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* RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST
* The Freedom Movement's Daily Newspaper
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* Volume VI, Issue #1,479
* Friday, August 29th, 2008
* Email Circulation 2,050
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* Published every non-holiday weekday
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In The News:
0) RRND-FND Mid-Year Fundraising Drive
1) Obama accepts Dem nomination, vows to "renew America's promise"
2) Thailand: Protestors, police scuffle over court order
3) Iraq: Two US soldiers, seven Iraqis killed
4) Afghanistan: Occupation troops kill woman, two children
5) Canada: Major parties ready for election this fall
6) TN: Music Row land theft case delayed
7) TX: Federal judge charged with sex crimes
8) Karadzic to plead at Hague court
9) CA: Judge upholds nude sunbathing
10) Report: Iran has 4,000 nuclear centrifuges
11) WV: One killed in chemical plant blast
12) Bloomberg runs obit for still-living Jobs
13) UK: "Home carers" need more government money
14) Bulgaria: Priest's "gift from God" under surveillance
15) WY: State loses gun case in federal court
16) NJ: Homeowner shoots intruder
17) PA: Teen robber shot by armed shopper
18) CO: Police blocks vets' access to DNC
19) Former Marine acquitted in Fallujah murders
20) India: Dalai Lama admitted to hospital
Everybody Has An Opinion:
21) Longing for dictatorship
22) Obama: Democratic nomination acceptance speech
23) Carpooling: Green, cheap and illegal
24) "A guiding hand is needed" for the poor, backward peoples of the
world
25) Everything New Democrat is old again
26) Obama's Cheney
27) That Speech
28) Happy shoot-iversary to me
29) A master - slave society
30) The land of the silent and home of the fearful
31) Clearing out Gitmo
32) Inspector Clousseau, TSA
33) What's missing from the Democratic convention?
34) No excuses, no nannying (well, maybe just a little bit ...)
35) What about the Ossetians?
36) Resolving abortion the constitutional way
37) Show us you care, Barack
38) The sovereign presidency: Is this what the framers had in mind?
39) In praise of low wages
40) What to believe?
41) What does a police state look like?
42) On night three, the Dems finally gain some momentum
43) Is the presidency above Obama's pay grade?
44) Should we swallow the script if it tastes good?
45) Denver police: Record this!
46) Manufactured famine
47) RomneyCare should keep Mitt off Mac's ticket
48) Obama and big government
49) True patriots
50) Confusing wealth and income
See No Evil, Hear No Evil:
51) Stop outsourcing roles in pro-Obama videos!
52) Cato Daily Podcast, 08/29/08
53) Free Talk Live, 08/28/08
54) THINKFuture #660
55) Freedomain Radio #1136
What's Up In The Freedom Movement:
56) Today's events
WaYbAcK:
57) Katrina makes landfall
***************
* In The News
***************
0) RRND-FND Mid-Year Fundraising Drive
Update, 08/29/08 - Well, it had to happen again sooner or later ...
another "zero dollar day." We're still at $1710 toward our goal of
$5000.
Our "mini-goal" for this week (in practice, for any time before Monday
morning's edition) is $200 per month in new subscribing contributor
revenues. We're at $10 toward that "mini-goal."
I guess it's time to get alarmist and threatening.
Folks ...
If you don't support RRND/FND, John McCain or Barack Obama may be
elected President of the United States this November! The US may
become involved in two Asian land wars and threaten to become
embroiled in a third! A tropical storm may hit Jamaica and threaten
New Orleans!
Every time you don't support RRND/FND, a puppy or kitten cries.
Seriously. I'm watching one do so right now. Heart-rending, people.
No, really: We're going to continue producing the world's best daily
roundup of political news and commentary. And we're going to keep
asking you to support us financially in that task by recognizing it as
such and returning value for value. I'm not asking you to give until
it hurts, but I am asking you to give - TLK
Become a subscribing contributor: http://www.tinyurl.com/rrndsubs
Make a one-time contribution: http://www.tinyurl.com/rrndbux
Contribute by PayPal Mobile to: 314-750-6993
Other options: http://www.rationalreview.com/content/49503
-----
1) Obama accepts Dem nomination, vows to "renew America's promise"
Agence France-Presse
"Barack Obama savaged John McCain and 'broken' Republican politics,
vowing to restore America's promise in a tumultuous climax to the
Democratic convention before an 84,000 strong crowd. 'America, we are
better than these last eight years,' Obama said late Thursday, as he
set course for November's presidential elections as the first African-
American with a real shot at the White House." (08/29/08)
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h6AKgI4sy9k89D8h3VbuItk-CHkg
-----
2) Thailand: Protestors, police scuffle over court order
Associated Press
"Thai police retreated from the prime minister's office compound
Friday, seeking to defuse tensions with thousands of protesters who
have occupied the site for nearly four days. Earlier, police officers
muscled onto the grounds to deliver a court eviction order to the
members of the People's Alliance for Democracy, who are seeking the
ouster of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. Several minor injuries were
reported throughout the day as brief skirmishes erupted around the
perimeter of the compound and in nearby streets." (08/29/08)
http://tinyurl.com/5sv9cp
-----
3) Iraq: Two US soldiers, seven Iraqis killed
AntiWar.Com
"Two U.S. soldiers died in separate events today. At least seven
Iraqis were killed and 14 more were wounded as well.Controversy
continues to rage over security forces in Kurdish regions of Diyala
province. Elsewhere, Shi'ite cleric al-Sadr has extended a ceasefire.
Meanwhile, U.S. forces detained a senior Iraqi official. Also, the
head of the U.S.-Iraqi security pact negotiating team was
replaced." (08/28/08)
http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=13375
-----
4) Afghanistan: Occupation troops kill woman, two children
Sindh Today [Pakistan]
"An Afghan woman and two children were killed and four other children
injured as German soldiers opened fire on a civilian vehicle in the
northern province of Kunduz, the Afghan police said Friday. The
incident -- which occurred southeast of the provincial capital, also
named Kunduz -- took place Thursday evening in a region where German
troops lead operations for the NATO-led International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF), German defence ministry spokesman Thomas
Raabe said in Berlin." (08/29/08)
http://www.sindhtoday.net/world/16455.htm
-----
5) Canada: Major parties ready for election this fall
Dundas Star News
"Although anticipation of a fall election has been heating up for the
past week, local candidates hoping to unseat incumbent Conservative MP
David Sweet have effectively been campaigning for more than a year.
Canada's top four parties appear poised for a snap election call in
Ancaster, Dundas, Flamborough and Westdale. Locally, the Liberals,
Conservatives, New Democrats and Green Party all have candidates in
waiting, if Prime Minister Stephen Harper calls a federal election, as
expected, early next week." (08/29/08)
http://www.dundasstarnews.com/news/article/141230
-----
6) TN: Music Row land theft case delayed
Tennessean
"The first hearing in a Music Row property seizure case was postponed
Thursday when a city agency decided instead to ask a Nashville judge
to consider its proposal to settle the dispute. The Metropolitan
Development and Housing Agency asked to delay a hearing scheduled for
Friday morning so it could formally introduce a proposal to divide
Music Row business owner Joy Ford's property in half. ... Earlier this
year, the MDHA agreed to acquire the property for Lionstone and resell
it to the firm at cost. Now, the agency says Lionstone would need the
parking lot in the rear of Ford's property only. Ford would receive
$455,000 for the lot and be given lifetime parking, free of charge, in
a garage planned as part of the new development. Ford has fought the
petition, saying she has no interest in leaving the
property." (08/29/08)
http://tinyurl.com/59u54p
-----
7) TX: Federal judge charged with sex crimes
USA Today
"A federal judge has been indicted on sex abuse charges, the Justice
Department says. Samuel Kent, a U.S. District Court Judge in Texas,
faces one count of attempted aggravated sexual abuse and two counts of
abusive sexual contact. The indictment claims Kent, 59, 'did knowingly
engage in sexual contact with another person without that other
person's permission.' That person, who is not identified in the
filing, is described as a court employee." (08/29/08)
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/08/federal-judge-c.html
-----
8) Karadzic to plead at Hague court
BBC News [UK]
"Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is due to appear at the
UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague to respond to charges of war
crimes. He will be asked to enter pleas to 11 counts, including
genocide, allegedly committed during the 1990s Bosnian war. If he
refuses to enter any pleas, a not-guilty plea will be entered on his
behalf, according to court rules. ... The indictment, which is being
amended, includes genocide, crimes against humanity and war
crimes." (08/29/08)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7587623.stm
-----
9) CA: Judge upholds nude sunbathing
Los Angeles Times
"Visitors to a stretch of San Onofre State Beach will still need extra
sunblock for those hard-to-reach places, thanks to a legal victory
Wednesday for nudists who frequent the spot. Orange County Superior
Court Judge Sheila Fell ruled that state parks officials can cite
sunbathers and swimmers in the buff only if a member of the public
complains." (08/28/08)
http://tinyurl.com/6oscua
-----
10) Report: Iran has 4,000 nuclear centrifuges
Gulf News [UAE]
"Iran has 4,000 working nuclear centrifuges, an official said in
remarks published on Friday. Deputy Foreign Minister Alireza Shaikh
Attar also told the official Islamic Republic News Agency that 3,000
more centrifuges are being installed." (08/29/08)
http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Iran/10241022.html
-----
11) WV: One killed in chemical plant blast
Associated Press
"One worker was killed and a second injured in an explosion at a Bayer
CropScience plant that shook an area west of Charleston. The
explosion, which sent a fireball hundreds of feet into the air and
could be felt miles away, occurred about 10:25 p.m. Thursday. The
blast occurred in a section of the plant where waste products are
treated before disposal, Bayer spokesman Mike Wey said." (08/29/08)
http://tinyurl.com/6bchlb
-----
12) Bloomberg runs obit for still-living Jobs
United Press International
"The Bloomberg news agency inadvertently ran an obituary for Apple
Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs,
who is still very much alive. Jobs, 53, is famous for his
contributions to the worlds of technology, information, communication
and entertainment through creations including the Macintosh computer,
the iPod and the iPhone. The former top executive of Pixar Animation
Studios is also a pancreatic cancer survivor." (08/28/08)
http://tinyurl.com/5avh5a
-----
13) UK: "Home carers" need more government money
BBC News [UK]
"The government must give more money to help Britain's six million
unpaid carers, MPs have said. The Commons work and pensions committee
said people who looked after friends and relatives saved the taxpayer
£87bn. It recommended income replacement for those unable to work
because of their commitments, and compensation for costs incurred
during 'intensive' caring.The Carer's Allowance is currently £50.55 a
week. Ministers said they were working to give carers more
'balance.'" (08/28/08)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7586583.stm
-----
14) Bulgaria: Priest's "gift from God" under surveillance
Ananova [UK]
"A Bulgarian priest is to go under police surveillance -- because of a
field of cannabis he claims is a gift from God. Father Cyril Papudov
has been arrested seven times but police have never caught him
actually cultivating the crop. He claims the cannabis seeded by itself
and is part of God's gift of nature and nothing to do with him. One
police source in Petrich told local media: 'There has been a great
deal of suspicion over the years about what is going on with these
plants. He is a man of the cloth and so a lot of people don't want to
think badly of him but frankly if someone has a huge crop of cannabis
in their back garden it's highly unlikely they are just sitting there
admiring its horticultural properties.' Now police are planning a 24-
hour surveillance operation." (08/27/08)
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2984410.html
-----
15) WY: State loses gun case in federal court
Billings Gazette
"A federal appeals court in Denver has ruled against Wyoming in a
lawsuit over a state law that seeks to allow people convicted of
misdemeanor domestic violence to regain their gun rights. A three-
judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday ruled
that the procedure spelled out in Wyoming law fails to expunge the
criminal record of people convicted of domestic violence. ... The 2004
Wyoming law at the center of the lawsuit allows people convicted of
misdemeanor domestic violence to petition in state court to expunge
their conviction and restore their gun rights. The law requires that
petitioners must have completed probation, and it limits people to
just one such request." (08/27/08)
http://tinyurl.com/5wlrpw
-----
16) NJ: Homeowner shoots intruder
News Journal Online
"As the intruder attempted to make his way farther into the Ponce
Inlet house, Kenneth Nunnelley -- a senior assistant attorney general
-- feared for the lives of his wife and children and shot the stranger
in the stomach, police said Wednesday. Nunnelley, the lead prosecutor
in the Florida Supreme Court for death penalty appeal cases including
local murderers Troy Victorino, Jerone Hunter and Anthony Joseph
Farina, was armed with a 9 mm Smith & Wesson handgun when 43-year-old
Roman Nowak pushed his way into the house." (08/28/08)
http://tinyurl.com/56qczb
-----
17) PA: Teen robber shot by armed shopper
Pocono Record
"Police say Joshua Eastman, 28, of East Stroudsburg was unloading
groceries at his car shortly before 12:45 a.m. today when Reneau Jean
Jacques, 17, of 77 Symphony Circle, East Stroudsburg, pointed a
handgun at him and demanded that he hand over his money. Eastman
looked around for help or someone to yell to. The alleged robber
continued to demand money. Eastman replied that he did not have any
money -- that he used a debit card to pay for his purchases. Jacques
became more threatening, pointing the gun and using a more menacing
tone of voice. Eastman then took out his wallet and pushed the door of
his truck more open to put it between himself and the suspect. Jacques
pointed his gun at Eastman's face. Eastman dropped his wallet and
started ducking down. Jacques fired a shot that went through the
window of the door almost striking Eastman and causing flying glass
from the car window to cut his face. Eastman pulled out a handgun he
was carrying and fell to the ground. He returned fire under the
truck's door with his pistol while the teen continued to fire his
weapon. Eastman shot Jacques in the lower leg and foot. Then Eastman
ran back toward the store as the teen fled towards Friendly's
restaurant." (08/28/08)
http://tinyurl.com/6y6tr9
-----
18) CO: Police blocks vets' access to DNC
The Indypendent
"A little more than an hour before Sen. Barack Obama made a surprise
appearance at Pepsi Center to conclude the evening at the Democratic
National Convention, his campaign had an exchange with Iraq Veterans
Against the War (IVAW). Approximately 100 IVAW members were determined
to push Obama on his stance on troop withdrawal. Leading a grueling
three-hour-plus long march of an estimated 7,000 demonstrators towards
the Pepsi Center late in the afternoon, IVAW hoped to deliver a folded
flag and a letter calling on Obama to endorse the three main goals of
unity: immediate withdrawal of American troops, full veterans
benefits, and reparations for the Iraqi people. The march was met with
a line of more than 100 Denver Police Department officers clad in riot
gear and armed with batons and pepper ball guns at the intersection of
Market and 17th Streets. The police refused to let IVAW or the
thousands of antiwar demonstrators closer to the
convention." (08/28/08)
http://www.indypendent.org/2008/08/28/ivaw-obama/
-----
19) Former Marine acquitted in Fallujah murders
United Press International
"A former Marine was acquitted Thursday in California of killing four
Iraqi civilians while he was a squadron leader. The verdict, reached
after less than six hours of deliberations, was the first concerning a
former soldier in a civilian court for alleged crimes committed in the
military, The Riverside Press-Enterprise reported. Jose Luis Nazario
Jr. was tried in federal court in Riverside because he had left the
Marines." (08/28/08)
http://tinyurl.com/5pa4ek
-----
20) India: Dalai Lama admitted to hospital
BBC News [UK]
"The Dalai Lama has been taken to hospital in the Indian city of
Mumbai (Bombay) complaining of stomach pains. The 73-year-old exiled
Tibetan spiritual leader had cancelled all his international trips on
Wednesday saying he was suffering from exhaustion. A spokesman said
the ailment had not yet been diagnosed but it appeared there was no
cause for concern. The Dalai Lama has lived in Dharamsala, northern
India, since fleeing Tibet after an abortive uprising in
1959." (08/28/08)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7586893.stm
*******************************************************************
* HEALTH-OF-THE-STATE-O-METER, 08/29/08
*
* Reported Civilian Deaths in Iraq: Min - 86,669 ... Max - 94,562
* (source: www.iraqbodycount.org)
*
* American Military Deaths in Iraq: 4,150
* (source: www.antiwar.com/casualties/)
*******************************************************************
****************************
* Everybody Has An Opinion
****************************
21) Longing for dictatorship
LewRockwell.Com
by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
"It is often said that there is not a dime's worth of difference
between the parties, but there is little reflection on what precisely
they have in common. It comes down to a love of some version of
dictatorship, of which they believe they will be the administrators.
What is the alternative? It is pure liberty, a word that is used only
as a slogan in public affairs these days. By liberty, I mean only one
kind: a life without badgering from the state. There is nothing on
God's green earth that the state can do better than we can as
individuals and communities and voluntary associations. What I mean by
liberty is no more or less than firing the state as the administrator
of society." (08/29/08)
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/longing-for-dictatorship.html
-----
22) Obama: Democratic nomination acceptance speech
National Public Radio
Speech transcript: "Tonight, I say to the American people, to
Democrats and Republicans and independents across this great land --
enough! This moment -- this election -- is our chance to keep, in the
21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in
Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush
and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here
because we love this country too much to let the next four years look
like the last eight. On November 4, we must stand up and say: 'Eight
is enough.'" (08/28/08)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94087570
-----
23) Carpooling: Green, cheap and illegal
National Post [Canada]
by staff
"There's an online free global ride-sharing service called PickupPal
that has been gaining traction with Internet users lately, most
notably by partnering with concert promoters and other event planners
to spread the word about their service. PickupPal matches up drivers
and passengers who are headed to the same destination, tracks and
publishes their reputations eBay-style and allows them to work out
mutual arrangements for splitting the gas money and other costs of the
trip. ... It is hard to see how such a thing could be anything less
than a nifty social benefit of the Internet, but in Ontario, it is
considered illegal. The province's Public Vehicles Act states, 'No
person shall arrange or offer to arrange transportation of passengers
by means of a public vehicle operated by another person unless that
other person is the holder of an operating licence authorizing that
other person to perform the transportation.'" (08/22/08)
http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=740651
-----
24) "A guiding hand is needed" for the poor, backward peoples of the
world
The Power of Narrative
by Arthur Silber
"'A guiding hand is needed ...' Words fail. Perhaps not: [Madeline
Albright] is, after all, the woman who dubbed the U.S. the
'indispensable nation' and said the U.S. sees farther than anyone else
because we 'stand taller.' Now be fair: it's difficult, if not
impossible, to imagine why such a humble and self-effacing perspective
might lead to resentment and even hatred on the part of others. And
what is needed is an 'effective response' to 'violent extremism.' Oh
my, yes! Too bad none of that was available in the first few months of
2003." (08/28/08)
http://tinyurl.com/5rsjhe
-----
25) Everything New Democrat is old again
Reason
by Tim Cavanaugh
"Now the New Democratic Network isn't calling for wage and price
controls, nor did the DLC in its heyday show any real interest in
weaning the party from its dependence on labor and regulation.
(Libertarians with long memories may also shudder to remember
Clinton's decidedly old-school views on the Fourth Amendment, the drug
war, and the death penalty.) And you can't blame the Democrats for
trying to cash in on President Bush's mid-20 percent approval rating.
The Democratic Party these days is not in the hands of left-leaning
ideologues but left-leaning utilitarians." (08/28/08)
http://www.reason.com/news/show/128389.html
-----
26) Obama's Cheney
AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo
"The office of the Vice President has surely undergone a
transformation in recent years: from Dan Quayle to Dick Cheney is a
long way to travel. The role of the VP, with Cheney acting as the
eminence grise of the Bush regime -- and, some would say, the real
President -- has been amplified to the nth degree, and it looks like
the administration of Barack Obama is going to continue this ominous
tradition. Joe Biden on the ticket with Obama, as we said on Monday,
is a big victory for the War Party, which will not, as a result, be
shut out of power if the Democrats take the White House." (08/29/08)
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=13378
-----
27) That Speech
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
by Thomas L. Knapp
"Make no mistake about it: Barack Obama isn't running against John
McCain, he's running against George W. Bush. Tonight, he finally and
firmly stood McCain next to Bush and stuck an 'I'm With Stupid' t-
shirt on him. This isn't just any old election. This is America
deciding whether to stand the Republican Party in the corner for four
or maybe eight years, or to drag it down to the principal's office,
paddle its ass but good, bounce it out to the sidewalk, and stamp
'EXPELLED: PERMANENT' on its file. Barring some truly bizarre and
catastrophic development, there just ain't no gold stars or smiley-
face stickers in the GOP's immediate future." (08/28/08)
http://knappster.blogspot.com/2008/08/that-speech.html
-----
28) Happy shoot-iversary to me
The Breda Fallacy
by Breda
"2 years and two days ago, I had never shot a gun. I didn't want to
touch a gun. I didn't want guns in the house, didn't want guns in my
life. No, no, no. No guns. No. I didn't like guns. A textbook case of
hoplophobia, that was me. Mike spent a long time talking me into going
to the range. I almost chickened out. I remember sitting on the couch,
so afraid that I was near tears, saying, 'No. I can't. I just can't, I
don't want to ...' Me, I was freaking out inside, alarms going off
full tilt in my head. 'Gun! Oh no! Gun! Scaryscaryscary!' Looking back
on it now, I realize that my reaction was completely ridiculous and
irrational -- and I wouldn't be able to tell you exactly what it was
that frightened me so much." (08/27/08)
http://tinyurl.com/5rmg26
-----
29) A master - slave society
Information Clearinghouse
by Richard C. Cook
"The debt this nation owes to the banks, to foreign creditors, and to
each other can never be paid off. Nothing creates more debt than
war." (08/28/08)
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20636.htm
-----
30) The land of the silent and home of the fearful
Common Dreams
by Dave Lindorff
"There is a remarkable and palpable fear abroad in this land-not a
fear of terrorism, but a fear of speaking up, a fear of being labeled
as 'different' or as a 'troublemaker.' People will lean over and
whisper their opinions, if they think they are anti-Establishment, as
though someone might be listening. People write me after some of my
columns run, praising me for my 'courage,' though why it should be
perceived as requiring courage to merely write something in America is
beyond me. The worst thing is that every time someone says she or he
is afraid, or acts afraid to speak or write what she or he is
thinking, five more acquaintances become equally scared and silenced.
The corollary, though, is that each time someone forgets or ignores or
rejects that fear, five people gain courage the do the same
thing." (08/28/08)
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/08/28-1
-----
31) Clearing out Gitmo
CounterPunch
by Andy Worthington
"As part of its alleged 'desire not to hold detainees any longer than
necessary,' the Pentagon announced on Tuesday that two Guantanamo
prisoners had been transferred to Algeria. This follows the
repatriation of two other Algerians -- Mustafa Hamlili and Abdul Raham
Houari -- at the start of July, who were the first Algerians to be
released from the prison in its six-and-a-half year history. Cynics
could argue, with some justification, that the releases were less to
do with benevolence than with the fact that the US administration has
finally decided to clear out as much of the dead wood at Guantanamo as
possible, following the US Supreme Court's momentous decision, in
June, that the prisoners have constitutional habeas corpus rights; in
other words, that they have the right to challenge the basis of their
long detention without charge or trial before an impartial
judge." (08/28/08)
http://counterpunch.org/worthington08282008.html
-----
32) Inspector Clousseau, TSA
The Libertarian Enterprise
by Francis A. Ney, Jr.
"With the news that hit the mainstream media on Wednesday, but has
been part of the blogosphere for a day prior, Taking Scissors Away has
morphed from a frightening tyrannical agency to a clear and present
danger to the traveling public. Not content with turning airports into
poorly run copies of East Germany, not content with stealing
passenger's water, making mothers drink their own breast milk,
harassing and/or torturing the handicapped, wand-raping pretty women,
stealing medication, trying to steal a medal of honor from the NRA
president, depriving travelers of their constitutional rights and
imprisoning those who object, Totally Senile Assholes have crossed the
line from seeing terrorists where none exist to manufacturing their
own terror attacks." (08/28/08)
http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2008/tle482-20080824-05.html
-----
33) What's missing from the Democratic convention?
Salon
by Glenn Greenwald
"[A]s competent, well-executed and even dramatic as the Convention has
been, at least as striking is what has been missing. First, there is
almost no mention of, let alone focus on, the sheer radicalism and
extremism of the last eight years. During that time, our Government
has systematically tortured people using sadistic techniques ordered
by the White House; illegally and secretly spied on its own citizens;
broken more laws than can be counted based on the twisted theory that
the President has that power; asserted the authority to arrest and
detain even U.S. citizens on U.S. soil and hold them for years without
charges; abolished habeas corpus; created secret prisons in Eastern
Europe and a black hole of lawlessness in Guantanamo; and explicitly
abandoned and destroyed virtually every political value the U.S. has
long claimed to embrace. Other than a fleeting reference to such
matters by John Kerry in a (surprisingly effective) speech which most
networks did not broadcast, one would not know, listening to the
Democratic Convention, that any of those things have
happened." (08/28/08)
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/28/dnc/
-----
34) No excuses, no nannying (well, maybe just a little bit ...)
Adam Smith Institute
by Helen Davison
"Putting aside the debate over whether how much we eat and how little
we move has anything to do with the state, we are left with the
question whether, in a taxpayer funded system, any amount of 'nudging'
can galvanise patients into taking more responsibility for their
health? Indeed, a system that makes no direct link between what a
patient pays in and how much they get out is one that will, perhaps
inevitably, promote irresponsible attitudes on the part of
individuals. One way to encourage more responsibility would be to roll
out individual budgets on a wider scale, giving patients a sense of
ownership over their health and well-being by allowing them to manage
and control their healthcare spending." (08/28/08)
http://tinyurl.com/6ykpbf
-----
35) What about the Ossetians?
Future of Freedom Foundation
by Sheldon Richman
"If Russia exited Georgia -- as it should -- and the Bush
administration dropped its wish to expand NATO to Russia's border --
as it should -- there would still be an issue to be dealt with: the
secessionist ambitions of the majority in South Ossetia -- the
Georgian military response to which was the immediate cause of the
current war. They are the forgotten party in the current conflict.
When President Bush says the 'territorial integrity of Georgia' must
be respected and GOP presidential candidate John McCain declares,
'Today we're all Georgians,' they are putting politics above justice.
One need not side with Russian Prime Minister Putin, a cynical
opportunist if ever there was one, to understand that the Ossetians
south of the Russian border are an aggrieved party." (08/25/08)
http://www.fff.org/comment/com0808f.asp
-----
36) Resolving abortion the constitutional way
Independent Country
by James Leroy Wilson
"Paul Gottfried thinks that abortion is as significant an issue as
riverboat gambling to Obama and McCain. They talk about it when they
have to to please some core constituencies, but deep down they
couldn't care less. Abortion does seem to be a trivial issue,
especially to Republicans. They had four years (02-06) with majorities
in both houses and a Republican in the White House to do something
about it, but they did not." (08/27/08)
http://tinyurl.com/6f3k6s
-----
37) Show us you care, Barack
Slate
by John Dickerson
"Obama says that one of his tasks for the convention is to help people
understand who he is and where he came from. That's his challenge
because voters -- some innocently, some not so innocently -- wonder
whether he shares their values. It is the weakness Hillary Clinton's
strategist Mark Penn tried to exploit, explaining in one of his
strategy memos that voters would find that Obama was 'not at his
center fundamentally American in his thinking and his values.' What's
striking about the political distance Obama has traveled since 2004 is
that the idea that he was emblematic of the American dream was not
something he had to prove four years ago. It was self-evident. It was
one of the reasons he was speaking in the first place." (08/27/08)
http://www.slate.com/id/2198743/
-----
38) The sovereign presidency: Is this what the framers had in mind?
Foundation for Economic Education
by Joseph R. Stromberg
"The merest glance at America 's founding suggests that no one really
wanted full-bore elective despotism. Nonetheless, American
presidentialists apparently find just that in the terms 'war powers'
and 'commander-in-chief,' and in presidential dominance of foreign
affairs. Yet their forebear Hamilton conceded that in war the
president has 'nothing more than the supreme command and direction of
the military and naval forces, as first General and Admiral of the
Confederacy' (Federalist 69). Presidentialists take John Marshall's
comment, in Congress, that the president is our 'sole organ of
communication' with other nations as entailing lots of power. And
always, presidents assert powers and store up precedents.
Presidentialists turn presidential duties, chores, and everyday
practices into powers, and strong figures have built the
office." (originally published 2007; posted 08/28/08)
http://www.fee.org/Publications/the-Freeman/article.asp?aid=6609
-----
39) In praise of low wages
The Distributed Republic
by Brandon Berg
"I think supporters of free markets too often defend low wages in an
almost apologetic fashion: 'You know, Wal-Mart's wages really aren't
that low,' or 'Yeah, it would be great if cashiers could make $25 per
hour, but it would drive prices through the roof.' But there's nothing
to apologize for. Low wages are good. Wages are prices, and prices are
signals. Just as an above-market price for milk will give inaccurate
signals to dairy farmers and result in a misallocation of farmland,
paying above-market wages will give inaccurate signals to workers and
result in a misallocation of human capital." (08/28/08)
http://tinyurl.com/5m6tjt
-----
40) What to believe?
The Partial Observer
by James Leroy Wilson
"The layperson reads about the history, purpose, and language of the
Constitution and concludes that it strictly limits the ability of the
federal government to intervene in foreign countries, in the economy,
and in our private lives. But 'legal scholars,' seem to rely more on
Supreme Court decisions and 'established' practices by the President
and Congress to effectively give the federal government carte blanche
to do whatever they please. For instance, they will claim the First
Amendment prohibits states from allowing prayer in schools, but allows
Congress to regulate political speech. This is an inversion of the
First Amendment, because while the First Amendment's language puts a
limit on Congress's power, it does not limit state power. So now
Barack Obama is a Presidential candidate whose entire program appears
to me to explicitly or implicitly violate the Constitution. But I'm
sure he would disagree, and he's the one with the Harvard Law
degree." (08/28/08)
http://partialobserver.com/article.cfm?id=3040
-----
41) What does a police state look like?
Classically Liberal
by CLS
"What does a police state look like? That is a good question. Maybe it
looks something like this. Here is a photo of a small group of people
trying to hold a demonstration in Denver at the Democratic Party
convention. Notice the police overkill. But at least there is still
freedom of the press! Right? Apparently not. Here is how the
donutmunchers dealt with ABC news producer Asa Eslocker. Mr. Eslocker
was standing on a public sidewalk with a camera crew when Democratic
Party officials were exiting a hotel. He was doing a story on major
donors to the Democratic efforts and some of those major donors were
coming out of the hotel. Police decided that he had no right to do
that story and began by manhandling him and pushing him off the
sidewalk into traffic. ABC News reports that the donutmuncher told
Eslocker: 'You're lucky I didn't knock the fuck out of you.' Here is
some video of the incident. Welcome to America, land of the free. And,
if you believe that, I have some swamp land in Florida for
sale." (08/28/08)
http://tinyurl.com/5a3ond
-----
42) On night three, the Dems finally gain some momentum
Mother Jones
by David Corn
"The third night of the convention -- Biden aside -- presented a more
coherent message than the previous evenings, which were dominated by
the obligatory tasks of undoing the rightwing attacks on Michelle
Obama and satisfying Hillary Clinton and the Hillary Hold-ons. On
Thursday, it seemed as if the Obama campaign was finally able to get
down to business: making the pitch. The evening program opened with
Melissa Etheridge connecting 'God Bless America' to progressive
favorites, such as 'Born in the U.S.A.' Then came a series of Iraq
veterans and other former warriors who rammed home the point: George
W. Bush and John McCain have truly screwed up the foreign policy of
the United States. This was McCain's turf: national security. And the
Democrats hit it hard by bringing to the stage Tammy Duckworth, a
paraplegic Iraq vet, who has as much standing as anyone to question
and criticize McCain's judgment on Iraq -- past, present, and
future." (08/28/08)
http://tinyurl.com/5h3th7
-----
43) Is the presidency above Obama's pay grade?
Intellectual Conservative
by Selwyn Duke
"God doesn't make policy. People such as Obama do. Thus, no separation-
of-church-and-state argument will fly here. Obama wasn't being asked
about his position on the Trinity or transubstantiation, but on a hot-
button issue existing within a continual maelstrom of legislative
battles. So if it is above his pay grade, I suggest that the
presidency if not politics itself is also so. Strangely, though, while
Obama claimed that the question was above his pay grade, legislating
in areas in which it must be answered never seemed to be. Why, he
never shrank from making policy or pronouncements regarding abortion.
He never said, 'I'm, uh, sorry, but this issue is, uh, above my pay
grade; I'll have to withhold judgment and, uh, recuse myself from
votes.' Nor did he take the logical, compassionate and humane default
position, which is to say that since I don't know whether this being
is human, I'll err on the side of caution. I won't allow him to be
killed. Instead, whenever Obama was called to weigh in, there was
never any question as to where he stood: Shoulder to shoulder with the
most radical elements of the pro-abortion lobby. And, as with them, we
have to wonder not about when Obama believes human life begins, but
whether he believes in the human right to life at all." (08/28/08)
http://tinyurl.com/5k63gs
-----
44) Should we swallow the script if it tastes good?
The Free Liberal
by Micah Tillman
"Surely we've all had the experience on the phone. You call 'customer
service' with a problem, and then get stuck listening to the person on
the other end reciting a script at you. The operator stops talking,
and the scriptwriter starts speaking through him. You can tell when
the switch occurs, and your heart sinks. One moment, the person on the
other end is talking to you; you're being treated as a human being.
The next, he's reciting at you. You can tell he's reading from a
script and is mentally in some far-away land. The reciter's brain
disengages as the script takes over, and yet yours is supposed to
remain engaged. At the end of the script, you're supposed to have been
convinced. That's insulting. And no one falls for it over the
telephone. So who falls for it in politics?" (08/28/08)
http://www.freeliberal.com/archives/003495.html
-----
45) Denver police: Record this!
Disloyal Opposition
by JD Tuccille
"Are the police getting more comfortable throwing their weight around,
no matter who's watching? They must be, if they're willing to roust
network news producers accompanied by camera crews that are guaranteed
to get their footage on the evening news. ABC's Asa Eslocker, who was
standing on a public sidewalk, was forced into the street by officers
before being wrestled into handcuffs and hauled off. His crew captured
the whole incident on video. ... I'm not saying that it's worse to
harass professional journalists than it is to assault college kids and
average people walking down the street. I'm saying that it should be
assumed to be incredibly stupid to attack people who have access to
satellite transmission facilities and teams of lawyers." (08/28/08)
http://www.tuccille.com/blog/2008/08/denver-police-record-this.html
-----
46) Manufactured famine
AlterNet
by George Monbiot
"In his book Late Victorian Holocausts, Mike Davis tells the story of
the famines that sucked the guts out of India in the 1870s. The hunger
began when a drought, caused by El Nino, killed the crops on the
Deccan plateau. As starvation bit, the viceroy, Lord Lytton, oversaw
the export to England of a record 6.4 million hundredweight of wheat.
While Lytton lived in imperial splendour and commissioned, among other
extravangances, 'the most colossal and expensive meal in world
history[,'] between 12 and 29 million people died. Only Stalin
manufactured a comparable hunger. Now a new Lord Lytton is seeking to
engineer another brutal food grab. As Tony Blair's favoured courtier,
Peter Mandelson often created the impression that he would do anything
to please his master. Today he is the European trade commissioner.
>From his sumptuous offices in Brussels and Strasbourg, he hopes to
impose a treaty which will permit Europe to snatch food from the
mouths of some of the world's poorest people." (08/28/08)
http://tinyurl.com/56gfs8
-----
47) RomneyCare should keep Mitt off Mac's ticket
Human Events
by Deroy Murdock
"Just as most folks maintain a healthy distance from those with
contagious diseases, John McCain would be wise to keep Willard Mitt
Romney at arm's length. Choosing him for vice-president would infect
McCain with the worsening symptoms of RomneyCare. The former
Massachusetts governor's signature 'achievement' already looks
destined for the emergency room. Bay State political observers call
RomneyCare 'The New Big Dig.' Like downtown Boston's notorious roadway
project that ran $12.2 billion beyond its $2.6 billion budget,
RomneyCare is becoming a huge fiscal sinkhole." (08/28/08)
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=28244
-----
48) Obama and big government
Reason
by Steve Chapman
"There are no disciples of small government in the Democratic Party,
and Barack Obama fits right in. His economic program is based on the
assumption that the economy is to the president what a marionette is
to a puppeteer, requiring his direction and responding to his every
wish. Anyone partial to free markets, restrained government, fiscal
discipline and light taxation approaches a Democratic nominee's
economic platform with trepidation, expecting one fright after
another. Obama does not disappoint." (08/28/08)
http://www.reason.com/news/show/128356.html
-----
49) True patriots
Independent Institute
by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
"Last year, Hammon, a San Antonio Silver Stars player who at 30 knew
this would be her last chance to attain Olympic glory, realized she
would not make the U.S. team. While playing for CSKA Moscow during the
WNBA off-season, she was offered Russian citizenship so that she could
play with the national team. (She also retained her American
citizenship.) It was the only way for her to compete in Beijing, and,
politics being the last thing on her mind, she took the opportunity.
Hammon was vilified by many people in the sports world, including Anne
Donovan, the U.S. women's basketball coach, who said that she was 'not
a patriotic person.' Hammon's decision to play with the Russians
contains a moral message. Individual sovereignty, it tells us, is a
space that no collective force should violate. Invoking nationalist
notions to condemn a woman's pursuit of a dream that does no harm to
anyone is to put national sovereignty above individual sovereignty --
the seed of totalitarian ideology." (08/27/08)
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=2304
-----
50) Confusing wealth and income
Cato Institute
by Richard W. Rahn
"Those who want the 'rich' to pay more or 'give back' not only confuse
income with wealth, but also fail to understand life cycle mobility,
and the effects of taxation and income redistribution programs on
'disposable income.' Many people, when they are young (including the
average graduate student), would be classified as poor in terms of
taxable income. Most people have a sharp rise in family or 'household'
income after they graduate from school, and many of these enter the
definition of 'upper income' in their forties and fifties, but after
they retire, their taxable income often drops to the point where they
are considered middle income, even though they may have more than a
million dollars in net assets." (08/28/08)
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9611
*******************************************************************
* RRND MEDIA SHELF -- Tchotchkes from today's edition
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* See No Evil, Hear No Evil
*****************************
51) Stop outsourcing roles in pro-Obama videos!
Hit & Run
"From Creative Artists for Barack and American Jobs, the ultimate
statement on shipping jobs overseas ..." [Flash video] (08/29/08)
http://reason.com/convention2008/show/128411.html
-----
52) Cato Daily Podcast, 08/29/08
Cato Institute
"Fixing relations in Pakistan," featuring Malou Innocent. [MP3]
(08/29/08)
http://www.cato.org/dailypodcast/podcast-archive.php?podcast_id=718
-----
53) Free Talk Live, 08/28/08
Free Talk Live
"Court Story / Police at DNC and RNC steal from journalists, attack
and arrest ABC news reporter, and crack woman in face with baton! /
Hand Wringing / Paula / Pirate Radio / Original Activism in NH /
National Slavery Update / Medipot / Ostracism / Successful Leadership
Principles." [MP3] (08/28/08)
http://media.libsyn.com/media/ftl/FTL2008-08-28.mp3
-----
54) THINKFuture #660
THINKFuture
"King Of Liars / Move Over, Jesus / Capitalism Dead / Obama Kills Free
Speech / Whither Taxpayer / Govt IS Force." (08/28/08)
http://tinyurl.com/6a5xh8
-----
55) Freedomain Radio #1136
Freedomain Radio
"Living in the FOO-GLOO (a couple conversation)." [MP3] (08/27/08)
http://tinyurl.com/fdr1136
*************************************
* What's Up In The Freedom Movement
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56) Today's events
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57) Katrina makes landfall
Details, and the "quote of the day," from Leon's Political Almanac at:
http://perspicuity.net/cgi/hypercal.cgi
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