-Caveat Lector- ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date sent: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 20:50:35 -0500 From: "Jeff Taylor" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Reason Express List Member <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Reason-Express: REx 35, v2 Welcome to Reason Express, the weekly e-newsletter from Reason magazine. Reason Express is written by Washington-based journalist Jeff A. Taylor and draws on the ideas and resources of the Reason editorial staff. For more information on Reason, visit our Web site at www.reason.com. Send your comments about Reason Express to Jeff A. Taylor ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) and Virginia Postrel ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). REASON Express August 30, 1999 Vol. 2 No. 35 1) The Waco Dilemma: Liars or Incompetents? 2) Another Report Debunks Gulf War Syndrome 3) Name Your Race or It Will Be Done for You 4) Programmer Fires Up Pot Initiative 5) Quick Hits - - Waco: Round Two - - The admission that the FBI did fire pyrotechnic devices on the last day of the 1993 siege at Waco should provide a final chance to find out what really happened that day. Congress seems intent on holding Attorney General Janet Reno to her promise of a fully independent review of the evidence. But what is happening does not inspire much confidence. A plan to dispatch 40 FBI agents to re-interview everyone present that day is sure to produce conflicts in recollections that will never be resolved. Much better would be to seek out all contemporaneous documents and any physical evidence that might be had. A good first priority would be to settle once and for all what the U.S. Army's secret Delta Force anti-terrorist unit did the day the compound burned. "Everyone involved knows they were there. If there is an issue, it was what was their role at the time. Some of the evidence that I have reviewed and been made aware of is very problematical as to the role of Delta Force at the siege," said James B. Francis Jr., the chairman of the Texas Department of Public Safety. The Pentagon promptly said that any personnel on site were there as observers only--certainly not operational and not even in an advisory role. We can only hope that the physical evidence that Texas authorities have safeguarded can put this question to rest. Once that is settled, next would be to clear up exactly how the FBI came to possess and use military munitions on the scene. From there, it would be nice to know if any other military munitions aside from the exploding tear gas grenades were used. Such basic facts are needed in order to build up trust in any conclusions, as well as dampen the conspiratory zeal that has flourished in the absence of governmental honesty. http://www.dallasnews.com/texas_southwest/0826tsw1davidians.htm http://www.nandotimes.com/politics/story/0,1068,86539-136672-953639-0,00.h tml ************************************************************** - - Depleting Causes - - A presidential oversight board last week concluded that there is no link between Gulf War illnesses and exposure to depleted uranium used in U.S. munitions. The finding by the Special Oversight Board on Gulf War Illness jibes with previous studies in that regard. The Pentagon uses uranium which has been depleted of its radioactivity because of the material's extreme density. That heft helps shells penetrate the skins of armored vehicles. "The board agrees with the conclusion that the available evidence does not support claims that depleted uranium is causing the undiagnosed illnesses some Gulf War veterans are experiencing," said the report. Thousands of veterans of the war have complained of maladies such as fatigue, joint pain, and memory loss, which they claim are related to their service in the Gulf. While the quest for some outside cause goes on, the most likely explanation--that the illnesses are psychosomatic--continues to get shunted aside. http://www.nando.net/politics/story/0,1068,86626-136787-954351-0,00.html Michael Fumento tried to quiet Gulf War syndrome hysteria at http://www.reason.com/9703/fe.fumento.html and http://www.reason.com/9706/fe.fumento.html ************************************************************* - - Readin', Writin', and Race - - Massachusetts is so intent on building a racial database of public school students that teachers will be asked to guess at a student's race if parents refuse to supply a racial classification on state forms. The ethnic profile will be part of a student's infamous permanent record as kept by a new Student Information Management System, which the state will bring online this fall. Aside from the obvious repugnance of being classified by the state as part of this group or that group, allowing schools officials to fill in the blank has plenty of room for mischief. First, the information is likely to be wrong, unless we posit that public school officials have some special ability to decide ethnic backgrounds on sight. This error rate alone would make a database built with the guesses worthless. Second, there would be a temptation for schools to classify students in ways that does the school good. Under fire for poor test scores among minorities? A few high scorers to this column, a few low scorers to that column--instant improvement. Need to rope in a special grant targeted at some group? Just bubble-sheet your way to qualification. The Massachusetts American Civil Liberties Union has qualms about the proposal, but has no immediate plans to file suit. http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/19990826/FP_002.htm ************************************************************* - - Legalize It - - Who says silicon-age millionaires don't have a civic sense of duty? One 47-year-old Microsoft millionaire is putting his money behind a drive to legalize marijuana in Washington. Bruce McKinney donated $100,000 to the Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp, sponsor of Initiative 229, which would permit marijuana sales in state liquor stores and license farmers to cultivate the crop. The state general fund would get 90 percent of pot tax revenues, allowing backers to argue a vote for legalization is a vote for schools and roads. The rest of the revenue would go to drug-treatment and drug-education programs. The initiative needs 180,000 signatures by Dec. 31 in order to qualify for the ballot in November 2000. "I'm acting because I believe prohibition causes serious damage to the health of our state and our nation," McKinney explained. McKinney cashed out of Microsoft two years ago to run his own software company and do free-lance work. He also donated $10,000 to a similar initiative campaign in Oregon. http://www.seattletimes.com/news/local/html98/bruc_19990824.html The Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp is at http://www.crrh.org ************************************************************* QUICK HITS - - Quote of the Week - - "It's really a joke starting to connect food and hamburgers to international politics. It's a stupid thing to do," Benny Kashriel, mayor of the Maaleh Adumim Jewish settlement on a decision by Burger King to close up shop in the settlement in response to threat of boycotts by Muslims worldwide. Still, Kashriel called on Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to suspend peace talks with the Palestinians in response. http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/burger_king990827.html - - Bug Squasher - - A Canadian software maker reports a surge in Americans interested in its Internet encryption products after the U.S. Justice Department asked Congress to approve the Cyberspace Electronic Security Act, which would give law enforcement new powers to bug computers. http://www.zeroknowledge.com/cesa - - The eBay eConomy - - Case study of how "power sellers" use Net auctions to turn themselves into mini-discount retailers. What would 1.2 million buyers do every day without them? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/daily/aug99/ebay29.htm - - Galt's Compiler - - Efforts are underway to create a Myst-like computer game based on Atlas Shrugged. http://www.colemancreative.com/atlas/map.html ############################################################## REASON NEWS Jacob Sullum will be arguing against censorship during a panel discussion entitled "The Sins of Society vs. The Sins of Big Government" to be held at "The Weekend," (an annual gathering of prominent conservatives) on Sunday, September 5, 1999. The panel will also feature Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.) and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.). NOTE TO READERS Reason Express will next appear Tuesday, September 7 due to the Labor Day holiday. SAVE THE DATE Reason's 2nd Annual Dynamic Visions Conference will be held February 19-21 (Presidents Day Weekend) in Silicon Valley. For information on speakers and registration, see http://reason.com/dynamic/dynamic2000.html ############################################################## Reason Express is made possible by a grant from The DBT Group (http://www.dbtgroup.com), manufacturers of affordable, high-performance mainframe systems and productivity software. Current Circulation: 3801 We encourage you to forward Reason Express. If you received this issue from a forward, please subscribe. 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