported. The Obama administration
reportedly is talking with Pakistan about expanding the program from
Waziristan to Baluchistan, a controversial move since it is outside
the tribal areas. Baluchistan is where Afghan Taliban leaders are
believed to be hiding." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yjlyoww
-----
3) Iraq: 16 killed, 27 wounded
AntiWar.Com
"A suicide bomber in Tikrit killed 11 people, including the head of
the anti-riot police, and wounded 15 others. Separately, a taxi driver
was kidnapped. Four suspects were captured. In Baghdad, a bomb left at
an Adhamiya market killed one person and wounded six others. One
person was killed and two were wounded during a magnetic-bomb blast in
Karrada. Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry issued a warning concerning
booby-trapped toys. Near Tal Afar in Mahlabiya, gunmen killed two
soldiers and wounded two more during a mortar attack on their
checkpoint. Officials in Tal Afar tightened security recently after
reports of potential attacks." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ya6e92o
-----
4) Taliban detainee "met Bin Laden this year"
BBC News [UK]
"A Taliban detainee in Pakistan claims to have information about Osama
Bin Laden's whereabouts in January or February of this year. His
claims cannot be verified but a leading American expert says his
account should be investigated. ... The detainee can't be named for
legal reasons. According to a Pakistani security official he has close
ties with leaders of the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and was
involved in kidnapping and fundraising operations." (12/04/09)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8394470.stm
-----
5) John Famularo, RIP
Philadelphia Inquirer
"John D. Famularo, 70, of Center City, a computer consultant and
leader in the Libertarian Party, died of complications from multiple
myeloma Monday at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Mr. Famularo
was secretary of the National Libertarian Party and former treasurer
of the Pennsylvania Libertarian Party. For more than 15 years he also
chaired the Philadelphia Libertarian Party and ran for several state
and city political offices on the Libertarian ticket." (12/03/09)
http://www.philly.com/philly/obituaries/78395947.html
-----
6) Bogus flu vaccine registry is Internet scam
San Jose Mercury News
"People should disregard e-mail urging them to register personal
information on an H1N1 flu vaccine registry with the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, health officials warned Wednesday. The
registry is bogus, and people who try to send the information to the
CDC may instead get a virus installed on their computers." (12/03/09)
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_13918999
-----
7) Fed chairman Bernanke blasted at confirmation hearing
USA Today
"Senators sharply criticized Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at
his confirmation hearing Thursday, saying he and his colleagues failed
to head off last year's financial crisis. Bernanke, 55, conceded the
central bank 'should have done more' but maintained it's best suited
to prevent future crises. The former Princeton economics professor is
widely expected to be confirmed for a second four-year term, but some
senators on both the left and the right have signaled they'll try to
obstruct or delay the process." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ykodc4o
-----
8) US: Isolationism [sic] at highest level in 40 years
Christian Science Monitor
"If President Obama is looking for something that transcends the
national divisions over healthcare reform and Afghanistan policy, he
might try isolationism. Roughly half of Americans now say the United
States should 'mind its own business' and let other countries hash out
problems on their own, according to a new poll by the Pew Research
Center for the People and the Press. The survey, conducted every four
years with the Council on Foreign Relations among CFR members and the
general public, finds America's perennial inward-looking strain at its
highest level since pollsters first queried Americans about
isolationist tendencies in 1964. Back then, just 18 percent of
Americans supported a 'mind our own business' approach. Today, it's 49
percent. The sour economy is one explanation for the isolationist
spike, but so is disappointment and fatigue over the results of eight
years of aggressive foreign policy under President Bush." [editor's
note: The proper term would be "non-interventionism" ... and it's now
undeniable the imperialism continues under Obama - SAT] (12/03/09)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1203/p02s16-usfp.html
-----
9) Mexico: Government raids underground tunnel into the US
MSNBC
"More than a dozen people were arrested Wednesday after Mexican
authorities found an underground tunnel extending from Tijuana into
the United States. The tunnel, measuring just under 1,000 feet in
length and reaching a depth of 90 to 100 feet, did not have an entry
point in the United States, according to Drug Enforcement Agency,
which issued a statement on the discovery. The passageway extend more
than 860 feet across the border." (12/02/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yzg2j9r
-----
10) Pelosi nixes Obey's war tax proposal
The Hill
"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday all but eliminated the
prospect of a 'war tax' to pay for the escalation in Afghanistan,
saying she opposed it. But she suggested it would be considered if
President Barack Obama asked for it. 'I am not in support of the
proposal of Mr. Obey,' Pelosi (D-Calif.) said of the tax plan
suggested by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey (D-
Wis.). 'When the president makes a request, we will make a decision.
With the highest regard for Mr. Obey, that is his idea,' Pelosi said.
'He is speaking for himself.' White House officials have said that a
war tax is not being discussed within the Obama
administration." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yjdenca
-----
11) Boxer: Not "Climate-gate" but "E-mail-theft-gate"
Fox News
"One man's whistleblower is another woman's criminal hacker. Sen.
Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is calling the leaked e-mails from climate
scientists at a British university research unit a 'theft' and 'crime'
that should be investigated, despite calls from Republicans to
investigate the contents of the e-mails themselves, not the way they
were leaked. 'You call it Climate-gate. I call it E-mail-theft-gate,'
Boxer said at a hearing Wednesday on the Committee on Environment and
Public Works, which she chairs. She suggested that a criminal
conspiracy might even be at play in bringing the once private e-mails
to public light." [editor's note: Umm ... Forest ... trees? She's
probably correct, but does that make the revelations (of widespread
outright fraud) any less horrific? Seems more Woodward/Bernstein than
malicious hackers? - SAT] (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y8n3szh
-----
12) Afghan training mission faces tough obstacles
MSNBC
"America's eight-year effort to build a functional Afghan security
force has been a study in slow motion, raising doubts about President
Barack Obama's new plan to quickly get the nation's army and police in
shape so U.S. forces can begin to leave in 18 months. A lack of
competence, resources and confidence have hampered Afghanistan's army
and police, as have illiteracy and corruption. Those continuing
obstacles provoked skepticism from Congress this week about whether
the U.S. military can train the Afghans quickly and effectively enough
to begin to replace American forces by Obama's proposed exit start
date of July 2011." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yd6prdd
-----
13) Blackwater chief confirms CIA ties
Washington Post
"The founder of Blackwater Worldwide acknowledged in an interview
published Wednesday that he had helped the CIA with secret programs
targeting top al-Qaida leaders, a role he says was intended to give
the agency 'unattributable capability' in sensitive missions. Erik
Prince, owner of the military contractor now known as Xe Services,
told Vanity Fair magazine that his company performed numerous 'very
risky missions' for the spy agency, some of which were improperly
exposed in leaks to the news media. ... Among other, previously
undisclosed roles, Prince ran intelligence-gathering operations to
coordinate the movement of undercover spies in 'one of the so-called
Axis of Evil countries,' the magazine said." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ygnozfy
-----
14) Report: Obesity maybe worse than smoking
Los Angeles Times
"A new study predicts that as smoking rates decline and life
expectancy increases, obesity figures will rise, ultimately
contributing to a poorer quality of life. The New England Journal of
Medicine study released Wednesday looked at previous health trends
culled from national health surveys to forecast life expectancy and
quality of life for a typical 18-year-old from 2005 through 2020. Past
declines in smoking over the last 15 years would give that 18-year-old
an increased life expectancy of 0.31 years. However, growing body-mass-
index rates would also mean that the teenager would have a reduced
life expectancy of 1.02 years, giving a net life-expectancy reduction
of 0.71 years." [editor's note: So the smart thing is to stop smoking
now, and begin to burn off the extra weight -- before it gets even
harder to do so as you age! - SAT] (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ycoxxch
-----
15) MA: $40 million to Wal-Mart workers
Boston Globe
"Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, has agreed to pay
$40 million to as many as 87,500 current and former employees in
Massachusetts, the largest wage-and-hour class-action settlement in
the state's history. The class-action lawsuit, filed in 2001, accused
the retailer of denying workers rest and meal breaks, refusing to pay
overtime, and manipulating time cards to lower employees' pay. Under
terms of the agreement, which was filed in Middlesex Superior Court
yesterday by the employees' attorneys, any person who worked for Wal-
Mart between August 1995 and the settlement date will receive a
payment of between $400 and $2,500, depending on the number of years
worked, with the average worker receiving a check for
$734." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ydfsbge
-----
16) Gitmo "judge" denies request to expand case
Macon Telegraph
"A judge [sic] in Guantanamo Bay's war crimes court [sic] has denied a
request by military prosecutors to expand their case against a
Sudanese detainee accused of being a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden.
Prosecutors wanted more specifications to be added to charges of
conspiracy and providing support for terrorism against Ibrahim Ahmed
Mahmoud al Qosi, a 49-year-old detainee who was one of the first
prisoners brought to Guantanamo in 2002." (12/03/09)
http://www.macon.com/world/story/940276.html
-----
17) Congress confused about Afghanistan plan
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"The Obama administration sent what many lawmakers saw as vague and
sometimes confusing signals Wednesday about its intentions in
Afghanistan, leaving members of Congress unsure how to proceed as they
consider a plan to deploy 30,000 more American troops there. President
Obama had said Tuesday night that U.S. troops would begin leaving
Afghanistan in July 2011, but under grilling yesterday at the Senate
Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary Robert Gates suggested
that date could change." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yhp8ds6
-----
18) Bin Laden not in Pakistan, PM says
CNN
"Pakistan's prime minister Thursday rejected claims al Qaeda leader
Osama bin Laden is hiding within his country amid mounting global
pressure on Islamabad to tackle terrorists linked to escalating
conflict in neighboring Afghanistan. 'In fact Pakistan is fighting a
war on terrorism,' Yousaf Raza Gilani told reporters at a joint press
conference with his British counterpart Gordon Brown at 10 Downing
Street." [editor's note: One wonders how much longer they'll deny that
their boogie-man Osama has been dead for roughly 5 years now ... -
SAT] (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yjzzwpb
-----
19) Clinton arrives for NATO talks, praises allies
Las Vegas Review-Journal
"U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, arriving Friday at
NATO headquarters, welcomed an expected series of announcements by
allied nations of additional military, civilian and financial support
for the war effort in Afghanistan. Clinton was attending a string of
meetings here with allied foreign ministers and with representatives
of non-NATO countries that have troops in Afghanistan, plus Russia.
She sought to sell President Barack Obama's revamped war strategy,
which banks on major new allied contributions, not just to escalate
the combat effort but also to bolster civilian functions and provide
more development aid." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yjm9o5z
-----
20) White House jobs summit: Real progress or PR stunt?
ABC News
"President Obama said today that he is not interested in 'taking a
wait-and-see approach' when it comes to job creation, as his
administration faces unemployment numbers at their worst levels since
1983. 'What I'm interested in is taking action right now to help
businesses create jobs right now, in the near term,' the president
said at the opening session of the White House jobs summit. The
summit, announced a week after the Bureau of Labor Statistics said
unemployment reached 10.2 percent, is the administration's latest
effort to do just that." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yf4xnf2
*******************************************************************
* HEALTH-OF-THE-STATE-O-METER, 12/04/09
*
* Reported Civilian Deaths in Iraq: Min - 94,349 ... Max - 102,949
* (source: www.iraqbodycount.org)
*
* American Military Deaths in Iraq: 4,367
* (source: www.antiwar.com/casualties/)
*******************************************************************
****************************
* Everybody Has An Opinion
****************************
21) FIsHing for an explanation
Jeffersonville Evening News
by Debbie Harbeson
"The press release said that Attorney General Zoeller is 'extremely
proud' of the elected officials who voted to provide $300,000 for
FIsH. He also specifically thanked State Rep. William Crawford, D-
Indianapolis, chairman of the Indiana House Ways and Means Committee,
and State Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, chairman of the Senate
Appropriations Committee for their 'generosity and foresight.' He's
extremely proud of their generosity? What generosity? All these men
did was determine where a chunk of funds coerced from other people
were going to end up. Generosity has absolutely nothing to do with
it." (12/03/09)
http://www.news-tribune.net/opinion/local_story_337003933.html
-----
22) Medical marijuana does not equal freedom
Future of Freedom Foundation
by Sheldon Richman
"The Obama Justice Department says it will no longer go after
'individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance
with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana.'
In other words, if a state legalizes the production, distribution, and
possession of marijuana for medical purposes, Attorney General Eric
Holder's troops will keep hands off. Considering that marijuana is
outlawed by federal statute, this is good news as far as it goes. The
thought of DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) agents swooping down
and arresting seriously ill people trying to get some relief from
marijuana is appalling." (12/03/09)
http://www.fff.org/comment/com0912b.asp
-----
23) Without remorse
Rad Geek People's Daily
by Rad Geek
"Psychiatrists expect to be taken seriously, both as scientific
experts and as benevolent caretakers; I think at least a minimal
requirement of being taken seriously on these claims would be for them
to own up to the fact that within living memory, their discipline was
rife with theories now universally regarded as the worst sort of
politically-motivated pseudoscience and therapeutic practices now
universally reviled as the worst sort of atrocities. They have been
wrong about everything and they ruined life after life with the most
appalling sorts of brain-damaging treatment on the basis of these
pseudoscientific superstitions." (12/03/09)
http://radgeek.com/gt/2009/12/03/without-remorse/
-----
24) We will be your insurgency
Freedom's Phoenix
by Mel Mason
"So it's come to this. Obama's gotta wage his war, and I gotta sit in
the street. It's not that I like blocking traffic or getting arrested
or dealing with the fall-out when I could be reading a book. It's that
I can't live with endless war and I must end it or surely die. I'm not
leaving this country. This is my mess, so help me, and I'll scrub it
till my fingers bleed. I will not compromise with
genocide." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yaxc3sc
-----
25) The laboratory of democracy
Liberty For All
by Rhys M. Blavier
"This is an idea with much merit but which we have, unfortunately, not
seen utilized within The United States to any kind of a significant
degree. Whether through fear of losing power, fear of interference
from the federal government, lack of imagination, lack of interest or
fear of the unknown, 'experiments' with democracy in this country take
the shape of trying to impose different sets of laws and rules upon
the citizens rather than on the process by which those laws and rules
are determined. The idea in this nation is that differences in
democracy are measured solely by the end result of the legislative
process rather than the process itself." (12/03/09)
http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=3458
-----
26) Obama's war: The reaction
AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo
"I'm actually pretty surprised to see that many liberals and
progressives are not climbing on board Obama's war wagon -- notably
Rachel Maddow, who made a stinging criticism of the escalation by
comparing the rhetoric of the Bush administration and that of the New
Obama, concluding that the latter had adopted and even extended the
essence of the 'Bush Doctrine,' the morally indefensible idea that we
have to strike at targets that might possibly pose a threat to U.S.
national security some time in the indefinite future. ... Keith
Olbermann was clearly embarrassed, like a father whose child has just
crapped his pants in the middle of Walmart." (12/04/09)
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2009/12/03/obamas-war-the-reaction/
-----
27) The legacy of 1989, in two hemispheres
In These Times
by Noam Chomsky
"November marked the anniversary of major events in 1989: 'the biggest
year in world history since 1945,' as British historian Timothy Garton
Ash describes it. That year 'changed everything,' Garton Ash writes.
Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms within Russia and his 'breathtaking
renunciation of the use of force' led to the fall of the Berlin Wall
on Nov. 9 -- and to the liberation of Eastern Europe from Russian
tyranny. The accolades are deserved; the events, memorable. But
alternative perspectives may be revealing. German chancellor Angela
Merkel provided such a perspective -- unintentionally -- when she
called on all of us to 'use this invaluable gift of freedom to
overcome the walls of our time.'" [editor's note: Another brilliant
analysis by Prof. Chomsky! - SAT] (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ydmwtje
-----
28) Victory at last! Monty Python in Afghanistan
The Nation
by Tom Engelhardt
"Let others deal with the details of President Obama's Afghan speech,
with the on-ramps and off-ramps, those 30,000 US troops going in and
just where they will be deployed, the benchmarks for what's called
'good governance' in Afghanistan, the corruption of the Karzai regime,
the viability of counterinsurgency warfare, the reliability of NATO
allies and so on. Let's just skip to the most essential point which,
in a nutshell, is this: Victory at Last! It's been a long time coming,
but finally American war commanders have effectively marshaled their
forces, netcentrically outmaneuvering and outflanking the enemy. ...
And no, I'm not talking about post-surge Iraq and certainly not about
devolving Afghanistan. I'm talking about what's happening in
Washington." (12/03/09)
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091221/engelhardt
-----
29) Before you appoint Ben, audit Ben
Our Future Blog
by Robert Borosage
"Tomorrow, the Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke appears before the
Senate Banking Committee which must vote on his nomination for a
second four-year term. Yet, Bernanke wants the Senate to rehire him as
the taxpayers' banker without allowing the public to see what he's
done with our money. ... But once the crisis hit, Bernanke took
unprecedented actions. The Federal Reserve took on over $1 trillion in
toxic bonds and other assets from banks. Trillions more were committed
in guarantees and swaps to prop up failing Wall Street banks. But with
trillions committed to private companies, neither the public nor the
Senate has any idea where the money went, what the terms were, who got
what and why. Clearly before Bernanke's nomination can be considered,
the Senate should know what he did with the dough." [editor's note:
Step 1: Audit Bernanke; Step 2: Audit the Fed ... seems about right -
SAT] (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yhrjugk
-----
30) Huckabee handed out pardons like candy
San Francisco Chronicle
by Debra J. Saunders
"There is no need to tiptoe gingerly around this topic: Maurice
Clemmons, who was shot and killed as authorities tried to apprehend
him for the shooting deaths of four Washington police officers -- is
former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's Willie Horton. Horton, you might
recall, is the convicted killer who raped a woman while wrongly
released as part of a prison furlough program supported by former
Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis -- thus helping to torpedo the 1988
Democratic presidential nominee's bid for the White House. The
Clemmons' story likewise should kill any chance of Huckabee winning,
should he run in 2012." (12/03/09)
http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/saunders/#ixzz0YgxIff6s
-----
31) Too risky to regulate? Not with proper verification
Boston Globe
by Edward L. Glaeser
"In the 1912 presidential election, Woodrow Wilson fought for a 'New
Freedom' and favored breaking up over-mighty businesses.... Today,
America is again faced with the Morton's Fork of either regulating or
dismantling financial firms that are 'too big to fail.' For
Rooseveltian regulators to succeed, they need enough information to
restrain excessive risk-taking and that requires a system where
financial firms reveal each other's risks. In the halcyon days before
2007, libertarians could argue that financial failures impose few
social costs, so there was little point to either regulation or size
limits. But the wrenching market turmoil that followed Lehman
Brothers's collapse shattered that illusion. The bailouts that ensued
showed that taxpayer dollars would be used to stop failures of
financial firms. However, it is a bad idea to have unregulated firms
betting with taxpayers' money." [editor's note: To term arguments for
dereg of PRIVATE industry as "libertarian" is fraud in itself; when
"deregulation" only shifts the direction of oversight of king's-
courtier "businesses" ... "private-sector" is only a euphemism for
mercantile corporatism - SAT] (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yf4jkrc
-----
32) Corporate speak
The American Prospect
by Mark Schmitt
"There aren't too many Supreme Court cases that can be called 'truly
momentous' even before they are decided. But when the Court asked to
rehear the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in a
rare preterm session this fall, it became clear that, even though the
case itself is minor, the Court might use it as the opportunity to
make a big change in the law regarding money in politics. But as week
after week passes without a decision, the community of campaign-
finance reformers becomes ever more anxious that some of their most
basic assumptions about what's constitutional and what isn't will be
wiped out. The case involves a video called Hillary: The Movie
produced last year by the right-wing attack group Citizens United and
broadcast through on-demand cable channels around the time of the
Democratic primaries." [editor's note: And I bet they are SO proud of
what they created in her place - SAT] (12/03/09)
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=corporate_speak
-----
33) On the road to the servile state
Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Brian Douglass
"In recent months, there has been a good deal of discussion of change
in the United States. Sadly, over the last two centuries, the
direction in which this country has been changing seems to be away
from liberty and towards more control. The present changes are hardly
unprecedented and certainly not unforeseen. In this essay I will
examine two authors, Hilaire Belloc and F.A. Hayek, who present a
useful analysis of our present situation." (12/03/09)
http://mises.org/daily/3880
-----
34) Keeping the populace alarmed
Hawaii Reporter
by Bartlett D. Cleland
"The American Cancer Society, World Health Organization, the Food and
Drug Administration and the International Commission on Non-Ionizing
Radiation Protection all agree: A survey of the recent scientific
literature shows there is no clear evidence of any link between mobile
devices and health problems. And yet some special interest groups are
advocating for action based on only a couple European research reports
while ignoring the overwhelming preponderance of the evidence. In the
process, those special interests are scaring the public." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yfjf4cx
-----
35) President Obama to discuss job creation
FreedomWorks
by Matthew Clemente
"After the ever-rising unemployment rate skyrocketed into double
digits in October, doubts about the Obama Administration's ability to
cope with joblessness grew. Such worries intensified when it was
revealed that estimates of nearly one hundred thousand of the jobs
supposedly 'created or saved' by the $787 billion stimulus package
were in question. According to a recent CBS News poll, only 7 percent
of Americans believe that the stimulus has actually created any jobs
at all. Now, President Obama is looking to ease the fears of the
public by refocusing his agenda around job creation." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ygylksb
-----
36) Random thoughts
Freedom Politics
by Thomas Sowell
"Random thoughts on the passing scene: Sometimes we seem like people
on a pleasure boat drifting down the Niagara river, unaware that there
are waterfalls up ahead. I don't know what people think is going to
happen when a nation that already sponsors international terrorism has
nuclear bombs to give to terrorists around the world. Since this is an
era when many people are concerned about 'fairness' and 'social
justice,' what is your 'fair share' of what someone else has worked
for?" (12/01/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yhbe45e
-----
37) Show me the warming
Competitive Enterprise Institute
by Michael Fumento
"It's the science scandal of the year. A thousand e-mails and 2,000
other documents were swiped from the server of Britain's Climate
Research Unit at East Anglia University and posted on the Web. Many
were truly embarrassing to the writers, while others have been quoted
out of context and falsely used as 'proof' that global warming is 'a
hoax.' But in one e-mail, a top 'warmist' researcher admits it's a
'travesty' that 'we can't account for the lack of warming at the
moment.' (Emphasis added.) Further, 'any consideration of
geoengineering [is] quite hopeless as we will never be able to tell if
it is successful or not!'" (12/02/09)
http://cei.org/articles/2009/12/02/show-me-warming
-----
38) An answer to Bernanke
Campaign For Liberty
by US Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)
"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (November 29th Washington Post)
does not want us to know any of the details of the Fed's secret
operations. This position is not surprising and has been typical of
all central bank chairmen. Bernanke's stated goal in his editorial is
'To design a system of financial oversight ...' that will 'provide a
robust framework for preventing future crises.' During its 96 years of
existence, the Federal Reserve has played havoc with our economy and
brought great suffering to millions through unemployment and price
escalation." (12/03/09)
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=407
-----
39) A few questions for Fed chief Bernanke
Cato Institute
by Mark A. Calabria
"On Dec. 3 the U.S. Senate Banking Committee meets to hold a hearing
on the nomination of Ben Bernanke to another term as chair of the
Federal Reserve Board. Although Bernanke is almost assured
confirmation by the Banking Committee and the full Senate, this is
perhaps the only opportunity for Congress, and the American public, to
get a fuller accounting of both Bernanke's role in creating the
financial crisis and responding to it." (12/02/09)
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11030
-----
40) Obama's LBJ moment
Independent Institute
by Anthony Gregory
"Just like Lyndon Johnson, Obama appears to be dedicated, most of all,
to the welfare state at home, but, if for nothing but political
reasons, committed to the agenda of escalating war. Like Johnson, he
was elected partly on the implicit basis that he'd be more peaceful
than his warmongering Republican opponent, only to quickly disappoint
peaceniks nationwide. Like LBJ, will Obama only serve one full term as
a result? Already, there are efforts to rejuvenate the legacy of LBJ.
Perhaps this is because the establishment recognizes the current
president faces a similar situation: He is admired by his liberal base
for his efforts to expand government at home, but these same voters,
at best, only tolerate his foreign policy as a lesser of evils. But
will he prove to be a lesser of evils?" (12/02/09)
http://www.independent.org/blog/?p=4287
-----
41) Reading people's faces
Reason
by Katherine Mangu-Ward
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that messing with a guy who
has facial tattoos is a really bad idea. Getting dirty words tattooed
on your eyelids -- a popular choice, judging from the mug shots
available online -- is a serious commitment. It is, as social
scientists say, a 'signal that is costly to fake.' The bearer of a
facial tattoo announces to the world: I expect to be in prison for
most of my life, or to hang out with people who consider prison
experience a character reference. Those of us who are not a part of
the criminal underworld have a much cheaper system: Asked for a
reference, we happily provide our colleagues' phone numbers and email
addresses." (12/03/09)
http://reason.com/archives/2009/12/03/reading-peoples-faces
-----
42) Civil war president
The American Conservative
by Sheldon Richman
"Barack Obama's intensification of the occupation of Afghanistan is
nothing less than a full commitment to one side in the civil war
raging there. What he calls a threat of a Taliban takeover is actually
a Pashtun resistance to the U.S. occupation and the corrupt Karzai
government it backs. Obama's and Hillary Clinton's spin cannot change
those facts. Obama's story isn't even coherent." (12/03/09)
http://www.amconmag.com/blog/2009/12/03/civil-war-president/
-----
43) Fed up with federalism
AlterNet
by Harold Meyerson
"The love of federalism is a sometime thing; its critics and champions
switch places depending on who is in power at which level of
government. But the problem with our allegedly ingenious federal
system is not simply that half the time, if not more, it is an
effective way to protect all that is biased and unfair in the American
nation. The problem is also that federalism inherently subverts a
coherent national response to many fundamental challenges the United
States faces, at a time when other major nations -- our competitors in
an increasingly global economy -- face no such structural
impediment." (12/03/09)
http://www.alternet.org/politics/144293/fed_up_with_federalism
-----
44) Generalissimo Joe poised to turn Arizona into a banana republic
Disloyal Opposition
by JD Tuccille
"A law-enforcement officer is filmed stealing documents from a defense
attorney. Ordered to apologize in public, the officer, with the
encouragement of his high-ranking boss, refuses. The judge who jails
the officer as punishment for his defiance then faces retaliation in
the form of a bomb threat, striking police and official complaints
filed by that high-ranking official, all in support of the
transgressing officer. Just another day in Zimbabwe, right? Or maybe
Venezuela. But no -- it's actually the latest headline-grabber in
Maricopa County, Arizona." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yak7mkz
-----
45) Economic rights in a nutshell
The Free Liberal
by Fred E. Foldvary
"There is an objective morality, a universal ethic by which acts that
coercively harm others are evil, acts that are welcomed benefits are
morally good, and all other acts are neutral. Each person is properly
an equal self-owner, and equality requires an equal benefit from the
natural bounty, which in the economy becomes measured as land rent.
Acts which are unwelcome are divided into offenses and harms. If an
act is disagreeable merely from the beliefs and values of the person
affected, the act, while personally bad to the recipient, is morally
neutral by the universal ethic, otherwise there is no freedom. Thus
only evil acts, those which coercively harm others, should be
prohibited and penalized by government." (12/03/09)
http://www.freeliberal.com/archives/003950.html
-----
46) In search of a jobs agenda
The Weekly Standard
by Gary Andres
"President Obama convenes a 'jobs summit' at the White House today, as
our nation faces its worst employment crisis in the last 25 years. In
preparation, he should carefully read an article in the October
edition of Trends magazine titled, America's Future: California vs.
Texas. The analysis contrasts the stark difference between the two
states' current economic environments. It also offers observations
about how each arrived at this point. The lessons for Washington
policymakers are clear. The only question is which model -- California
or Texas -- will the president and his congressional allies
embrace." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ycqrf47
-----
47) The fog of war
Slate
by John Dickerson
"Since his inauguration, Barack Obama has tripled the number of troops
fighting in Afghanistan. After announcing the latest surge of 30,000
new soldiers in a speech at West Point, it is clear that he is a
president actively prosecuting a war, not merely tending to one that
was left to him. The rest, though, is a bit blurry. According to his
speech, Obama is escalating while retreating, adding more troops while
also setting a date for their departure. Obama said he was putting
pressure on the Afghan government, but he didn't suggest
how." (12/01/09)
http://www.slate.com/id/2237100/
-----
48) A postscript: Choices have consequences
The Power of Narrative
by Arthur Silber
"Choices have consequences. When people choose to support a system
such as ours today, endless destruction, murder, torture, barbarity
and devastation are what they will get, necessarily and inevitably.
Almost no one chooses 'the only honorable course.' Instead, most
people avail themselves of transparent rationalizations, of mindless
invocation of 'lesser evils,' and of the full panoply of denial and
avoidance. But the suffering and the death go on." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y9jgj8q
-----
49) The Obama war plan: A recipe for disaster!
Root for America
by Wayne Allyn Root
"I believe President Obama has made a grave decision that will result
in a never-ending commitment to a war that America can neither afford,
nor win. Unlike Iraq, Afghanistan is a country comprised of people
without national identity, with only family and tribal loyalties. They
have no interest or desire to build a democracy. America has no
business in attempting to force them to do so, and I, for one, am
unwilling to commit American lives and treasure to support a corrupt
group of war lords. Let them fight their own battles. I would not risk
the lives of my young sons on this tragic game plan. Would you? Would
Obama? Would any of the gung-ho Republicans who have come out in
support of Obama's war expansion plans? I don't think Karl Rove or
Newt Gingrich would send their sons. I know that Mitt Romney has never
sent any of his 5 sons. But they certainly have no problem sending
your sons with enthusiasm." (12/03/09)
http://www.rootforamerica.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry091203-154412
-----
50) Let's not make a federal case out of it!
J. Neil Schulman @ Rational Review
by J. Neil Schulman
"Hey, guys. News flash. Michaele and Tareq didn't pull a gun on the
President. Tareq wasn't wearing a suicide belt. They got some free
food. The President is reported as being pissed. Sure thing. The
Democratic Party got rooked out of its usual five- or six-figure
'contribution' for buying a fancy photo-op with the Prez. I'd love to
see them try to collect their graft. But a federal crime for attending
a party without being on the guest list? If this had been World War II
and a well-dressed couple had crashed a reception with President
Roosevelt, the only thing that would have happened is FDR asking the
Secret Service if they had let in a Republican couple. Otherwise, FDR
would have gotten a nice laugh out of it on an otherwise depressing
day." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ygl5ecn
-----
51) The problem of Islamic religious prosecution
National Review
by Doug Bandow
"America, like so many countries in the West, laments its strained
relations with the Islamic world. In June, Pres. Barack Obama traveled
to Cairo to speak against the 'fear and mistrust' that exist between
the West and Islam. Yet Muslim governments demand respect for Islam
while refusing to offer similar respect for religious minorities
within their own borders. The recent Swiss vote to ban the
construction of minarets in that European nation has become the latest
controversy to generate Muslim protests worldwide. However, Islamic
governments are in no position to complain about Western intolerance
and 'Islamophobia.'" (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yao2ac7
-----
52) America's regression
Salon
by Glenn Greenwald
"Torture is one of the most universal taboos in the civilized world.
The treaty championed by Ronald Reagan declares that 'no exceptional
circumstances' can justify it, and requires that every state
criminalize it and prosecute those who authorize or engage in it. But
only 25% of Americans agree with Ronald Reagan and this Western
consensus that torture is never justifiable. Worse, 54% of Americans
believe torture is 'often' or 'sometimes' justified. When it comes to
torture, the vast bulk of the country is now to the 'right' (for lack
of a better term) of Ronald Reagan, who at least in words (if not in
deeds) insisted upon an absolute prohibition on the practice and
mandatory prosecution for those responsible. With these new numbers,
it's virtually impossible to find a country with as high a percentage
of torture supporters as the U.S. has." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yj8gkxs
-----
53) On "the American people"
A Passion for Liberty
by Tibor R. Machan
"No sooner did President Obama conclude his address on Tuesday
evening, December 1, 2009, than hordes of public officials rushed into
print or to the microphones to respond. And that is, of course, what
sadly one should expect. This is the time when one's opinion might
just catch that wave that will carry it to significant numbers of
people and might even have a bit of influence or at least place on at
center stage of the controversy. I was paying a bit of attention to
this not so much because I expected great wisdom to emerge but because
I wanted to hear how the comments are phrased. And sure enough many
were framed in just the way I would have feared, namely, in terms of
what 'the American people want.' As if the commentator, some Senator
from here, another from there, and so forth, had done a thorough
investigation and concluded from it that Americans are all this or
that way about what the president proposed to do over there in
Afghanistan." (12/03/09)
http://tibormachan.rationalreview.com/2009/12/on-the-american-people/
-----
54) The business of education reform
Adam Smith Institute
by Philip Salter
"If the Conservative Party does come to power, they will have a
mandate for radical reform of the education system. The failure of
state education as things stand is beyond doubt. With a voucher system
that allows schools to profit, competing curriculums to better meet
the demands of parents and a bonfire of the multifarious regulations,
Michael Gove MP could succeed where so many before him have failed. A
proper market place with competing brands of schools, teaching
methods, exam boards and curriculums is the only way to extract
ourselves from the hole we have been digging since 1870." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yzt7xkn
-----
55) Beware of overconfidence
The American Spectator
by Quin Hillyer
"Yes, Barack Obama's poll numbers are down. Yes, the Democratic
Congress is vastly unpopular, and leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid
more unpopular still. Yes, the 'generic ballot' test for Congress has
Republicans in the lead. Yes, the measures of voter 'intensity'
greatly favor the right, including the Daily Kos finding that 40
percent of Democrats may not vote in 2010. But national politics is
like the weather in New Orleans: If you don't like it, wait five
minutes (and vice versa)."
http://spectator.org/archives/2009/12/03/beware-of-overconfidence
*******************************************************************
* RRND MEDIA SHELF -- Tchotchkes from today's edition
*
* The Prohibition Hangover, by Garrett Peck
* http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0813545927/rationalrev08-20
*
* JFK and the Unspeakable, by James W. Douglass
* http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/1570757550/rationalrev08-20
*
* Amazon Gift Certificates -- The perfect gift for readers!
* http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00067L6TQ/rationalrev08-20
*
* Note: Affiliate links generate commissions for RRND's editors.
*******************************************************************
*****************************
* See No Evil, Hear No Evil
*****************************
56) The Libertarian Solution, 12/05/09
The Libertarian Solution
"Nick Coons, Richard Sutton, and Jim Iannuzo diagnose local, national,
and world problems; followed by a healthy dose of the libertarian
solution." 7pm Mountain Time on KKNT 960 AM, Phoenix, Arizona or live
on the web. [Live radio or stream] (12/05/09)
http://www.libertariansolution.com/
-----
57) Free Talk Live, 12/03/09
Free Talk Live
"14 Year Old Pirate Radio Operator / Science and Religion / Vaccine
Conspiracy Theory / Maricopa County Sheriff Shenanigans / Courtroom
Magic Words Fail / State Attacks Convenience Store Owner Over Cute Dog
Employee / Christianity and Lust." [MP3] (12/03/09)
http://media.libsyn.com/media/ftl/FTL2009-12-03.mp3
-----
58) Robert Higgs on Federal Reserve transparency
Fox News
Higgs on Fox News's "Freedom Watch with Judge Napolitano." [hat tip --
David Theroux] [Flash video] (12/03/09)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ986cZ4bjI
-----
59) Garrett Peck on The Prohibition Hangover
Hit & Run
"Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie sat down with Garrett Peck, author of the
new history The Prohibition Hangover: Alcohol in America From Demon
Rum to Cult Cabernet (Rutgers University Press)." [Flash video]
(12/03/09)
http://reason.com/blog/2009/12/03/reasontv-garrett-peck-on-the-p
-----
60) James W. Douglass on Antiwar Radio
AntiWar.Com
Angela Keaton interviews James W. Douglass, author of the book JFK and
the Unspeakable. [Flash audio or MP3] (12/02/09)
http://antiwar.com/radio/2009/12/02/james-w-douglass/
*************************************
* What's Up In The Freedom Movement
*************************************
61) 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/
***********
* WaYbAcK
***********
62) Goodbye, WPA
Details, and the "quote of the day," from Leon's Political Almanac at:
http://perspicuity.net/cgi/hypercal.cgi
* RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
* The Freedom Movement's Daily Newspaper
*
* Volume VI, Issue #1,805
* Friday, December 4th, 2009
* Email Circulation 2,149
*
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* by the staff of Rational Review
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In The News:
1) Somalia: 22, including cabinet ministers, students killed in
suicide blast
2) White House approves expansion of Pakistan remote control murder
campaign
3) Iraq: 16 killed, 27 wounded
4) Taliban detainee "met Bin Laden this year"
5) John Famularo, RIP
6) Bogus flu vaccine registry is Internet scam
7) Fed chairman Bernanke blasted at confirmation hearing
8) US: Isolationism [sic] at highest level in 40 years
9) Mexico: Government raids underground tunnel into the US
10) Pelosi nixes Obey's war tax proposal
11) Boxer: Not "Climate-gate" but "E-mail-theft-gate"
12) Afghan training mission faces tough obstacles
13) Blackwater chief confirms CIA ties
14) Report: Obesity maybe worse than smoking
15) MA: $40 million to Wal-Mart workers
16) Gitmo "judge" denies request to expand case
17) Congress confused about Afghanistan plan
18) Bin Laden not in Pakistan, PM says
19) Clinton arrives for NATO talks, praises allies
20) White House jobs summit: Real progress or PR stunt?
Everybody Has An Opinion:
21) FIsHing for an explanation
22) Medical marijuana does not equal freedom
23) Without remorse
24) We will be your insurgency
25) The laboratory of democracy
26) Obama's war: The reaction
27) The legacy of 1989, in two hemispheres
28) Victory at last! Monty Python in Afghanistan
29) Before you appoint Ben, audit Ben
30) Huckabee handed out pardons like candy
31) Too risky to regulate? Not with proper verification
32) Corporate speak
33) On the road to the servile state
34) Keeping the populace alarmed
35) President Obama to discuss job creation
36) Random thoughts
37) Show me the warming
38) An answer to Bernanke
39) A few questions for Fed chief Bernanke
40) Obama's LBJ moment
41) Reading people's faces
42) Civil war president
43) Fed up with federalism
44) Generalissimo Joe poised to turn Arizona into a banana republic
45) Economic rights in a nutshell
46) In search of a jobs agenda
47) The fog of war
48) A postscript: Choices have consequences
49) The Obama war plan: A recipe for disaster!
50) Let's not make a federal case out of it!
51) The problem of Islamic religious prosecution
52) America's regression
53) On "the American people"
54) The business of education reform
55) Beware of overconfidence
See No Evil, Hear No Evil:
56) The Libertarian Solution, 12/05/09
57) Free Talk Live, 12/03/09
58) Robert Higgs on Federal Reserve transparency
59) Garrett Peck on The Prohibition Hangover
60) James W. Douglass on Antiwar Radio
What's Up In The Freedom Movement:
61) Today's events
WaYbAcK:
62) Goodbye, WPA
***************
* In The News
***************
1) Somalia: 22, including cabinet ministers, students killed in
suicide blast
Wall Street Journal
"On Thursday morning, hundreds of people had gathered in a hall at
Hotel Shamo in Mogadishu to mark the graduation of doctors, engineers
and others from Benadir University. Until last year, no medical
students had graduated in Somalia for nearly two decades. Toward the
end of the ceremony, a blast shook the hall, filling the room with
smoke and spreading blood and body parts. People began screaming and
running for the exit, trampling the wounded as they fled. Three Somali
ministers -- of health, education and higher education -- were killed
in the bombing, said Mohamed Ali Nur, the Somali ambassador to
Kenya." (12/03/09)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125983594130174329.html
-----
2) White House approves expansion of Pakistan remote control murder
campaign
Fox News
"The White House has approved an expansion of the CIA's drone program
in Pakistan, the New York Times reported. The Obama administration
reportedly is talking with Pakistan about expanding the program from
Waziristan to Baluchistan, a controversial move since it is outside
the tribal areas. Baluchistan is where Afghan Taliban leaders are
believed to be hiding." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yjlyoww
-----
3) Iraq: 16 killed, 27 wounded
AntiWar.Com
"A suicide bomber in Tikrit killed 11 people, including the head of
the anti-riot police, and wounded 15 others. Separately, a taxi driver
was kidnapped. Four suspects were captured. In Baghdad, a bomb left at
an Adhamiya market killed one person and wounded six others. One
person was killed and two were wounded during a magnetic-bomb blast in
Karrada. Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry issued a warning concerning
booby-trapped toys. Near Tal Afar in Mahlabiya, gunmen killed two
soldiers and wounded two more during a mortar attack on their
checkpoint. Officials in Tal Afar tightened security recently after
reports of potential attacks." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ya6e92o
-----
4) Taliban detainee "met Bin Laden this year"
BBC News [UK]
"A Taliban detainee in Pakistan claims to have information about Osama
Bin Laden's whereabouts in January or February of this year. His
claims cannot be verified but a leading American expert says his
account should be investigated. ... The detainee can't be named for
legal reasons. According to a Pakistani security official he has close
ties with leaders of the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and was
involved in kidnapping and fundraising operations." (12/04/09)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8394470.stm
-----
5) John Famularo, RIP
Philadelphia Inquirer
"John D. Famularo, 70, of Center City, a computer consultant and
leader in the Libertarian Party, died of complications from multiple
myeloma Monday at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Mr. Famularo
was secretary of the National Libertarian Party and former treasurer
of the Pennsylvania Libertarian Party. For more than 15 years he also
chaired the Philadelphia Libertarian Party and ran for several state
and city political offices on the Libertarian ticket." (12/03/09)
http://www.philly.com/philly/obituaries/78395947.html
-----
6) Bogus flu vaccine registry is Internet scam
San Jose Mercury News
"People should disregard e-mail urging them to register personal
information on an H1N1 flu vaccine registry with the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, health officials warned Wednesday. The
registry is bogus, and people who try to send the information to the
CDC may instead get a virus installed on their computers." (12/03/09)
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_13918999
-----
7) Fed chairman Bernanke blasted at confirmation hearing
USA Today
"Senators sharply criticized Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at
his confirmation hearing Thursday, saying he and his colleagues failed
to head off last year's financial crisis. Bernanke, 55, conceded the
central bank 'should have done more' but maintained it's best suited
to prevent future crises. The former Princeton economics professor is
widely expected to be confirmed for a second four-year term, but some
senators on both the left and the right have signaled they'll try to
obstruct or delay the process." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ykodc4o
-----
8) US: Isolationism [sic] at highest level in 40 years
Christian Science Monitor
"If President Obama is looking for something that transcends the
national divisions over healthcare reform and Afghanistan policy, he
might try isolationism. Roughly half of Americans now say the United
States should 'mind its own business' and let other countries hash out
problems on their own, according to a new poll by the Pew Research
Center for the People and the Press. The survey, conducted every four
years with the Council on Foreign Relations among CFR members and the
general public, finds America's perennial inward-looking strain at its
highest level since pollsters first queried Americans about
isolationist tendencies in 1964. Back then, just 18 percent of
Americans supported a 'mind our own business' approach. Today, it's 49
percent. The sour economy is one explanation for the isolationist
spike, but so is disappointment and fatigue over the results of eight
years of aggressive foreign policy under President Bush." [editor's
note: The proper term would be "non-interventionism" ... and it's now
undeniable the imperialism continues under Obama - SAT] (12/03/09)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1203/p02s16-usfp.html
-----
9) Mexico: Government raids underground tunnel into the US
MSNBC
"More than a dozen people were arrested Wednesday after Mexican
authorities found an underground tunnel extending from Tijuana into
the United States. The tunnel, measuring just under 1,000 feet in
length and reaching a depth of 90 to 100 feet, did not have an entry
point in the United States, according to Drug Enforcement Agency,
which issued a statement on the discovery. The passageway extend more
than 860 feet across the border." (12/02/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yzg2j9r
-----
10) Pelosi nixes Obey's war tax proposal
The Hill
"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday all but eliminated the
prospect of a 'war tax' to pay for the escalation in Afghanistan,
saying she opposed it. But she suggested it would be considered if
President Barack Obama asked for it. 'I am not in support of the
proposal of Mr. Obey,' Pelosi (D-Calif.) said of the tax plan
suggested by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey (D-
Wis.). 'When the president makes a request, we will make a decision.
With the highest regard for Mr. Obey, that is his idea,' Pelosi said.
'He is speaking for himself.' White House officials have said that a
war tax is not being discussed within the Obama
administration." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yjdenca
-----
11) Boxer: Not "Climate-gate" but "E-mail-theft-gate"
Fox News
"One man's whistleblower is another woman's criminal hacker. Sen.
Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is calling the leaked e-mails from climate
scientists at a British university research unit a 'theft' and 'crime'
that should be investigated, despite calls from Republicans to
investigate the contents of the e-mails themselves, not the way they
were leaked. 'You call it Climate-gate. I call it E-mail-theft-gate,'
Boxer said at a hearing Wednesday on the Committee on Environment and
Public Works, which she chairs. She suggested that a criminal
conspiracy might even be at play in bringing the once private e-mails
to public light." [editor's note: Umm ... Forest ... trees? She's
probably correct, but does that make the revelations (of widespread
outright fraud) any less horrific? Seems more Woodward/Bernstein than
malicious hackers? - SAT] (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y8n3szh
-----
12) Afghan training mission faces tough obstacles
MSNBC
"America's eight-year effort to build a functional Afghan security
force has been a study in slow motion, raising doubts about President
Barack Obama's new plan to quickly get the nation's army and police in
shape so U.S. forces can begin to leave in 18 months. A lack of
competence, resources and confidence have hampered Afghanistan's army
and police, as have illiteracy and corruption. Those continuing
obstacles provoked skepticism from Congress this week about whether
the U.S. military can train the Afghans quickly and effectively enough
to begin to replace American forces by Obama's proposed exit start
date of July 2011." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yd6prdd
-----
13) Blackwater chief confirms CIA ties
Washington Post
"The founder of Blackwater Worldwide acknowledged in an interview
published Wednesday that he had helped the CIA with secret programs
targeting top al-Qaida leaders, a role he says was intended to give
the agency 'unattributable capability' in sensitive missions. Erik
Prince, owner of the military contractor now known as Xe Services,
told Vanity Fair magazine that his company performed numerous 'very
risky missions' for the spy agency, some of which were improperly
exposed in leaks to the news media. ... Among other, previously
undisclosed roles, Prince ran intelligence-gathering operations to
coordinate the movement of undercover spies in 'one of the so-called
Axis of Evil countries,' the magazine said." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ygnozfy
-----
14) Report: Obesity maybe worse than smoking
Los Angeles Times
"A new study predicts that as smoking rates decline and life
expectancy increases, obesity figures will rise, ultimately
contributing to a poorer quality of life. The New England Journal of
Medicine study released Wednesday looked at previous health trends
culled from national health surveys to forecast life expectancy and
quality of life for a typical 18-year-old from 2005 through 2020. Past
declines in smoking over the last 15 years would give that 18-year-old
an increased life expectancy of 0.31 years. However, growing body-mass-
index rates would also mean that the teenager would have a reduced
life expectancy of 1.02 years, giving a net life-expectancy reduction
of 0.71 years." [editor's note: So the smart thing is to stop smoking
now, and begin to burn off the extra weight -- before it gets even
harder to do so as you age! - SAT] (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ycoxxch
-----
15) MA: $40 million to Wal-Mart workers
Boston Globe
"Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, has agreed to pay
$40 million to as many as 87,500 current and former employees in
Massachusetts, the largest wage-and-hour class-action settlement in
the state's history. The class-action lawsuit, filed in 2001, accused
the retailer of denying workers rest and meal breaks, refusing to pay
overtime, and manipulating time cards to lower employees' pay. Under
terms of the agreement, which was filed in Middlesex Superior Court
yesterday by the employees' attorneys, any person who worked for Wal-
Mart between August 1995 and the settlement date will receive a
payment of between $400 and $2,500, depending on the number of years
worked, with the average worker receiving a check for
$734." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ydfsbge
-----
16) Gitmo "judge" denies request to expand case
Macon Telegraph
"A judge [sic] in Guantanamo Bay's war crimes court [sic] has denied a
request by military prosecutors to expand their case against a
Sudanese detainee accused of being a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden.
Prosecutors wanted more specifications to be added to charges of
conspiracy and providing support for terrorism against Ibrahim Ahmed
Mahmoud al Qosi, a 49-year-old detainee who was one of the first
prisoners brought to Guantanamo in 2002." (12/03/09)
http://www.macon.com/world/story/940276.html
-----
17) Congress confused about Afghanistan plan
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"The Obama administration sent what many lawmakers saw as vague and
sometimes confusing signals Wednesday about its intentions in
Afghanistan, leaving members of Congress unsure how to proceed as they
consider a plan to deploy 30,000 more American troops there. President
Obama had said Tuesday night that U.S. troops would begin leaving
Afghanistan in July 2011, but under grilling yesterday at the Senate
Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary Robert Gates suggested
that date could change." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yhp8ds6
-----
18) Bin Laden not in Pakistan, PM says
CNN
"Pakistan's prime minister Thursday rejected claims al Qaeda leader
Osama bin Laden is hiding within his country amid mounting global
pressure on Islamabad to tackle terrorists linked to escalating
conflict in neighboring Afghanistan. 'In fact Pakistan is fighting a
war on terrorism,' Yousaf Raza Gilani told reporters at a joint press
conference with his British counterpart Gordon Brown at 10 Downing
Street." [editor's note: One wonders how much longer they'll deny that
their boogie-man Osama has been dead for roughly 5 years now ... -
SAT] (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yjzzwpb
-----
19) Clinton arrives for NATO talks, praises allies
Las Vegas Review-Journal
"U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, arriving Friday at
NATO headquarters, welcomed an expected series of announcements by
allied nations of additional military, civilian and financial support
for the war effort in Afghanistan. Clinton was attending a string of
meetings here with allied foreign ministers and with representatives
of non-NATO countries that have troops in Afghanistan, plus Russia.
She sought to sell President Barack Obama's revamped war strategy,
which banks on major new allied contributions, not just to escalate
the combat effort but also to bolster civilian functions and provide
more development aid." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yjm9o5z
-----
20) White House jobs summit: Real progress or PR stunt?
ABC News
"President Obama said today that he is not interested in 'taking a
wait-and-see approach' when it comes to job creation, as his
administration faces unemployment numbers at their worst levels since
1983. 'What I'm interested in is taking action right now to help
businesses create jobs right now, in the near term,' the president
said at the opening session of the White House jobs summit. The
summit, announced a week after the Bureau of Labor Statistics said
unemployment reached 10.2 percent, is the administration's latest
effort to do just that." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yf4xnf2
*******************************************************************
* HEALTH-OF-THE-STATE-O-METER, 12/04/09
*
* Reported Civilian Deaths in Iraq: Min - 94,349 ... Max - 102,949
* (source: www.iraqbodycount.org)
*
* American Military Deaths in Iraq: 4,367
* (source: www.antiwar.com/casualties/)
*******************************************************************
****************************
* Everybody Has An Opinion
****************************
21) FIsHing for an explanation
Jeffersonville Evening News
by Debbie Harbeson
"The press release said that Attorney General Zoeller is 'extremely
proud' of the elected officials who voted to provide $300,000 for
FIsH. He also specifically thanked State Rep. William Crawford, D-
Indianapolis, chairman of the Indiana House Ways and Means Committee,
and State Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, chairman of the Senate
Appropriations Committee for their 'generosity and foresight.' He's
extremely proud of their generosity? What generosity? All these men
did was determine where a chunk of funds coerced from other people
were going to end up. Generosity has absolutely nothing to do with
it." (12/03/09)
http://www.news-tribune.net/opinion/local_story_337003933.html
-----
22) Medical marijuana does not equal freedom
Future of Freedom Foundation
by Sheldon Richman
"The Obama Justice Department says it will no longer go after
'individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance
with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana.'
In other words, if a state legalizes the production, distribution, and
possession of marijuana for medical purposes, Attorney General Eric
Holder's troops will keep hands off. Considering that marijuana is
outlawed by federal statute, this is good news as far as it goes. The
thought of DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) agents swooping down
and arresting seriously ill people trying to get some relief from
marijuana is appalling." (12/03/09)
http://www.fff.org/comment/com0912b.asp
-----
23) Without remorse
Rad Geek People's Daily
by Rad Geek
"Psychiatrists expect to be taken seriously, both as scientific
experts and as benevolent caretakers; I think at least a minimal
requirement of being taken seriously on these claims would be for them
to own up to the fact that within living memory, their discipline was
rife with theories now universally regarded as the worst sort of
politically-motivated pseudoscience and therapeutic practices now
universally reviled as the worst sort of atrocities. They have been
wrong about everything and they ruined life after life with the most
appalling sorts of brain-damaging treatment on the basis of these
pseudoscientific superstitions." (12/03/09)
http://radgeek.com/gt/2009/12/03/without-remorse/
-----
24) We will be your insurgency
Freedom's Phoenix
by Mel Mason
"So it's come to this. Obama's gotta wage his war, and I gotta sit in
the street. It's not that I like blocking traffic or getting arrested
or dealing with the fall-out when I could be reading a book. It's that
I can't live with endless war and I must end it or surely die. I'm not
leaving this country. This is my mess, so help me, and I'll scrub it
till my fingers bleed. I will not compromise with
genocide." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yaxc3sc
-----
25) The laboratory of democracy
Liberty For All
by Rhys M. Blavier
"This is an idea with much merit but which we have, unfortunately, not
seen utilized within The United States to any kind of a significant
degree. Whether through fear of losing power, fear of interference
from the federal government, lack of imagination, lack of interest or
fear of the unknown, 'experiments' with democracy in this country take
the shape of trying to impose different sets of laws and rules upon
the citizens rather than on the process by which those laws and rules
are determined. The idea in this nation is that differences in
democracy are measured solely by the end result of the legislative
process rather than the process itself." (12/03/09)
http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=3458
-----
26) Obama's war: The reaction
AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo
"I'm actually pretty surprised to see that many liberals and
progressives are not climbing on board Obama's war wagon -- notably
Rachel Maddow, who made a stinging criticism of the escalation by
comparing the rhetoric of the Bush administration and that of the New
Obama, concluding that the latter had adopted and even extended the
essence of the 'Bush Doctrine,' the morally indefensible idea that we
have to strike at targets that might possibly pose a threat to U.S.
national security some time in the indefinite future. ... Keith
Olbermann was clearly embarrassed, like a father whose child has just
crapped his pants in the middle of Walmart." (12/04/09)
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2009/12/03/obamas-war-the-reaction/
-----
27) The legacy of 1989, in two hemispheres
In These Times
by Noam Chomsky
"November marked the anniversary of major events in 1989: 'the biggest
year in world history since 1945,' as British historian Timothy Garton
Ash describes it. That year 'changed everything,' Garton Ash writes.
Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms within Russia and his 'breathtaking
renunciation of the use of force' led to the fall of the Berlin Wall
on Nov. 9 -- and to the liberation of Eastern Europe from Russian
tyranny. The accolades are deserved; the events, memorable. But
alternative perspectives may be revealing. German chancellor Angela
Merkel provided such a perspective -- unintentionally -- when she
called on all of us to 'use this invaluable gift of freedom to
overcome the walls of our time.'" [editor's note: Another brilliant
analysis by Prof. Chomsky! - SAT] (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ydmwtje
-----
28) Victory at last! Monty Python in Afghanistan
The Nation
by Tom Engelhardt
"Let others deal with the details of President Obama's Afghan speech,
with the on-ramps and off-ramps, those 30,000 US troops going in and
just where they will be deployed, the benchmarks for what's called
'good governance' in Afghanistan, the corruption of the Karzai regime,
the viability of counterinsurgency warfare, the reliability of NATO
allies and so on. Let's just skip to the most essential point which,
in a nutshell, is this: Victory at Last! It's been a long time coming,
but finally American war commanders have effectively marshaled their
forces, netcentrically outmaneuvering and outflanking the enemy. ...
And no, I'm not talking about post-surge Iraq and certainly not about
devolving Afghanistan. I'm talking about what's happening in
Washington." (12/03/09)
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091221/engelhardt
-----
29) Before you appoint Ben, audit Ben
Our Future Blog
by Robert Borosage
"Tomorrow, the Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke appears before the
Senate Banking Committee which must vote on his nomination for a
second four-year term. Yet, Bernanke wants the Senate to rehire him as
the taxpayers' banker without allowing the public to see what he's
done with our money. ... But once the crisis hit, Bernanke took
unprecedented actions. The Federal Reserve took on over $1 trillion in
toxic bonds and other assets from banks. Trillions more were committed
in guarantees and swaps to prop up failing Wall Street banks. But with
trillions committed to private companies, neither the public nor the
Senate has any idea where the money went, what the terms were, who got
what and why. Clearly before Bernanke's nomination can be considered,
the Senate should know what he did with the dough." [editor's note:
Step 1: Audit Bernanke; Step 2: Audit the Fed ... seems about right -
SAT] (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yhrjugk
-----
30) Huckabee handed out pardons like candy
San Francisco Chronicle
by Debra J. Saunders
"There is no need to tiptoe gingerly around this topic: Maurice
Clemmons, who was shot and killed as authorities tried to apprehend
him for the shooting deaths of four Washington police officers -- is
former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's Willie Horton. Horton, you might
recall, is the convicted killer who raped a woman while wrongly
released as part of a prison furlough program supported by former
Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis -- thus helping to torpedo the 1988
Democratic presidential nominee's bid for the White House. The
Clemmons' story likewise should kill any chance of Huckabee winning,
should he run in 2012." (12/03/09)
http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/saunders/#ixzz0YgxIff6s
-----
31) Too risky to regulate? Not with proper verification
Boston Globe
by Edward L. Glaeser
"In the 1912 presidential election, Woodrow Wilson fought for a 'New
Freedom' and favored breaking up over-mighty businesses.... Today,
America is again faced with the Morton's Fork of either regulating or
dismantling financial firms that are 'too big to fail.' For
Rooseveltian regulators to succeed, they need enough information to
restrain excessive risk-taking and that requires a system where
financial firms reveal each other's risks. In the halcyon days before
2007, libertarians could argue that financial failures impose few
social costs, so there was little point to either regulation or size
limits. But the wrenching market turmoil that followed Lehman
Brothers's collapse shattered that illusion. The bailouts that ensued
showed that taxpayer dollars would be used to stop failures of
financial firms. However, it is a bad idea to have unregulated firms
betting with taxpayers' money." [editor's note: To term arguments for
dereg of PRIVATE industry as "libertarian" is fraud in itself; when
"deregulation" only shifts the direction of oversight of king's-
courtier "businesses" ... "private-sector" is only a euphemism for
mercantile corporatism - SAT] (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yf4jkrc
-----
32) Corporate speak
The American Prospect
by Mark Schmitt
"There aren't too many Supreme Court cases that can be called 'truly
momentous' even before they are decided. But when the Court asked to
rehear the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in a
rare preterm session this fall, it became clear that, even though the
case itself is minor, the Court might use it as the opportunity to
make a big change in the law regarding money in politics. But as week
after week passes without a decision, the community of campaign-
finance reformers becomes ever more anxious that some of their most
basic assumptions about what's constitutional and what isn't will be
wiped out. The case involves a video called Hillary: The Movie
produced last year by the right-wing attack group Citizens United and
broadcast through on-demand cable channels around the time of the
Democratic primaries." [editor's note: And I bet they are SO proud of
what they created in her place - SAT] (12/03/09)
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=corporate_speak
-----
33) On the road to the servile state
Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Brian Douglass
"In recent months, there has been a good deal of discussion of change
in the United States. Sadly, over the last two centuries, the
direction in which this country has been changing seems to be away
from liberty and towards more control. The present changes are hardly
unprecedented and certainly not unforeseen. In this essay I will
examine two authors, Hilaire Belloc and F.A. Hayek, who present a
useful analysis of our present situation." (12/03/09)
http://mises.org/daily/3880
-----
34) Keeping the populace alarmed
Hawaii Reporter
by Bartlett D. Cleland
"The American Cancer Society, World Health Organization, the Food and
Drug Administration and the International Commission on Non-Ionizing
Radiation Protection all agree: A survey of the recent scientific
literature shows there is no clear evidence of any link between mobile
devices and health problems. And yet some special interest groups are
advocating for action based on only a couple European research reports
while ignoring the overwhelming preponderance of the evidence. In the
process, those special interests are scaring the public." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yfjf4cx
-----
35) President Obama to discuss job creation
FreedomWorks
by Matthew Clemente
"After the ever-rising unemployment rate skyrocketed into double
digits in October, doubts about the Obama Administration's ability to
cope with joblessness grew. Such worries intensified when it was
revealed that estimates of nearly one hundred thousand of the jobs
supposedly 'created or saved' by the $787 billion stimulus package
were in question. According to a recent CBS News poll, only 7 percent
of Americans believe that the stimulus has actually created any jobs
at all. Now, President Obama is looking to ease the fears of the
public by refocusing his agenda around job creation." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ygylksb
-----
36) Random thoughts
Freedom Politics
by Thomas Sowell
"Random thoughts on the passing scene: Sometimes we seem like people
on a pleasure boat drifting down the Niagara river, unaware that there
are waterfalls up ahead. I don't know what people think is going to
happen when a nation that already sponsors international terrorism has
nuclear bombs to give to terrorists around the world. Since this is an
era when many people are concerned about 'fairness' and 'social
justice,' what is your 'fair share' of what someone else has worked
for?" (12/01/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yhbe45e
-----
37) Show me the warming
Competitive Enterprise Institute
by Michael Fumento
"It's the science scandal of the year. A thousand e-mails and 2,000
other documents were swiped from the server of Britain's Climate
Research Unit at East Anglia University and posted on the Web. Many
were truly embarrassing to the writers, while others have been quoted
out of context and falsely used as 'proof' that global warming is 'a
hoax.' But in one e-mail, a top 'warmist' researcher admits it's a
'travesty' that 'we can't account for the lack of warming at the
moment.' (Emphasis added.) Further, 'any consideration of
geoengineering [is] quite hopeless as we will never be able to tell if
it is successful or not!'" (12/02/09)
http://cei.org/articles/2009/12/02/show-me-warming
-----
38) An answer to Bernanke
Campaign For Liberty
by US Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)
"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (November 29th Washington Post)
does not want us to know any of the details of the Fed's secret
operations. This position is not surprising and has been typical of
all central bank chairmen. Bernanke's stated goal in his editorial is
'To design a system of financial oversight ...' that will 'provide a
robust framework for preventing future crises.' During its 96 years of
existence, the Federal Reserve has played havoc with our economy and
brought great suffering to millions through unemployment and price
escalation." (12/03/09)
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=407
-----
39) A few questions for Fed chief Bernanke
Cato Institute
by Mark A. Calabria
"On Dec. 3 the U.S. Senate Banking Committee meets to hold a hearing
on the nomination of Ben Bernanke to another term as chair of the
Federal Reserve Board. Although Bernanke is almost assured
confirmation by the Banking Committee and the full Senate, this is
perhaps the only opportunity for Congress, and the American public, to
get a fuller accounting of both Bernanke's role in creating the
financial crisis and responding to it." (12/02/09)
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11030
-----
40) Obama's LBJ moment
Independent Institute
by Anthony Gregory
"Just like Lyndon Johnson, Obama appears to be dedicated, most of all,
to the welfare state at home, but, if for nothing but political
reasons, committed to the agenda of escalating war. Like Johnson, he
was elected partly on the implicit basis that he'd be more peaceful
than his warmongering Republican opponent, only to quickly disappoint
peaceniks nationwide. Like LBJ, will Obama only serve one full term as
a result? Already, there are efforts to rejuvenate the legacy of LBJ.
Perhaps this is because the establishment recognizes the current
president faces a similar situation: He is admired by his liberal base
for his efforts to expand government at home, but these same voters,
at best, only tolerate his foreign policy as a lesser of evils. But
will he prove to be a lesser of evils?" (12/02/09)
http://www.independent.org/blog/?p=4287
-----
41) Reading people's faces
Reason
by Katherine Mangu-Ward
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that messing with a guy who
has facial tattoos is a really bad idea. Getting dirty words tattooed
on your eyelids -- a popular choice, judging from the mug shots
available online -- is a serious commitment. It is, as social
scientists say, a 'signal that is costly to fake.' The bearer of a
facial tattoo announces to the world: I expect to be in prison for
most of my life, or to hang out with people who consider prison
experience a character reference. Those of us who are not a part of
the criminal underworld have a much cheaper system: Asked for a
reference, we happily provide our colleagues' phone numbers and email
addresses." (12/03/09)
http://reason.com/archives/2009/12/03/reading-peoples-faces
-----
42) Civil war president
The American Conservative
by Sheldon Richman
"Barack Obama's intensification of the occupation of Afghanistan is
nothing less than a full commitment to one side in the civil war
raging there. What he calls a threat of a Taliban takeover is actually
a Pashtun resistance to the U.S. occupation and the corrupt Karzai
government it backs. Obama's and Hillary Clinton's spin cannot change
those facts. Obama's story isn't even coherent." (12/03/09)
http://www.amconmag.com/blog/2009/12/03/civil-war-president/
-----
43) Fed up with federalism
AlterNet
by Harold Meyerson
"The love of federalism is a sometime thing; its critics and champions
switch places depending on who is in power at which level of
government. But the problem with our allegedly ingenious federal
system is not simply that half the time, if not more, it is an
effective way to protect all that is biased and unfair in the American
nation. The problem is also that federalism inherently subverts a
coherent national response to many fundamental challenges the United
States faces, at a time when other major nations -- our competitors in
an increasingly global economy -- face no such structural
impediment." (12/03/09)
http://www.alternet.org/politics/144293/fed_up_with_federalism
-----
44) Generalissimo Joe poised to turn Arizona into a banana republic
Disloyal Opposition
by JD Tuccille
"A law-enforcement officer is filmed stealing documents from a defense
attorney. Ordered to apologize in public, the officer, with the
encouragement of his high-ranking boss, refuses. The judge who jails
the officer as punishment for his defiance then faces retaliation in
the form of a bomb threat, striking police and official complaints
filed by that high-ranking official, all in support of the
transgressing officer. Just another day in Zimbabwe, right? Or maybe
Venezuela. But no -- it's actually the latest headline-grabber in
Maricopa County, Arizona." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yak7mkz
-----
45) Economic rights in a nutshell
The Free Liberal
by Fred E. Foldvary
"There is an objective morality, a universal ethic by which acts that
coercively harm others are evil, acts that are welcomed benefits are
morally good, and all other acts are neutral. Each person is properly
an equal self-owner, and equality requires an equal benefit from the
natural bounty, which in the economy becomes measured as land rent.
Acts which are unwelcome are divided into offenses and harms. If an
act is disagreeable merely from the beliefs and values of the person
affected, the act, while personally bad to the recipient, is morally
neutral by the universal ethic, otherwise there is no freedom. Thus
only evil acts, those which coercively harm others, should be
prohibited and penalized by government." (12/03/09)
http://www.freeliberal.com/archives/003950.html
-----
46) In search of a jobs agenda
The Weekly Standard
by Gary Andres
"President Obama convenes a 'jobs summit' at the White House today, as
our nation faces its worst employment crisis in the last 25 years. In
preparation, he should carefully read an article in the October
edition of Trends magazine titled, America's Future: California vs.
Texas. The analysis contrasts the stark difference between the two
states' current economic environments. It also offers observations
about how each arrived at this point. The lessons for Washington
policymakers are clear. The only question is which model -- California
or Texas -- will the president and his congressional allies
embrace." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ycqrf47
-----
47) The fog of war
Slate
by John Dickerson
"Since his inauguration, Barack Obama has tripled the number of troops
fighting in Afghanistan. After announcing the latest surge of 30,000
new soldiers in a speech at West Point, it is clear that he is a
president actively prosecuting a war, not merely tending to one that
was left to him. The rest, though, is a bit blurry. According to his
speech, Obama is escalating while retreating, adding more troops while
also setting a date for their departure. Obama said he was putting
pressure on the Afghan government, but he didn't suggest
how." (12/01/09)
http://www.slate.com/id/2237100/
-----
48) A postscript: Choices have consequences
The Power of Narrative
by Arthur Silber
"Choices have consequences. When people choose to support a system
such as ours today, endless destruction, murder, torture, barbarity
and devastation are what they will get, necessarily and inevitably.
Almost no one chooses 'the only honorable course.' Instead, most
people avail themselves of transparent rationalizations, of mindless
invocation of 'lesser evils,' and of the full panoply of denial and
avoidance. But the suffering and the death go on." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/y9jgj8q
-----
49) The Obama war plan: A recipe for disaster!
Root for America
by Wayne Allyn Root
"I believe President Obama has made a grave decision that will result
in a never-ending commitment to a war that America can neither afford,
nor win. Unlike Iraq, Afghanistan is a country comprised of people
without national identity, with only family and tribal loyalties. They
have no interest or desire to build a democracy. America has no
business in attempting to force them to do so, and I, for one, am
unwilling to commit American lives and treasure to support a corrupt
group of war lords. Let them fight their own battles. I would not risk
the lives of my young sons on this tragic game plan. Would you? Would
Obama? Would any of the gung-ho Republicans who have come out in
support of Obama's war expansion plans? I don't think Karl Rove or
Newt Gingrich would send their sons. I know that Mitt Romney has never
sent any of his 5 sons. But they certainly have no problem sending
your sons with enthusiasm." (12/03/09)
http://www.rootforamerica.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry091203-154412
-----
50) Let's not make a federal case out of it!
J. Neil Schulman @ Rational Review
by J. Neil Schulman
"Hey, guys. News flash. Michaele and Tareq didn't pull a gun on the
President. Tareq wasn't wearing a suicide belt. They got some free
food. The President is reported as being pissed. Sure thing. The
Democratic Party got rooked out of its usual five- or six-figure
'contribution' for buying a fancy photo-op with the Prez. I'd love to
see them try to collect their graft. But a federal crime for attending
a party without being on the guest list? If this had been World War II
and a well-dressed couple had crashed a reception with President
Roosevelt, the only thing that would have happened is FDR asking the
Secret Service if they had let in a Republican couple. Otherwise, FDR
would have gotten a nice laugh out of it on an otherwise depressing
day." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ygl5ecn
-----
51) The problem of Islamic religious prosecution
National Review
by Doug Bandow
"America, like so many countries in the West, laments its strained
relations with the Islamic world. In June, Pres. Barack Obama traveled
to Cairo to speak against the 'fear and mistrust' that exist between
the West and Islam. Yet Muslim governments demand respect for Islam
while refusing to offer similar respect for religious minorities
within their own borders. The recent Swiss vote to ban the
construction of minarets in that European nation has become the latest
controversy to generate Muslim protests worldwide. However, Islamic
governments are in no position to complain about Western intolerance
and 'Islamophobia.'" (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yao2ac7
-----
52) America's regression
Salon
by Glenn Greenwald
"Torture is one of the most universal taboos in the civilized world.
The treaty championed by Ronald Reagan declares that 'no exceptional
circumstances' can justify it, and requires that every state
criminalize it and prosecute those who authorize or engage in it. But
only 25% of Americans agree with Ronald Reagan and this Western
consensus that torture is never justifiable. Worse, 54% of Americans
believe torture is 'often' or 'sometimes' justified. When it comes to
torture, the vast bulk of the country is now to the 'right' (for lack
of a better term) of Ronald Reagan, who at least in words (if not in
deeds) insisted upon an absolute prohibition on the practice and
mandatory prosecution for those responsible. With these new numbers,
it's virtually impossible to find a country with as high a percentage
of torture supporters as the U.S. has." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yj8gkxs
-----
53) On "the American people"
A Passion for Liberty
by Tibor R. Machan
"No sooner did President Obama conclude his address on Tuesday
evening, December 1, 2009, than hordes of public officials rushed into
print or to the microphones to respond. And that is, of course, what
sadly one should expect. This is the time when one's opinion might
just catch that wave that will carry it to significant numbers of
people and might even have a bit of influence or at least place on at
center stage of the controversy. I was paying a bit of attention to
this not so much because I expected great wisdom to emerge but because
I wanted to hear how the comments are phrased. And sure enough many
were framed in just the way I would have feared, namely, in terms of
what 'the American people want.' As if the commentator, some Senator
from here, another from there, and so forth, had done a thorough
investigation and concluded from it that Americans are all this or
that way about what the president proposed to do over there in
Afghanistan." (12/03/09)
http://tibormachan.rationalreview.com/2009/12/on-the-american-people/
-----
54) The business of education reform
Adam Smith Institute
by Philip Salter
"If the Conservative Party does come to power, they will have a
mandate for radical reform of the education system. The failure of
state education as things stand is beyond doubt. With a voucher system
that allows schools to profit, competing curriculums to better meet
the demands of parents and a bonfire of the multifarious regulations,
Michael Gove MP could succeed where so many before him have failed. A
proper market place with competing brands of schools, teaching
methods, exam boards and curriculums is the only way to extract
ourselves from the hole we have been digging since 1870." (12/03/09)
http://tinyurl.com/yzt7xkn
-----
55) Beware of overconfidence
The American Spectator
by Quin Hillyer
"Yes, Barack Obama's poll numbers are down. Yes, the Democratic
Congress is vastly unpopular, and leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid
more unpopular still. Yes, the 'generic ballot' test for Congress has
Republicans in the lead. Yes, the measures of voter 'intensity'
greatly favor the right, including the Daily Kos finding that 40
percent of Democrats may not vote in 2010. But national politics is
like the weather in New Orleans: If you don't like it, wait five
minutes (and vice versa)."
http://spectator.org/archives/2009/12/03/beware-of-overconfidence
*******************************************************************
* RRND MEDIA SHELF -- Tchotchkes from today's edition
*
* The Prohibition Hangover, by Garrett Peck
* http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0813545927/rationalrev08-20
*
* JFK and the Unspeakable, by James W. Douglass
* http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/1570757550/rationalrev08-20
*
* Amazon Gift Certificates -- The perfect gift for readers!
* http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00067L6TQ/rationalrev08-20
*
* Note: Affiliate links generate commissions for RRND's editors.
*******************************************************************
*****************************
* See No Evil, Hear No Evil
*****************************
56) The Libertarian Solution, 12/05/09
The Libertarian Solution
"Nick Coons, Richard Sutton, and Jim Iannuzo diagnose local, national,
and world problems; followed by a healthy dose of the libertarian
solution." 7pm Mountain Time on KKNT 960 AM, Phoenix, Arizona or live
on the web. [Live radio or stream] (12/05/09)
http://www.libertariansolution.com/
-----
57) Free Talk Live, 12/03/09
Free Talk Live
"14 Year Old Pirate Radio Operator / Science and Religion / Vaccine
Conspiracy Theory / Maricopa County Sheriff Shenanigans / Courtroom
Magic Words Fail / State Attacks Convenience Store Owner Over Cute Dog
Employee / Christianity and Lust." [MP3] (12/03/09)
http://media.libsyn.com/media/ftl/FTL2009-12-03.mp3
-----
58) Robert Higgs on Federal Reserve transparency
Fox News
Higgs on Fox News's "Freedom Watch with Judge Napolitano." [hat tip --
David Theroux] [Flash video] (12/03/09)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ986cZ4bjI
-----
59) Garrett Peck on The Prohibition Hangover
Hit & Run
"Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie sat down with Garrett Peck, author of the
new history The Prohibition Hangover: Alcohol in America From Demon
Rum to Cult Cabernet (Rutgers University Press)." [Flash video]
(12/03/09)
http://reason.com/blog/2009/12/03/reasontv-garrett-peck-on-the-p
-----
60) James W. Douglass on Antiwar Radio
AntiWar.Com
Angela Keaton interviews James W. Douglass, author of the book JFK and
the Unspeakable. [Flash audio or MP3] (12/02/09)
http://antiwar.com/radio/2009/12/02/james-w-douglass/
*************************************
* What's Up In The Freedom Movement
*************************************
61) 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/
***********
* WaYbAcK
***********
62) Goodbye, WPA
Details, and the "quote of the day," from Leon's Political Almanac at:
http://perspicuity.net/cgi/hypercal.cgi
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