03/14 -- E-mails lay out plan to dismiss US attorneys; Gonzales rejects calls for resignation
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Thomas Knapp
Mar 14, 2007, 12:02:48 PM3/14/07
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* RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
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In The News:
1) E-mails lay out plan to dismiss US attorneys
2) Gonzales rejects calls for resignation
3) Iraq: Suicide bombings leave 10 dead
4) Deadly blast rocks Afghan capital
5) Utah may backslide on land theft restrictions
6) Supporters still committed; immigration bill still stalled
7) Senate OKs security bill, faces veto
8) UN nuclear inspector arrives in North Korea
9) After 9/11, US archivists pulled 1 million pages
10) Corps placed faulty pumps in New Orleans
11) UN: Cybersquatting complaints on the rise
12) Bush tries to soothe ties with Mexico
13) World population to reach 9.2 billion in 2050
14) UK: Government wants to assess kids' toe-playing
15) UK: Iraq vet's mother wins deportation reprieve
16) UK: Red nose ban
17) FL: Home invasion suspect shot by elderly homeowner
18) MO: Would-be robber wounded
19) UT: Boy goes to National Spelling Bee; parents deported
20) CA: Belmont a tough town for smokers
21) Dogfight raging over Katrina victim
22) Thompson draws support, intrigue with '08 talk
23) Viacom sues Google, YouTube for $1 billion
24) How Congress might rein in US war policy
25) Carbon confusion
Everybody Has An Opinion:
26) The Durham bully
27) The flip side of the Precautionary Principle
28) Kubby 2008: The Governator versus California families
29) Reflections on a solemn ass
30) The fraudulent case for grassroots legislation
31) Don't ask, don't tell, don't think
32) War criminals, (almost) every one
33) Wealth and capital
34) Our green ICE Age
35) Pelosi's betrayal
36) The next president will be worse
37) Second Wind for the Second Amendment
38) Outing Al (Chicken Little) Gore
39) Don't raise gas tax without reforms
40) Locating gun rights
41) Why we defend right to bear arms
42) Showdown at the Constitution's last frontier
43) World of difference in power that shuns brawn for supremacy
44) The pragmatism of prolonged war
45) The bookseller's story, ending much too soon
46) Showdown at Port Tacoma
47) Scenes from a cop riot
48) Increased health care spending not helping
49) Tintin in the Land of the Soviets
50) Tax and save
51) Why taxing like products differently is bad
52) National health insurance: A medical disaster
53) CCRKBA hails DC gun law nullification
54) Is Wikipedia the new Town Hall?
55) Spartan pride
56) Steal their land, steal their money
57) Apology for slavery matters, but here and now does, too
58) Human trafficking could be here
59) Path to peace, justice in Afghanistan
60) "Surge" doomed to final failure
See No Evil, Hear No Evil:
61) Larry Blasko on The Sloan Ranger Show, 03/15/07
62) Knapp, Dondero on K's Frame of Mind, 03/14/07
63) Radio Free Liberty, Episode 70
64) Gun ban shot down
65) Free Talk Live, 03/13/07
Weekly Symposium:
66) Seeing the fnords
What's Up In The Freedom Movement:
67) Today's events
WaYbAcK:
68) "On a cross of gold"
***************
* In The News
***************
1) E-mails lay out plan to dismiss US attorneys
CNN
"An e-mail from the Justice Department's Kyle Sampson in March 2005 laid out a simple formula for evaluating whether the 93 U.S. attorneys should stay or go. On a chart given to then-White House Counsel Harriet Miers, Sampson -- chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales -- listed attorneys in three categories: 'Bold = Recommend retaining; strong U.S. attorneys who have managed well, and exhibited loyalty to the president and attorney general.'" (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2e4gpr
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2) Gonzales rejects calls for resignation
Kenai Peninsula Clarion
"Attorney General Alberto Gonzales rejected growing calls for his resignation Tuesday as scores of newly released documents detailed a two-year campaign by the Justice Department and White House to purge federal prosecutors. Gonzales acknowledged his department mishandled the dismissals of eight U.S. attorneys and misled Congress about how they were fired." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/yq285e
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3) Iraq: Suicide bombings leave 10 dead
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
"Suicide bombers struck a market in northern Iraq and an Iraqi military checkpoint in Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 10 people, while an Iraqi general warned extremists that they will be 'smashed under the foot of the Iraqi people' if they resist efforts to end the violence in the country. In the worst attack, a man wearing an explosives belt strolled into an outdoor market in Tuz Khormato, 130 miles north of Baghdad, and blew himself up. The blast occurred just before noon as the market was crowded with shoppers in the city, which has a mixed population with a slight majority of Turkomen. At least eight people were killed and 25 were wounded, police said." (03/14/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2ovyeg
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4) Deadly blast rocks Afghan capital
BBC News [UK]
"At least four people have been killed and several wounded in a huge explosion at a shop selling ammunition in the Afghan capital, Kabul, police say. The blast took place in a bazaar where rifles, gunpowder and bullets are sold. Many surrounding shops and houses were destroyed by the force of the blast, which also left a 3m (10ft) crater. Officials gave conflicting initial information about the cause but have since dismissed reports of a bomb, saying it 'was not a terrorist act.'" (03/14/07)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6448589.stm
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5) Utah may backslide on land theft restrictions
Daily Herald
"Utah was one of the first states to rein in the use of eminent domain to make sure private development couldn't capitalize on laws intended to serve the public good. Now, the state could be one of the first to relax those rules. A bill before Gov. Jon Huntsman would allow a community to take property deemed blighted from reluctant owners if enough neighboring land owners want the area redeveloped." (03/13/07)
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/213097/
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6) Supporters still committed; immigration bill still stalled
USA Today
"President Bush says he wants an immigration bill this year. So do the top Democratic leaders in the House and Senate. Other supporters range from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the Service Employees International Union. Seldom has legislation received such high-profile backers from across such a broad ideological spectrum. And seldom has legislation with such powerful backing faced such an uphill battle." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/24g5k9
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7) Senate OKs security bill, faces veto
USA Today
"The Senate approved broad legislation Tuesday to give state and local governments new weapons to stop terrorists intent on destruction within U.S. borders. More than five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the bill still faces considerable hurdles. Differences remain with legislation the House passed in January, and the White House has issued a veto threat over a provision that would give airport screeners limited bargaining rights." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2xkhxh
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8) UN nuclear inspector arrives in North Korea
MSNBC
"North Korea took a small step toward implementing a breakthrough nuclear disarmament agreement on Tuesday, welcoming the chief U.N. nuclear inspector to discuss how the country will shut off its main reactor to stop producing plutonium for bombs. Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, said he was optimistic relations with the North would improve in the wake of its Feb. 13 agreement with the U.S. and other regional powers to eventually disarm." (03/13/07)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17598719/
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9) After 9/11, US archivists pulled 1 million pages
MSNBC
"More than 1 million pages of historical government documents -- a stack taller than the U.S. Capitol -- have been removed from public view since the September 2001 terror attacks, according to records obtained by The Associated Press. Some of the papers are more than a century old. In some cases, entire file boxes were removed without significant review because the government's central record-keeping agency, the National Archives and Records Administration, did not have time for a more thorough audit." (03/13/07)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17597711/
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10) Corps placed faulty pumps in New Orleans
Hickory Daily Record
"The Army Corps of Engineers, rushing to meet President Bush's promise to protect New Orleans by the start of the 2006 hurricane season, installed defective flood-control pumps last year despite warnings from its own expert that the equipment would fail during a storm, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. The 2006 hurricane season turned out to be mild, and the new pumps were never pressed into action." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/24y7td
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11) UN: Cybersquatting complaints on the rise
CNN
"The U.N. copyright agency saw a 25 percent increase in 'cybersquatting' complaints last year. The World Intellectual Property Organization, which handles arbitration for more than half of the world's cybersquatting disputes each year, registered 1,823 complaints in 2006 alleging abusive registrations of trademarks as Internet domain names." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/22jc5g
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12) Bush tries to soothe ties with Mexico
Bucyrus Telegraph Forum
"President Bush sought to soothe strained ties with Mexico on Tuesday by promising to prod Congress to overhaul tough U.S. immigration policies. But Mexican President Felipe Calderon criticized U.S. plans for a 700-mile border fence and said Bush must do more to curb American drug appetites. Mexico was the last stop on Bush's five-nation Latin American tour, and the one where the political stakes seemed the highest." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/392j9e
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13) World population to reach 9.2 billion in 2050
Baxter Bulletin
"The world's population will likely reach 9.2 billion in 2050, with virtually all new growth occurring in the developing world, a U.N. report said Tuesday. According to the U.N. Population Division's 2006 estimate, the world's population will likely increase by 2.5 billion people over the next 43 years from the current 6.7 billion -- a rise equivalent to the number of people in the world in 1950." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2ye9ux
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14) UK: Government wants to assess kids' toe-playing
Guardian [UK]
"Babies will be assessed on their gurgling, babbling and toe-playing abilities when they are a few months old under a legally enforced national curriculum for children from birth to five published by the government yesterday. Every nursery, childminder and reception class in Britain will have to monitor children's progress towards a set of 69 government-set 'early learning goals,' recording them against more than 500 development milestones as they go. At five, each child will be assessed against 13 scales based on the learning goals and their score, called an early years profile, must be passed to the Department for Education and Skills." (03/14/07)
http://education.guardian.co.uk/earlyyears/story/0,,2033356,00.html
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15) UK: Iraq vet's mother wins deportation reprieve
Independent [UK]
"The deportation of an Iraq war veteran's mother was dramatically halted yesterday when the Immigration minister, Liam Byrne, said he would personally review her case. Mr Byrne's decision to intervene in the case of Joy Bowman was announced at 10.30am, as she awaited the arrival of Immigration Service officers. She had expected them to remove her from her home in Newcastle upon Tyne to a detention centre near Heathrow, ahead of deportation to Jamaica with her 15-year-old daughter, who is studying for GCSEs. Mrs Bowman, 49, whose case was highlighted yesterday by The Independent, said she still feared deportation to Jamaica." (03/14/07)
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2355958.ece
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16) UK: Red nose ban
Ananova [UK]
"Health and safety chiefs have banned guests at Comic Relief Does Fame Academy from wearing red noses. Producers planned to give the soft foam noses to contestants' friends and family during the live shows. But officials at London's historic County Hall feared the noses may be a fire risk, reports the Daily Mirror. A show insider said: 'It's a bit ridiculous to stop adults in the audience from wearing red noses. It's a shame because the show is to raise money and it might have encouraged more people to go out and buy the noses if they saw them on telly.' A spokeswoman for show-makers Endemol said: 'It is true red noses are not allowed -- but neither are newspapers, bottles, bags and all manner of other items.'" (03/13/07)
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2239144.html
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17) FL: Home invasion suspect shot by elderly homeowner
Bradenton Herald
"A string of home invasions that started in Manatee County ended when a homeowner shot one of the suspects in Clewiston, authorities said Monday. Two 20-year-olds, a man and woman, were arrested and are suspected in the Saturday home invasion in Manatee County, where a 92-year-old man was beaten and pepper-sprayed, and another one in Polk County, where an 85-year-old woman was beaten. According to the Clewiston Police Department, Luke Irons, of St. Petersburg, and Chrisanthe Apergis, of Seminole, armed with a BB pistol and a tire iron, forced their way into the home of two elderly homeowners at about 7 p.m. Sunday. The suspects struggled with the victims, a 74-year-old man and a 64-year-old woman. The man broke free, grabbed a handgun and fired twice at Irons, hitting him both times, according to a police report.Irons and Apergis fled the home, but Irons collapsed in the driveway, where the police found him." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2tsss5
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18) MO: Would-be robber wounded
Post Dispatch
"A robber packing a pellet gun lost out early today to a motel guest packing a real firearm. Bridgeton police say that after surrendering his cash, jewelry and car keys to two robbers in the parking lot of the motel, the guest drew his own firearm and got the drop on the robbers, wounding one of them in the hand and leg." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/25ymj7
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19) UT: Boy goes to National Spelling Bee; parents deported
Salt Lake Tribune
"How do you spell 'perseverance?' When 13-year-old Kunal Sah stands before television cameras May 30-31 to represent Utah -- for the second time -- at the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., his parents won't be there with him. Ken and Sarita Sah were deported back to India last July after 16 years residing legally in this country. They ultimately lost their battle to remain under tough U.S. immigration regulations in the post- 9/11 atmosphere." (03/08/07)
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_5386448
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20) CA: Belmont a tough town for smokers
San Francisco Chronicle
"The most sweeping anti-smoking law in the world gets its first public airing tonight in the Peninsula city of Belmont, which aims to curb the harmful effects of second-hand smoke. Lighting up on a sidewalk in the city of 25,000 residents: verboten. Puffing away in an apartment building: no way. Smoking in the company car: sorry. Even smoking in your own home could be a nuisance if a neighbor complained about the wafting smoke. 'I'm looking at protecting people who are bothered medically by secondhand smoke -- that's my bottom line,' Mayor Coralin Feierbach said. 'There is so much evidence out there that second-hand smoke can be injurious to your health. If people are aware of this and are bothered by this, this would give them some kind of recourse.'" (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2l8c2b
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21) Dogfight raging over Katrina victim
Arizona Republic
"When Hurricane Katrina swept through southern Louisiana in August 2005, Paula Duming lost everything. Her home and her car were replaceable. Her little black-and-white puppy, Pablo, was not. With the help of Best Friends Animal Society of Kanab, Utah, Duming believes she has found her dog. But an emotional reunion story has gone sour. The dog she thinks is hers was adopted by another family, which claims she is mistaken. The case is being fought in Maricopa County Superior Court in Mesa because the family lived in Scottsdale when they adopted the dog they call Boots. Judge Christopher Whitten said he will render a decision later this week." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/3x3a53
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22) Thompson draws support, intrigue with '08 talk
Nashville City Paper
"Like the characters he plays as an actor -- prosecutor, admiral and even a fictional American president -- former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson would bring real presence and authority to a White House bid, national political observers say. At the same time, Thompson would need to hit the ground running -- particularly in the arena of campaign fundraising -- to be competitive in an already crowded GOP primary field. And while GOP elders in his home state are pushing his bid, some more current party players are committed elsewhere. Pundits, GOP insiders and organizers from Nashville to Washington, D.C. expressed excitement at the idea of a Thompson candidacy while noting the oftentimes maverick within his own party would have to find a 'fire in the belly' which was not a hallmark of his previous days in politics." [editor's note: there is also a poll at Knox News for who Fred should pick as a running mate. Ron Paul is on the list - SAT] (03/12/07)
http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?news_id=55097
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23) Viacom sues Google, YouTube for $1 billion
Fox News
"Media conglomerate Viacom Inc. (VIA) said Tuesday that it was suing Google Inc. and its Internet video-sharing site YouTube for more than $1 billion over unauthorized use of its programming online. The lawsuit, the biggest challenge to date to Google's ambitions to make YouTube into a major vehicle for advertising and entertainment, accuses the Web search leader and its unit of 'massive intentional copyright infringement.' Viacom filed the suit with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking more than $1 billion in damages and an injunction against further violations." (03/13/07)
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,258489,00.html
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24) How Congress might rein in US war policy
Christian Science Monitor
"The confrontation between Congress and the White House over Iraq is developing into perhaps the most heated confrontation since Vietnam over one of the most basic aspects of the US Constitution -- its allocation of the power to make war. In history, Congress often has fallen short of its goals when it attempts to rein in or change the executive branch's conduct of war. Presidents have many ways of forging ahead despite political and legislative resistance. But in some instances, lawmakers have played a pivotal role in ending US involvement. Their power to raise questions, via hearings and investigations, can be almost as important as their ability to cut off funds. In part, that's what happened with Vietnam, though Congress today is not as roiled as it was in the late 1960s and early '70s. 'We're not there yet,' says Julian Zelizer, a Boston University historian and expert on Congress and Southeast Asia." (03/13/07)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0314/p01s01-uspo.html
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25) Carbon confusion
Boston Globe
"Sara Demetry thought she had found a way to atone for her personal contribution to global warming. The psychotherapist clicked on a website that helped her calculate how much heat-trapping carbon dioxide she and her fiance emitted each year, mostly by driving and heating their home. Then she paid $150 to e-BlueHorizons.com, a company that promises to offset emissions. But Demetry's money did not make as much difference as she thought it would. While half of it went to plant trees to absorb carbon dioxide, the other half went to a Bethlehem, N.H., facility that destroys methane -- a gas that contributes to global warming. The facility has been operating since 2001 -- years before the company began selling offsets -- and Demetry's money did not lead the company to destroy any more methane than it would have anyway." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/389rva
*******************************************************************
* HEALTH-OF-THE-STATE-O-METER, 03/14/07
*
* Reported Civilian Deaths in Iraq: Min - 58,637 ... Max - 64,444
* (source: www.iraqbodycount.org)
*
* American Military Deaths in Iraq: 3,197
* (source: www.antiwar.com/casualties/ )
*******************************************************************
****************************
* Everybody Has An Opinion
****************************
26) The Durham bully
Liberty For All
by Roderick T. Beaman
"Michael Nifong may be about to get his just desserts. His abuse of the legal process has been so outrageous that the government will have to do something, if only to save face. Nifong will be the one exception that proves the rule but, overwhelmingly, government never attacks its own. He's a wounded shark and will be thrown to the others as a sacrifice. Watch him scream as he is slowly consumed." (03/13/07)
http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=559
-----
27) The flip side of the Precautionary Principle
Question Earthority!
by Thomas L. Knapp
"I was in Chicago to visit with ISIL president Vince Miller and brainstorm some future expansions and improvements you'll be seeing soon here on Question Earthority! and elsewhere. On Saturday, we made our way downtown to visit with Joe and Diane Bast of The Heartland Institute. We toured their (expanding!) headquarters, then headed out for lunch. And that's where it happened. Just as I was preparing to dig into my steak fajita wrap with hot chipotle sauce and guacamole, Vince turned to me with a mischievous little smile on his face (a signal I'll remember for future self-defense alert purposes), and said 'so, Tom, why don't you tell Joe and Diane what you think about global warming?' So, I did." (03/13/07)
http://www.isil.org/channels/archives/7580
-----
28) Kubby 2008: The Governator versus California families
Kubby for President
by Steve Kubby
"This is the 'middle' that Governor Schwarzenegger stands astride: Not slavery, just segregation. Not extermination, just 'second class citizenship.' There are two sides to marriage, and neither of them are the government's business. On one side, we have emotional commitment expressed in a ceremony -- usually, though not always, a religious ceremony. On the other, we have a standardized form of legal contract applying to the practical and legal matters arising from that commitment. The maximum extent to which the government of California has any legitimate business in these affairs is in even-handed enforcement of those contracts. Certainly it has no business peering under the clothing of the ceremony's participants, or comparing the genitalia of the parties to the contract." (03/13/07)
http://www.kubby2008.com/node/36
-----
29) Reflections on a solemn ass
Fred On Everything
by Fred Reed
"I usually regard liberals and conservatives as equally but not identically reprehensible, rather like the complementary halves of a migraine headache. Some differences do stand out. Peculiar to conservatives is a certain tribalism, often accompanied by subclinical paranoia. They seem to be looking fearfully about as the wolves circle closer. It doesn't matter whether there actually are any wolves." (03/13/07)
http://www.fredoneverything.net/DavyCrockett.shtml
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30) The fraudulent case for grassroots legislation
Free Market News Network
by Jim Babka
"It's baaack! We stopped it in the Senate, but now the House has taken up regulating the grassroots -- regulating groups like DownsizeDC.org. Let me be clear. Here at DownsizeDC.org, we're not doing anything illegal. We're not doing anything unethical. And we haven't so much as asked a Congressman to go to dinner. Nor are we supported by big money interests trying to find ways to get a hold of your tax dollars or earn special favors. There are groups who are doing those things. The supporters of this legislation pretend to be doing something about that. But here's the kicker: As long as these individuals, groups, and institutions are communicating with their 'members,' they'll be free of any burden under this legislation." (03/13/07)
http://www.fmnn.com/Analysis/64/7110/case.asp?nid=7110&wid=64
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31) Don't ask, don't tell, don't think
Classically Liberal
by CLS
"It is interesting to watch the mental gymnastics used to justify what amounts to prejudice. It was first claimed that gay soldiers simply couldn't do the job; that gay people are intrinsically incapable of performing military service. That myth has been blown out of the water by the vast numbers of gay military personnel who have done their jobs and done them well. The second argument that I have heard used is not that gay service members are incapable of doing the job but that other service members feel uncomfortable working with them. That argument basically would make gays the only members of society who are denied the right to serve in the military based entirely on the prejudices of others. But that argument is failing as polls show that young people, in particular, have no such negative feelings toward gay men and women."
http://tinyurl.com/36lae2
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32) War criminals, (almost) every one
The Power of Narrative
by Arthur Silber
"Given this latest evidence, we are now justified in drawing one stark conclusion. There are only two requirements for serving in Congress or in the executive branch of our government. These requirements apply to everyone who serves today, with only a handful of exceptions. First, you must be among the very stupidest and most cowardly of Americans. And second, you must be a war criminal -- an actual war criminal, or eager and willing to become one." (03/12/07)
http://tinyurl.com/34ansk
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33) Wealth and capital
The Free Liberal
by Fred Foldvary
"Some economists in the past thought there was a significant distinction between services and tangible goods. They thought goods were wealth, but services were not a form of wealth. Economic theory today properly recognizes that for production, there is no significant difference between services and tangible goods. Consider a haircut. It can be considered a service, but one could also look at is as a tangible good, the reshaping of your physical hairs. Cooking can be considered a service, but one is also manufacturing a tangible good, namely food. Indeed, the value of wealth is in the services it provides." (03/13/07)
http://www.freeliberal.com/archives/002665.html
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34) Our green ICE Age
TCS Daily
by Dwight R. Lee
"All environmentalists should be singing the praises of the internal combustion engine (ICE) instead of damning it for polluting the environment. The environmental advantages of the internal combustion engine have been obvious for a long time. But a recent story in the British newspaper, 'The Independent,' on the methane from livestock flatulence makes the advantages of internal combustion even more obvious. According to 'The Independent,' a recent study by the Food and Agricultural Organization finds that 'livestock are responsible for 18 percent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together.' Global warming became a concern, however, long after the internal combustion engine began improving the environment. In 1900 most of the horsepower we had available really was horse power -- or mule power, or oxen power. As reliance on the internal combustion engine increased in the early 1900s, we began replacing the emissions that came out of the tailpipes of animals with those coming out of the tailpipes of cars and trucks. And the latter emissions were a lot less harmful than the former." (03/13/07)
http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=031307B
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35) Pelosi's betrayal
AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo
"Are all congressional Democrats fools, or liars? I would say both, but that's hardly unusual when it comes to politicians, regardless of party affiliation. The question is: will their ostensibly 'antiwar' base allow them to get away with it? Where are the fabled 'netroots' on this? Apparently nowhere to be seen. Speaking of being seen: this is a perfect opportunity to point out that there's going to be a demonstration outside of Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco office, on the steps of San Francisco's Federal Building, at noon on Monday, March 19, the fourth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war. ... Show up and let the speaker of the House, who poses as an opponent of Bush's crazed foreign policy, know that her complicity in the president's rush to war with Iran is inexcusable, and needs to be reversed." (03/14/07)
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=10674
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36) The next president will be worse
LewRockwell.Com
by Anthony Gregory
"So here's my more general prediction: Whoever it will be, even if it's someone unmentioned above, it will almost certainly be a centrist president -- meaning a prudential, gradualist totalitarian. And whoever it is, the next president will be worse than Bush. This is reflected in the fact that this election, like almost all those before it, is shaping up to be one of the worst of all time. If you think about it, the choice has only gotten worse and worse in recent decades." (03/14/07)
http://www.lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory130.html
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37) Second Wind for the Second Amendment
Reason
by Jacob Sullum
"Last week, when a federal appeals court ruled that the District of Columbia's gun ban violates the right to 'keep and bear arms,' The New York Times reported that the judges were 'interpreting the Second Amendment broadly.' ... If a court takes the position that Americans have a right to free speech, it is not interpreting the First Amendment broadly. If it says they have a right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures, it is not interpreting the Fourth Amendment broadly. So why is the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit 'interpreting the Second Amendment broadly' when it says Americans have a right to keep and bear arms?" (03/14/07)
http://www.reason.com/news/show/119106.html
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38) Outing Al (Chicken Little) Gore
No Force, No Fraud
by Bob Smith
"One method of determining whether something is true or not is to look at the motives of those promoting something as being true. Does the promoter stand to gain by promoting a falsehood, or stand to lose by the opposite being believed? Examining motives, while not perfect, can usually provide some valid suspicions to investigate. The radical environmental movement baffled me for well over a year. Their claims did not ring true for me, yet I could not find spurious motives that would explain what I suspected was a pack of lies. How could so many people be completely wrong?" (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2pkq96
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39) Don't raise gas tax without reforms
Cato Institute
by Thomas A. Firey
"The gas tax, in theory, is a good mechanism for funding roadways because drivers are taxed according to their usage: The more you drive, the more gas you buy and the more tax you pay. But the value of gas tax revenue has fallen over the years because of inflation and improved vehicle gas mileage. The result is that we're paying less for road maintenance in real terms per each roadway-damaging vehicle mile that we drive. And those aren't the only reasons Maryland's transportation trust fund isn't maintaining the state's once high-quality roadway system. Maryland officials have a passion for spending trust fund money on dubious 'prestige' transportation projects, such as the hyper-expensive Metro heavy rail, that have high publicity value but make little sense from a public policy perspective. Motorists should be angry about the questionable use of the transportation fund, but they should be outraged by the corporate welfare that politicians in Annapolis hand out to gas retailers." (03/14/07)
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8132
-----
40) Locating gun rights
American Spectator
by Robert VerBruggen
"Last Friday's Parker v. District of Columbia ruling ruling was an incredible triumph for gun rights. The federal D.C. court of appeals ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms, striking down the District's laws (A) mandating all guns be stored locked and unloaded and (B) effectively banning handguns. The Supreme Court will likely hear the case. Anti-gunners, not surprisingly, weren't happy." (03/13/07)
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=11134
-----
41) Why we defend right to bear arms
Register Guard
by Pat Wray
"First, we don't want the government to be able to take our guns away from us, as totalitarian regimes have done elsewhere. The second reason is similar, but runs on a deeper current, one rarely discussed. We are aware that at some point in the future, we or our descendants may need to fight against our government or an invading force. I don't want to be melodramatic about this fear, but it is ingrained in American culture. It runs through our blood from the docks of Boston through Lexington and Bunker Hill. It was seared into our collective soul in Chancellorsville, Bull Run and Antietam. We watched and learned from victims of Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Pol Pot, Idi Amin and Slobodan Milosevic. We studied the Quislings and the Vichy. We bled with the Jews and the Tutsis. We are bleeding now with the tribes being slaughtered in Darfur. Chief among all of these lessons is the certain knowledge that an evil government or an occupying force can come to power anywhere. It could happen here." (03/11/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2q3hau
-----
42) Showdown at the Constitution's last frontier
Human Events
by Sean Trende
"Most presidential elections contain an issue that acts as a third gunman, ultimately stacking the odds against one of the main two combatants. It was Iraq in 2004, ethics in 2000, the economy in 1992, and so forth. Last Friday, the 2008 election may have found its third gunman with a court decision that, somewhat appropriately, also sets out an important marker on one of the last untamed frontiers of constitutional law." (03/12/07)
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=19762
-----
43) World of difference in power that shuns brawn for supremacy
Daytona Beach News Journal
by Pierre Tristam
"Browsing through a used bookstore the other day I picked up one of those old National Geographic issues with the pictures of doffed and frolicking natives. Except that the natives inside weren't the bouncy kind from Bali or Burundi but from countries we've come to know as breeders of anti-Americanism or out-and-out enmity: France, Spain, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, the kind of places where, if President Bush were to venture -- as he has been venturing through Latin America -- he'd be burned in effigy and local authorities would have to mobilize the equivalent of two military brigades to protect him. Colombia, the third-biggest recipient of American aid in the last decade and supposedly its greatest ally south of the Rio Grande, had to do just that for a Bush stop-over lasting a few hours on Sunday. But the Geographic was dated May 1960. The 63 pages featuring all those countries fell under the banner of a single article entitled, 'When the President Goes Abroad." And in every country, in almost every picture, Dwight Eisenhower's presence was cause for delirious celebration.'" (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2jcyca
-----
44) The pragmatism of prolonged war
Common Dreams
by Norman Solomon
"The days are getting longer, but the media shadows are no shorter as they cover the war in Iraq through American eyes, squinting in Washington's pallid sun. Debated as an issue of politics, the actual war keeps being drained of life. Abstractions thrive inside the Beltway, while the war effort continues: funded by the U.S. Treasury every day, as the original crime of invasion is replicated with occupation. More than ever, in the aftermath of the Scooter Libby verdict, the country's major news outlets are willing to acknowledge that the political road to war in Iraq was paved with deceptions. But the same media outlets were integral to laying the flagstones along the path to war -- and they're now integral to prolonging the war." (03/13/07)
http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0313-23.htm
-----
45) The bookseller's story, ending much too soon
Washington Post
by Anthony Shadid
"A car bomb detonated last week on Mutanabi Street, leaving a scene that has grown familiar in Baghdad, a collage of chaotic images, disturbing in their brutality, grotesque in their repetition. At least 26 people were killed. Hayawi the bookseller was one of them.Unlike the U.S. soldiers who die in this conflict, the names of most Iraqi victims will never be published, consigned to the anonymity that death in the Iraqi capital brings these days. Hayawi was neither a politician nor a warlord. Few beyond Mutanabi Street even knew his name. Yet his quiet life deserves more than a footnote, if for no other reason than to remember a man who embraced what Baghdad was and tried to make sense of a country that doesn't make sense anymore. Gone with him are small moments of life, gentle simply by virtue of being ordinary, now lost in the rubble strewn along a street that will never be the same." (03/12/07)
http://tinyurl.com/yprm67
-----
46) Showdown at Port Tacoma
CounterPunch
by Ron Jacobs
"On March 5th, 2007, several people were attacked and at least three arrested by police in Tacoma, WA. at a series of protests against shipments of military supplies at the city's port. The reasons for the attacks and arrests were not clear to onlookers, who told the press that the protesters were doing nothing but holding signs. In an exchange I had with Jeff Berryhill of Olympia, WA. (who was arrested along with Wally Cudderford and Caitlin Esworthy) I was told that all he was doing when he was shot with a rubber bullet by the police was 'holding a sign that read 'Courage to Resist. org." (Courage to Resist is an organization supporting military resisters.) The next thing he knew he was hit in the thigh by a police-fired projectile." (03/13/07)
http://www.counterpunch.org/jacobs03122007.html
-----
47) Scenes from a cop riot
CounterPunch
by Catherine Wilkerson
"When I became a doctor I knew I would encounter a lot of human suffering, but I never envisioned a time when my efforts to alleviate it would get me brutalized by the police, then charged with a crime. I never envisioned a time when I would witness another health 'professional' brazenly violate the most fundamental principle of medical ethics: first do no harm. But thirty years after graduation, at a political event on the campus of the University of Michigan, those things happened." (03/13/07)
http://www.counterpunch.org/wilkerson03132007.html
-----
48) Increased health care spending not helping
National Center for Policy Analysis
by staff
"The federal government has provided provinces with an extra $36 billion in transfers for health care since 1997, yet Canada's health care system is in worse shape now than it was 10 years ago, according to a new report by the Fraser Institute. Consider: Between 1980 and 1997, federal transfers for health care spending were relatively stable, and from 1988-89 to 1997-98, the average annual growth rate in federal health care transfers was 1.4 per cent." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2cmvlx
-----
49) Tintin in the Land of the Soviets
Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Yumi Kim
"The adventure is action-packed and there is never a dull moment. They survive numerous car crashes, imprisonments, explosions, a plane crash and even an attack from a bear. In between, they witness the failure of socialism. This year marks the centennial of the birth of Herge and his comic books continue to entertain and fascinate millions of children and adults around the world." (03/13/07)
http://www.mises.org/story/2501
-----
50) Tax and save
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
by Greg Francisco
"The State of Michigan, my home, is in deep financial trouble. That's common knowledge. Drastic times call for drastic solutions. That should be obvious, too. So, should we slash spending even further or raise taxes higher yet? Hard choices, either way. There is a third option however that would both dramatically cut spending and raise large sums of new tax revenue. The only question is, do the politicos in Michigan have the courage to do it? Legalize, tax and regulate marijuana." (03/13/07)
http://blog.leap.cc/?p=68
-----
51) Why taxing like products differently is bad
Heartland Institute
by Trevor Martin
"In 40 states, taxes on smokeless tobacco products are causing double taxation, distorting consumer behavior, and hurting retailer profits. Texas currently is one of those states. Arguably, there is no other product category that has such widespread discriminatory tax treatment as does smokeless tobacco. From our nation's founding, national and state tax policy has been to tax like items alike." (03/07/07)
http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=20762
-----
52) National health insurance: A medical disaster
Foundation for Economic Education
by Jarret B. Wollstein
"Affordable health care has become one of the most important social issues of our time. Every news broadcast seems to have a special report on 'America's health care crisis' or a politician demanding 'universal health insurance.' Evidence cited for the need for immediate and drastic government action includes: High medical costs. The United States reportedly has the highest per capita medical expenditures of any country in the world. According to Insight magazine, U.S. citizens spent an average of $2,051 on health care in 1990, compared to $1,483 for Canadians and $1,093 for West Germans." (written 10/92; posted 03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/yqygxc
-----
53) CCRKBA hails DC gun law nullification
Liberty For All
by CCRKBA staff
"The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today hailed a ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that, for the first time in American history, struck down a gun law on Second Amendment grounds. The case was Parker v. District of Columbia, challenging the 31-year-old District of Columbia ban on handgun registrations to allow citizens to keep functional handguns in their District residences for personal protection." (03/13/07)
http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=558
-----
54) Is Wikipedia the new Town Hall?
In These Times
by Pat Aufderheide
"Public broadcasting everywhere is in crisis, and in part it's because technology seems to be turning pubcasters into dinosaurs. In fact, not just them, but all broadcasters. Consider the business leaders: NBC formally declared itself an 'Internet company' and is slashing its analog TV investments. Mega-media mogul Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace last year and is now considering dumping his satellite assets because he's looking forward to wireless digital TV. Pubcasters used to be providers of trusted information. But when bloggers are so busy linking to each other that they hardly have time to watch television or read newspapers, is the mainstream media -- even the PBSes and NPRs -- becoming irrelevant? No wonder pubcasters are suffering heartburn these days." (03/12/07)
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3067/
-----
55) Spartan pride
The American Prospect
by Matthew Yglesias
"When America finally gives up on the Iraq adventure, I expect we'll see something of a backlash. As Fouad Ajami, the right's favorite Arab writer, put it, America tried to bring the Iraqi people The Foreigner's Gift -- the gift of freedom -- and the Iraqis just screwed it up. There's even, if you squint at it right, a certain truth to this, once you abandon the myth that the war would have worked out fine had it been administered more competently: Following an invasion, Iraq's fate still lay much more in the hands of Iraqis than it did in the hands of American policymakers. On another level, however, this perspective is completely daft. The foreigner's gift failed to go over well not because of some weird Arab derangement, but because Iraqis acted like ... human beings everywhere act. Which brings me ... to the Spartans. No one would call 300, either the film adaptation in theaters now or the graphic novel about the battle of Thermopylae on which it's based, a subtle work. It does, however, illustrate a crucial point in a rather subtle way." (03/13/07)
http://www.prospect.org/web/view-web.ww?id=12551
-----
56) Steal their land, steal their money
Tom Paine
by Robert J. Miller
"The United States owes a lot to the Indian Nations. American Indians helped early European settlers survive and succeed on this continent and American Indian governments contributed extensively to the political thinking that led to the creation of the federal government by our Founders. The United States, however, also owes over 300,000 American Indians something else: up to $200 billion for the mismanagement of their property over the past one hundred years. In 1996, the Native American Rights Fund filed a class-action law suit against the United States for the mismanagement of tribal and individual Indian assets -- Cobell v. Kempthorne. ... The federal government and its attorneys have actively resisted this case every step of the way. ... Recently, the government went so far as to remove federal district court judge Royce Lamberth from the case for his alleged growing bias in favor of the Indian plaintiffs." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/ysuzrg
-----
57) Apology for slavery matters, but here and now does, too
Tennessean
by Dwight Lewis
"I haven't talked to Steve Cohen since he replaced Harold Ford Jr. in Congress, but I'm willing to bet he's catching a lot of grief -- and a lot of praise -- these days. Cohen, a Democrat and former state senator from Memphis, has gotten 36 co-sponsors for a bill that, if passed, would bring an apology for slavery and Jim Crow-era discrimination to the federal level. Yep, I can hear some of you cussing Steve Cohen now. But if you've been keeping up with the news lately, you know that legislators in Virginia passed a resolution last month apologizing for slavery in that state. Thursday, black legislators in Georgia said they plan to introduce proposals asking the Peach State to follow Virginia's lead and apologize for the state's role in slavery and segregation-era laws." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/3d47ja
-----
58) Human trafficking could be here
Nashville City Paper
by staff
"It is one of the ugliest truths on this planet, and seemingly as old as civilization itself. It goes by many names, but trafficking in persons is a shame and blight on humanity. Despite the deniers, it may also be right here in Nashville. According to a 2006 U.S. State Department report, between 600,000 and 800,000 people are the victims of human trafficking every year. In another time, this practice of buying and selling humans was known by a much simpler moniker: slavery. It is difficult for Americans to imagine that in this modern time there may be human trafficking happening in their communities, but the harsh reality is that it is happening in cities and towns across this country. Metro Police maintain it is a possibility a recent bust on an alleged brothel in Madison was indeed a case of human trafficking." (03/12/07)
http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?news_id=55096
-----
59) Path to peace, justice in Afghanistan
Christian Science Monitor
by J Alexander Thier & Scott Worden
"Like every country facing the aftermath of civil war, Afghanistan is struggling to balance the need for peace and stability with demands for justice and accountability. Last Saturday, the lower house of the country's parliament passed a bill that encourages all factions, including the Taliban, to join in a process of national reconciliation. In return, these groups and individuals would be immune from prosecution for atrocities committed before joining the process. Although President Hamid Karzai successfully negotiated a crucial amendment to protect the rights of victims of war crimes, the new amnesty law still favors the powerful warlords who sponsored the bill. Unless the government takes responsibility for standing up to the perpetrators of past atrocities, true national reconciliation may be impossible to achieve." (03/13/07)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0313/p09s02-coop.html
-----
60) "Surge" doomed to final failure
Boston Globe
by H.D.S. Greenway
"What the president and proponents of the 'surge' in Iraq have underestimated is the loathing Iraqis have of foreign troops bursting into their houses, shoot-to-kill checkpoints, and the humiliation occupation brings. Foreign troops legitimize insurgency. ... The Washington Post's Joshua Partlow recently wrote about how American soldiers tried to be friendly and kind. 'During their six-hour patrol they handed out Iraqi newspapers and packets of gum. ... But machine gun-toting Americans rooting through bedrooms, inspecting weapons, and demanding identification cards clearly unsettle some residents.' They do more harm than unsettle." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2v9dkd
*****************************
* See No Evil, Hear No Evil
*****************************
61) Larry Blasko on The Sloan Ranger Show, 03/15/07
The Sloan Ranger Show
Larry Blasko, author of Opening the Borders: Solving the Mexico/U.S. Immigration Problem For Our Sake and Mexico's, joins host Lloyd Sloan. 5:35pm Central on WGNU 920 AM, St. Louis, or live on the web. [live radio or stream] (03/15/07)
http://www.sloanrangershow.com/
-----
62) Knapp, Dondero on K's Frame of Mind, 03/14/07
K's Frame of Mind
"Libertarian Republican" Eric Dondero, Rational Review publisher Tom Knapp and others join host Karen in "Libertarian Smackdown Live" -- a two-hour cage match -- on Blog Talk Radio. [various formats] (03/14/07)
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/hostpage.aspx?show_id=15351
-----
63) Radio Free Liberty, Episode 70
Radio Free Liberty
"Hanging on to anachronistic ideas about jobs, immigration, and nationalism will get you left behind / A short, intense, sobering look at the world of our near future -- Are you going to fight it or learn to prosper in it? / Which country will be the number one English speaking nation in our lifetime? Guess what -- It ain't the USA." [MP3] (03/07)
http://media.libsyn.com/media/radiofreeliberty/Episode_070.mp3
-----
64) Gun ban shot down
Cato Institute
Cato daily podcast, featuring Robert A. Levy. [MP3] (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/ysxp8q
-----
65) Free Talk Live, 03/13/07
Free Talk Live
"FreeNet / The FCC, Mandates, Digital TV, TV Welfare, and Unintended Consequences / Another So-Called Sex Offender / More Sex Offender Rules / Innocents Put to Death / Perverted Justice, Entrapment, and Thought Crimes." [MP3] (03/13/07)
http://media.libsyn.com/media/ftl/FTL2007-03-13.mp3
********************
* Weekly Symposium
********************
66) Seeing the fnords
Position Paper #23 of the Guns and Dope Party:
Little Tony was sitting on a park bench munching on one candy bar after another. After the 6th candy bar, a man on the bench across from him said, "Son, you know eating all that candy isn't good for you. It will give you acne, rot your teeth, and make you fat."
Little Tony replied, "My grandfather lived to be 107 years old."
The man asked, "Did your grandfather eat 6 candy bars at a time?"
Little Tony answered, "No, he minded his own f--king business."
With the recent passings on of Robert Anton Wilson and Kerry Thornley, a discussion of the impact of Discordianism, Operation Mindf--k and other related phenomena on libertarian theory and practice seems in order. So let's have one.
http://www.rationalreview.com/content/26081
*************************************
* What's Up In The Freedom Movement
*************************************
67) 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 .
http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=info%40rationalreview.com
***********
* WaYbAcK
***********
68) "On a cross of gold"
Details, and the "quote of the day," from Leon's Political Almanac at:
http://perspicuity.net/cgi/hypercal.cgi
* RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
*
* Volume V, Issue #1,108
* Wednesday, March 14th, 2007
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* Published every non-holiday weekday
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**************************************************
In The News:
1) E-mails lay out plan to dismiss US attorneys
2) Gonzales rejects calls for resignation
3) Iraq: Suicide bombings leave 10 dead
4) Deadly blast rocks Afghan capital
5) Utah may backslide on land theft restrictions
6) Supporters still committed; immigration bill still stalled
7) Senate OKs security bill, faces veto
8) UN nuclear inspector arrives in North Korea
9) After 9/11, US archivists pulled 1 million pages
10) Corps placed faulty pumps in New Orleans
11) UN: Cybersquatting complaints on the rise
12) Bush tries to soothe ties with Mexico
13) World population to reach 9.2 billion in 2050
14) UK: Government wants to assess kids' toe-playing
15) UK: Iraq vet's mother wins deportation reprieve
16) UK: Red nose ban
17) FL: Home invasion suspect shot by elderly homeowner
18) MO: Would-be robber wounded
19) UT: Boy goes to National Spelling Bee; parents deported
20) CA: Belmont a tough town for smokers
21) Dogfight raging over Katrina victim
22) Thompson draws support, intrigue with '08 talk
23) Viacom sues Google, YouTube for $1 billion
24) How Congress might rein in US war policy
25) Carbon confusion
Everybody Has An Opinion:
26) The Durham bully
27) The flip side of the Precautionary Principle
28) Kubby 2008: The Governator versus California families
29) Reflections on a solemn ass
30) The fraudulent case for grassroots legislation
31) Don't ask, don't tell, don't think
32) War criminals, (almost) every one
33) Wealth and capital
34) Our green ICE Age
35) Pelosi's betrayal
36) The next president will be worse
37) Second Wind for the Second Amendment
38) Outing Al (Chicken Little) Gore
39) Don't raise gas tax without reforms
40) Locating gun rights
41) Why we defend right to bear arms
42) Showdown at the Constitution's last frontier
43) World of difference in power that shuns brawn for supremacy
44) The pragmatism of prolonged war
45) The bookseller's story, ending much too soon
46) Showdown at Port Tacoma
47) Scenes from a cop riot
48) Increased health care spending not helping
49) Tintin in the Land of the Soviets
50) Tax and save
51) Why taxing like products differently is bad
52) National health insurance: A medical disaster
53) CCRKBA hails DC gun law nullification
54) Is Wikipedia the new Town Hall?
55) Spartan pride
56) Steal their land, steal their money
57) Apology for slavery matters, but here and now does, too
58) Human trafficking could be here
59) Path to peace, justice in Afghanistan
60) "Surge" doomed to final failure
See No Evil, Hear No Evil:
61) Larry Blasko on The Sloan Ranger Show, 03/15/07
62) Knapp, Dondero on K's Frame of Mind, 03/14/07
63) Radio Free Liberty, Episode 70
64) Gun ban shot down
65) Free Talk Live, 03/13/07
Weekly Symposium:
66) Seeing the fnords
What's Up In The Freedom Movement:
67) Today's events
WaYbAcK:
68) "On a cross of gold"
***************
* In The News
***************
1) E-mails lay out plan to dismiss US attorneys
CNN
"An e-mail from the Justice Department's Kyle Sampson in March 2005 laid out a simple formula for evaluating whether the 93 U.S. attorneys should stay or go. On a chart given to then-White House Counsel Harriet Miers, Sampson -- chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales -- listed attorneys in three categories: 'Bold = Recommend retaining; strong U.S. attorneys who have managed well, and exhibited loyalty to the president and attorney general.'" (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2e4gpr
-----
2) Gonzales rejects calls for resignation
Kenai Peninsula Clarion
"Attorney General Alberto Gonzales rejected growing calls for his resignation Tuesday as scores of newly released documents detailed a two-year campaign by the Justice Department and White House to purge federal prosecutors. Gonzales acknowledged his department mishandled the dismissals of eight U.S. attorneys and misled Congress about how they were fired." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/yq285e
-----
3) Iraq: Suicide bombings leave 10 dead
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
"Suicide bombers struck a market in northern Iraq and an Iraqi military checkpoint in Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 10 people, while an Iraqi general warned extremists that they will be 'smashed under the foot of the Iraqi people' if they resist efforts to end the violence in the country. In the worst attack, a man wearing an explosives belt strolled into an outdoor market in Tuz Khormato, 130 miles north of Baghdad, and blew himself up. The blast occurred just before noon as the market was crowded with shoppers in the city, which has a mixed population with a slight majority of Turkomen. At least eight people were killed and 25 were wounded, police said." (03/14/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2ovyeg
-----
4) Deadly blast rocks Afghan capital
BBC News [UK]
"At least four people have been killed and several wounded in a huge explosion at a shop selling ammunition in the Afghan capital, Kabul, police say. The blast took place in a bazaar where rifles, gunpowder and bullets are sold. Many surrounding shops and houses were destroyed by the force of the blast, which also left a 3m (10ft) crater. Officials gave conflicting initial information about the cause but have since dismissed reports of a bomb, saying it 'was not a terrorist act.'" (03/14/07)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6448589.stm
-----
5) Utah may backslide on land theft restrictions
Daily Herald
"Utah was one of the first states to rein in the use of eminent domain to make sure private development couldn't capitalize on laws intended to serve the public good. Now, the state could be one of the first to relax those rules. A bill before Gov. Jon Huntsman would allow a community to take property deemed blighted from reluctant owners if enough neighboring land owners want the area redeveloped." (03/13/07)
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/213097/
-----
6) Supporters still committed; immigration bill still stalled
USA Today
"President Bush says he wants an immigration bill this year. So do the top Democratic leaders in the House and Senate. Other supporters range from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the Service Employees International Union. Seldom has legislation received such high-profile backers from across such a broad ideological spectrum. And seldom has legislation with such powerful backing faced such an uphill battle." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/24g5k9
-----
7) Senate OKs security bill, faces veto
USA Today
"The Senate approved broad legislation Tuesday to give state and local governments new weapons to stop terrorists intent on destruction within U.S. borders. More than five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the bill still faces considerable hurdles. Differences remain with legislation the House passed in January, and the White House has issued a veto threat over a provision that would give airport screeners limited bargaining rights." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2xkhxh
-----
8) UN nuclear inspector arrives in North Korea
MSNBC
"North Korea took a small step toward implementing a breakthrough nuclear disarmament agreement on Tuesday, welcoming the chief U.N. nuclear inspector to discuss how the country will shut off its main reactor to stop producing plutonium for bombs. Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, said he was optimistic relations with the North would improve in the wake of its Feb. 13 agreement with the U.S. and other regional powers to eventually disarm." (03/13/07)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17598719/
-----
9) After 9/11, US archivists pulled 1 million pages
MSNBC
"More than 1 million pages of historical government documents -- a stack taller than the U.S. Capitol -- have been removed from public view since the September 2001 terror attacks, according to records obtained by The Associated Press. Some of the papers are more than a century old. In some cases, entire file boxes were removed without significant review because the government's central record-keeping agency, the National Archives and Records Administration, did not have time for a more thorough audit." (03/13/07)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17597711/
-----
10) Corps placed faulty pumps in New Orleans
Hickory Daily Record
"The Army Corps of Engineers, rushing to meet President Bush's promise to protect New Orleans by the start of the 2006 hurricane season, installed defective flood-control pumps last year despite warnings from its own expert that the equipment would fail during a storm, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. The 2006 hurricane season turned out to be mild, and the new pumps were never pressed into action." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/24y7td
-----
11) UN: Cybersquatting complaints on the rise
CNN
"The U.N. copyright agency saw a 25 percent increase in 'cybersquatting' complaints last year. The World Intellectual Property Organization, which handles arbitration for more than half of the world's cybersquatting disputes each year, registered 1,823 complaints in 2006 alleging abusive registrations of trademarks as Internet domain names." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/22jc5g
-----
12) Bush tries to soothe ties with Mexico
Bucyrus Telegraph Forum
"President Bush sought to soothe strained ties with Mexico on Tuesday by promising to prod Congress to overhaul tough U.S. immigration policies. But Mexican President Felipe Calderon criticized U.S. plans for a 700-mile border fence and said Bush must do more to curb American drug appetites. Mexico was the last stop on Bush's five-nation Latin American tour, and the one where the political stakes seemed the highest." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/392j9e
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13) World population to reach 9.2 billion in 2050
Baxter Bulletin
"The world's population will likely reach 9.2 billion in 2050, with virtually all new growth occurring in the developing world, a U.N. report said Tuesday. According to the U.N. Population Division's 2006 estimate, the world's population will likely increase by 2.5 billion people over the next 43 years from the current 6.7 billion -- a rise equivalent to the number of people in the world in 1950." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2ye9ux
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14) UK: Government wants to assess kids' toe-playing
Guardian [UK]
"Babies will be assessed on their gurgling, babbling and toe-playing abilities when they are a few months old under a legally enforced national curriculum for children from birth to five published by the government yesterday. Every nursery, childminder and reception class in Britain will have to monitor children's progress towards a set of 69 government-set 'early learning goals,' recording them against more than 500 development milestones as they go. At five, each child will be assessed against 13 scales based on the learning goals and their score, called an early years profile, must be passed to the Department for Education and Skills." (03/14/07)
http://education.guardian.co.uk/earlyyears/story/0,,2033356,00.html
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15) UK: Iraq vet's mother wins deportation reprieve
Independent [UK]
"The deportation of an Iraq war veteran's mother was dramatically halted yesterday when the Immigration minister, Liam Byrne, said he would personally review her case. Mr Byrne's decision to intervene in the case of Joy Bowman was announced at 10.30am, as she awaited the arrival of Immigration Service officers. She had expected them to remove her from her home in Newcastle upon Tyne to a detention centre near Heathrow, ahead of deportation to Jamaica with her 15-year-old daughter, who is studying for GCSEs. Mrs Bowman, 49, whose case was highlighted yesterday by The Independent, said she still feared deportation to Jamaica." (03/14/07)
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2355958.ece
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16) UK: Red nose ban
Ananova [UK]
"Health and safety chiefs have banned guests at Comic Relief Does Fame Academy from wearing red noses. Producers planned to give the soft foam noses to contestants' friends and family during the live shows. But officials at London's historic County Hall feared the noses may be a fire risk, reports the Daily Mirror. A show insider said: 'It's a bit ridiculous to stop adults in the audience from wearing red noses. It's a shame because the show is to raise money and it might have encouraged more people to go out and buy the noses if they saw them on telly.' A spokeswoman for show-makers Endemol said: 'It is true red noses are not allowed -- but neither are newspapers, bottles, bags and all manner of other items.'" (03/13/07)
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2239144.html
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17) FL: Home invasion suspect shot by elderly homeowner
Bradenton Herald
"A string of home invasions that started in Manatee County ended when a homeowner shot one of the suspects in Clewiston, authorities said Monday. Two 20-year-olds, a man and woman, were arrested and are suspected in the Saturday home invasion in Manatee County, where a 92-year-old man was beaten and pepper-sprayed, and another one in Polk County, where an 85-year-old woman was beaten. According to the Clewiston Police Department, Luke Irons, of St. Petersburg, and Chrisanthe Apergis, of Seminole, armed with a BB pistol and a tire iron, forced their way into the home of two elderly homeowners at about 7 p.m. Sunday. The suspects struggled with the victims, a 74-year-old man and a 64-year-old woman. The man broke free, grabbed a handgun and fired twice at Irons, hitting him both times, according to a police report.Irons and Apergis fled the home, but Irons collapsed in the driveway, where the police found him." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2tsss5
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18) MO: Would-be robber wounded
Post Dispatch
"A robber packing a pellet gun lost out early today to a motel guest packing a real firearm. Bridgeton police say that after surrendering his cash, jewelry and car keys to two robbers in the parking lot of the motel, the guest drew his own firearm and got the drop on the robbers, wounding one of them in the hand and leg." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/25ymj7
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19) UT: Boy goes to National Spelling Bee; parents deported
Salt Lake Tribune
"How do you spell 'perseverance?' When 13-year-old Kunal Sah stands before television cameras May 30-31 to represent Utah -- for the second time -- at the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., his parents won't be there with him. Ken and Sarita Sah were deported back to India last July after 16 years residing legally in this country. They ultimately lost their battle to remain under tough U.S. immigration regulations in the post- 9/11 atmosphere." (03/08/07)
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_5386448
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20) CA: Belmont a tough town for smokers
San Francisco Chronicle
"The most sweeping anti-smoking law in the world gets its first public airing tonight in the Peninsula city of Belmont, which aims to curb the harmful effects of second-hand smoke. Lighting up on a sidewalk in the city of 25,000 residents: verboten. Puffing away in an apartment building: no way. Smoking in the company car: sorry. Even smoking in your own home could be a nuisance if a neighbor complained about the wafting smoke. 'I'm looking at protecting people who are bothered medically by secondhand smoke -- that's my bottom line,' Mayor Coralin Feierbach said. 'There is so much evidence out there that second-hand smoke can be injurious to your health. If people are aware of this and are bothered by this, this would give them some kind of recourse.'" (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2l8c2b
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21) Dogfight raging over Katrina victim
Arizona Republic
"When Hurricane Katrina swept through southern Louisiana in August 2005, Paula Duming lost everything. Her home and her car were replaceable. Her little black-and-white puppy, Pablo, was not. With the help of Best Friends Animal Society of Kanab, Utah, Duming believes she has found her dog. But an emotional reunion story has gone sour. The dog she thinks is hers was adopted by another family, which claims she is mistaken. The case is being fought in Maricopa County Superior Court in Mesa because the family lived in Scottsdale when they adopted the dog they call Boots. Judge Christopher Whitten said he will render a decision later this week." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/3x3a53
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22) Thompson draws support, intrigue with '08 talk
Nashville City Paper
"Like the characters he plays as an actor -- prosecutor, admiral and even a fictional American president -- former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson would bring real presence and authority to a White House bid, national political observers say. At the same time, Thompson would need to hit the ground running -- particularly in the arena of campaign fundraising -- to be competitive in an already crowded GOP primary field. And while GOP elders in his home state are pushing his bid, some more current party players are committed elsewhere. Pundits, GOP insiders and organizers from Nashville to Washington, D.C. expressed excitement at the idea of a Thompson candidacy while noting the oftentimes maverick within his own party would have to find a 'fire in the belly' which was not a hallmark of his previous days in politics." [editor's note: there is also a poll at Knox News for who Fred should pick as a running mate. Ron Paul is on the list - SAT] (03/12/07)
http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?news_id=55097
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23) Viacom sues Google, YouTube for $1 billion
Fox News
"Media conglomerate Viacom Inc. (VIA) said Tuesday that it was suing Google Inc. and its Internet video-sharing site YouTube for more than $1 billion over unauthorized use of its programming online. The lawsuit, the biggest challenge to date to Google's ambitions to make YouTube into a major vehicle for advertising and entertainment, accuses the Web search leader and its unit of 'massive intentional copyright infringement.' Viacom filed the suit with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking more than $1 billion in damages and an injunction against further violations." (03/13/07)
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,258489,00.html
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24) How Congress might rein in US war policy
Christian Science Monitor
"The confrontation between Congress and the White House over Iraq is developing into perhaps the most heated confrontation since Vietnam over one of the most basic aspects of the US Constitution -- its allocation of the power to make war. In history, Congress often has fallen short of its goals when it attempts to rein in or change the executive branch's conduct of war. Presidents have many ways of forging ahead despite political and legislative resistance. But in some instances, lawmakers have played a pivotal role in ending US involvement. Their power to raise questions, via hearings and investigations, can be almost as important as their ability to cut off funds. In part, that's what happened with Vietnam, though Congress today is not as roiled as it was in the late 1960s and early '70s. 'We're not there yet,' says Julian Zelizer, a Boston University historian and expert on Congress and Southeast Asia." (03/13/07)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0314/p01s01-uspo.html
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25) Carbon confusion
Boston Globe
"Sara Demetry thought she had found a way to atone for her personal contribution to global warming. The psychotherapist clicked on a website that helped her calculate how much heat-trapping carbon dioxide she and her fiance emitted each year, mostly by driving and heating their home. Then she paid $150 to e-BlueHorizons.com, a company that promises to offset emissions. But Demetry's money did not make as much difference as she thought it would. While half of it went to plant trees to absorb carbon dioxide, the other half went to a Bethlehem, N.H., facility that destroys methane -- a gas that contributes to global warming. The facility has been operating since 2001 -- years before the company began selling offsets -- and Demetry's money did not lead the company to destroy any more methane than it would have anyway." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/389rva
*******************************************************************
* HEALTH-OF-THE-STATE-O-METER, 03/14/07
*
* Reported Civilian Deaths in Iraq: Min - 58,637 ... Max - 64,444
* (source: www.iraqbodycount.org)
*
* American Military Deaths in Iraq: 3,197
* (source: www.antiwar.com/casualties/ )
*******************************************************************
****************************
* Everybody Has An Opinion
****************************
26) The Durham bully
Liberty For All
by Roderick T. Beaman
"Michael Nifong may be about to get his just desserts. His abuse of the legal process has been so outrageous that the government will have to do something, if only to save face. Nifong will be the one exception that proves the rule but, overwhelmingly, government never attacks its own. He's a wounded shark and will be thrown to the others as a sacrifice. Watch him scream as he is slowly consumed." (03/13/07)
http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=559
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27) The flip side of the Precautionary Principle
Question Earthority!
by Thomas L. Knapp
"I was in Chicago to visit with ISIL president Vince Miller and brainstorm some future expansions and improvements you'll be seeing soon here on Question Earthority! and elsewhere. On Saturday, we made our way downtown to visit with Joe and Diane Bast of The Heartland Institute. We toured their (expanding!) headquarters, then headed out for lunch. And that's where it happened. Just as I was preparing to dig into my steak fajita wrap with hot chipotle sauce and guacamole, Vince turned to me with a mischievous little smile on his face (a signal I'll remember for future self-defense alert purposes), and said 'so, Tom, why don't you tell Joe and Diane what you think about global warming?' So, I did." (03/13/07)
http://www.isil.org/channels/archives/7580
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28) Kubby 2008: The Governator versus California families
Kubby for President
by Steve Kubby
"This is the 'middle' that Governor Schwarzenegger stands astride: Not slavery, just segregation. Not extermination, just 'second class citizenship.' There are two sides to marriage, and neither of them are the government's business. On one side, we have emotional commitment expressed in a ceremony -- usually, though not always, a religious ceremony. On the other, we have a standardized form of legal contract applying to the practical and legal matters arising from that commitment. The maximum extent to which the government of California has any legitimate business in these affairs is in even-handed enforcement of those contracts. Certainly it has no business peering under the clothing of the ceremony's participants, or comparing the genitalia of the parties to the contract." (03/13/07)
http://www.kubby2008.com/node/36
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29) Reflections on a solemn ass
Fred On Everything
by Fred Reed
"I usually regard liberals and conservatives as equally but not identically reprehensible, rather like the complementary halves of a migraine headache. Some differences do stand out. Peculiar to conservatives is a certain tribalism, often accompanied by subclinical paranoia. They seem to be looking fearfully about as the wolves circle closer. It doesn't matter whether there actually are any wolves." (03/13/07)
http://www.fredoneverything.net/DavyCrockett.shtml
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30) The fraudulent case for grassroots legislation
Free Market News Network
by Jim Babka
"It's baaack! We stopped it in the Senate, but now the House has taken up regulating the grassroots -- regulating groups like DownsizeDC.org. Let me be clear. Here at DownsizeDC.org, we're not doing anything illegal. We're not doing anything unethical. And we haven't so much as asked a Congressman to go to dinner. Nor are we supported by big money interests trying to find ways to get a hold of your tax dollars or earn special favors. There are groups who are doing those things. The supporters of this legislation pretend to be doing something about that. But here's the kicker: As long as these individuals, groups, and institutions are communicating with their 'members,' they'll be free of any burden under this legislation." (03/13/07)
http://www.fmnn.com/Analysis/64/7110/case.asp?nid=7110&wid=64
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31) Don't ask, don't tell, don't think
Classically Liberal
by CLS
"It is interesting to watch the mental gymnastics used to justify what amounts to prejudice. It was first claimed that gay soldiers simply couldn't do the job; that gay people are intrinsically incapable of performing military service. That myth has been blown out of the water by the vast numbers of gay military personnel who have done their jobs and done them well. The second argument that I have heard used is not that gay service members are incapable of doing the job but that other service members feel uncomfortable working with them. That argument basically would make gays the only members of society who are denied the right to serve in the military based entirely on the prejudices of others. But that argument is failing as polls show that young people, in particular, have no such negative feelings toward gay men and women."
http://tinyurl.com/36lae2
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32) War criminals, (almost) every one
The Power of Narrative
by Arthur Silber
"Given this latest evidence, we are now justified in drawing one stark conclusion. There are only two requirements for serving in Congress or in the executive branch of our government. These requirements apply to everyone who serves today, with only a handful of exceptions. First, you must be among the very stupidest and most cowardly of Americans. And second, you must be a war criminal -- an actual war criminal, or eager and willing to become one." (03/12/07)
http://tinyurl.com/34ansk
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33) Wealth and capital
The Free Liberal
by Fred Foldvary
"Some economists in the past thought there was a significant distinction between services and tangible goods. They thought goods were wealth, but services were not a form of wealth. Economic theory today properly recognizes that for production, there is no significant difference between services and tangible goods. Consider a haircut. It can be considered a service, but one could also look at is as a tangible good, the reshaping of your physical hairs. Cooking can be considered a service, but one is also manufacturing a tangible good, namely food. Indeed, the value of wealth is in the services it provides." (03/13/07)
http://www.freeliberal.com/archives/002665.html
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34) Our green ICE Age
TCS Daily
by Dwight R. Lee
"All environmentalists should be singing the praises of the internal combustion engine (ICE) instead of damning it for polluting the environment. The environmental advantages of the internal combustion engine have been obvious for a long time. But a recent story in the British newspaper, 'The Independent,' on the methane from livestock flatulence makes the advantages of internal combustion even more obvious. According to 'The Independent,' a recent study by the Food and Agricultural Organization finds that 'livestock are responsible for 18 percent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together.' Global warming became a concern, however, long after the internal combustion engine began improving the environment. In 1900 most of the horsepower we had available really was horse power -- or mule power, or oxen power. As reliance on the internal combustion engine increased in the early 1900s, we began replacing the emissions that came out of the tailpipes of animals with those coming out of the tailpipes of cars and trucks. And the latter emissions were a lot less harmful than the former." (03/13/07)
http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=031307B
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35) Pelosi's betrayal
AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo
"Are all congressional Democrats fools, or liars? I would say both, but that's hardly unusual when it comes to politicians, regardless of party affiliation. The question is: will their ostensibly 'antiwar' base allow them to get away with it? Where are the fabled 'netroots' on this? Apparently nowhere to be seen. Speaking of being seen: this is a perfect opportunity to point out that there's going to be a demonstration outside of Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco office, on the steps of San Francisco's Federal Building, at noon on Monday, March 19, the fourth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war. ... Show up and let the speaker of the House, who poses as an opponent of Bush's crazed foreign policy, know that her complicity in the president's rush to war with Iran is inexcusable, and needs to be reversed." (03/14/07)
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=10674
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36) The next president will be worse
LewRockwell.Com
by Anthony Gregory
"So here's my more general prediction: Whoever it will be, even if it's someone unmentioned above, it will almost certainly be a centrist president -- meaning a prudential, gradualist totalitarian. And whoever it is, the next president will be worse than Bush. This is reflected in the fact that this election, like almost all those before it, is shaping up to be one of the worst of all time. If you think about it, the choice has only gotten worse and worse in recent decades." (03/14/07)
http://www.lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory130.html
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37) Second Wind for the Second Amendment
Reason
by Jacob Sullum
"Last week, when a federal appeals court ruled that the District of Columbia's gun ban violates the right to 'keep and bear arms,' The New York Times reported that the judges were 'interpreting the Second Amendment broadly.' ... If a court takes the position that Americans have a right to free speech, it is not interpreting the First Amendment broadly. If it says they have a right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures, it is not interpreting the Fourth Amendment broadly. So why is the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit 'interpreting the Second Amendment broadly' when it says Americans have a right to keep and bear arms?" (03/14/07)
http://www.reason.com/news/show/119106.html
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38) Outing Al (Chicken Little) Gore
No Force, No Fraud
by Bob Smith
"One method of determining whether something is true or not is to look at the motives of those promoting something as being true. Does the promoter stand to gain by promoting a falsehood, or stand to lose by the opposite being believed? Examining motives, while not perfect, can usually provide some valid suspicions to investigate. The radical environmental movement baffled me for well over a year. Their claims did not ring true for me, yet I could not find spurious motives that would explain what I suspected was a pack of lies. How could so many people be completely wrong?" (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2pkq96
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39) Don't raise gas tax without reforms
Cato Institute
by Thomas A. Firey
"The gas tax, in theory, is a good mechanism for funding roadways because drivers are taxed according to their usage: The more you drive, the more gas you buy and the more tax you pay. But the value of gas tax revenue has fallen over the years because of inflation and improved vehicle gas mileage. The result is that we're paying less for road maintenance in real terms per each roadway-damaging vehicle mile that we drive. And those aren't the only reasons Maryland's transportation trust fund isn't maintaining the state's once high-quality roadway system. Maryland officials have a passion for spending trust fund money on dubious 'prestige' transportation projects, such as the hyper-expensive Metro heavy rail, that have high publicity value but make little sense from a public policy perspective. Motorists should be angry about the questionable use of the transportation fund, but they should be outraged by the corporate welfare that politicians in Annapolis hand out to gas retailers." (03/14/07)
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8132
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40) Locating gun rights
American Spectator
by Robert VerBruggen
"Last Friday's Parker v. District of Columbia ruling ruling was an incredible triumph for gun rights. The federal D.C. court of appeals ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms, striking down the District's laws (A) mandating all guns be stored locked and unloaded and (B) effectively banning handguns. The Supreme Court will likely hear the case. Anti-gunners, not surprisingly, weren't happy." (03/13/07)
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=11134
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41) Why we defend right to bear arms
Register Guard
by Pat Wray
"First, we don't want the government to be able to take our guns away from us, as totalitarian regimes have done elsewhere. The second reason is similar, but runs on a deeper current, one rarely discussed. We are aware that at some point in the future, we or our descendants may need to fight against our government or an invading force. I don't want to be melodramatic about this fear, but it is ingrained in American culture. It runs through our blood from the docks of Boston through Lexington and Bunker Hill. It was seared into our collective soul in Chancellorsville, Bull Run and Antietam. We watched and learned from victims of Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Pol Pot, Idi Amin and Slobodan Milosevic. We studied the Quislings and the Vichy. We bled with the Jews and the Tutsis. We are bleeding now with the tribes being slaughtered in Darfur. Chief among all of these lessons is the certain knowledge that an evil government or an occupying force can come to power anywhere. It could happen here." (03/11/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2q3hau
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42) Showdown at the Constitution's last frontier
Human Events
by Sean Trende
"Most presidential elections contain an issue that acts as a third gunman, ultimately stacking the odds against one of the main two combatants. It was Iraq in 2004, ethics in 2000, the economy in 1992, and so forth. Last Friday, the 2008 election may have found its third gunman with a court decision that, somewhat appropriately, also sets out an important marker on one of the last untamed frontiers of constitutional law." (03/12/07)
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=19762
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43) World of difference in power that shuns brawn for supremacy
Daytona Beach News Journal
by Pierre Tristam
"Browsing through a used bookstore the other day I picked up one of those old National Geographic issues with the pictures of doffed and frolicking natives. Except that the natives inside weren't the bouncy kind from Bali or Burundi but from countries we've come to know as breeders of anti-Americanism or out-and-out enmity: France, Spain, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, the kind of places where, if President Bush were to venture -- as he has been venturing through Latin America -- he'd be burned in effigy and local authorities would have to mobilize the equivalent of two military brigades to protect him. Colombia, the third-biggest recipient of American aid in the last decade and supposedly its greatest ally south of the Rio Grande, had to do just that for a Bush stop-over lasting a few hours on Sunday. But the Geographic was dated May 1960. The 63 pages featuring all those countries fell under the banner of a single article entitled, 'When the President Goes Abroad." And in every country, in almost every picture, Dwight Eisenhower's presence was cause for delirious celebration.'" (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2jcyca
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44) The pragmatism of prolonged war
Common Dreams
by Norman Solomon
"The days are getting longer, but the media shadows are no shorter as they cover the war in Iraq through American eyes, squinting in Washington's pallid sun. Debated as an issue of politics, the actual war keeps being drained of life. Abstractions thrive inside the Beltway, while the war effort continues: funded by the U.S. Treasury every day, as the original crime of invasion is replicated with occupation. More than ever, in the aftermath of the Scooter Libby verdict, the country's major news outlets are willing to acknowledge that the political road to war in Iraq was paved with deceptions. But the same media outlets were integral to laying the flagstones along the path to war -- and they're now integral to prolonging the war." (03/13/07)
http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0313-23.htm
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45) The bookseller's story, ending much too soon
Washington Post
by Anthony Shadid
"A car bomb detonated last week on Mutanabi Street, leaving a scene that has grown familiar in Baghdad, a collage of chaotic images, disturbing in their brutality, grotesque in their repetition. At least 26 people were killed. Hayawi the bookseller was one of them.Unlike the U.S. soldiers who die in this conflict, the names of most Iraqi victims will never be published, consigned to the anonymity that death in the Iraqi capital brings these days. Hayawi was neither a politician nor a warlord. Few beyond Mutanabi Street even knew his name. Yet his quiet life deserves more than a footnote, if for no other reason than to remember a man who embraced what Baghdad was and tried to make sense of a country that doesn't make sense anymore. Gone with him are small moments of life, gentle simply by virtue of being ordinary, now lost in the rubble strewn along a street that will never be the same." (03/12/07)
http://tinyurl.com/yprm67
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46) Showdown at Port Tacoma
CounterPunch
by Ron Jacobs
"On March 5th, 2007, several people were attacked and at least three arrested by police in Tacoma, WA. at a series of protests against shipments of military supplies at the city's port. The reasons for the attacks and arrests were not clear to onlookers, who told the press that the protesters were doing nothing but holding signs. In an exchange I had with Jeff Berryhill of Olympia, WA. (who was arrested along with Wally Cudderford and Caitlin Esworthy) I was told that all he was doing when he was shot with a rubber bullet by the police was 'holding a sign that read 'Courage to Resist. org." (Courage to Resist is an organization supporting military resisters.) The next thing he knew he was hit in the thigh by a police-fired projectile." (03/13/07)
http://www.counterpunch.org/jacobs03122007.html
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47) Scenes from a cop riot
CounterPunch
by Catherine Wilkerson
"When I became a doctor I knew I would encounter a lot of human suffering, but I never envisioned a time when my efforts to alleviate it would get me brutalized by the police, then charged with a crime. I never envisioned a time when I would witness another health 'professional' brazenly violate the most fundamental principle of medical ethics: first do no harm. But thirty years after graduation, at a political event on the campus of the University of Michigan, those things happened." (03/13/07)
http://www.counterpunch.org/wilkerson03132007.html
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48) Increased health care spending not helping
National Center for Policy Analysis
by staff
"The federal government has provided provinces with an extra $36 billion in transfers for health care since 1997, yet Canada's health care system is in worse shape now than it was 10 years ago, according to a new report by the Fraser Institute. Consider: Between 1980 and 1997, federal transfers for health care spending were relatively stable, and from 1988-89 to 1997-98, the average annual growth rate in federal health care transfers was 1.4 per cent." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2cmvlx
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49) Tintin in the Land of the Soviets
Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Yumi Kim
"The adventure is action-packed and there is never a dull moment. They survive numerous car crashes, imprisonments, explosions, a plane crash and even an attack from a bear. In between, they witness the failure of socialism. This year marks the centennial of the birth of Herge and his comic books continue to entertain and fascinate millions of children and adults around the world." (03/13/07)
http://www.mises.org/story/2501
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50) Tax and save
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
by Greg Francisco
"The State of Michigan, my home, is in deep financial trouble. That's common knowledge. Drastic times call for drastic solutions. That should be obvious, too. So, should we slash spending even further or raise taxes higher yet? Hard choices, either way. There is a third option however that would both dramatically cut spending and raise large sums of new tax revenue. The only question is, do the politicos in Michigan have the courage to do it? Legalize, tax and regulate marijuana." (03/13/07)
http://blog.leap.cc/?p=68
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51) Why taxing like products differently is bad
Heartland Institute
by Trevor Martin
"In 40 states, taxes on smokeless tobacco products are causing double taxation, distorting consumer behavior, and hurting retailer profits. Texas currently is one of those states. Arguably, there is no other product category that has such widespread discriminatory tax treatment as does smokeless tobacco. From our nation's founding, national and state tax policy has been to tax like items alike." (03/07/07)
http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=20762
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52) National health insurance: A medical disaster
Foundation for Economic Education
by Jarret B. Wollstein
"Affordable health care has become one of the most important social issues of our time. Every news broadcast seems to have a special report on 'America's health care crisis' or a politician demanding 'universal health insurance.' Evidence cited for the need for immediate and drastic government action includes: High medical costs. The United States reportedly has the highest per capita medical expenditures of any country in the world. According to Insight magazine, U.S. citizens spent an average of $2,051 on health care in 1990, compared to $1,483 for Canadians and $1,093 for West Germans." (written 10/92; posted 03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/yqygxc
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53) CCRKBA hails DC gun law nullification
Liberty For All
by CCRKBA staff
"The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today hailed a ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that, for the first time in American history, struck down a gun law on Second Amendment grounds. The case was Parker v. District of Columbia, challenging the 31-year-old District of Columbia ban on handgun registrations to allow citizens to keep functional handguns in their District residences for personal protection." (03/13/07)
http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=558
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54) Is Wikipedia the new Town Hall?
In These Times
by Pat Aufderheide
"Public broadcasting everywhere is in crisis, and in part it's because technology seems to be turning pubcasters into dinosaurs. In fact, not just them, but all broadcasters. Consider the business leaders: NBC formally declared itself an 'Internet company' and is slashing its analog TV investments. Mega-media mogul Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace last year and is now considering dumping his satellite assets because he's looking forward to wireless digital TV. Pubcasters used to be providers of trusted information. But when bloggers are so busy linking to each other that they hardly have time to watch television or read newspapers, is the mainstream media -- even the PBSes and NPRs -- becoming irrelevant? No wonder pubcasters are suffering heartburn these days." (03/12/07)
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3067/
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55) Spartan pride
The American Prospect
by Matthew Yglesias
"When America finally gives up on the Iraq adventure, I expect we'll see something of a backlash. As Fouad Ajami, the right's favorite Arab writer, put it, America tried to bring the Iraqi people The Foreigner's Gift -- the gift of freedom -- and the Iraqis just screwed it up. There's even, if you squint at it right, a certain truth to this, once you abandon the myth that the war would have worked out fine had it been administered more competently: Following an invasion, Iraq's fate still lay much more in the hands of Iraqis than it did in the hands of American policymakers. On another level, however, this perspective is completely daft. The foreigner's gift failed to go over well not because of some weird Arab derangement, but because Iraqis acted like ... human beings everywhere act. Which brings me ... to the Spartans. No one would call 300, either the film adaptation in theaters now or the graphic novel about the battle of Thermopylae on which it's based, a subtle work. It does, however, illustrate a crucial point in a rather subtle way." (03/13/07)
http://www.prospect.org/web/view-web.ww?id=12551
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56) Steal their land, steal their money
Tom Paine
by Robert J. Miller
"The United States owes a lot to the Indian Nations. American Indians helped early European settlers survive and succeed on this continent and American Indian governments contributed extensively to the political thinking that led to the creation of the federal government by our Founders. The United States, however, also owes over 300,000 American Indians something else: up to $200 billion for the mismanagement of their property over the past one hundred years. In 1996, the Native American Rights Fund filed a class-action law suit against the United States for the mismanagement of tribal and individual Indian assets -- Cobell v. Kempthorne. ... The federal government and its attorneys have actively resisted this case every step of the way. ... Recently, the government went so far as to remove federal district court judge Royce Lamberth from the case for his alleged growing bias in favor of the Indian plaintiffs." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/ysuzrg
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57) Apology for slavery matters, but here and now does, too
Tennessean
by Dwight Lewis
"I haven't talked to Steve Cohen since he replaced Harold Ford Jr. in Congress, but I'm willing to bet he's catching a lot of grief -- and a lot of praise -- these days. Cohen, a Democrat and former state senator from Memphis, has gotten 36 co-sponsors for a bill that, if passed, would bring an apology for slavery and Jim Crow-era discrimination to the federal level. Yep, I can hear some of you cussing Steve Cohen now. But if you've been keeping up with the news lately, you know that legislators in Virginia passed a resolution last month apologizing for slavery in that state. Thursday, black legislators in Georgia said they plan to introduce proposals asking the Peach State to follow Virginia's lead and apologize for the state's role in slavery and segregation-era laws." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/3d47ja
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58) Human trafficking could be here
Nashville City Paper
by staff
"It is one of the ugliest truths on this planet, and seemingly as old as civilization itself. It goes by many names, but trafficking in persons is a shame and blight on humanity. Despite the deniers, it may also be right here in Nashville. According to a 2006 U.S. State Department report, between 600,000 and 800,000 people are the victims of human trafficking every year. In another time, this practice of buying and selling humans was known by a much simpler moniker: slavery. It is difficult for Americans to imagine that in this modern time there may be human trafficking happening in their communities, but the harsh reality is that it is happening in cities and towns across this country. Metro Police maintain it is a possibility a recent bust on an alleged brothel in Madison was indeed a case of human trafficking." (03/12/07)
http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?news_id=55096
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59) Path to peace, justice in Afghanistan
Christian Science Monitor
by J Alexander Thier & Scott Worden
"Like every country facing the aftermath of civil war, Afghanistan is struggling to balance the need for peace and stability with demands for justice and accountability. Last Saturday, the lower house of the country's parliament passed a bill that encourages all factions, including the Taliban, to join in a process of national reconciliation. In return, these groups and individuals would be immune from prosecution for atrocities committed before joining the process. Although President Hamid Karzai successfully negotiated a crucial amendment to protect the rights of victims of war crimes, the new amnesty law still favors the powerful warlords who sponsored the bill. Unless the government takes responsibility for standing up to the perpetrators of past atrocities, true national reconciliation may be impossible to achieve." (03/13/07)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0313/p09s02-coop.html
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60) "Surge" doomed to final failure
Boston Globe
by H.D.S. Greenway
"What the president and proponents of the 'surge' in Iraq have underestimated is the loathing Iraqis have of foreign troops bursting into their houses, shoot-to-kill checkpoints, and the humiliation occupation brings. Foreign troops legitimize insurgency. ... The Washington Post's Joshua Partlow recently wrote about how American soldiers tried to be friendly and kind. 'During their six-hour patrol they handed out Iraqi newspapers and packets of gum. ... But machine gun-toting Americans rooting through bedrooms, inspecting weapons, and demanding identification cards clearly unsettle some residents.' They do more harm than unsettle." (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/2v9dkd
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* See No Evil, Hear No Evil
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61) Larry Blasko on The Sloan Ranger Show, 03/15/07
The Sloan Ranger Show
Larry Blasko, author of Opening the Borders: Solving the Mexico/U.S. Immigration Problem For Our Sake and Mexico's, joins host Lloyd Sloan. 5:35pm Central on WGNU 920 AM, St. Louis, or live on the web. [live radio or stream] (03/15/07)
http://www.sloanrangershow.com/
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62) Knapp, Dondero on K's Frame of Mind, 03/14/07
K's Frame of Mind
"Libertarian Republican" Eric Dondero, Rational Review publisher Tom Knapp and others join host Karen in "Libertarian Smackdown Live" -- a two-hour cage match -- on Blog Talk Radio. [various formats] (03/14/07)
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/hostpage.aspx?show_id=15351
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63) Radio Free Liberty, Episode 70
Radio Free Liberty
"Hanging on to anachronistic ideas about jobs, immigration, and nationalism will get you left behind / A short, intense, sobering look at the world of our near future -- Are you going to fight it or learn to prosper in it? / Which country will be the number one English speaking nation in our lifetime? Guess what -- It ain't the USA." [MP3] (03/07)
http://media.libsyn.com/media/radiofreeliberty/Episode_070.mp3
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64) Gun ban shot down
Cato Institute
Cato daily podcast, featuring Robert A. Levy. [MP3] (03/13/07)
http://tinyurl.com/ysxp8q
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65) Free Talk Live, 03/13/07
Free Talk Live
"FreeNet / The FCC, Mandates, Digital TV, TV Welfare, and Unintended Consequences / Another So-Called Sex Offender / More Sex Offender Rules / Innocents Put to Death / Perverted Justice, Entrapment, and Thought Crimes." [MP3] (03/13/07)
http://media.libsyn.com/media/ftl/FTL2007-03-13.mp3
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* Weekly Symposium
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66) Seeing the fnords
Position Paper #23 of the Guns and Dope Party:
Little Tony was sitting on a park bench munching on one candy bar after another. After the 6th candy bar, a man on the bench across from him said, "Son, you know eating all that candy isn't good for you. It will give you acne, rot your teeth, and make you fat."
Little Tony replied, "My grandfather lived to be 107 years old."
The man asked, "Did your grandfather eat 6 candy bars at a time?"
Little Tony answered, "No, he minded his own f--king business."
With the recent passings on of Robert Anton Wilson and Kerry Thornley, a discussion of the impact of Discordianism, Operation Mindf--k and other related phenomena on libertarian theory and practice seems in order. So let's have one.
http://www.rationalreview.com/content/26081
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* What's Up In The Freedom Movement
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67) 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 .
http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=info%40rationalreview.com
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* WaYbAcK
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68) "On a cross of gold"
Details, and the "quote of the day," from Leon's Political Almanac at:
http://perspicuity.net/cgi/hypercal.cgi
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